Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-l82ql Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-29T08:20:28.094Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

“An Empire Gem”: British Wartime Planning for Post-War Burma, 1943–44

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 April 2011

Nicholas Tarling
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

British planning for post-war Burma had been set back by the Cabinet's decision in April 1943 not to adopt the proposals put forward by Leopold Amery, the Secretary of State. Designed also to meet the need for wartime propaganda, the proposals had envisaged a programme of reconstruction aided by the British, carried forward during a period of direct rule, to be followed by advance towards self-government. There were doubts about the amount of aid Britain could promise. There were also doubts as to the wisdom of the concept of direct rule, though in fact the Cabinet accepted the principle without setting a limit to the period. Above all, the Prime Minister opposed further policy declarations on Burma. The war, Churchill believed, was not the time for them. Amery and Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith, the Governor, thought that he really believed that no time would be right for them. They were not without hope that he would “come round”. Meanwhile, it was decided that the Burma Government, in exile in Simla, would remain in existence. “I can not help thinking that it would be a bad thing politically actually to do away with the office of Governor of Burma, if only because it would [be] a welcome propaganda point for the Japanese who would doubtless use it to demonstrate either that we have given up all hopes of retaking Burma or that we visualise setting up a Military Government in Burma.…”

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , September 1982 , pp. 310 - 348
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore 1982

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Dorman-Smith to Amery, 1 July 1943, MSS. Eur. E.215/4, India Office Records, London.

2 Dorman-Smith to Amery, 28 July 1943, ibid.

3 Dorman-Smith to Linlithgow, 12 July 1943, Eur. E. 215/11.

4 Daily Express, 21 July 1943.

5 Amery to Prime Minister, 21 July 1943, PREM 4/50/3, Public Record Office, London.

6 Minute, 22 July 1943, ibid.

7 Telegram, 26 July 1943, 53, ibid.

8 Amery to Churchill, 28 July 1943, ibid.

9 Minute, 1 Aug. 1943, ibid.

10 Amery to Dorman-Smith, 5 Aug. 1943, Eur. E.215/3.

11 Tait to Chairman, 18 Mar. 1943, sent 7 May, R 8/8/2, India Office Records.

12 Paw Tun to Dorman-Smith, 2 Aug. 1943, Eur. E.215/13.

13 Paw Tun to Dorman-Smith, 25 Aug. 1943, ibid.

14 Memorandum for H.E., 2 Sept. 1943, R 8/8/1.

15 Minute, 20 Sept. 1943, ibid.

16 Collis, M., Last and First in Burma (London, 1956), p. 209Google Scholar. See also Taylor, Robert H., “Politics in Late Colonial Burma: The Case of U Saw”, Modern Asian Studies X, 2 (1976): 189–90Google Scholar.

17 Memorandum, Question of basis of future planning for long-term reconstruction of Burma, 18 Sept. 1943, Burma File P & G 143/46, India Office Records. On Lord Hailey, see Lee, J.M., Colonial Development and Good Government (Oxford, 1967), pp. 16–17Google Scholar.

18 Memorandum, 20 Dec. 1943, ibid.

19 Notes on a possible Agenda for further discussion with the Firms [? May 1943], M/5/39, India Office Records.

20 Dorman-Smith to Amery, 17 June 1943, Eur. E.215/4.

21 Amery to Dorman-Smith, 5 July 1943, Eur. E.215/3.

22 Monteath to Dorman-Smith, 5 July 1943, ibid.

23 Notes of meeting of 8 Sept. 1943, in two versions, M/5/39.

24 Minute by Oxbury, 12 Oct. 1943, ibid.

25 Michie to Dorman-Smith, 11 Oct. 1943, ibid.

26 Hughes to Michie, 15 Oct. 1943, ibid.

27 Note of a meeting between the Governor and representatives of Forest Firms, 20 Oct. 1943, ibid.

28 Minutes in ibid.

29 Minutes, 2 Nov. 1943, ibid.

30 Minutes, 4, 5, 19 Nov. 1943, ibid.

31 Monteath to Barlow, 20 Oct. 1943, BF 83/44.

32 Civil Administration in Burma immediately after Reoccupation, W.P. (43), 242, 15 June 1943, L/PO/236, India Office Records.

33 Memorandum, Economic Rehabilitation. Burma, 25 Oct. 1943, BF 83/44.

34 Minutes, 1 Nov. [1943], ibid.; BF P & G 143/46.

35 Wilcox to Johnston, 13 Nov. 1943, ibid.

36 Michie to Tait, 2 July 1943, R 8/8/2.

37 Hughes to Donnison, 20 Oct. 1943, F.O. 643/26, Public Record Office.

38 Telegram from Chungking, 18 Oct. 1943, 1089, F.O. 371/35916 [F5434/783/61]: L/PO/236.

39 Dorman-Smith to Secretary of State, 28 Oct. 1943, F.O. 643/26.

40 Dorman-Smith to Bevin, 28 Oct. 1943, Eur. E.215/20.

41 Walton to Kirby, 6 Nov. 1943, L/PO/236.

42 Minute by Secretary of State, 4 Nov. 1943, PREM 4/50/3.

43 Carson to Peck, 4 Nov. 1943, ibid.

44 Collis, p. 210.

45 Minute, 5 Nov. 1943, PREM 4/50/3.

46 Dorman-Smith to Prime Minister, 8 Nov. 1943, draft, Eur. E. 215/ 20. See also narrative in Eur. E. 215/32.

47 See questions by Sorensen, 11 Nov. 1943, M3/734 (BF 9103/39 Part V); and Dugdale, 2 Dec, M3/730 (BF 9103/39 Part 1).

48 Extract from Great Britain and the East, 20 Nov. 1943, and note, 23 Dec., F.O. 371/35916 [F6192/783/61].

49 Barlow to Monteath, 13 Dec. 1943, and note thereon, BF 83/44.

50 Minute by Walton, 30 Dec. 1943; Amery to Dorman-Smith, 4 Jan. 1944, BF P & G 143/46.

51 Draft in R 8/8/4.

52 Dorman-Smith to Amery, 13 Feb. 1944, Eur. E.215/6.

53 Dorman-Smith to Paw Tun, 11 Feb., 1 Jan. 1944, Eur. E.215/13. Telegram to Secburlon, 31 Dec. 1943, 81, R 8/5/1.

54 Telegram to Burgovind, 28 Jan. 1944, 11, ibid.

55 Telegram to Secburlon, 31 Jan. 1944, 9, ibid.

56 Amery to Dorman-Smith, 28 Jan. 1944, Eur. E.215/5.

57 Dorman-Smith to Amery, 12 Mar. 1944, Eur. E.215/6.

58 Dorman-Smith to Paw Tun, 19 Mar. 1944, Eur. E.215/13.

59 Dorman-Smith to Munster, May 1944, Eur. E.215/6.

60 Dorman-Smith to Mountbatten, 10 Mar. 1944, R 8/5/1.

61 Mountbatten to Dorman-Smith, 25 Mar. 1944, ibid.

62 Wilcox to Johnston, 7 Jan. 1944; Walton to Michie, s.d., BF 83/44.

63 Note on Walton to Hughes, 22 Feb. 1944, R 8/8/2.

64 Provision of working capital for British firms operating in Burma, note of a meeting at Treasury, 19 Jan. 1944, R 8/8/2.

65 Note by Johnston, 19 Jan. 1944, BF 83/44.

66 Michie to Under-Secretary, 7 Mar. 1944, ibid.; R 8/8/2.

67 Minute for Monteath, 9 Mar. 1944, BF 83/44.

68 Dorman-Smith to Amery, Apr. 1944, Eur. E.215/6.

67 Telegram to Secburlon, 12 Apr. 1944, 200, R 8/8/2; BF 83/44.

68 Minute by Johnston, 15 Apr. 1944, ibid.

69 Draft attached to minute by Johnston, 25 Apr. 1944, ibid.

70 Wilcox to Johnston, 22 May 1944, ibid.

71 Note by Iliff, on financing of the rehabilitation of Burma's industry and commerce, 24 May 1944, R 8/8/3.

72 Iliff to Dorman-Smith, 5 June 1944, R 8/8/3.

73 Recollections of Sir Arthur Bruce, Eur. E.362, pp. 53–55.

76 Iiff to Dorman-Smith, 6 June 1944, R 8/8/3.

77 Telegram to Secburlon, 21 Mar. 1944, 156, R 8/8/2.

78 Memorandum, 30 May 1944, R 8/8/2.

79 Note on the future of Commerce and Industry in Burma, 20 June 1944; Hughes to Walton, 3 July, R 8/8/3.

80 Dorman-Smith to Munster, 16 Apr. 1944, Eur. E.215/6.

81 Dorman-Smith to Munster, May 1944, ibid.

82 Monteath to Dorman-Smith, 4 Aug. 1944, Eur. E.215/5.

83 Munster to Dorman-Smith, 4 Jan. 1944, ibid.

84 Munster to Dorman-Smith, 13 Mar. 1944, ibid.

85 Munster to Dorman-Smith, 2 June 1944, ibid.

86 Walton to Dorman-Smith, 6 July 1944, ibid.

87 Draft note of meeting with the Burma Sub-Committee of the Imperial Policy Group of the Conservative Party held at the Burma Office, 23 May 1944, L/PO/5; R 8/8/3.

88 Dorman-Smith to Amery, ?13 June 1944, Eur. E. 215/6.

89 Amery to Dorman-Smith, 23 June 1944, Eur. E 215/5.

90 Dorman-Smith to Amery, 1 July 1944, Eur. E.215/6.

91 Dorman-Smith to Munster, 13 June 1944, ibid.

92 Minister to Dorman-Smith, 30 June 1944, Eur. E.215/5.

93 Dorman-Smith to Munster, 16 July 1944, Eur. E.215/6.

94 Munster to Dorman-Smith, n.d. [? July 1944], Eur. E. 215/5.

95 [Draft] Report of the Burma Sub-Committee, L/PO/238.

96 Comments by the Governor of Burma, 11 Aug. 1944, ibid.

97 Dorman-Smith to Munster, 16 Aug. 1944, Eur. E.215/6.

98 Monteath to Dorman-Smith, 4 Aug. 1944, personal, Eur. E.215/5.

99 Note of discussion on Thursday 3 Aug. 1944, L/PO/238.

100 Iliff to Dorman-Smith, 7 or 8 Aug. 1944, ibid.; Eur. E.215/5.

101 Iliff to Monteath, 7 Aug. 1944, ibid.

102 Amery to Dorman-Smith, 16 June 1944, ibid.

103 Dorman-Smith to Amery, 18 Aug. 1944, Eur. E.215/6.

104 Note by Walton, 9 Aug. 1944, L/PO/238.

105 Minute by Monteath, 9 Aug. 1944, ibid.

106 Note by Walton, 31 Aug. 1944, ibid.

107 Note, 2 Sept. 1944, ibid.

108 Memorandum on the Financial Aspects of ‘Governmental’ Reconstruction, 31 Aug. 1944, R 8/5/3; BF 83/44; BF E53/46. Burma's Debt to India, 28 Aug. 1944, L/PO/5.

109 Memorandum on the Financial Aspects of Industrial Reconstruction, 12 Aug. 1944, R 8/5/3; L/PO/5; BF 83/44.

110 Iliff to Dorman-Smith, 28 Aug. 1944, R 8/5/3.

111 Note of a meeting at Treasury, 31 Aug. 1944, ibid.; BF 83/44.

112 Minute, 2 Sept. 1944, L/PO/238.

113 Telegram to Burgovind, 7 Sept. 1944, 52, L/PO/238.

114 Dorman-Smith to Amery, 13 Sept. 1944, Eur. E.215/6.

115 Notes, 10 Oct. 1944, L/PO/238.

116 Amery to Dorman-Smith, 11 Oct. 1944, private, Eur. E.215/5.

117 Note for Walton, 30 Oct. 1944, L/PO/238.

118 Dorman-Smith to Amery, 17 Oct. 1944, ibid.

119 Dorman-Smith to Amery, 5 Nov. 1944, Eur. E.215/6.

120 Dorman-Smith to Mountbatten, 3 Aug. 1944, Eur. E.215/14.

121 Dorman-Smith to Amery, 16 Oct. 1944, Eur. E.215/6.

122 Dorman-Smith to ?Amery, 30 Oct. 1944, ibid.

123 Supreme Commander's Personal Diary, 25 Oct. 1944, W.O.172/1734, Public Record Office; telegram to Secburlon, 6 Dec. 1944, 52, L/PO/238.

124 Memorandum, 27 Dec. 1943, R 8/8/1.

125 MacDougall to ?Dorman-Smith, n.d., incomplete, Eur. E.215/17.

126 MacDougall to Dorman-Smith, 18 Sept. 1944, ibid.

127 MacDougall to Dorman-Smith, 23 Sept. 1944, ibid.

128 MacDougall to Dorman-Smith, 9 Oct. 1944, ibid.

129 Memorandum, 9 or 10 Oct. 1944, ibid.; R/1/5.

130 Hughes to Walton, 1 Nov. 1944, Eur. E.215/17.

131 Dorman-Smith to MacDougall, 22 Oct. 1944, ibid.

132 Note for Walton, 30 Oct. 1944, L/PO/238.

133 Minutes, 14, 17 Nov. 1944, ibid.

134 Drafts in ibid.

135 Minute, 22 Nov. 1944, ibid.

136 Minute, 23 Nov. 1944, ibid.; PREM 4/50/3.

137 Blue Print for Burma, Report by Certain Conservative Members of Parliament on the Future of Burma (London, 1944).

138 Times, 15 Nov. 1944.

139 House of Commons, 29 Nov. 1944.

140 Stuart to Amery, 2 Dec. 1944, PREM 4/50/3.

141 Turnbull to Martin, 2 Dec. 1944, L/PO/5.

142 Churchill for Chief Whip, 3 Dec. 1944, PREM 4/50/3.

143 WM 161 (44) 9, 4 Dec. 1944, CAB 65/44, Public Record Office.

144 Bridges to Amery, 5 Dec. 1944, L/PO/5.

145 Wavell, , The Viceroy's Journal, ed. Moon, P. (London, 1973), pp. 99, 102, 106–108Google Scholar.

146 Amery to Attlee, 5 Dec. 1944, L/PO/5.

147 Dorman-Smith to Amery, 29 Dec. 1944, Eur. E.215/6.

148 Amery to Dorman-Smith, 13 Dec. 1944, Eur. E.215/5.

149 Hansard, Vol. 406, No. 8, cols. 1076–1127.

150 De Chair to Amery, 14 Dec. 1944, BF 171/44.

151 Monteath to Gilbert, 12 Oct. 1944, BF 83/44.

152 Gilbert to Monteath, 26 Oct. 1944, ibid.

153 Note of meeting, 7 Nov. 1944, ibid.

154 [Draft] Memo, Government Assistance towards Re-establishment of Industry in Burma after the War, and redraft by Wright, ibid.

155 Meeting at Treasury, 15 Nov. 1944, BF E 53/46.

156 Smith to James, 11 Dec. 1944; Winnifrith to Smith, 21 December, ibid.

157 MacDougall to Dorman-Smith, 7 Nov. 1944, R 8/1/6; F.O. 643/5.

158 MacDougall to Walton, 9 Nov. 1944, R 8/1/6.

159 Notes, 3, 7, 8 Nov. 1944, ibid.

160 MacDougall to Dorman-Smith, 13 Nov. 1944, ibid.; F.O. 643/5.

161 See note 124

162 Morrison, Ian, Grandfather Longlegs (London, 1947), pp. 108, 112–13Google Scholar; Than, U Ba, The Roots of the Revolution (Rangoon, 1962), p. 49Google Scholar.

163 Mackenzie to Dorman-Smith, 2 Oct. 1944, R 8/8/1.

164 Dorman-Smith to Mackenzie, 7 Oct. 1944, ibid.

165 Peterson to Dorman-Smith, 7 Nov. 1944, Eur. E.215/16.

166 Mackenzie to Dorman-Smith, 4 Dec. 1944, Eur. E.215/20.

167 Donnison, F.S.V., British Military Administration in the Far East 1943–46 (London, 1956), p. 348Google Scholar.