“HELL's GATE”. from KUNMING to LEDO
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A TIGERPAW ADVENTURES LIMITED EDITION SECTION TRIP FROM ITS “SILK ROAD JOURNEYS-WHAT MARCO POLO DID NOT FORSEE” This journey goes traverses a historic road now “tamed”. “HELL’s GATE”. FROM KUNMING TO LEDO THE MILITARY HISTORY OF , & CURRENT CULTURE ON, THE STILWELL ROAD RE LIVING THE BATTLES OF GENERAL VINEGAR-JOE STILWELL, AND GENERAL CHANG KAI SHEK ON THE “MAN PER MILE ROAD” A PEACE AND REMEMBERANCE JOURNEY BUILDING BRIDGES AMONGST (SIX) NATIONS INDIA-BURMA-USA-CHINA-BRITAIN-JAPAN Tiger Paw Adventures (I) Pvt Ltd, D-383, Defence Colony, New Delhi – 110024, INDIA Ph. +91-11-26493291 / 65655355 / 46568080, Mob. +91- 9810128999, 9871746812 For North America (Voice message): 00 156 1459 3493 Website: www.tigerpawadventures.com, Email: [email protected], [email protected] Tiger Paw Adventures (I) Pvt Ltd, D-383, Defence Colony, New Delhi – 110024, INDIA Ph. +91-11-26493291 / 65655355 / 46568080, Mob. +91- 9810128999, 9871746812 For North America (Voice message): 00 156 1459 3493 Website: www.tigerpawadventures.com, Email: [email protected], [email protected] Image Left: The first convoy driving over the Stilwell Road upon its opening- crossing the headwaters of the Chindwin River. Image Right: On Feb 4, 1945, the first Allied troops entered Kunming, Yunnan province, from Ledo, India, after the Japanese had blocked transport of international supplies by land for two years. Bottom row-Image Left: The Zig - 1944 and right: A recent image THE 24-ZIG HAIRPIN BEND IN CHINA’S GUISHOU PROVINCE WHICH BECAME THE SINGULAR IMAGE OF THE STILWELL ROAD re v Tiger Paw Adventures (I) Pvt Ltd, D-383, Defence Colony, New Delhi – 110024, INDIA Ph. +91-11-26493291 / 65655355 / 46568080, Mob. +91- 9810128999, 9871746812 For North America (Voice message): 00 156 1459 3493 Website: www.tigerpawadventures.com, Email: [email protected], [email protected] UNIQUE FEATURES OF THIS TRIP AIM-RAISING AWARENESS AND FUNDS FOR THE RESTORATION OF THE WW2 CEMETRY IN JAIRAMPUR, ONE OF THE LARGEST WW2 CEMETRY, LARGER THAN KOHIMA, NEAR THE LAKE OF NO RETURN-BURMA, WHERE OVER A THOUSAND AND MOSTLY UNMARKED GRAVES, LIE. THIS EPIC JOURNEY ALSO FEATURES THE TRIBAL FESTIVALS OF THE NAGAS ALSO FEATURING: THE WW2 COMMONWEALTH WAR CEMETRY KOHIMA THE WW2 COMMONWEALTH WAR CEMETRY AND THE JAPANESE PEACE GARDEN, AND THE INDIAN NATIONAL ARMY MUSEUM,IMPHAL THIS ITINERARY: Traverses a route of powerful historical significance Visits sections of the road and locations along it, rarely seen by travelers for the last 60 years Features portions of Myanmar, Burma also rarely visited. Features tribal festivals rarely accessed by the outside world. FOR AUDIO AND VIDEO INTRODUCTION- HISTORICAL INSIGHTS: CLICK: https://archive.org/details/TheStilwellRoad INTRODUCTION “To all individuals who have travelled over the Stilwell Road, including Cowboys, Cockpit- drivers, Six-by-Six Gear Strippers, Jeep Skippers and even mere Space Occupiers: Greetings: Know you that on this day there appeared in the ancient City of Kunming, China, one seated in a multi-wheeled gasoline consuming chariot, which he drove or was driven in over the 1044 miles of the Stilwell Road (Ledo-Burma Roads) from Ledo to Kunming. Be it remembered that he endured the tortures of the damned - of bouncing his posterior and jolting his kidneys over countless rocks, ruts and rills and into holes; that he submerged into seas of muck; that his neck was endangered by cave-ins and mountain slides, by inching along slippery brinks of mile- deep precipices, by tearing around countless corkscrew twists and hairpin turns in fierce monsoon weather and in the humid heat of hell; that malarial mosquitoes, pestiferous leeches, screaming monkeys, poisonous snakes and all kinds of insects, from mere itchers to bearers of bubonic plague and scrub typhus, added to his tortures….EXTRACT FROM THE “CERTIFICATE”FOR THOSE WHO SERVED ON THE STILWELL ROAD Tiger Paw Adventures (I) Pvt Ltd, D-383, Defence Colony, New Delhi – 110024, INDIA Ph. +91-11-26493291 / 65655355 / 46568080, Mob. +91- 9810128999, 9871746812 For North America (Voice message): 00 156 1459 3493 Website: www.tigerpawadventures.com, Email: [email protected], [email protected] Images Above: The ground at the time of WW II, Image Below: India’s current Philosophy in Maintaining the Stilwell Road Tiger Paw Adventures (I) Pvt Ltd, D-383, Defence Colony, New Delhi – 110024, INDIA Ph. +91-11-26493291 / 65655355 / 46568080, Mob. +91- 9810128999, 9871746812 For North America (Voice message): 00 156 1459 3493 Website: www.tigerpawadventures.com, Email: [email protected], [email protected] Image Top Left: General Joe StilWell-Image Right: one of his men on the “Road” Image Top Left. Generals Chang Kai Shek and Joe StilWell. Image Centre. General StilWell and Earl Mountbatten. Image Right. US Soldiers guarding road crew. Images below: US Army troops crossing the Salween River, and right, taking a break. Tiger Paw Adventures (I) Pvt Ltd, D-383, Defence Colony, New Delhi – 110024, INDIA Ph. +91-11-26493291 / 65655355 / 46568080, Mob. +91- 9810128999, 9871746812 For North America (Voice message): 00 156 1459 3493 Website: www.tigerpawadventures.com, Email: [email protected], [email protected] Image above right: Chinese troops building a bridge on the Stilwell Road. Image above left: Generals Stilwell and Chang Kai Shek with Chinese troops On the mission to capture the airstrip in Myitkyina, Burma, during World War II THE INTRODUCTION: THE STILWELL ROAD: The China-Burma-India TRI JUNCTION goes down to Bhamo and to the Burma Road which connects Kunming, Yunnan province, China. The Historic Stilwell (previously Ledo) Road which was constructed by the Americans during the Second World War from Ledo, began at Ledo, one of the key rail-heads of India’s Bengal-Assam railway in the valley of the Upper Brahmaputra. The aim of this road was to link with the Burma Road connecting Kunming, (China) passing through Lekhapani, Jairampur, Nampong and Pangsau pass, on the India-Burma (Myanmar) border. It winds up at the passes of 9000 feet (2,500 m) in the Patkai Ranges and emerges at Shindbwiyang, and then Myitkyina. The road crosses the broad bowl of the Upper Chindwin, threads the Hukawng and Mogaung valleys. Initially, prospected by the British long before the WW2, this project could not be implemented until agreement was reached between the British and General Stilwell representing the Americans on December 1,1942 during the Second World War, when Burma was fully under siege by Japanese forces. Further, for the defence of India it was necessary to liberate Burma from Japanese forces. The topography of the Indo-Burma border featured very difficult terrain with thick, inaccessible, and infested forests, a breeding ground for malaria and dysentery. Tiger Paw Adventures (I) Pvt Ltd, D-383, Defence Colony, New Delhi – 110024, INDIA Ph. +91-11-26493291 / 65655355 / 46568080, Mob. +91- 9810128999, 9871746812 For North America (Voice message): 00 156 1459 3493 Website: www.tigerpawadventures.com, Email: [email protected], [email protected] Born in 1883 and passing soon after the war , in 1946, General Stilwell was Chief of Staff to Allied Forces in China-Burma-India theatre for Defence of Burma (Myanmar) which was under Japanese forces. For the Chinese, Generalissimo, Marshal Chiang Kai-shek worked at connecting with the American and Allied (British-Indian) forces while they tried to overcome the Japanese who were occupying Burma, in the middle. The Stilwell Road was constructed under General Stilwell’s direct supervision during the war. That he had also participated in the First World War and mastered the Chinese language during his stay in the Philippines and China, helped him in his task. He was better known to the World as "Vinegar Joe", though his troops called him "Uncle Joe”. General Stilwell's Operations Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Frank D. Merrill recommended building a road from Ledo, Assam, India to Burma connecting the old Burma Road to provide overland supply to China and Burma, for supporting allied soldiers who were fighting in North Burma. Colonel Merrill called for volunteers who were experienced jungle troops, “for a dangerous and hazardous mission - somewhere". Thus was born Merrill’s specially trained 5307 Composite Unit (Provisional) called "Merrill's Marauders", who set out on and started marching on foot from Margherita, near Ledo, India on February 7, 1944. Passing through the Pangsau Pass (Hell Pass), Shindbwiyang, Jambu-Bam, and then Myitkyina, most of the time fighting and struggling against rain, mud, and swamp, a breeding ground for malaria, dysentery, typhoid, as well as strategically positioned jungle enemy positions along the way. Merrill's Marauders seized Myitkyina air-stripon May 17, 1944 despite strong resistance from Japanese forces. Then days later, they captured Myitkyina town itself, which was the stronghold of Japanese forces based in north Burma. The two month campaign ended on August 3, 1944 with Merrill's men suffering 127 deaths and 291 wounded beside casualties from other troops. Myitkyina was one of General’s main objectives.The 'Ledo Road' was at the suggestion of General Chang Kai Shek, later named the Stilwell Road . The road construction begun by constructing warehouses, hospitals, barracks and base roads at Ledo, Assam, India, while fighting the Japanese forces. On December 16, 1942, Americans began building the double-track, all-weather Ledo road. Subsequently, the Americans had brought heavy road construction machinery to the dense jungle and hilly terrain. These included ngbulldozers, cranes, power-shovels, Caterpillar earth movers, steam-rollers, in a massive procession from the United States production-lines, over 12,000 miles away and across two oceans and three Continents. General Stilwell had organized a 'Service of Supply' (SOS) under the command of Major General Raymond A. Wheeler, a renowned US Army Engineer, and assigned him to look after the construction of the Ledo road. Major General Wheeler in turn, assigned responsibility of base commander for the road construction, to Colonel John C.