Hump WW2 Museum to be inaugurated soon in Arunachal Pradesh
Pasighat: ‘The Hump WW2 Museum’, showcasing the wreckage of Allied Forces aircraft that crashed in Arunachal Pradesh during World War II and other important artefacts, would soon be inaugurated, Chief Minister Pema Khandu said.
“The museum’s name pays tribute to the Hump operation, one of the most remarkable feats of aviation history during the Second World War,” Khandu wrote on X after inspecting the ongoing work at ‘The Hump WW2 Museum’ in Pasighat on Wednesday
“The museum is nearing completion and will be inaugurated soon,” the chief minister announced.
“During World War II, the United States flew supplies over the Himalayas, on a route known as ‘The Hump’ because of the altitude of the Eastern Himalaya many of their aircraft went missing and were never found in our then remote jungles and mountains,” the Chief Minister explained.
“The Hump route traverses regions of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Tibet, Yunnan and Myanmar, and it is estimated that nearly 650 aircraft crashed in these areas during World War II due to extreme flying conditions,” Khandu said.
Arunachal Pradesh, bordering China, was part of the flight route used by American aircraft to transport supplies from airfields in Upper Assam to Kunming in China to allied troops in China.
American pilots 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.
Allied pilots transported 650,000 tonnes of supplies over mountains for the Chinese government and anti-Japanese forces.
People living in Arunachal Pradesh claim to have seen wreckages on many occasions.
The Americans believe more than 400 US servicemen and women were lost on the Indian side of the border.
China had recovered some remains of US servicemen on their side of what is a disputed stretch of the India-China border.
