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| India-Pakistan |
| US team in India to hunt for WWII 'Hump' missing |
| 2008-06-29 |
| A US defence department team has arrived in India to prepare a search for the remains of hundreds of American personnel who went missing over the Himalayan 'Hump' during World War II, diplomats and officials said. The team, from the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command (JPAC), will fly to the northeast frontier state of Arunachal Pradesh for a 'site survey' ahead of the search once monsoon rains stop in October. 'It's still very early on in the process, and currently JPAC is meeting with the Indian government and the operations will happen only in October,' said Henry Jardine, US consul-general in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata. 'Right now we are in preliminary stages of discussions,' Jardine told AFP. 'We are hoping the operations can start after the monsoon and more information will be put out after the mission starts in October.' The team will be hunting for US flight crews whose transport planes -- carrying supplies between Burma and besieged Allied forces in China -- went down in the notorious, mountainous area that pilots called 'The Hump'. They were forced to fly the perilous route in April 1942 when the Japanese army cut off the main road between Burma and China, and the operations continued until near the end of the war in 1945. In all, Allied pilots ferried some 650,000 tonnes of fuel, munitions and equipment over the mountains to resupply the Chinese government and other anti-Japanese forces. The mountains were eventually dubbed the 'Aluminium Trail' because of the number of crashes. 'It's impossible to pinpoint sites of crashed Allied planes, but JPAC analysts estimate more than 400 Americans are lost in this region,' said an Indian military official holding talks with the US team. 'The Hump was a busy sector during the war. We'll also take help in terms of intelligence and other ground support from our own ex-servicemen and World War II veterans who live in the state,' the official said. Jardine said China had recovered some remains of US servicemen but JPAC had yet to make it to the Indian side of the border -- an extremely sensitive part of India because it is claimed by Beijing as part of Tibet. The Indian air force will lend light helicopters and all-weather transport aircraft while the army will extend ground support and security to the JPAC team, officials here said. 'India will provide all logistics support to JPAC once the mission starts on our territory,' defence ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar said in New Delhi. But the task is not expected to be easy. 'The route passes over 4,500 metres (15,000 feet) of icy ridges, and it's going to one hell of a job to hunt for men downed six decades ago,' said Joginder Singh, an army veteran and a retired Himalayan climber. 'The extreme temperatures up there, however, may have preserved some bits and pieces,' added 83-year-old Singh, who fought Japanese troops in what was British India. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #1 Having the musculature of a chimpanzee and aerogel underwear would help a lot. Though they'll need a pack elephant to carry a week's rations on a 1.5M calorie a day diet. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-06-29 14:04 |