70th and the 20th Burma Rifles Regiment 1919 to 1936, Taiping, Perak : Malaya Garrison Troops

Burma Rifles Range Shooting ( Army life in the "90s, P. Warner)

The Burma Rifles was the Garrison Troops for Malaya, based in Taiping, Perak from 1919 ( after the disbanding of the Malay State Guides 1873 - 1919 ) to 1936 ( Replaced by the 1^st Battalion 2^nd Punjab Regiment 1936 - 1938 )

-The Burmese Pioneers was raised in late 1915. Gurkhas and Sikhs formed the backbone of the various forces raised in Burma

-Sep 1917, Burmese Pioneers turned into an Infantry Regiment, becoming part of the Indian Army as the 70^th Burma Rifles. The Regiment depot was at Meiktila and Maymyo for recruitment.

-Altogether, 4 Battalions were raised for 70^th Burma Rifles. British and native officers commanded the battalion on same pattern as regular Indian army regiments. Few of the British officers learn the language or learn about the Burmese ways

-1^st Battalion 70^th Burma Rifles sent to the Suez in May 1918 at Tel El Kebir to guard the Lines of Communications and Turkish POWs.

-2^nd Battalion 70^th Burma Rifles was sent to Egypt after the fighting ended and was assigned garrison duties.

-April 1918 and June 1918, the 3^rd Battalion and 4^th Battalion were formed respectively.

-a second Regiment, 85^th Burma Rifles was raised in Mandalay on Jul 1917 mostly with Indian Volunteers from the Burma Military Police(BMP); Burma’s oldest military formation . It trained in India before going to Basra Iraq.

-The 4 companies comprised platoons of Sikhs, Punjabi Muslims, Gurkhas, Burmans, Karens and Kachins. Garhwali’s & Kumaonis were enlisted when the Burmans & Karens quota was not met.

-The 85^th was 1,500 strong by end of WW1

-The BMP was a colonial gendarmerie made up of Indian troops. Origins dated back to the annexation of upper Burma in the third Burma war of 1885. Irregular Indian troops were recruited to pacify countryside and crush remains of royal Burmese army

-the Indian levies formed the bmp and the battalions were recruited for a period as needed in various areas and later disbanded. At any one time, 12 battalions existed and more than 50 battalions were formed through the years

-units were named after region or locations where they served i.e. Southern Shan States Battalion, Ruby mines battalion. Each battalion had a mounted infantry often Sikhs and duties included providing Governor’s bodyguard

-British policy used paramilitary forces for internal security as they handle broad array of task and far cheaper to equip and run than army units

‘The bmp is a semi military force intended to perform at the cheapest cost as

a- Frontier watch and ward duties

b- Deal with minor insurrections amongst the less civilized hill tribes

c- Transport treasures

d- Guard and transport long term prisoners to from jails

-1920, 70^th and 85^th merged in a single regiment as 70^th Burma Rifles. Burmans, Karens & Chins formed the backbone of the new formation

-1921, the Regiment was restructured into 4 Battalions- 1/70^th Burma Rifles, 2/70^{th Burma} Rifles, 3/70^th Kachin Rifles & 4/70^th Chin Rifles

-1923, the Regiment became 20^th Burma Rifles as part of 1922 reorganisation of the Indian Army – with mixed class and race units. They were 1/20^th Burma Rifles, 2/20^th Burma Rifles, 3/20^th Burma Rifles, 10/20^th Burma Rifles ( Depot & Recruitment Battalion) & 11/20^th Burma Rifles ( Territorial Battalion)

-1925, Burmans were removed from the 20^th Burma Rifles; recruiting Chins, Kachins, Karens and other minorities as doubts of Burman loyalty and ingrained prejudice was the main reason

-1 April 1937, Burma became a separate British Colony and administrative control from India was shifted to London. The 20^th Burma Rifles left the Indian Army and was the foundation of the New Burma Army

Extracted from Forgotten Regiments, Barry Renfrew