Tojo’s promise of independence for Burma materialized on August 1. At ten o’clock General Masakazu Kawabe ordered withdrawal of the Japanese military administration. It was a bright morning with occasional spits of rain, and Rangoon was in a holiday mood. One hour and twenty minutes later, at Government House, Burma was declared to be an independent and sovereign country with Dr. Ba Maw as Head of State, and that afternoon he read a proclamation in Burmese declaring war against the United States and Great Britain.
