Mogaung ( ; ) is a town in

Kachin State Kachin State (; Jingpho language, Kachin: ) is the northernmost administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. It is bordered by China to the north and east (Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibet and Yunnan, respectively), Shan State to the sou ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. It is situated on the

Mandalay Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553. Mandalay was founded in 1857 by Ki ...

Myitkyina Myitkyina (, ; Jingpho language, Jinghpaw: ''Myitkyina'', ; , ''Sèna'') is the capital city of Kachin State in Myanmar (Burma), located from Yangon, and from Mandalay. In Burmese language, Burmese it means "near the big river", and Myitkyina i ...

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

History

Mogaung or Möng Kawng was the name and capital (royal seat) of a relatively major one of the petty Shan (ethnic Tai) principalities. It was ruled by a ''

saopha Saopha (), also spelled Sawbwa, was the title used by hereditary rulers of Shan states in Upper Myanmar. Chaopha and Chao Fa were similar titles used by the hereditary Tai rulers in mainland Southeast Asia and the Ahom kingdom in India. Nam ...

'' (Burmese: ''sawbwa''; Shan-prince of the highest rank), since that state was founded (according to legend in 58BC, under the ritual name Udiri Pale), interrupted by Chinese imperial occupations in 1479–1483 and 1495 and Burmese occupations in 1651–1742 and 1771–1775 until its annexation in 1796 by the

Ava Ava or AVA may refer to: Places Asia and Oceania * Ava Kingdom, in upper Burma from 1364 to 1555 ** Inwa, formerly Ava, the capital of Ava Kingdom ** Earl of Ava, a British colonial earldom in Burma * Ava, Iran, Gilan Province, a village * Iva ...

-based

kingdom of Burma The Konbaung dynasty (), also known as the Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်), was the last dynasty that ruled Burma from 1752 to 1885. It created the second-largest empire in history of Mya ...

. In June 1944 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the then heavily-defended town was the site of a three-week battle when the 77th

Chindit The Chindits, officially known as Long Range Penetration Groups, were special operations units of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian armies which saw action in 1943–1944 during the Burma Campaign of World War II. ...

Brigade under Brigadier

Michael Calvert Brigadier James Michael Calvert, (6 March 1913 – 26 November 1998) was a British Army officer who was involved in special operations in Burma during the Second World War. He participated in both Chindit operations and was instrumental in popul ...

, later assisted by Chinese forces of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, fought-for and captured Mogaung from the occupying forces of

Imperial Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

. For their behaviour during the fighting two members of the 3rd/6th Gurkha Rifles, Captain

Michael Allmand Michael Allmand (22 August 1923 – 24 June 1944) was an British VCs of World War 2, English Second World War recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to B ...

, and Rifleman Tul Bahadur Pun, were each subsequently awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

, in Allmand's case, posthumously. At the time of the battle Calvert's Chindit force had been behind enemy lines for three months as part of Operation Thursday.

Sources

WorldStatesMen – Burma/Myanmar – Shan&Karen states
(which lists the last rulers)

External links

Falling Rain Genomics, Inc.
"Mogaung Map — Satellite Images of Mogaung"
Maplandia.com Township capitals of Myanmar Populated places in Kachin State {{Kachin-geo-stub