Sunday 28th January 1945

The c. 1100 mile Ledo Road, linking Burma and China, was completed. It replaced the need for the US Flying Tigers to fly over the ‘hump’ of the Himalayas to resupply the Chinese Allies against the Japanese. It was renamed the Stilwell Road, after General Joseph Stilwell of the U.S. Army, in early 1945 at the suggestion of Chiang Kai-shek. It passes through the Burmese towns of Shingbwiyang, Myitkyina and Bhamo in Kachin state. The road was built by 15,000 American soldiers (60 percent of whom were African-Americans) and 35,000 local workers at a cost of US$150 million. 1,100 Americans died during the construction, as well as many more locals.