page_title: Burma Independence Army
section_title: Battle of Shwedaung
hierarchical_section_title: Burma Independence Army / Formation and action of the Burma Independence Army / Battle of Shwedaung
caption_attribution_description: English: The Burma Independence Army enters Rangoon, 1942
context_page_description: The Burma Independence Army was a collaborationist and revolutionary army that fought for the end of British rule in Burma by assisting the Japanese in their conquest of the country in 1942 during World War II. It was the first post-colonial army in Burmese history. The BIA was formed from group known as the Thirty Comrades under the auspices of the Imperial Japanese Army after training the Burmese nationalists in 1941. The BIA's attempts at establishing a government during the invasion led to it being dissolved by the Japanese and the smaller Burma Defence Army formed in its place. As Japan guided Burma towards nominal independence, the BDA was expanded into the Burma National Army of the State of Burma, a puppet state under Ba Maw, in 1943.
  After secret contact with the British during 1944, on 27 March 1945, the BNA revolted against the Japanese. The army received recognition as an ally from Supreme Allied Commander, Lord Mountbatten, who needed their assistance against retreating Japanese forces and to ease the strain between the army's leadership and the British.
context_section_description: One action in which the BIA played a major part was at Shwedaung, near Prome, in Southern Burma. On 29 March 1942, a detachment from the British 7th Armoured Brigade commanded by Brigadier John Henry Anstice was retreating from nearby Paungde. Another detachment of two Indian battalions was sent to clear Shwedaung, which lay on Anstice's line of retreat and was held by the II Battalion of the Japanese 215th Regiment, commanded by Major Misao Sato, and 1,300 men belonging to the BIA under Bo Yan Naing, one of the Thirty Comrades. Two Japanese liaison officers named Hirayama and Ikeda accompanied the BIA. With Anstice's force and the Indian troops attacking Shwedaung from two sides, the roadblocks were soon cleared, but a lucky shot from a Japanese anti-tank gun knocked out a tank on a vital bridge and forced the British to retreat across open fields where Bo Yan Naing ambushed them with 400 men. Eventually the British and Indian force broke free and continued their retreat, having lost ten tanks, two field guns and 350 men killed or wounded. The BIA's casualties were heavy; 60 killed, 300 wounded, 60 captured and 350 missing, who had deserted. Hirayama and Ikeda were both killed. Most of the BIA's casualties resulted from inexperience and lack of equipment. Though Burmese political leader Ba Maw and others later eulogised the BIA's participation in the battle, the official Japanese history never mentioned them.
caption: The Burma Independence Army enter Rangoon in early 1942
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