Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-8zxtt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-10T19:20:22.302Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

8 - Deployed to Burma

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2015

Get access

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.

Type
Chapter
Information
Women Against the Raj
The Rani of Jhansi Regiment
, pp. 88 - 98
Publisher: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
Print publication year: 2008

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.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×