Sao Hman Hpa

Captain Sao Hman Hpa

Captain Sao Hman Hpa.

In early January 2025, I was delighted to receive the following email contact from Barry Lindsay Hpa in relation to Captain Sao Hman Hpa:

My grandfather was Sao Hman Hpa and is referred to in some of your articles on line. His brother was Sao Hom Hpa, Sawbwa of North Hsenwi State who also served with the Burma Rifles during WW2.
My understanding is they were both commissioned as Captains, but could have been promoted to the rank of Major. I have recently become interested in researching their service history after coming across a few photographs of them in their Army uniforms, but am unsure where to begin, so any assistance would be appreciated.

Captain Sao Hman Hpa (photographed left) served in Brigadier Wingate's Head Quarters on Operation Longcloth and performed the role of Propaganda Officer in Burma during the Chindit expedition of 1943, broadcasting pro-British information to Burmese villages as the columns marched through.

After exchanging several emails with Barry, he has kindly written the following biography in relation to his grandfather and his wider family for this website, for which I am extremely grateful. Please note that all photographs shown are from the Hsenwi Private Collection unless otherwise stated.

Biography for Saohpa Long Hom Hpa & Sao Hman Hpa (written by the descendants of the Hsenwi Hpa family in January 2025).

Shan terminology:
Saohpa Long - meaning Great Lord of the Sky, Great Prince/ruler.
Sao - meaning Prince or Princess.

Family tree:
Sao Hom Hpa (1902 - 1963). Ruled from 1925 until 1959. Married (six wives), but had no children.
Adopted Sao Hkam Hip Hpa (Sao Hman Hpa’s son) and confirmed as Crown Prince.

Sao Hman Hpa (1905 - 1963). Kyemmong (Heir Apparent).
Married to Sao Thu Zanda of Hsipaw and had three children:

i) Sao Hkam Hip Hpa (1927 – 2008) (aka: Ivan) who married Erica Wootton 1950 (1931 – 2004) (UK) (aka: Sao Mahla), and had four sons:
1. Stephen Christopher Hpa (1951) (aka: Sao Hkam Vai Hpa).
2. Darryl Colin Hpa (1953) (aka: Sao Hkam Hom Hpa).
3. Mark Dana Hpa (1958) (aka: Sao Hpa Hkam Nun).
4. Barry Lindsay Hpa (1960) (aka: Sao Hkam Pung Hpa).
ii) Sao Shwe Ohn/Patricia (b. 1928).
iii) Sao Yu Pa Kya Yi/Nancy (b. 1929).

Sao Hom Hpa and Sao Hman Hpa were the sons of Hkun Sang Ton Hung, the Saohpa or Ruler of the Hsenwi, part of the Shan States and recognised by the British on annexation of Burma in 1886. Following Saohpa Hkun Sang Ton Hung's death in 1916, Sao Hom Hpa was duly acknowledged as the heir by the board of officials appointed by the Government. However, he was still a minor and the administration of the State was carried out by an acting Regent, a Mr. Gaudoine, appointed by the British. Both Sao Hom Hpa and Sao Hman Hpa attended the Shan Chief School which was set up by the British as a special school for the children of the ruling princes, something on the lines of Eton or Harrow, where in addition to the usual curriculum, they were to be taught administrative skills so that, in time, these young men would be better able to rule their respective States.

In 1922, at the age of twenty Sao Hom Hpa served as a Jemadar (Lieutenant) with the Burma Rifles in the British/Indian Army. However, he then resigned from the Army in 1924 to take up the Sawbwaship of North Hsenwi State as Saohpa Long in 1925. One of his first proclamations was to immediately appoint his brother, Sao Hman Hpa as Kyemmong (Heir Apparent) and placed him in charge of Kodaik sub-division in 1927.

The image below shows Sao Hom Hpa, the Saopha of Hsenwi in London during the Round Table Conference of 1931. The Burma Roundtable Conference paved the way for Burma's eventual governmental separation from India, the constitution of 1935 and the semi-elected governments of 1937 up until the Japanese invasion of the country in February 1942.

The War Years
In 1938 and with the likely approach of war, the British Army re-enlisted ex-soldiers from the British-Indian Army and many princes were also re-commissioned, including Sao Hom Hpa as a Captain and Sao Hman Hpa as a Lieutenant, serving again in the Thirteenth (Shan State) Battalion of the Burma Rifles, part of the Burma Territorial Force. As a Captain, Sao Hom Hpa oversaw the Kalaw District and was later promoted to Major.

Seen below are two photographs, one showing Captain Sao Hom Hpa (left) and Lt. Sao Hman Hpa (right) in their Army uniforms and the other, from 1940, showing several Princes who were British Army officers before World War 2. From left to right we have: Sao Seng Sai of Kengtung, Sao Ohn of Hsenwi, Mong Nai Kyemmong - Sao Pye, Hsenwi Saohpa - Sao Hom Hpa, Yawnghwe Saohpa - Sao Shwe Thaike, Hsenwi Kyemmong - Sao Hman Hpa, and Sao Yape Hpa also of Hsenwi. (Image courtesy, Shan Cultural Museum, Yawnghwe). Please click on either image to bring it forward on the page.

Just before the Japanese invasion of Burma in 1942, Sao Hman Hpa was sent for further Army training in India (North West Frontier) and Afghanistan. Soon afterwards he became involved with Chindits. Brigadier Wingate wanted to collect together a group of men who knew Burma well and when he learnt about a Shan Prince also stationed in India, he contacted Sao Hman Hpa immediately and asked him if he would join the group. He didn’t need to be asked twice and soon took up his post as a Captain within the Head Quarters of the 77th Indian Infantry Brigade.

Sao Hman Hpa’s role was to indicate which plants were edible and where water could be found when on the march and to communicate with villagers they may come across in the jungle, in fact he can be seen doing exactly that in a short newsreel film on-line (no sound sadly) held by the Imperial War Museum which can be viewed here: www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060034985

Sao Hman Hpa is mentioned twice in Wingate's debrief document for Operation Longcloth. Firstly, in relation to the first outward crossing of the Irrawaddy River: "The crossing began at once, the whole village assisting stimulated by a Shan officer, Captain Sao Ham (H)Pa of Wingate’s HQ. Some animals were lost, not by drowning but through turning back. Brigade Head Quarters and Burrif HQ were completely across by dawn and the crossing of the other columns was completed by daylight."

Then after dispersal and the march to Inywa (also on the Irrawaddy): "At 0300 hours on the 29th of March, the Brigade arrived at Inywa. Finding no sign of 2 Burrif, Wingate and the No.7 Column Commander began to collect boats whilst Captains Aung Thin and Sao Hman (H)Pa made a tour of the village in search of oars and oarsmen.”

Sao Hman Hpa (sitting second on the left, front row) with his fellow Army officers, North West Frontier, India 1942. (Hsenwi Private Collection).

The following narrative is a record of conversations held between Sao Hman Hpa and his daughter-in- law, Erica Hpa (Sao Mahla), wife to his son Sao Hkam Hip Hpa (my father). NB: for the purposes of this part of the narrative, Dad is Sao Hman Hpa.

One day while chatting with Wingate, Wingate asked him (Sao Hman Hpa) if he could suggest a name for their little “gang”. He asked what a commonly known symbol of Burma was. Dad said the elephant, Wingate was “so-so” on that, what else? The peacock said Dad. Not too impressed with that either, then Dad said what about the Chinthay? What's that? asked Wingate. “It’s the mythological lion which stands guard at the entrance of all pagodas.” This was more like it, but Wingate couldn’t quite get his tongue round Chinthay and kept pronouncing the word as Chindit and that is the name that stuck and became world famous in time.

As generally documented, General Wingate’s idea was to prove that the British Army could “live off the jungle” and penetrate deep behind enemy lines, causing as much damage as they could to the Japanese war machine. When the British forces began their withdrawal of Burma, the princes were expected to retreat with them, but they did not. They knew that their presence in their home states at this crucial time was of paramount importance for their subjects, and their own families. The War diary for the 14th Burma Rifles recorded the following: “Captain Sao Hom Hpa (Sawbwa) proceeded to Lashio to organise state guerrillas and supervise police arrangements on Burma-China road running through North Hsenwi State.”

When the Chindit column had reached the edge of the Shan States, Wingate suggested that Captain Sao Hman Hpa might like to stay behind and make his way back to his Kingdom and continue the battle in whatever way he thought fit, and that’s what he opted to do.

(Eventually), Dad was parachuted behind enemy lines, but when not too far from home he was betrayed by a Burman who professed to be a member of a resistance group and offered him a safe haven to rest up. He needed a secure place to rest and took him up on his offer, but after he had been fed, clothed and was sleeping, the Burman went to the local Japanese out-post and turned him in. He was taken to the Japanese High Command (Northern area) and POW camp, where he was interrogated and tortured by the infamous Kempetai, the intelligence service with a reputation of extreme cruelty in their methods of interrogation. He suffered from having his finger and toenails pulled out and several cigarette burns to his body and other tortures and was sentenced to death by beheading.

The Japanese interrogators were not aware of his Princely status or that he was within the British Army and for reasons only known to themselves, the Japanese didn’t carry out the sentence straight away but allowed him to recover, probably to have another go at breaking him. He was taken into a native camp rather than with other POW’s who were British. He was put to work cleaning the offices of the Kempetai and the latrines. During the course of his work, he noted that many local people came in for passes to enable them to travel from place to place. On one occasion he overheard a truck driver asking for a pass to go north to a town on the Chinese border. Realising that this driver would have to pass through Hsenwi, he quickly scribbled a note, passing it to the driver and promising a large reward would be given to him if he personally delivered the note to the Sawbwa, Sao Hom Hpa in Hsenwi and no one else. The driver agreed, slipping the note between the layers of his bamboo hat and duly delivered the note into the hands of the Sawbwa.

Sao Hom Hpa thought that his brother was safe in India with the British Army, but instead he now learned he was a POW and in Burma. He approached the Japanese High Command complaining that he had reason to believe that his brother was being held in Maymyo as a POW. As far as the Japs were concerned, there was no truth in the rumour and it is true to say that at that time they had no knowledge of the identity of their prisoner. But as they were still playing the good guys, come to liberate the peoples of the colonies from the yoke of the British, and wanting to keep the goodwill of the rulers, they said they would make enquiries and suggested that if the Sawbwa would like to send a minister to Maymyo, together with the Japanese Liaison Officer Captain Horita, who was attached to the Sawbwa’s household, to see if Sao Hman Hpa was indeed a POW, they could.

When they reached the camp, they were escorted around and although the Minister did identify Sao Hman Hpa, he was threatened with dire consequences to himself and family if he admitted having seen Sao Hman Hpa, (but this was only understood later). The Japanese high command joined with the Sawbwa in his disappointment and promised to continue the search through other camps. After a period of a couple of months and with great excitement the Japs approached the Sawbwa announcing that they thought they might have found his brother and that they had brought him to Maymyo (Dad was unaware that all this was going on at the time and had still not revealed his true identity) and could the Sawbwa once again send his Minister and his Sao Hman Hpa’s wife (Sao Thu Zanda), accompanied by Captain Horita down to Maymyo.

They were greeted by a line of prisoners, including Sao Hman Hpa having already dug their graves, kneeling, hands bound behind their backs and each with a Japanese officer standing over them, swords drawn, raised and ready to decapitate the prisoners. Sao Hman Hpa’s wife immediately fainted and the minister identified Sao Hman Hpa and Horita produced documents demanding the release of Sao Hman Hpa on the authority of the High Command. The minister later said that he had the impression that the whole thing had been stage managed for propaganda purposes, but for whatever reason, the family were happy to have Sao Hman Hpa back safe and sound.

The Japanese did not trust Sao Hom Hpa or Dad and accused them of continuing loyalty to the British, they both convinced the Japs that this was not the case. However, the Japanese unseated Sao Hom Hpa as Sawbwa, replacing him with his younger half-brother, Sao Yape Hpa from 1942 to 1945, the duration of their occupation and commandeered the western-styled Palace. They also took Sao Hman’s son Ivan as a hostage to ensure good behaviour from both Princes and put him to work repairing roads & bridges bombed by the Americans. This action obviously did not please the Prince, but since he could not object, he had to accept what the Japanese decreed. However, this suited Sao Hom Hpa as he had no intention of co-operating with the Japs to help them run the State and this gave a great “let-out” and he took a back seat. He relocated to a remote part of the state and organized a resistance group to fight the Japanese as they retreated.

Sao Hom Hpa and Dad were in touch with the American guerrilla forces operating behind the Japanese lines to whom they had been supplying information in relation to Japanese movements and numbers etc. When the Allies began bombing Hsenwi Town, Dad contacted the US 101st Airborne Forces and explained that the time had come for them to make their escape and join the American forces who were to evacuate the entire Royal family to safety in India or in the re-occupied areas up in the north of Burma and that in fact, the rest of the family were already making their way to an appointed place where the Americans would be waiting to escort them to a secret air strip in the jungle. Everything had been planned very carefully and the plan was that during the night, Dad and Ivan would leave and in the morning when the guards became curious about their non-appearance for breakfast, the cook and other retainers, who were in reality members of Hsenwi police force anyway, were to stall as long as possible without putting their own lives at risk, thereby giving Dad and Ivan more time to catch up with the rest of the family, which of course included the Sawbwa, Ivan’s mother, (Dad’s wife) and his sisters, Uncles, Aunties and their children.

It seems that they made their get-away just in time, because the Japanese High Command got wind of their plan to escape and dispatched more soldiers to arrest the Sawbwa and Dad. The new Japanese arrived in the camp to the surprise of the ones who were already there to keep an eye on Dad and Ivan. The cook was then to say that they must have got up early and gone to visit the family and should be back soon. When that didn’t happen, then the cook was to say he would take them to where they were, but as it was quite a long way, they’d better eat something first. They didn’t need much persuading and when they were all seating round the table, the cook lobbed a couple of grenades amongst them, thereby killing them all. He then loaded himself up and the others with as many guns, swords and other armaments as they could carry and ran hell for leather to catch up with main group and tell them that the plan had worked and all was well.

However, one of the Japs had only been “playing dead’ and although wounded, managed to raise the alarm and it wasn’t too long before the Japanese came after them, but they had reached the Americans and other locally recruited guerrilla forces at their make-shift air-strip. A message had been sent to Myitkyina, a liberated Kachin area to the north, for a plane to be dispatched to pick up the Sawbwa and his family, but it was just at the time when the plane was circling for landing that the Japs caught up and a battle royal was raging, so it couldn’t land, but it had also brought arms including bazooka’s which none of the locals knew how to use and these were dropped and a hasty lesson was given and considering most of these men had only been used to flint-lock guns, they learnt fast and that helped to even things up sufficiently to force the Japs to retreat.

Eventually the plane returned and picked up the family and took them to safety. Dad and a few of the menfolk opted to return to fight and although Ivan was still only sixteen years old, he joined them later. There were many even younger who were fighting and with help of Dad more recruits joined, but it was only recently, in the last year or so, we learnt how Dad and a small force had gone to the neighbouring State which had once formed part of Hsenwi State, Mongyai (South Hsenwi) to rescue the royal family there and get them evacuated to safety. Dad and Ivan continued to fight alongside the American force until the end of the war, when the Japanese surrendered after the dropping of the two Atom bombs on Japan. When the Americans left, they gave Ivan a jeep registered as NSS 1 which we were still using up till the time we left in 1967 for the UK.

The note shown below, from American General “Vinegar Joe” Stilwell, was addressed to The Sawbwa of Hsenwi State, Sao Hom Hpa on a hand-written scrap of paper, and was smuggled to Sao Hom Hpa and Sao Hman Hpa offering them safety for their family. Stilwell's letter (dated 13th December 1944), promises to send medicines for the family, mentions Sao Hman Hpa's service with the Chindits and offers the family a safe haven within Allied held territory. Please click on either image to bring it forward on the page.

Post War Years

After the return of the British administration, Sao Hom Hpa continued to administer his state of Hsenwi, but became decidedly anxious about the position of the Saopha and their relationship with the returning British administrators. He attended the Panglong Conference in 1946 and a year later, he was one of the signatories of the Panglong Agreement. The Panglong Agreement was a historic accord reached on 12th February 1947 in Panglong, Southern Shan State. This was signed by General Aung San and representatives of the Shan, Kachin, and Chin communities. The agreement aimed to secure the cooperation of these ethnic groups with the interim Burmese government in the lead-up to independence from British colonial rule. It was seen as a significant step towards the formation of the Union of Burma, although not all ethnic groups participated in the agreement.

Quotation taken from, Communist Incursions 1948 by Sao Hkam Hip Hpa & Erica Hpa:

The Burmese communists (CPB) (aka White Flag) which included other minority groups amongst them, had almost over-run both Burma proper and the Shan States, aided by the Chinese Communists. The fledgling Burmese Army lead by General Ne Win were being beaten back to the outskirts of Rangoon, the countries capital. This was just after the independence of Burma from the British in 1949-1950.

One of the “off shoots” of the communist party was led by a Kachin named Naw Seng who was operating in the Shan States and they somehow succeeded in taking the Hsenwi Sawbwa, Sao Hom Hpa prisoner. This really enraged Sao Hman Hpa (Dad) and got his “dander” up. The cheek of it. How dare they! He set about organising a rescue mission. The Hsenwi police had always been a well-disciplined force, highly trained, many of them veterans of the war and included Gurkha soldiers who had opted to stay in the Shan States after the war and had been given land by the Sawbwa.

Using these forces and other volunteers, Dad chased after the rebels, ambushing them at the Namtu River bridge and rescued the Sawbwa who was mightly affronted by this indignity, which even the Japanese had respected. At the same time, Sao Hman Hpa's forces also put a stop to the rebels taking over the British owned and managed Namtu Silver Mines. Following the success of the Hsenwi forces General Ne Win requested the Sawbwa to unite with the Burmese Army to repel the Communists in the Southern Shan States and Burma. General Ne Win was obligated to Hsenwi and had great respect for the Sawbwa and for Dad in particular for their assistance.

Quotation from the book, Great Lords of the Sky, Burma’s Shan Aristocracy, by Sao Sanda Simms:

In 1949, Sao Hom Hpa as Commissioner of Shan State for Special Duties worked hard to maintain law and order in the Shan State. He was duly honoured and given one of the top awards, the title of Thadomaha Thraysithu, by the President of Burma for his concerted efforts and untiring service to the country. In March 1953, the Hsenwi Prince once again demonstrated his military skills when he fought together with the Tatmadaw (Burmese Army) against the invasion of the KMT (Kuomintang – Chinese Nationalists) and drove them out of Hsenwi State. Subsequently, the split of the AFPFL (Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League) party into two factions that of the Clean and the Stable, caused enough concern for changes to be made in the administration of the Shan State. The Shan State Government, which until then was situated in Rangoon, was moved to Taunggyi, the administrative centre of the state. Sao Hom Hpa was offered the position of Head of State, which he had refused two or three times before accepting in November 1958. The on-going negotiations concerning the surrender of hereditary rule by the saohpa were soon to be concluded.

In April 1959 at a grand ceremony, General Ne Win, as the Prime Minister of the Caretaker government triumphantly went up to Taunggyi to accept the surrender of these powers. The signing of the Renunciation Treaty was overseen by the new Head of the Shan State, Sao Hom Hpa, a Hsenwi Saohpa who was to remain for the duration of the Caretaker government.

Seen below is an image from the Burma Weekly Bulletin newspaper, with the caption: Dawn of a New Era in the Shan State. An impressive ceremony to usher in a popular government for the Shan State was held in Taunggyi on 24th April (1959), when a total of 29 Saophalongs from the Shan State attended to sign an agreement relinquishing their hereditary rights.

In 1960, elections were held for the Shan States Parliament where Sao Hman Hpa was elected as the new Hsenwi Member of Parliament.

From the book, Great Lords of the Sky, Burma’s Shan Aristocracy, by Sao Sanda Simms:

THE COUP D'ÉTAT 1962

The coup d'état of 2nd March 1962, was swiftly and efficiently carried out. The army took into detention government ministers, saohpas, ethnic leaders, Tai Shan, ethnic Members of Parliament and other important politicians. Government offices were taken over and surrounded, and the police were told not to interfere and were confined to their stations. All key positions in Rangoon such as the Parliament, the Union Bank, the Mingaladon Airport and the railway station came under army control.

Of the Tai Shan personalities, only a few were not detained such as the Head of State for the Shan State, Sao Hom Hpa, Hsenwi Saohpa, and Sao Kya Seng, Hsipaw Saohpa. The latter, who was not in Rangoon with the others, mysteriously disappeared. Some, such as Sao Hkun Kyi, Samka Saohpa, and Sao Hman Hpa, the Hsenwi MP, the brother of the Head of State, were said to have been taken into custody by mistake. In the Shan State itself, all politicians, community leaders, prominent businessmen, senior civil servants, and even police were detained without charge for four to six years.

Sao Hom Hpa was ill and was not in Parliament at the time of the coup and Sao Hman Hpa was released and escorted back to Hsenwi after three months. Also, as previously mentioned General Ne Win held great respect for both Princes and was obligated to them for assisting with the communist insurgency in 1948. Sao Hman Hpa was also very ill, but seemed to be in his usual jolly state of health. This was only because he was so excited at seeing the first manned space ship with Yuri Gargarin passing overhead and clearly visible in the sky. After collapsing at home, a later X-Ray showed a patch on his lung and arrangements were hastily made to take him to England for treatment at Brompton Chest Hospital in London. Sadly, they found it was too late and the cancer was inoperable and suggested we get him home as soon as possible.

On arrival back in Rangoon, the entire family and household descended from the Shan States to pay their respects, but within a month Sao Hman Hpa passed away (February 11th 1963). Sao Hom Hpa had also been suffering for some time although you would never have guessed so from his demeanour. He kept up a high rate of activity until the bitter end and it was only the sight and knowledge of his young brother's state of health which finally made him give up his own fight for life, just four weeks later on 29th March 1963.

They were honoured with a full State funeral, with the cortege stretching back for about 30 miles and taking hours to reach the burial ground of the Royal Family at Hsenwi, as villagers came to line the route and to pay their last respects. These funerals were to be the last such Royal funerals to take place in the Shan States of Burma. On the day of their funeral, four white silk umbrellas festooned with golden bodhi leaves and ten gold umbrellas, denoting the highest rank of royalty were carried over the caskets. It was to be the end of an era.

Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to the sad passing and funerals of Sao Hom Hpa and Sao Hman Hpa, including newspaper articles from that time. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Barry Lindsay Hpa and his family once again for allowing me to add this historical narrative to my website pages.