World War II Cemetery

The recently unearthed large Burial-ground with about 1,000 graves of allied soldiers believed to be mostly of Chinese, Kachins, Indian, Britishers and Americans soldiers who died in Second World War is located at Stilwell Road ( Ledo Road ) in the Jairampur-Nampong road, Changlang district, Arunachal Pradesh, India. The hidden cemetery covered with thick jungles midst of the bank of Namchik River and on the Stilwell Road ( Ledo Road ), 6 km from Jairampur town, 39 km from Ledo and 24 Km before reaching Pangsau Pass ( Hell Pass ), India – Burma (Myanmar) border. The Army has cleared the area and found about 1,000 graves within an area of about three acre. The boundary was enclosed by concrete posts with entrance on three sides. The graves are arranged in five Lines and several rows. A large grave, possibly a mass burial, is in the centre. The bricks were from Ledo AR&T Co’s brick fields, and others marked as B&C-119 and IR.N!C9 were being used.

The most of the graves in the Cemetery are damaged due to wild Elephants, wear and tear in the course of time and tempered due to miscreants.

Perhaps, this cemetery might have constructed during the construction of the Stilwell Road ( Ledo Road ) from Ledo, India to Kunming, China via Burma connecting the Burma Road beyond Bhamo by allied forces starting from December 1942 to May 1945 in China-Burma-India (CBI) theatre of military operation against the Japanese forces in North Burma.

During the construction of road and fighting against the Japanese forces, numbers of allied soldiers were reported to have died due to malaria, dysentery, land slides, enemy fires and other causes. The Patkai range of Indo-Burma border and Shindbwiyang range in north Burma were one of the most difficult terrains in the World where the road construction was carried out by the allied forces led by General Joseph W. Stilwell while fighting against the Japanese forces who had taken over the whole Burma in their hand in 1942. The cemetery was believed to be used for disposal of dead soldiers from site of war front and calamities out of road construction in India and Burma fronts. While trekking and fighting down the Ledo Road to Myitkyina, Burma, the stronghold of Japanese forces, large number of allied soldiers were reported to have died due to Diseases, calamities and missed in action while fighting.The casualties at war fronts in Burma were reported to have been evacuated by C-47’s Ambulance planes and treated at the various base Hospitals at Ledo road and at Ledo, Assam, India and most of the dead soldiers might have disposed off at this cemetery. It is also reported that most of the casualties were treated at the 20^th General Hospital, the 14^th Evacuation Hospital, or the 111^th Station Hospital in the Ledo area. In course of time, those Hospitals have also completely vanished.

The Excerpt of inscription extracted from the Epitaph of comparatively larger grave inscribed in Chinese language, shown in right hand side photo is belongs to Late Major Hsiao Chu Ching, Company Commander 2^nd Company, 2^nd Battalion of 10^th Regiment, Independent Engineers of Chinese Army stationed in India. He was born in July 1913 at Wei Country of of Hapeh province, and died in December 1943. `All officers and men of the Second Company – January 5, 1944.’

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