Hugh Paul Seagrim was appointed to a commission as a lieutenant in the 1st Kuman Rifles on 1 April 1937. While attached to the Burma Rifles, he joined Force 136, a clandestine organization operating behind the Japanese line in Burma.

From February 1943 to February 1944, H.P. Seagrim was the leader of a party that included two British and one Karen Officer, operating in the Karen hills of South Eastern Burma, with the task of organizing thousands of Hillmen into Guerilla Bands. Seagrim’s men killed some ten thousand Japanese, their Guerilla methods of Battle driving the enemy to frenzy. Due to his daring exploits, he was fondly known as the Lawrence of Burma. By early 1944, he had already been awarded the DSO and MBE for his gallantry services.

Major Seagrim and his men were executed at Rangoon on 2 September 1944. For his leadership and sacrifice made beyond the call of normal duty, a posthumous award of the George cross was made to Major Seagrim in 1946 when the Commander-in-Chief, F.M. Sir Claude Auchinleck, congratulated the Regiment.