permanent military post was established in the town and later,
because of its climate, it became a hill
station and the summer capital of
British Burma. The establishment in Burma (civil, commercial and military)
would move to Maymyo during the hot season to escape from the high heat and
humidity of Rangoon. During British rule and through the 1970s, Maymyo had a
large Anglo-Burmese population, but this steadily
declined. During the Japanese occupation, as many Anglos were concentrated in
and around Maymyo, the Japanese incarcerated many of them for fear of their
loyalty to the British very close to Maymyo. Today though, Maymyo still has one
of the larger hold over populations ofAnglo-Burmese in the country. The British named the location Maymyo, literally May's
Town in Burmese, after Colonel May, a veteran of the Indian Mutiny and commander of the Bengal Regiment temporarily stationed at the location of
the town in 1887.The military government of Burma renamed the town Pyin U Lwin.
