Formation The Burma Military Police was raised in 1886 to reduce the cost of controlling Upper Burma by replacing regular Indian army units. The first unit of the BMP was the Mogaung Levy in March 1886. The Mogaung Levy was a Gurkha unit and was later absorbed into the Bhamo Military Police battalion. In 1886, it had a strength of 500, declining to 262 in 1919. Initial forces of the BMP were raised from Punjab and Nepal, and recruited Punjabi, Indian, Assamese, Manipuri and Gurkha men. At the time, local ethnic groups in Burma were not allowed into the BMP as they were seen as unsuitable. However, the range of ethnic groups being recruited was expanded in 1909 when Chins became the first non-Indian ethnicity to join. The range now included Garhwali, Sikh, Rajput, Chin, Kareni and Burmese men. On the Western Front, they were tasked with supporting various regiments in Flanders and France, and also served in the Gallipoli campaign.
World War II In early 1940, the Governor of Burma,
Archibald Douglas Cochrane, began expanding the BMP by transferring 452 men of the Burma Frontier Force to the BMP. By February 1941, the BMP consisted of 4,301. In November 1941, Governor
Reginald Dorman-Smith authorised an ordinance which allowed the BMP to be placed under the
General Officer commanding the Burma army in the event of a war in Asia. Before the Japanese invasion, the BMP was being given small unit tactical training by the Burma army. detachments from the BMP provided the 17th Indian Infantry division patrols on its flank when the army was retreating from the advancing Japanese. Throughout the war, the BMP escorted transportation and communication for the division. Meanwhile, the Mandalay battalion was tasked with protected the railway lines between Myitkyina and Mandalay. The battalion would remain headquartered in Mandalay up until the Japanese capture of the city. When they began a withdrawal from Mandalay, many of the Burmese who made up the battalion deserted. On 20 February 1942, the BMP came under the control of the Burma army, where it was then dissolved and incorporated into the 1st Burma Corps. On 6 April, a group of men from the Rangoon battalions were transferred to the 17th Indian Infantry division. Later on 15 June, the 10,000 former men of the BMP were sent to Hoshiarpur, Punjab and from June to December 1942, they were examined to determine their ability for service in the Burma regiment established in October 1942. == Strength ==