Page "Ne Win" Paragraph 4

Ne Win, born Shu Maung (), was born into an educated middle class Burmese Chinese family in Paungdale about 200 miles north of Rangoon.

He spent two years at Rangoon University beginning in 1929, and took biology as his main subject with hopes of becoming a doctor.

However, in 1931 he was expelled from the university after he failed an exam.

Ne Win eventually became " Thakin Shu Maung " or a member of the nationalist organisation Dobama Asiayone ( We Burmans Association ).

Other members of the group included Aung San ( father of Aung San Suu Kyi ) and U Nu.

In 1941 Ne Win, as a member of the Ba Sein-Tun Ok ( Socialist ) faction of the Dobama, was one of thirty young men chosen for military training by the Japanese.

Their leader was Aung San and they formed the Burma Independence Army ( BIA ).

During military training on the then Japanese-occupied Hainan Island Shu Maung chose a nom de guerre, Bo Ne Win ( Commander Radiant Sun ).

In early 1942 the Japanese Army and the BIA entered Burma in the wake of the retreating British forces.

Ne Win's role in the campaign was to organize resistance behind the British lines.