The story of 600 American planes buried in the Himalayas during World War II
Recently, a museum was inaugurated in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh where the remains of warplanes that crashed in the Himalayas during the Second World War are kept.
Since 2009, a team from both India and the United States has been conducting search operations in the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh, where they have found the remains of hundreds of planes that crashed 80 years ago.
An estimated 600 American cargo planes have crashed in the remote Himalayas, killing at least 1,500 crew members and passengers.
The Second World War lasted for 42 months and that was when these planes crashed in the Himalayan mountains.
The dead included American and Chinese pilots, radio operators and soldiers.
The Chinese army was supplied with war equipment from Assam and Bengal. At that time, the air route of these planes passed through the high Himalayan mountains.
In the Second World War, Germany, Italy, and Japan were on one side, while France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and China were on the other side.
This was the time when the Japanese army had completed its advance on the Indian border.
From then on, this air route over the Himalayas became a lifeline for the Allies. Because the land route to Myanmar was closed for them at that time.
In April 1942, the United States began military operations.
During this period, six and a half lakh tons of ammunition were successfully transported by aircraft.
This supply of munitions or materials played an important role in the victory of the Allies.
Pilots named the dangerous airway ‘The Hump’.
which mainly ran from present Arunachal Pradesh to China in the eastern Himalayas. It was considered one of the most dangerous air routes in the world.
For the past 14 years, a team of mountaineers, students, doctors and forensic experts from India and the US have conducted search operations in the dense forests of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering Myanmar and China.
The search operation also involved members of the US Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), a US agency tasked with tracking down soldiers killed in combat.
With the help of local tribes, the team reached the crash site after months of efforts, where at least 20 aircraft and the remains of several missing airmen were found.
It was a nerve-wracking or challenging expedition, with six days of walking and two days of road travel, and after going through all these hardships the team was able to locate the crash site.
After being hit by a blizzard, the team was stranded in the mountains for three weeks.
Forensic expert William Belcher says: ‘This area is full of difficulties, from flat land to snow-capped peaks you get it all. After all, what makes your journey more difficult and painful is the weather here.’ can.’
What else was found in the search?
During the search operation, oxygen tanks, machine guns, aircraft structures, human skulls, bones, shoes and watches were found.
DNA samples are currently being collected to identify the victims.
Remains of a missing airman’s bracelet and sharp weapons have been recovered from a villager.
Some of the accident sites were already visited by local villagers. He had sold the remaining aluminum found there as scrap.
But now a museum has been built for the remains and the memories that accompany it.
This museum is opened in Pasighat, a beautiful town in Arunachal Pradesh, situated in the foothills of the Himalayas. And its name is ‘Hump Museum’.
It was inaugurated on 29 November 2023 by the US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti.
“This is not just a gift to Arunachal Pradesh or the families affected by the accident, but it is a gift to India and the world,” said Okin Teng, director of the museum.
“It has also given a recognition to all the local people of Arunachal Pradesh who have been an integral part of this mission, their work is respected,” he added.
The museum clearly highlights the dangers of flying on this air route.
Major General William Turner was a US Air Force pilot at that time.
He flew the C-46 cargo plane, which he still vividly remembers flying over mountain slopes, wide and deep valleys, narrow streams and deep eddying rivers, even over villages.
The pilots in this plane had to face severe weather conditions. The pilots of these planes were often young and newly trained.
According to Turner, the weather on the hump route changes every minute and every mile.
On one side was the forest of India. On the other side was the Western China Plateau.
Aircraft carrying heavy cargo caught in the storm will immediately descend 5 feet and fly at the same speed.
Turner brought his plane down to about 25,000 feet after a storm, then his plane’s tires turned skyward and their heads toward the ground for some time.
“The biggest challenge was keeping the aircraft under control in spring storms, strong winds, sleet and sleet,” he writes.
Life magazine journalist Theodore White has traveled to the airline five times to write a story on the issue.
He writes that “the pilot of the plane carrying the Chinese soldiers without a parachute decided to make an emergency landing of his plane when it was covered in snow.”
Together with fellow pilots and radio operators, they managed to land in warm tropical trees.
Fortunately, the plane landed safely and there were no casualties, but they wandered here and there in the jungle for 15 days and were finally helped by people from remote villages.
The local people here often gave medical aid to the injured who survived the accident and also saved their lives.
Nine planes crashed in a storm, killing 27 crew and passengers, Turner said.
“The storms were so intense that I had never seen anything like it anywhere in the world,” Turner said.
Parents of missing airmen thought their children were still alive.
One such poem was written in 1945 by Pearl Dunway, the mother of missing airman Joseph Dunway.
“Where is my son?” I and the world want to know if their purpose has been fulfilled. Or has it left the ground? Or is it somewhere on earth? Or is he still wandering in the jungles of India?’
The World War II operation, which reached the Indian border, is still, and probably will forever be, regarded as a truly daring feat in air transport.