Chinese War Graves in India
- By Peter Harmsen
- 5 July, 2014
- 1 Comment
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and western positions in East Asia in December 1941, China became a full-blown member of the Allied war effort against the axis. This also meant that Chinese soldiers were set to the Burma theater to participate in the fight against the Japanese Army there.
Some never returned. They were killed in battle or succumbed to their wounds in field hospitals. A number are buried at the Gauhati War Cemetery in the state of Assam in northeast India, along with nearly 500 Commonwealth servicemen.
Rajeshwor Yumnam has done valuable work photographing these graves, see below, and it is his hope to be able to trace the families of the fallen Chinese soldiers. If you have any information that can facilitate this effort, please contact us.
The Chinese Expeditionary Forces in India (including the Burma theatre) during WW2 consisted of 3 army groups as well as several other divisions sent as reserves and/or reinforcements, including the well known 88th and 200th Divisions. All of these formations no longer exist due to the loss of mainland China to the Communists but a lot of veterans can still be found, some in organised groups.
The best bet, if you want to trace down survivors, is to get in touch with ROC Veteran Affairs Council:
http://www.vac.gov.tw/en/home/index.asp
I don’t think there’s a similar body in the PRC for this.