[1] Ba U Gyi graduated with a bachelor's degree from Cambridge University in 1925 and studied law in England, passing the English bar in 1927.

On 27 January 1947, the British agreed with Aung San-Attlee, the Burmese president, and gave him and the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL) rule over Burma.

[4] After the negotiations with the AFPFL government failed, Saw Ba U Gyi led an armed rebellion as commander of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNDO) in 1949.

He was ambushed and killed on 12 August 1950 at a small village near Hlaing Bwe township, around 180 miles from Rangoon, with other Karen leaders and an English major who was imprisoned for supplying arms.

[4] The anniversary of Saw Ba U Gyi's death is commemorated annually on 12 August as Karen Martyrs' Day.