 By 1941 his reputation as a leading nationalist earned him a place on the colonial authorities' 'Burma List', regarded as an 'enemy of the state'.It was Hmaing along with other leaders of the Dobama who sent Aung San and other young men - later known as the 'Thirty Comrades' - to seek military training abroad in order to fight the British.After independence in 1948 the country immediately plunged into a widespread civil war which caused great sorrow to Hmaing, and he spent the rest of his life trying to bring internal peace to the land.