Harkness – MacGillivray Stories

My father was serving in the RNVR in Burma in 1945, according to a note attached to the ‘Rangoon photos’. His service in Burma may have been before or after the surrender of Japan. Before I discuss his time in Burma, I will first briefly talk about the history of British rule in Burma.

Wars with Britain⁶⁹

The British rule in Burma lasted from 1824 to 1948. It started from the successive three Anglo-Burmese wars; through the creation of Burma as a province of British India; to the establishment of an independently administered colony; and finally independence. The region under British control was known as British Burma. (…) Annexed territories were designated a minor province of British India in 1862. 

The first Anglo-Burmese War (1824-1826) was fought to regain territory that Burma had wrested away from British India. Resistance to British rule continued in the northern territories up until 1890, when the British finally destroyed entire villages in order to halt guerrilla activity; this tactic still seems to be favoured by today’s military junta. 

Burma as Province of India⁷⁰

By the time of the third war in 1885, Britain annexed the whole of Burma. The following year, 1886, the British made Burma a province of India, becoming a major province (a lieutenant-governorship) in 1897. This arrangement lasted until 1937, when Burma began to be administered separately by the Burma Office under the Secretary of State for India and Burma.

Protests by university students in 1920 were the first signs of renewed resistance against British rule. Rangoon University was a hotbed of radicalism. A young law student, Aung San, gained increasing prominence in the movement for national autonomy. He and fellow student Nu (a later Prime Minister of Burma) joined the thakin movement. The name, which translates as ‘master’, was an appropriation of the term colonial subjects in Burma had to use for the British. Now it signified that Burmese citizens wanted to be masters of their own destiny.

World War Manoeuvres

British rule was disrupted during the Japanese occupation of much of the country during World War II. The start of WWII saw the administration of Burma separated from India. The Japanese authorities promised military training and support for a national uprising. Aung San and 29 other young men, known as the Thirty Comrades, left for Hainan Island in China (which was under Japanese occupation) for the promised training. 

The deal was that the Japanese would help Burma rid itself of the British colonialists and grant independence. But with the Japanese invasion of Burma in 1942 came the growing realization that one set of colonialists had been exchanged for another. 

Aung San then quickly changed sides and negotiated with the British to drive out the Japanese. Having had his brush with the imperial ambitions of Japan, he was also one of the founders of the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League (AFPFL). The Japanese were successfully expelled from Burma in May 1945. However, many parts of the country lay in ruins, devastated by warfare.

Freedom and a Leader Lost

A military administration resumed in Burma under the British. Aung San eventually managed to negotiate Burma’s independence from Britain in January 1947. Aung San and his ministers got down to the business of drafting the country’s constitution – but not for long. 

On 19 July 1947, at the instigation of an opposition politician, Aung San and several members of his cabinet were gunned down. Aung San’s colleague, the charismatic U Nu, now took over the reins and Burma finally became independent on 4 January 1948 at 4.20 am; the odd hour was chosen for its auspiciousness by an astrologer. Anti-British sentiment was so strong that Burma decided not to join the British Commonwealth, unlike other colonies that had also gained independence.

⁶⁹ The following is edited from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_rule_in_Burma

⁷⁰ Edited from the following website: https://newint.org/features/2008/04/18/history