The Ledo Road- A Connection Between Three Countries

Hardly a few in India know about a road connecting India to Northen Burma and China from the eastern gates of the country during a war that had almost gone in the way of the Japanese Army in the region, and became a turning point in the war. In today's date, the road is in the worst of conditions, even after a lot of money was spent in making the road to be operational for a few years only, with an objective of steering the war on the allied side.

The historic Stilwell's Road, which was constructed by the Americans during the Second World War from Ledo in Assam, India, which is one of the rail-heads of the Bengal-Assam railway in the valley of the Upper Brahmaputra during that time to Burma Road connecting to Kunming, China passes through Lekhapani, Jairampur, Nampong and Pangsau pass, India-Burma (Myanmar) border. It winds up the passes of the 9000 feet Patkai Range and emerges at Shindbwiyang and then Myitkyina. It crosses the broad bowl of the Upper Chindwin, threads the Hukawng and Mogaung valleys, and goes down to Bhamo and to the Burma road which connects Kunming, Yunnan province, China.

Originally it was called 'Ledo Road', later it was named after General Joseph Warren Stilwell (1883-1946), Chief of Staff to Allied Forces in China-Burma-India theatre for defence of Burma (Myanmar) from Japanese forces under the Generalissimo, Marshal Chiang Kai-shek, Supreme Command of the forces of the United Nations in China, including such parts of Indo-China and Siam (Thailand) as might become accessible to the troops.

The Ledo road (Stilwell's Road) was constructed under his direct supervision during the war. Stilwell had also participated in the First World war and had mastered the Chinese language during his stay at Philippines and China after the War. He was better known to the World as "Vinegar Joe", though his troops called him "Uncle Joe".

Initially, this project was prospected by the British long before the Second World War and could not get implemented until an agreement between the British and Joseph W. Stilwell representing Americans on December 1, 1942 during the Second World War when the Burma was fully under Seized by the Japanese forces. The Allied Forces were extremely in need of this road for restoration of a line of communication between China and Burma, and a line of communication to Allied forces in Burma from India to liberate Burma from the claws of Japanese forces as the topography of the Indo-Burma border was of very difficult terrains with thick, inaccessible and malaria and Dysentery infested forests. 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 a Land Supply to China and Burma for support of the Allied soldiers who were fighting in the North Burma.

Lieutenant Colonel Frank D. Merrill Commanding officer of "the experienced jungle troops, for a dangerous and hazardous Mission - somewhere" lead his specially trained 5307 Composite Unit (Provisional) called "Merrill's Marauders" to the Ledo Road and started marching on foot from Margherita, near Ledo, India on February 7, 1944 passing through Pangsau Pass (Hell Pass), Shindbwiyang, Jambu-Bam, and then Myitkyina most of the times fighting and struggling against rains, mud, swamps, Malaria, Dysentery, Typhoid and strategically positioned enemies at different locations on their way. Merrill's Marauders seized Myitkyina air-strip on May 17, 1944 despite strong resistance from Japanese forces. Then after a few days, they captured Myitkyina town itself, which was a stronghold of the Japanese forces based in north Burma and the two months campaign ended on August 3, 1944 with Merrill's Marauders facing 127 deaths and 291 wounded besides other casualties. Myitkyina was one of the main missions of Stilwell.

In December 1942, the road construction begun by constructing Warehouses, Hospitals, Barracks and base roads at Ledo, Assam, India, side by side fighting with the Japanese forces. On December 16, 1942, the Americans began building the double-track, all-weather Ledo road. Subsequently, the Americans had brought heavy road construction machineries to these wild hills like Bulldozers, Cranes, Power-shovels, Caterpillars, Steam-rollers, in massive procession from the United State production-lines 12,000 miles away, across two Oceans and past three Continents.

General Stilwell had organized a 'Service of Supply' (SOS) under the command of Major General Raymond A. Wheeler, a high profile 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. Arrowsmith. Later, he was replaced by Colonel Lewis A. Pick, an expert US Army engineer, as road construction was slowed down under Arrowsmith during the monsoon season of 1943. He had employed some of the finest mechanical roadmakers from Americans, British, Indian, Chinese and West Africans to fight against the wild jungles, tangles of swamp and forest, deep valleys and high cliffs and test of heavy rains and floods across the Indo-Burma mountain Range.

On December 27, 1943, three days ahead of schedule, the road reached Shindbwiyang. Finished grading and graveling remained to be done, but the 117 miles from Ledo to Shindbwiyang were open before January 1, 1944, as General Stilwell wished. Colonel Pick's celebration for the engineers omitted none of the available essentials. As he congratulated them for opening 54 miles of trace in 57 days, a convoy came rolling into Shindbwiyang with candy, doughnuts, and 9,600 cans of beer.

In late 1944, barely two years after Stilwell accepted responsibility for building the Ledo Road (Stilwell Road), it connected to the, Burma Road though some sections of the road beyond Myitkyina at Hukawng Valley were under repairing due to heavy monsoon water, and it became a highway stretching from Assam, India to Kunming, China 1,079 miles length. On January 12, 1945, the first convoy of 113 vehicles was led by General Pick from Ledo and reached Kunming, China on February 4, 1945 and celebrated the achievement. The road construction was estimated to cost 137,000,000 dollars.

Two 4-inch fuel pipe lines were laid side by side and followed along the Ledo road from Tinsukia, Assam, India to relieve the road and air traffics of carrying fuel from Assam, India to China. They were fed by gasoline pumped from Calcutta to a station near their starting point. On May 20, 1945, newly promoted Major General Lewis A. Pick formally announced the completion of the Ledo road, a task he called the toughest job ever given to US Army Engineers in Wartime. The road was renamed the Stilwell Road in honour of General Joseph W. Stilwell at the suggestion of Chiang Kai-shek, it was known to the Engineers who built it as "Pick's Pike."

In the course of time, the Stilwell Road had virtually disappeared due to the fact that the road lies in the lands of three different nations that are China, Burma and India and due to non maintenance by the respective nations. However, 61 km of the road lies in India, 1,033 km in Burma (Myanmar) and 632 km in China. In India out of 61 km, 30 km lies in Assam and 31 km in Arunachal Pradesh. The border between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh has 14 km of the road section previously which was in deplorable condition, but now it is bieng repaired and the construction of an international trade route is underway to link Myanmar at Pangsau Pass. In the Indian side, the road is being repaired and renovated up to Nampong under this scheme and extension of the renovation work up to Pangsau Pass, Indo-Myanmar border is underway. The section of road which lies within Arunachal Pradesh has been maintained by the Government of Arunachal Pradesh and the road section which lies within the area of Assam out of 14 km has been in maintained by the Government of Assam respectively.

The Indian government has proposed this road for reopening as an International Highway for a trade route to link Myanmar (Burma), China and other Southeast Asian countries. The reopening of this road as a trade route will increase the interaction between the people of neighboring countries and maintain good relationship among the member countries. It will also boost trade and attract inland and foreign tourists as the road itself is historically famous and significant due to Second World War, which in turn will boost Socio-economic development of this most backward border area and will benefit the local population. Northeast India is geographically isolated and economical development is lacking behind other parts of India due to several factors even though the region is endowed with natural resources. They are already approved as trade routes with Myanmar from Nagaland and Manipur and to Bangladesh from Assam and Tripura which is one of the significant means of foreign trade and regional co-operation towards economic development of the region. Therefore, it may become a big possibility to strengthen their ties using old, but resourceful routes like these, not only to boost trade and economies, but also old forgotten friendships which may last for evermore.

Table showing location-wise distance from Ledo, Assam, India to Kunming, Yunnan, China within the Ledo Road (Stilwell Road):

STILWELL ROAD (LEDO ROAD)
LOCATION	Distance from Ledo, Assam, India
	in Km	in Mile
Ledo	0	0
Pangsau Pass	61	38
Tagap Hill	127	79
Shindbwiyang	165	103
Jambu-Bum	287	178
Warazup	304	189
Myitkyina	403	250
Bhamo	595	372
Namkham	707	439
Mong-Yu (Ledo-Burma Roads junction)	749	465
Wanting*	811	507
Lungling*	896	560
Paoshan*	1,043	652
Yungpin*	1,208	755
Yunnanyi*	1,402	876
Tsuyung*	1,543	959
Kunming*	1,726	1,079
LENGTH OF ROAD LIES WITHIN
INDIA	61	38
MYANMAR (BURMA)	1,033	646
CHINA	632	395

Kashmir's War Diary- A Truth With Many Lies

Whenever you've visited Kashmir, you've always seen a number of army checkpoints, a lot many convoys, and a ton of troops patrolling the area. The situation in the valley was never like this before. Kashmir Valley has been always considered as one of the most beautiful places to visit in India, rather the jewel of India. With beautiful landscapes, Mughal Gardens, Lakes, it was considered one of the best places for tourists to be. But, this valley has had a bloody history in the last few decades. It has been covered with the blood of many civilians, and the atrocities of terror groups all at the same time. The last decade has still ended at a peaceful note, but there lies a far dangerous enemy on the other side of India.

The roots of this conflict can be seen through its history. Kashmir had been acceded into India in 1948, as a part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, with Ladakh and Jammu region. As part of the accession, Kashmir was to be wholly under Indian rule. But Pakistan had captured the western part of Kashmir during the 1948 war, with China also taking over Aksai Chin in 1962. With this, Kashmir was divided into three parts.

During the 1965 war with India, Pakistan put up Operation Gibraltar. The operation aimed at sending troops disguised as locals, parachuting them inside Indian part of Jammu and Kashmir,and inciting rebellion amongst the civillian population against the republic of India. This operation was not such a successful OP, but was to show up its credibility during the late 80s and the early 90s with a change in the earlier scheme.
1989 started as a bang bang terrorist confrontation in the valley, with insurgency at a high end catastrophic level, arming insurgents to wage a war with India. During 1987, the elections were rigged considerably by the Farooq Abdullah government, making them win the elections. This only worsened the situation, starting a massive protest inside Kashmir, many going against the Government, and putting a seed into creating various militant groups across the region like the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation front, Harkat-Ul-Jihad-Al-Islami, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hizbul Mujahideen, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen & Al Badr.

By 1989, millitant groups had enough powers to execute what they called was a revolution for freedom. Widespread killings took place. The Kashmiri pandit families had to leave their homes, and run for some other place to live , to save their lives, as the millitants were participating in what was to be known as 'ethnic cleansing'. The Indian Army, the IPS, the CRPF and other security forces were sent into Kashmir to check on this violence. The Army was specially called in to control the situation, and participate in anti-terrorist activities in the valley. With this, the conflict went towards a bloody turnout. Many in the valley went missing. Killings were something common in those dark days by the terrorists. Graves of unknown people were common. With this, curfews were imposed. Terrorist encounters were a usual activity. Arrests were made. AFSPA, or the Armed Forces Special Powers Act was introduced. All measures to bring peace in the valley were made by the Indian Government. But peace never was and were to be easily achieved in the valley.

The  time can be best described by a British Journalist, James Buchan as follows, "In the years since 1990, the Kashmiri Muslims and the Indian government have conspired to abolish the complexities of Kashmiri civilization. The world it inhabited has vanished: the State Government and the political class, the rule of law, almost all the Hindu inhabitants of the valley, alcohol, cinemas, cricket matches, picnics by moonlight in the saffron fields, schools, universities, an independent press, tourists and banks. In this reduction of civilian reality, the sights of Kashmir are redefined: not the lakes and Mogul gardens, or the storied triumphs of Kashmiri agriculture, handicrafts and cookery, but two entities that confront each other without intermediary: the mosque and the army camp."
Tourism had gone down, businesses had come to a standstill, & the people always lived in fear the whole time. Kashmir had changed a lot. It was no longer the most beautiful possession of India, which you would see in any old Bollywood movie. It was now a war zone. Analysts say that Human Rights Violations were committed on both sides. But according to the Indian Government, there have been no such violations by the security forces, with those doing it meeting severe punishments, and that most of these are only for demeaning the status of the security forces operating inside Kashmir. While most of these violations being conducted by the terrorist groups in the name of Jihad.

The violence, having been directly funded by Pakistan (as the Indian Government states) may not be a case according to the Pakistani Government, but there are many evidences of terrorist groups operating on there side of Kashmir till date, and entering the Indian side, spreading havoc across the valley. Also, except Pakistan, Terror groups across the world may also have a hand in the conflict, like the mujahideen fighters from Afghanistan. The Indian Government hasn't ruled out the role of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence, or the ISI, in the assistance of these terror groups. Though the cover was Islam, but it cannot be ruled out that civilians irrespective of their background were killed by these militants. Then came Kargil, where it was proved that it wasn't the Mujahideen sitting on Indian posts, but Pakistani regular soldiers itself. So, it may be possible that around this time, many Pakistani regulars may also have entered Kashmir.
Today, Kashmir is at a better state than it was earlier, which shows that peace has now started shaping in the valley. The security forces have put up a brave fight since the last decade, protecting the borders and the enemy within. Although the conflict is now nearing an end, who knows what lies ahead for the future of Kashmir. The ugly truth about the conflict is that it was not the security forces who were involved, but they only came on a call to protect the area, while anti national sentiments were spreading havoc, and killing precious lives in the process. That is when these forces have come to protect the sanctity of the valley, and have succeeded in doing so. Today, although Pakistan may blame India for killing Kashmiri civilians, and consider these terrorists as Kashmir's independence fighters, but they should also remember that they are the ones who put in motion the chain of events that started the violence in the Kashmir valley, while India played a pivotal role in stopping it.
So lets not forget those brave men who have given their lives protecting Kashmir from intruders, maintaining peace inside the region, and making the billion Indians sleep peacefully while standing their own post for the protection of their country, and also to the people of Kashmir, who have taken their stand for maintaining peace inside the valley.

The Fall Of Singapore- A Betrayal That Destroyed An Empire

The fall of Singapore has always been credited as the biggest military disaster in British history. But little is known about what actually caused the disaster. Because the disaster was caused by the British itself. Whats shocking was that it was the British itself who gave Japan the know how to take out Pearl Harbor, & capture Singapore. Even more surprising was that the Japanese for two decades had infiltrated the very heart of the British establishment, through a mole, who was known to Churchill himself.
After World War I, Britain became the dominant superpower in Asia, particularly the Southeast. During the war, Japan had been an ally of the British throughout the War. Just after the War, Britain developed a new technology, which would change the course of history and shape a new World. The British had built the World's first aircraft carrier, HMS Argus, in 1918, after which came another carrier, HMS Eagle. Both the carriers interested the Japanese and they asked to inspect the new ships. But their requests were denied not one or two, but ten times, the admirality was convinced of their potential, and wanted to put it as a secret. But the Air Ministry and the Foreign Office saw the prospects of lucrative arms contract with Japan, so a compromise was made.

With this, in 1920, they send a civil delegation of aviation experts, led by William Forbes-Sempill, also known as the Lord Sempill. He with the Sempill mission went to Japan to help Japanese airmen study the new naval aviation technology, and build their first aircraft carrier, Hosho, in 1922. After this, the Japanese turned to someone who could train their pilots on the new aircraft carriers. Luckily for them Frederick Joseph Rutland made himself available. He had risen from the ranks to become the squadron leader of the Eagle. He was also known as Rutland of Jutland, as he was the spotter who had spotted the German fleet, for which he had earned the Albert medal. After 1920, Rutland decided to leave the Royal Navy and work with the Japanese, where he would work for them in building aircraft carriers and training men in using these carriers. According to him, when he confessed to MI-5, it was revealed that his intentions to do this work were because he thought that there wouldn't be any war again, therefore he decided to go to Japan, where his company Mitsubishi was the government itself, and his office at Tokyo was just a cover for his activities.

After coming back to England, Sempill did not lose touch with his Japanese counterparts. He instead started feeding them with every kind of technical information, about the carriers, the bombs and torpedoes used by the planes on these carriers, and much more. But he had attracted the attention of MI-5, who were now looking into every detail of his moves, his telegrams, his letters, his back payments, phone calls, everything, which were going to Tejiro Toyoda, preferably his handler from Japanese Intelligence. Sempill had tried to gain information through British carrier designer Sir Tennyson d'Eyncourt and Air Vice Marshall Sir Charles Vyan, but the attempt failed. It is said that Sempill was paid handsomely by the Japanese. Sempill was questioned by MI-5 in 1926. With Sempill not admitting to the evidences MI-5 had secretly collected, it left the MI-5 in a tricky position, just when a relief came. Luckily for them, they had information from a witness regarding Sempill openly speaking on the Classified Project, Iris. He had violated the Official Secrets Act. Despite this, Sempill was left of any charge and was not prosecuted.

Thanks to their technical expertise, Japan now developed its carrier fleet, which came to be equivalent to their Royal Navy counterparts, and planned for the future invasion of different targets in the Southeast, where they focused on planting agents mostly in Malaya, particularly Singapore, through Penang. According to a treaty in 1920, Penang could be used as a dock for Japanese ships in the Southeast. Using this, many Japanese businesses came up in Malaya, and Singapore. The Japanese, using these businesses, put a web of sleeper agents all across the colony. One of them, later revealed, was a barber at Singapore, who cut the hair of Commonwealth officials in Singapore. He turned out to be a Colonel in Japanese Intelligence. The problem faced now with the British was that they couldn't differ between Japanese and the Chinese populace, both in Malaya and Singapore. If they did find about Japanese sleeper agents, they wouldn't be able to trace them, as they would be interning thousands of Japanese for that. The Japs had struck at the very heart of Singapore, and the British Intelligence in the Southeast. Like MI-5 in London, British Intelligence in the Far-East was also an expert in the use of intercepts. Earlier on the FESS or the Far Eastern Security Service had broken through the Japanese codes. But the code breakers were swamped. They had only seven people monitoring traffic for Asia, America and the Pacific, and there was no appetite in Whitehall for taking a hard line against Japan.
In 1931, Japan's holy war had begun- they had invaded Chinese Manchuria. The British response to this worrying move was to fortify Singapore. A total of 50 million pounds turned Singapore into the largest fortified Naval Base in the world. Unfortunately, the Japs struck again, acquiring the plans of the new base, again a work of the sleeper agents, from a British serviceman, named Roberts, which could only be discovered a year later.

By 1936, British strategists believed any attack on Singapore would come by sea. However, a British Army Intelligence Officer Joe Vinden, working closely with the MI, thought that if Singapore were to be invaded, a land invasion of Malaya would be more logical, with the beach of Kotha Bharu bieng the landing zone, which was precisely what had happened on December 7th, 1941. He also adviced the British Government on spending the money more on buying new planes, but his advice was ignored. Instead, he retired.
In 1934, Sempill inherited the family title as the 19th Lord Sempill, and took his seat at the House Of Lords as a Conservative. He was also the President of the Royal Aeronautical Society. When war broke out, he joined Winston Churchill as a member of the admiralty. Although Sempill had said he would stop discussing secret matters with the Japanese,but his actions suggested otherwise, when in 1941, the Manager of Mitsubishi was arrested for spying, and Sempill assisted in his release, two days later. He was also now rumoured to be in the council of a Nazi Organisation, the 'Link', whose objective was to expose organised jury, and clear the conservative party off Jewish influence.

In 1941, the Placentia Bay Meeting took place, as the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met face to face with the President of the United States of America Franklin Delano Roosevelt., on board HMS Prince of Wales. Churchill's interest was to influence Roosevelt to join the war. Shortly after, a document classified for 60 years reveals that code breakers at Bletchley park had intercepted a wire from the Japanese Embassy at London to Tokyo, which gave a detailed account of the event. It was sent straight to the PM's desk, where Churchill commented 'pretty accurate stuff' on the paper. It is still unknown about the spy behind this leak, but MI-5 came up with two names- Commander McGrath and Sempill. It was decided that Sempill was to leave his job, but Churchill decided to keep him in the admiralty. During that time, Rutland was inspecting and photographing military installations at the American Naval Base at Pearl Harbour.He had now changed his services from technical services to espionage. He was also known among them, as a 60 millimetre moving camera. He too had come up on the FBI's hit list, while the FBI was waiting for the opportune moment to catch him, but couldn't, as two attacks happened on December 7th, in both the places on the same day.

On December 7th, 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Just two hours earlier, an attack on Kotha Bharu took place, as predicted by Joe Vinden. Churchill believed that if the commonwealth forces could hold on temporarily, the Pacific Fleet would come to their rescue. But that hope was shattered when Pearl Harbor was bombed. The Japanese also bombed Singapore, destroying the British planes stationed there, shattering the hopes of any Air assistance. Soldiers all across the region were soon sent to rescue Singapore. The British Empire sent whatever ships they had in a fleet known as Force Z, headed by HMS Prince of Wales & HMS Repulse. Both ships were bombed & sunk by the Japanese, when the tried to intercept the Japanese Fleet, due to lack of air support. On the same day, Sempill was caught on a telephone call to the Japanese Embassy. His office was searched and admiralty files were found which he was not supposed to have were found with him. Despite all this, he was never charged.

On the 15th of February, 1942, the unthinkable happened. Singapore had fallen, with over 100,000 Allied POW s. For the Japanese, it was a pleasant surprise. They didn't know what to do with so many POW s. Back in the House of Commons, during a secret session, MPs demanded an inquiry to explain how this happened. Rutland was eventually deported to Britain, where he committed suicide, while Sempill ended up back in Scotland, still working for the admiralty. He died in 1965. Despite anything, he was never charged.
With this, men of the same cause had not only betrayed their nation, but had wounded a superpower, and crippled an empire. With this, Britain not only lost its dominance in the Southeast, but also never could become a dominant power again in the region since.

The Death Railway- A War From The Inside

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, just two hours ago, an attack on the Malay Peninsula took place on the morning of 7th of December, 1941. By mid February, 1942, Singapore had fallen in the hands of the Japanese, the greatest disaster in British history, with almost 90,000 troops surrendering to the Japanese. The date was 15th of February, 1942. The Japanese commander Tomoyuki Yamashita promised to keep the prisoner in a safe manner. But the Japanese had something else in mind, which caught the surrendered troops unaware.

After their surrender, the Japs first marched the POW s, & kept them in Changi prison barracks, which had a capacity of only 800 men, where 90,000 prisoners where housed. Diseases spread. Starvation was common. Tortures of the most brutal type existed, in which case, the Japs ordered the torture of many commonwealth troops in this camp.

After a few months, the POW s were asked to move to what the Japanese called a holiday camp, where they were supposedly getting good stay, good food, medicines, etc. For that, many were first selected out of groups. Then, they were pushed into freight carriages, in which they had to travel for 5 days, without light, water, food, proper sanitation, they were almost treated like a worthless cargo, to a Japanese camp at Ban Pong. This is where the reversals started.

In Ban Pong, it is said that the camp was under two feet of water. Conditions were hard. Diseases spread like epidemics. Many never survived in the camp. After a few days, the POW s were moved into the jungles of Thailand, on what was called the death march. Here, many people were already tired, exhausted, starved, diseased, infected. Those who fell down on the march, were left to their deaths in these dense and unforgiving jungles of Thailand. Escape was out of the question, as they had to cross a hundred kilometers of jungle, before reaching the sea, then swimming 1,400 km till the Indian subcontinent, the last surviving safe haven for the allied forces in the southeast, or to nearby Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). This was an impossible task, considering the state of the POW s. After the Death march across these jungles, they would reach their working sites. To begin with, they were first tasked to build both their captor's lodgings, as well as theirs. After that, it was work all day long, till the evening.

Food was meager, conditions were appalling. Many died again in these camps. The others starved. During this time, they worked under impossible conditions, built one of the most impossible lines, sabotaged as much as possible, and faced inhuman tortures for doing so. Tortures were of many types, from putting people in a asbestos shed, also known as an oven, to cutting of body parts. During this time, the POW s devised many different ways on tackling many different situations, like the use of bamboo in making medical instruments, eating whatever vegetation they could find as edible, and many more.

The most difficult section was hell fire pass. Its name was so called because of the sight of emaciated prisoners laboring at night by torchlight, hence the name. It is said that a tunnel was to be made through this section, but could only be constructed at the two ends at any one time. Hence the pass. 69 people were beaten to death in the six weeks of the construction of the pass. Many more died due to disease. The estimated figure is set at 568. The most famous section of the railway is the bridge 277, which was built over a stretch of river, which was known as part of the Mae Klong river. The bridge has been immortalized in the movie 'The Bridge On The River Kwai'. The line was completed by October 17th , 1943, when the two sections met 18km  south of the three pagodas. Most of the POW s were then sent to Japan. Some remained to maintain the railway, thereby continuing with suffering as they earlier did while constructing the railway. They were also subjected to allied bombings on the railway, where many died because of the bombings by their own comrades.

During the construction of the railway, many locals were hired to build it, coming from different nationalities, from India, Malaya, Siam, Ceylon, Korea, etc., across the southeast, working side by side with the POW s. They were put in by the promise of money and a good life, which they never got. Instead, most of the inhuman crimes committed on the POW s were also committed on them. Many of them died in the same circumstances as that of the POW s. When the railway was being built, the Japanese troops also suffered a lot, due to few supplies in the treacherous jungles.

After the surrender of Japan, the railway went to ruins, with only a small section of the railway still being used by the Thai population. Out of an estimated 330,000 people working on the line, 90,00 laborers & about 16,000 allied POW s died. Their battle was not about fighting the enemy, but surviving the worst conditions possible for them, and sabotaging wherever possible. The war for them was a suffering in one of the most inhuman projects ever constructed till date. Though, the railway was a mere 415km long, it was still made by people who sacrificed their lives, not only for building the railway, but also to protect their very own country to which they belonged to at every kilometer of that railway.

A Long Won Forgotten Frontier- Kohima and Imphal

Kohima, a town nestled in the hills, now the capital of Nagaland, is always bustling with activity, from people getting fruits and vegetables from the neighboring villages to the bustling tourist vehicle taking people to all the different tourist spots in the area. But the most important of all is the Kohima war cemetery, made in order to protect the few remains of those who fought a forgotten battle at a forgotten frontier of India. Who knows that the most decisive battles of the far-east of the Second World War could have happened in a place like Kohima/Imphal.

In 1944, under the code name U-Go,the Japanese and the INA (Indian National Army) launched an invasion into India through Kohima and Imphal. Their objective was to take over the supply dump at Dimapur, enter the Brahmaputra valley, and root out the British out of India. But, during this time, the tide had turned towards the allied side, but for the allies, countering the thick and dense forests of eastern India and Burma was still not so easy. On their retreat from Burma, they had been humiliated in the worst of things, with a disease afflicted army of troops, and a year long stalemate, by which time they had to be prepared for the inevitable, which never happened.

When the Japanese attacked Imphal in March by crossing into India through Moreh, the British had been outwitted at that point. Many lessons about the Japs had still not been learnt. The Japs also were not prepared for a long siege against the allies. By April, the Japanese had surrounded Imphal, while the siege for Kohima had just begun. During the siege of Kohima and Imphal, Indian soldiers fought valiantly for both sides, though most of them fought for the Raj, while a few of them went to the INA under Subhash Chandra Bose. The battles on both the places was won by the troops of the Raj, but was forgotten almost entirely, as it came to be overshadowed by the D-day landings at Normandy, France, which was the largest seaborne landing ever made in the history of mankind.

Much of the tale about both the battles has been truly forgotten to an extent that much of the population of this country would never have known as if a battle of such an extent ever happened in our history. During the battle, it was noted that the Indian troops were not fighting for their own country, but for the Raj, who were their only paymasters, who gave them a salary much less than their British counterparts, but still remained loyal for the sake of honor of their own paltans and regiments, which still remains till date in every regiment of the Indian army. They were fighting an enemy they were not much acquainted to, nor to the thick jungles of the northeast, prone to a variety of diseases, such as malaria, dysentery, etc. Still, under all odds, they fought what the British called "one of the toughest enemy ever faced in history".

Still, they have long been forgotten, with no credit given to soldiers who fought in these parts for God and Country. Most of those who know about it, only credit the INA, for their indomitable spirit & patriotic fervor for trying to free their motherland, India. But what of the troops who fought for the Raj, who never got recognition, fought without many basic amenities, under the worst conditions of the tropical jungles of the east, battled many different diseases, such as malaria, dysentery, jaundice, etc., and achieved all objectives, to protect the famed colony of the Raj?

Nevertheless, a time may come when they will be honored in a much spirited way, and the Kohima epitaph, inscribed at the very same cemetery, may be taken with much more fervor, as it may be read:
When you go home,
Tell them of us,
And say,
For your tomorrow,
We gave our today.