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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

Exhibit tells about China’s Expeditionary Forces

By Wu Huixin | November 19, 2013, Tuesday | Print Edition

“Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.” The saying made famous by US General Douglas MacArthur in his farewell speech still could apply today.

Such is the fate of China’s Expeditionary Forces, an army sent to India and Myanmar (then called Burma) by the then-Chinese government to help Anti-Fascist Allies fighting against Japanese aggression during World War II.

Only a few, frail CEF soldiers remain in China’s mainland. They survived many dangers and contributed greatly to the victory in World War II.

In order to commemorate the CEF’s glory days, an exhibition named “Memory of the Nation,” displaying historic photos of the CEF, is underway in Hangzhou West Lake Museum through November 30.

Most of these historic documents were filmed by the American 164th Signal Photo Company, whose task was to document the war in the CBI Theater (a term used by the US military during World War II, referring to China, Burma and India).

However, these precious photos were in storage in the US National Archives and Records Administration for dozens of years until in 2010, when Chinese volunteers copied them and brought them to light again.

Zhang Dongpan, one of the people behind the exhibition, led a team of volunteers copying more than 23,000 photos taken by the 164th Signal Photo Company and sorting through reams of historic documents.

Before coming to Hangzhou, Zhang had shown the exhibition in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, and Taipei, Taiwan. Photos showcase the CEF’s training, daily life, relationships with local residents, and the friendship and military cooperation among Chinese and other allies.

Among the highlights of the exhibition are the photos of Chinese veteran Wu Qiyao and American Major William C McMurrey.

In order to aid the Chinese government and put pressure on Japan, the US government organized American Volunteer Groups to fight the Japanese in CBI Theater. It was popularly known as the Flying Tigers and under the command of Claire Lee Chennault.

Later the Flying Tigers worked with pilots from China to establish the Chinese-American Composite Wing. Wu, 25, who had graduated from the prestigious Whampoa Military Academy, joined the air unit in 1943.

During the war, Wu piloted bombers for more than 800 hours and participated in 88 cases of air combat. He was shot down three times and was badly wounded, but survived and continued to fight.

Given his great contribution, in 1945, Wu was awarded the US Distinguished Flying Cross. This military decoration honors enlisted members of the United States Armed Forces, but during wartime, members of friendly foreign nations serving with the United States were eligible.

Wu suffered during political movements from the 1950s into the 1970s. During the 1980s, he was hired by Hangzhou University (present-day Zhejiang University) as a lab worker. In 2010, he passed away at age 93.

Another series of photos is about Major McMurrey. Few before 1999 knew about the role of American ground forces in the fight against Japan in China.

The story began with a writer, Sun Min. One day in 1999, Sun met with an old man named Zhang Xiaozhong in Tengchong, Yunnan Province, which adjoins Myanmar. Zhang showed some black-and-white photos taken by his father during the war to Sun. Among these one was unusual — it showed a funeral conducted by American military personnel.

But for whom was the funeral? Sun showed the photo to her friends Zhang Dongpan and a magazine editor, Deng Kangyan. It ignited their desire to find the identity of the dead soldier.

By inquiring of a lot of historians and browsing through piles of historic materials, they learned that the soldier might belong to a US Army detachment code named Y, which was comprised of 4,000 American soldiers assisting Chinese attacking Japanese in World War II.

Afterwards, they contacted John Easterbrook, the grandson of US General Joseph Stilwell (a four-star general known for service in the CBI Theater), the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and the US Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office.

With these units’ help, the name was identified and his family was reached. He’s Major William C McMurrey, born in 1910 and died in 1944. Major’s two daughters, Barbara and Beverly McMurrey, provided his pictures and letters home. Now the copies are on display at the exhibition.

McMurrey’s remains were found by the US Army in 1947 and reburied in his hometown in Texas with full military honors.

But the search was not over. Sun, Zhang and Deng continued to look for the original burial site in Yunnan Province. With the help of an old Tengchong native who witnessed the funeral, they traced the site to a mountain village.

Sun made their experience into a documentary, “The Search for Major McMurrey,” in 2008. It was listed among the Top 10 Documentaries (2008-2009) by the China Documentary Academy and is being screened at the exhibition. 

The war in India and Myanmar lasted three years and three months, and during that time 400,000 Chinese soldiers were sent there, suffering a casualty rate of 50 percent. Finally with the support of Anti-Fascist Allies, the CEF returned to China in triumph in 1945.

“The CEF wore ragged clothes and used backward weapons — people called them beggar troop — but they proved themselves, paid with their lives and demonstrated the dignity of Chinese military to the world,” says Geng Zhiyuan, vice president of the China Social Assistance Foundation.

The foundation launched a “Take Care of Anti-Japanese War Veterans” program in 2013, aimed at aiding veterans experiencing difficulties. Also, the organization gathers soldiers’ remains scattered overseas and builds tombs for them.

 

Date: Through November 30 (closed on Mondays)

Address: 89 Nanshan Rd

Tel: (0571) 8788-2333

 

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