8 - Deployed to Burma

Summary

The major part of the story of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment occurred in Burma from March 1944 to August 1945. From Rangoon to Meiktila, Mandalay and Maymyo, up and down the rugged terrain and across three major rivers, the rigorous training and night route marches continued. The Ranis were prepared and eager to advance to the front to join their INA brothers in battle. As units of Ranis passed through villages, more Indian girls volunteered, impressed by seeing these young women in uniform, carrying backpacks and rifles. The sight was contagious.

By the time the Singapore recruits reached Rangoon, the training curriculum was standard and expanded for the new Burma recruits who had not experienced the Singapore training. In addition to the Singapore curriculum, in Burma, additions were made to the training regimen. Guerrilla warfare, map reading, coding and decoding, first aid, sabotage, reconnoitering, camouflaging, ambushing, and digging trenches were all included. Night route marches were routine, often twenty miles and more. Those who had not signed on for nursing duty were also impressed into duty, as hospitals, doctors, and regular nurses were all overloaded with the INA wounded and dying who poured in from the battlefront. Medical supplies were inadequate, which increased the suffering of the wounded and the doctors, nurses, and other Ranis pressed into caring for them.

Recruitment in Burma also continued in part due to the inspiration of a young woman named Manawati Arya, who was born in Meiktila in 1920. Daughter of a postal department official and a mother from Uttar Pradesh in India, Manawati's formal schooling was entirely in Burmese and English. Her father subscribed to Indian magazines and newspapers, and the home was a centre for other Indians interested in the struggle for freedom. For her first eleven years, her father home schooled her and made certain that she was fluent in Hindi and imbued with a love of India. She entered Rangoon University and studied biology. When her father lost his job under Japanese occupation, Manawati took a job teaching in Rangoon to support the family and also worked for the League part-time.