Burma Army

   The armed forces established by Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia, following the September 1945 Kandy Conference between himself, other British officials, and leaders of the Patriotic Burmese Forces (PBF) and the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL). Until independence in January 1948, it was part of British Commonwealth forces, and its commander was a British major general, assisted by Bo Let Ya and Smith Dun, who both held the rank of deputy inspector general. It consisted of three battalions of PBF men, Burman veterans of the Burma National Army who had risen against the Japanese on March 27, 1945, and seven "class battalions" (units specified by ethnicity) comprising Karens (Kayins), Chins, Kachins, and the small number of Burmans who had served in the prewar colonial armed forces. Naval and air force units were also established. During the communist and ethnic minority rebellions of 1948-1949, the majority of its men defected to the insurgent side, but the Fourth Burma Rifles commanded by Ne Win and other mostly Burman units remained loyal to the central government. They formed the core of the modern Tatmadaw.

   See also Aung San; Burma Independence Army; People's Volunteer Organization; Tatmadaw, History of; World War II in Burma (Military Operations).