Brigadier General GS White

The Battle of Minhla

A black letter day in Myanmar history is 17 November 1885. On that day, British and Indian forces under Brigadier General GS White took the Italian-designed fort at Minhla after unexpectedly fierce resistance from the Burmese garrison. Over a hundred Burmese were killed. The British side were armed for the first time with machine guns (recoil-operated Maxim guns). This was the first and only real battle of the Third Anglo-Burmese War. By the end of the month the Burmese kingdom...