https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Women%27s_Auxiliary_Service_%28Burma%29Women's Auxiliary Service (Burma) - Revision history2026-08-29T10:13:52ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Women%27s_Auxiliary_Service_(Burma)&diff=374655&oldid=prevBot: robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.2022-06-20T20:44:08Z<p>robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my <a href="/wiki/User_talk:Bot" title="User talk:Bot">talk page</a>.</p>
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The '''Women's Auxiliary Service (Burma)''' ('''WAS(B)''') also known as ''the Chinthe Women'' because of the mythological creature that formed their badge.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Childs|first=David|title=Growing Remembrance: The Story of the National Memorial Arboretum|publisher=Pen and Sword|date=Sep 22, 2008|isbn=978-1844685981}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Joffe|first=Sally and Lucy|title=CHINTHE WOMEN, Women's Auxiliary Service (Burma) 1942-46. wealth of personal stories about this unique band of women operating in a war zone,http://www.tenterbooks.com/chinthe.html|publisher=Tenter books|pages=all}}</ref> The unit was formed on 16 January 1942 and disbanded in 1946. They were a 250 strong group of British and Australian women who manned Mobile Canteens for the troops of [[Burma Command]] in World War II. They were founded and led by Mrs Ninian Taylor, who was granted the rank of Major and her services were an [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] for her services <ref>{{Cite book|last=Adie|first=Kate|title=Corsets To Camouflage: Women and War|publisher=Hachette UK|date=Aug 2, 2004|isbn=184894361X|location=UK}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite web|title=Supplement to the London Gazette:Members of the Military Division of the said Most Excellent Order|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35763/supplement/4687/data.pdf|last=Taylor|first=Ninian|date=1942-10-27|website=Supplement to the London Gazette}}</ref><br />
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The unit moved through Burma with the [[British Fourteenth Army]] running mobile canteens providing "char & wads".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dinan|first=Jacqueline|title=Between the Dances, WW2 Woman tell their Stories|publisher=Simon and Schuster|date=Mar 1, 2015|isbn=9781925183030|location=Australia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=WOMEN OF THE WOMEN'S AUXILIARY SERVICE (BURMA) AT SHILLONG. WAS(B) women dishing out refreshments to soldiers at a mobile canteen; they wear the sword and shield patch of the 14th Army. The soldiers are from a Scottish regiment. FILM No: JFU 150|url=https://film.iwmcollections.org.uk/record/1147|date=1944-09-01|website=Imperial war Museum (IMW) film archive}}</ref> living in dangerous and uncomfortable conditions, sleeping in bombed out, rat infested houses or tents with their stores and equipment brought in by air.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Elaine Cheverton; British NCO served with Women's Auxiliary Service (Burma) in India, Burma and Japan, 1942-1946|url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80021279|last=Cheverton|first=Elaine|website=Imperial War Museum (IWM). Oral history}}</ref> They improvised stoves from old ammunition boxes. They were evacuated from [[Myitkyina]] on the last plane, and from the [[Battle of Imphal]] during the siege, but returned as soon as the Japanese retreated, eventually reaching Japan with the [[British Commonwealth Occupation Force]].<br />
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Many were mentioned in dispatches. [[General Slim]] later 1st Viscount Slim, Commander of the 14th Army known as the "Forgotten Army", said of them "They showed the highest standard of devotion and courage." Lieutenant General Sir [[Oliver Leese]] referred to them as "the biggest single factor affecting the moral of the forward troops"<ref>{{Cite book|last=Childs|first=David|title=Growing Remembrance|publisher=Pen and Sword|date=Sep 22, 2008|isbn=978-1844685981|pages=Chapter 4}}</ref> <br />
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==Reference==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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[[Category:Military units and formations of British India]]<br />
[[Category:South-East Asian theatre of World War II]]<br />
[[Category:All-female military units and formations]]<br />
[[Category:Occupied Japan]]<br />
[[Category:Military units and formations of Burma in World War II]]<br />
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1942]]<br />
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1946]]<br />
[[Category:British Commonwealth Occupation Force]]<br />
[[Category:Women in Myanmar]]<br />
{{Women's-History-stub}}<br />
{{UK-mil-unit-stub}}<br />
{{WWII-stub}}</div>Bot