On this day, part of the
717-mile "Burma Road" from Lashio, Burma to Kunming in southwest
China is reopened by the Allies, permitting supplies to flow back into China.
At the outbreak of war between
Japan and China in 1937, when Japan began its occupation of China's seacoast,
China began building a supply route that would enable vital resources to evade
the Japanese blockade and flow into China's interior from outside.
It was
completed in 1939, and allowed goods to reach China via a supply route that led
from the sea to Rangoon, and then by train to Lashio. When, in April 1942, the
Japanese occupied most of Burma, the road from Lashio to China was closed, and
the supply line was cut off.
The Allies were not able to
respond until 1944, when Allied forces in eastern India made their way into
northern Burma and were able to begin construction of another supply road that
linked Ledo, India, with the part of the original Burma Road still controlled
by the Chinese. The Stillwell Road (named for Gen. Joseph Stillwell, American
adviser to Chiang Kai-shek, China's leader) was finally opened on this day in
1945, once again allowing the free transport of supplies into China.
Taken from: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/burma-road-is-reopened
[28.01.2014]
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