Nearly 75 years after the decisive Battle of Yenangyaung, fallen heroes of the ROC army are remembered

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/03/13
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A delegation of 50 Taiwanese officials and expatriates attended a memorial service on Saturday at a cemetery in Ramgarh district of the Indian state of Jharkhand to commemorate the sacrifices of 600 Republic of China (ROC) soldiers who fought in the victorious Battle of Yenangyaung in World War II.

In April 1942, nearly 75 years ago, ROC soldiers from the 113th Regiment fought their way through horrific heat and smoke from the burning oil wells of Yenangyaung in modern day Myanmar to rescue 7,000 British Indian soldiers of the 1st Burma Division, who had become completely surrounded by Japanese forces.

After three days of intense fighting, Chinese Nationalist forces lead by General Sun Li-jen (孫立人), nicknamed the “Rommel of the East,” managed to reach British forces, but at the cost of 600 out 800 combat personnel.    [FULL  STORY]