The Burma National Army was originally organized by the Minami Kikan as the Burmese Independence Army in December of 1941 , where it then served as an auxiliary of the Imperial Japanese Army. Its first commander was Aung San. Several hundred, 200 to 400, BIA troops led the Japanese invasion from Thailand into Burma in January of 1942. Up to 1,300 BIA troops were fighting against British rearguard forces in southern Burma. However, they sustained heavy casualties and desertions and afterwards followed Japanes forces as rear area security troops. They were removed from even these duties by the Kempeitai due to atrocities against the local populace. They then returned to Japan and were reformed as the Burma Defense Army and was then renamed the Burma National Army with a strength of over 3,000. Aung San, now a Major General in the IJA, by Colonel Bo Ne Win. In August of 1943, Japan gave Burma independence with Aung San becoming the Burmese Minister Of Defence. They were not trusted by the IJA and were not allowed in combat. The 10,000 strong BNA, suffered numerous defections, with many of the defectors becoming the Patriotic Burmese Forces and they operated with the British XIV(14th) Corps in the Rangoon area. The Imperial Japanese Army (大日本帝国陸軍 Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun) was in existence from the Meiji Reformation to the end of World War II (1867 to 1945). ... Aung San (February 13, 1915 - July 19, 1947) was a Burmese revolutionary, nationalist, general, politician, and martyr. ... Kempeitai (憲兵隊, Law Soldier Regiment) was the military police of the Imperial Japanese Army. ... Insignia of a United States Air Force Major General German Generalmajor Insignia Major General is a military rank used in many countries. ... Ne Win Bo Ne Win (May 24, 1911 - December 5, 2002) (born Shu Maung) was a Burmese military commander and ruler of the country from 1962 until 1988. ... Yangôn, formerly Rangoon, population 4,504,000 (2001), is the capital of Myanmar. ...