Other Forces

General Aung San in London.

Aung San started WW2 as a Japanese-trained anti-British militant (a founder of the Burmese Independence Army, later remamed Burmese National Army, and a number of civilian resistance organisations), and moved on to become Minister for War in the Japanese puppet government of "independent" Burma. By 1944, however, he had become disappointed by Japan's idea of Burma's independence, and eventually led a BNA revolt against the Japanese, realligning his forces with the British. The leading Burmese figure in the process of preparing Burma for postwar independence from Britain, his group was overwhelmingly successful in elections for a constituent assembly. However, Burmese politics at the time were nothing if not turbulent. Aung San, along with several of his Ministers, was assasinated in 1947 in circumstances that, while undoubtedly "political", remain somewhat unclear. Best regards, JR.