The Battle of Insein Never Really Ended

By AUNG ZAW

Captain Tun Tin and his fellow officers of the 5th Burma Rifles were taking a break from ongoing battles with communists and Mujahedeen rebels in Arakan State. When off duty at their barracks, they usually tuned in to the radio for news and light entertainment.

An announcer suddenly broke into the broadcast with the dramatic words: “The Union of Burma is now facing a great danger.” The message was repeated three times and then the radio went off the air.

Two radio operators, Karen officers named Arthur and George, approached hurriedly and handed an incoming wireless message to Tun Tin. It read: “Attention 5 Burif, repeat Attention 5 Burif. Abandon Arakan, Repeat Abandon Arakan. Troops Dispatch Forthwith, Troops Dispatch Forthwith. Dakota Planes awaiting Akyab Airfield. Ack receipt, repeat Ack receipt.”

Then came the news that rebel soldiers of the Karen National Defense Organization had seized the Rangoon suburb of Insein.

Tun Tin and soldiers immediately left for the Sittwe (Akyab) airfield and boarded the Dakotas, planes of Indonesia’s recently launched Garuda airline, provided by the Indonesian government at the request of the newly formed Burmese government led by President Sao Shwe Thaike and Prime Minister U Nu.

Tun Tin’s commanding officer, Col Saw Myint, later recalled that it was the first time Burmese soldiers were airlifted to a battlefield—in this case, Rangoon.

As soon as he landed at Rangoon airport, Tun Tin half-jokingly told senior officers who briefed him on the Insein emergency: “We’ll go shopping in Insein within four or five days.”

It was January 1949, barely one year after Burma won independence from Britain.

Hostilities between the Karen and Burmans had been escalating since 1948 as Burmese troops tried to disarm Karen soldiers who had fought alongside Britain against the Japanese in World War II. Karen and Burmans shared a history of distrust and the Karen soldiers who had supported the British war effort feared they would be vulnerable to attack by Burmese troops if they surrendered their weapons.

When the Thirty Comrades led by Gen Aung San entered Burma with Japanese troops to liberate Burma from British rule, many Karen continued to support Britain, harassing the Japanese and providing intelligence to the British.

In the Irrawaddy delta region, the Karen population also resisted the new administration backed by the Burma Independence Army (BIA).

A rebellion in the delta was led by Shwe Htun Kya, who—according to Maj Kyaw Zaw, a member of the Thirty Comrades—commanded only about 100 armed men, who had refused to disarm and surrender their weapons. Retreating British officers left Shwe Htun Kya with arms and ammunition and reportedly told him: “We will be back soon. Keep up the resistance.”

Col Suzuki (aka Bo Moe Gyoe), who helped train Aung San and the Thirty Comrades, traveled to Myaungmya to investigate the Karen rebellion.

A Japanese colonel was killed during the mission and Suzuki ordered revenge. In Myaungmya alone, about 150 Karen, including former cabinet minister Saw Pe Tha, were executed by the BIA and Japanese troops.

The Karen retaliated by killing many Burmans.

In his autobiography, Kyaw Zaw acknowledged responsibility for much of the killing in the delta. Entering one town, Phyu, Kyaw Zaw found that 200 people had been killed by the Karen National Defense Organization (KNDO).

The violence spread to Rangoon, where Insein was taken over by the KNDO. Ne Win, the country’s new army chief of staff, removed senior Karen officers from the War Office and called in forces from the north and south.

Kyaw Zaw, a colonel and commander of the northern region, based in Maymyo, was among those recalled to the capital.

He recalled that as soon as he entered the War Office, Ne Win threw down a military map and thundered: “You are now in charge …go and fight the Insein battle.”

Kyaw Zaw replaced Brig General Aung Thinn, who was “permitted to retire” by Ne Win, who was suspicious of the southern commander’s loyalty. Aung Tin fought with the British General Orde Wingate and was a close friend of the charismatic Karen leader Saw Ba U Gyi.

The Battle of Insein began, with the War Office issuing the order: “Not to retreat one inch from your position.”

All roads into Rangoon were blocked by Karen soldiers and only the air route was open for government reinforcements.

The Karen rebels had earlier raided Mingaladon Air Force base and seized ammunition, although they did not take over the airport. If Karen forces had taken the airport, government reinforcements from Arakan would not have been able to land in Rangoon. They would have taken weeks to arrive by sea, and by then Rangoon would have been under Karen control.

In their books, Tun Tin, Kyaw Zaw and Saw Myint maintained that if Rangoon had been taken by the rebels Burma would again fall prey to imperialist slavery under colonialist rule.

Kyaw Zaw and Tun Tin believed that Britain bore part of the blame for the fighting between Karen and Burman. The irony was that Tun Tin and his officers later traveled to London and studied there, learning the “four cuts” British warfare strategy which would later defeat Burma’s ethnic insurgents.

The Battle of Insein failed to have a serious effect on daily life in Rangoon. The city’s cinemas were still showing up to four programs a day and schools remained open.

Movie stars and musicians performed for the troops on the Insein front line, where soldiers requested encores with the plea: “Before we die in the battle, could you please sing one more song!”

Karen snipers commanding strategic positions gave government forces a hard time. Tun Tin recalled telling his men in the face of a fierce Karan attack: “We will never surrender, we will leave our bones here but we will never surrender.”

As Karen soldiers advanced and snipers took their toll, Tun Tin whipped up the morale of his men by climbing from the trenches and urging them on.

Ne Win, an army commander at the time, recalled in the book “Burma and General Ne Win,” written by the scholar Dr Maung Maung, who was briefly president in 1988:

“Once, a troop of men in front of Insein would not move on order to attack. They had grown weary and battle-shy. Tun Tin, their leader, jumped up from the trench and walked up and down with a little swagger telling the men that death would not come until one’s time is up.” Bullets whizzed round like him bees, but he remained untouched. The men then rose and marched forward to attack with Tun Tin leading them.”

Tun Tin was decorated and received the title of “Thura” for his bravery. Others who were awarded medals included Aung San Thuriya and Thiha Thuriya.

Kyaw Zaw, who had previously known only guerrilla warfare, described the Battle of Insein as his “first military academy.” He lost many officers and men in the battle, describing Insein as a graveyard littered with corpses. On the battlefield, he met Col Kyi Maung, who later became a prominent leader of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.

Ceasefire talks between Karen leader Saw Ba U Gyi and Burmese commanders were mediated by Indian diplomats, but the truce broke down after three days. It was a surrealistic break in the fighting—Karen soldiers were even allowed into Rangoon to watch movies.

The government used the pause to bring reinforcements from upper Burma aboard Garuda aircraft. The Karen found themselves short of ammunition and with no open lines for supplies or reinforcements. The fighting resumed.

During breaks in the fighting, Tun Tin and his officers roamed Rangoon and spent time in a hotel in Fraser Street, now renamed Anawrahta Street. The former colonial-era student prayed at Shwedagon Pagoda for victory, pledging to save the union from disintegration and his motherland’s “fragile independence.”

Although some foreign historians have depicted the Battle of Insein as a conflict between Burman troops and Karen rebels, Tun Tin noted that soldiers from different regions of Burma helped to defend Rangoon.

They included Chin, Kayah, Shan, Gurkha and Kachin battalions (though some Kachin took up arms against the U Nu government).

The most decisive role in defending Insein was played by the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Chin Rifles, fighting on what is regarded as the most strategic battle front of all. Some insurgents, including communists, reinforced Burmese forces before going back to the jungle to repel Burmese troops.

The battle lasted 112 days, finally ending in May 1949. About 500 Karen soldiers and civilians died.

Fifteen major actions were fought before the Karen began to withdraw from Insein at the end of April.

Tun Tin observed the retreat through his binoculars and noted it was calm and impressive. He had to wait before fulfilling that ambition to go shopping in Insein, however.

In a visit to Insein hospital, he saw Karen nurses led by Dr Saw Marcus Paw treating wounded Karen soldiers, singing as they worked.

An Arakanese medic with the Burmese Army, Dr Htun Aung Kyaw, offered to help the Karen medical team. Tun Tin saw tears in the eyes of Karen nurses, surprised at the unexpected offer of aid from a former adversary.

The Battle of Insein was over, but the Karens’ fight for equal rights continued—and lingers on.

Karen soldiers were pushed through the Irrawaddy delta and later to the Thai-Burmese border. In 1950, Saw Ba U Gyi and senior Karen leaders were killed at the Thai-Burmese border.

Tun Tin served as a “moderate force” in the Ne Win government, becoming deputy prime minister in the 1980s and frequently traveling abroad to seek development aid for Burma from the West.

He was briefly Prime Minister, but resigned at the time of the 1988 uprising. He lives quietly now in Rangoon, meditating and writing. A recent book describes his army experience and contains a description of the Battle of Insein.

Kyaw Zaw led a famous battle against invading Kuomintang forces in northern Burma but was sacked in 1957, accused of leaking information to the Communist Party of Burma (CPB). He and his family made clandestine journey to northern Burma and joined the CPB in 1976.

In his book, Kyaw Zaw admitted that he was a faithful party member of CPB and that he had long maintained a line of communication with the party.

Karen soldiers and civilians recently celebrated in the jungle on the Thai-Burmese border the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Karen National Union, whose aim of justice and peace in Burma remains a distant dream. The Battle of Insein never truly ended.