Actions of The Burma Independence Army
On 7 December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and Britain. On 28 December, at a ceremony in Bangkok, the Minami Kikan was declared dissolved and the Burma Independence Army was formed in its place. The BIA initially numbered 227 Burmese and 74 Japanese. Some of the Burmese soldiers were second-generation residents in Thailand, who could not speak Burmese. The BIA formed several small units which were assigned to participate in the invasion of Burma in January 1942, initially as intelligence-gatherers, saboteurs and foragers.
As the Japanese entered Burma, many Burmese volunteers joined the BIA. By the time the Japanese forces reached Rangoon on 8 March, the BIA numbered 12,000, and eventually swelled to 18,000. Many of the volunteers who joined the BIA were not officially recruited, but rather individuals or gangs who took to calling themselves BIA to further their own activities. The Japanese provided few weapons to the BIA, but they armed themselves from abandoned or captured British weapons.
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