Source:

01-13-2006 17:43

Early in 1942, the Japanese suffered a major defeat in the Battle of Changsha, with casualties amounting to over 50,000. For the Allies, the victory brought a much-needed boost to morale. The beginning of the year also saw representatives from China, the United States, Britain, and 22 other countries signing the Declaration by United Nations. Subsequently, Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Chinese Nationalist Government, became the supreme allied commander in the China War Zone, covering China, Vietnam, Burma and Thailand.

Huang Huanxiao was the only Chinese nurse caring for wounded Americans in the Army field hospitals in Yunnan on the Hump Route. She’s over 90 years old now. This lady, once known affectionately as the “Angel of the Hump”, still keeps all the letters written to her by the wounded American soldiers she nursed all those years ago.

1942 was the toughest year during the war for the Chinese forces operating behind enemy lines. The Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army suffered large numbers of casualties. The noose tightened around the anti-Japanese base areas, and their populations declined dramatically. However, the victory of American forces in the Guadalcanal Islands marked a turning point in the Pacific War. Major victories were achieved by other allied forces, on the battlefields of El-Alamein and Stalingrad.

 

Editor:Wang Ping