Burma Command
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=Burma Command
|image=
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|country={{UK}}
|branch={{army|United Kingdom}}
|type=Command
|dates=1937 to 1942
1945 to 1948
|specialization=
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|size=
|commanders=
|garrison=Rangoon
|battles=
|notable_commanders=
}}
Burma Command was a British Army command formed for the coordination of the defences of Burma. It functioned from 1937 to 1942, when the country fell to Japanese Forces during the Second World War, and functioned again from 1945 to 1948, when the country secured independence from the UK.
History
Before the formation of the command, Burma had functioned as independent district within the British Indian Army.{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmilitaryhistory.co.uk/docs-burma-1930-1947-burma-command-1930-42/|title=Burma Command 1930 - 42|publisher=British Military History|access-date=28 May 2020}} The last General Officer Commanding Burma Independent District was Major-General William Twiss who commanded from 1936 to 1937.Supplement to the Indian Army List January 1939 In April 1937, when Burma became a semi-autonomous country, it was decided to separate the command from the British Indian Army. Initially Burma Command came under the direct command of the Governor of British Burma as commander-in-chief.{{cite web|url=https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/53713/1/KJ00000434093.pdf|title=State Formation in the Shadow of the Raj: Violence, Warfare and Politics in Colonial Burma|page=531|first=Mary|last=Callahan|publisher=Kyoto University|date=4 March 2002|access-date=28 May 2020}} However with the Second World War imminent, responsibility was delegated to Lieutenant-General Kenneth McLeod as the first General Officer Commanding in January 1939.
Once Rangoon had fallen to Japanese troops on the 5/6 March 1942Borth, Christy. Masters of Mass Production, pp.218–9, Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1945. and Mandalay had fallen shortly thereafter, the command was disbanded.
After the war it was reformed from the core of the Twelfth Army on 1 October 1945.{{cite web|url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30075860|title=Badge, formation, 12th Army|publisher=Imperial War Museum|access-date=28 May 2020}} It was disbanded again when Burma became an independent country under the Burma Independence Act 1947 in January 1948.{{cite web|url=http://www.burmalibrary.org/reg.burma/archives/199507/msg00015.html |title=Burma independence documents|publisher=Burma Library|access-date=28 May 2020}}
Commanders
Commanders included:
- Lieutenant-General Kenneth McLeod: 1939 – 1941{{cite web|url=http://generals.dk/general/McLeod/Donald_Kenneth/Great_Britain.html|title=McLeod, Donald Kenneth|publisher=Generals.dk|access-date=27 May 2020}}
- Lieutenant-General Thomas Hutton: 1941 – 1942{{Cite web|url=http://www.kingscollections.org/catalogues/lhcma/collection/h/hu90-001/|title=King's Collections : Archive Catalogues : HUTTON, Lt Gen Sir Thomas Jacomb (1890-1981)|website=www.kingscollections.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161209143956/http://www.kingscollections.org/catalogues/lhcma/collection/h/hu90-001/|language=en|access-date=2017-12-29|archive-date=2016-12-09}}
- General Sir Harold Alexander: March 1942 – May 1942{{London Gazette| issue=35503| date=27 March 1942|page=1399}}
:Under Japanese rule from 1942 to 1945
- Lieutenant-General Harold Briggs: 1945 – 1948{{London Gazette |issue=38161 |date=30 December 1947 |page=8 |supp=y}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.rothwell.force9.co.uk/burmaweb/BurmaArmy.htm Burma Army]
{{British armies, commands, and corps during the Second World War}}
Category:Commands of the British Army
Category:Military units and formations established in 1930
Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1942