Lance Corporal Za Kaia (1926 - 12 December 1949), (

Burmese Burmese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia * Burmese people * Burmese language * Burmese alphabet * Burmese cuisine * Burmese culture Animals * Burmese cat * Burmese chicken * Burmese (hor ...

: ဒုတပ်ကြပ်ဇာကိုင်း) (Burma Army Serial No: 50996) was an ethnic

Chin The chin is the forward pointed part of the anterior mandible (List_of_human_anatomical_regions#Regions, mental region) below the lower lip. A fully developed human skull has a chin of between 0.7 cm and 1.1 cm. Evolution The presence of a we ...

and a recipient of

Thiha Thura Thiha (Burmeze: သီဟ) is a Burmese name that may refer to *Hein Thiha Zaw (born 1995), Burmese football defender * Maha Thiha Thura (disambiguation) * Thiha Zaw (born 1993), Burmese football midfielder * Thiha Zaw (footballer, born 1994), Bu ...

() medal, the second highest award in Burma (Myanmar) for gallantry and bravery in the face of the enemy. Throughout

Myanmar Army The Myanmar Army ( my, တပ်မတော်(ကြည်း), ) is the largest branch of the Tatmadaw, Armed Forces (''Tatmadaw'') of Myanmar (Burma) and has the primary responsibility of conducting land-based military operations. The My ...

history, only 46 servicemen have been awarded this prestigious medal.

Early life

Za Kaia was born in the year of 1926 to Pu Neih Thula and Pi Thang Ngovi, in Zimte village,

Tedim Township Tedim or Tiddim Township ( my, တီးတိန်မြို့နယ်) is a township in Tedim District of the Chin State of Myanmar (Burma). The administrative centre for the township is the town of Tedim Tedim (, , ( Zo: ''Tedim Khawpi' ...

Chin Hills The Chin Hills are a range of mountains in Chin State, northwestern Burma, Burma (Myanmar), that extends northward into India's Manipur state. Geography The highest peak in the Chin Hills is Khonu Msung, or Mount Victoria, in southern Chin State ...

British Burma British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Military career

Pre-independence

At the age of 20, he joined the 2nd

Burma Rifles The Burma Rifles were a British colonial regiment raised in Burma. Founded in 1917 as a regiment of the British Indian Army, the regiment re-used the name of an unrelated earlier unit, the 10th Regiment (1st Burma Rifles) Madras Infantry, which evol ...

Battalion and quickly earned the respect of his officers and comrades. He was promoted to the rank of

Lance corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer (NCO), usually equi ...

in 1948 and entrusted him as a "Section Commander" i.e. he became a commander of 10 soldiers.

Post-independence

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

gained her independence from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 1948 and deadly civil war soon followed. Za Kaia continued to serve as Lance corporal in the 2nd Burma Rifles.

Nanmekhon Battle

In December, 1949, the "C" Company (about 150 soldiers) of the 2nd Burma Rifles Battalion marched towards

Kayah State Kayah State ( my, ကယားပြည်နယ်, formerly Karenni State) is a state of Myanmar. Situated in eastern Myanmar, it is bounded on the north by Shan State, on the east by Thailand's Mae Hong Son Province, and on the south and wes ...

to pursue the retreating

KNDO KNDO (channel 23) is a television station in Yakima, Washington, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the Spokane-based Cowles Company as part of the KHQ Television Group. KNDO's studios are located on West Yakima Avenue in downtow ...

insurgent force. Za Kaia and the "C" company departed Nyaunglebin (ညောင်လေးပင်) town in central

to frontier area of eastern Burma and soon engaged in a ferocious battle at Nanmekhon village, approximately 6.5miles west of

Loikaw Loikaw (, ) is the capital of Kayah State in Myanmar. It is located in the Karen Hills area, near the State's northern tip, just above an embayment on the Pilu River. The inhabitants are mostly Kayah (Karenni). Myanmar's largest hydropower plant ...

on 12 December 1949. As the KNDO force consisted of about 800 soldiers there, "C" Company of 2nd Burma Rifles was soon surrounded as the KNDO force were superiors in both soldier numbers and weapons. Za Kaia bravely fought rebelling force and showed tremendous courage and skill of a good soldier. Za Kaia and his comrades made defensive line and constantly engage with the rebelling force. They fought back while the KNDO troops shot them mercilessly. The condition was hopeless as the "C" company were pinned down and KNDO soldiers fired relentlessly. He then reported to his immediate officer that: "Captain, if we take defensive position like this, we all will soon be killed and annihilated. So, all of our troop better fall back while me and my section will remain in this defensive position to cover your retreat. I and my section will sacrifice our life so that you can save other soldiers and fight on another day". The company commander then gave a retreat order as Za Kaia suggested. Za Kaia and his section hold their position and resisted the rebelling force while the whole company was retreating to safety line. He took ammunitions of his fallen comrades and continued shooting, shooting and shooting. The enemy soldiers shouted to him to surrender but he and his section never surrendered and resisted until they all are killed. He and his section had sacrificed their life for their comrades.

Award

Due to his acts of extreme bravery, he was awarded Thiha Thura medal, the second highest gallantry medal in Burma posthumously in 1951 with awarding order number 4/A Htoo (Special)/1951. The then Prime Minister of Burma

U Nu Nu ( my, ဦးနု; ; 25 May 1907 – 14 February 1995), commonly known as U Nu also known by the honorific name Thakin Nu, was a leading Burmese statesman and nationalist politician. He was the first Prime Minister of Burma under the pr ...

, came to

Falam Falam (, ) is a town in north-western Burma (Myanmar) near Burma's western border with the Indian state of Mizoram. The town was founded by Taisun tribe. The British arrived to Falam in 1892, and became an important base for British rule of the ...

, the Capital city of Chin Special Division and handed over this gallantry medal together with Kyats 5,000 as honorarium to the mother of Za Kaia. His mother received Kyats 40 per month as honorarium salary for this medal.

References

{{reflist Burmese soldiers 1949 deaths 1926 births Military personnel killed in action