WWII veterans return from Burma after 67 years

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Modern Express
May 31, 2009

Nine former soldiers of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Burma who chose to stay in Burma after the Second World War embarked on a tour to China yesterday, their first visit home for 67 years, today’s Modern Express reports.

Yesterday, the government of the border city Ruili organized a ceremony to welcome the homecoming of the WWII veterans, among whom the youngest is now over eighty years old.

In 1942, at the request of Britain, China’s then ally, the Nationalist government dispatched a force of over 100,000 to Burma to join the British army. Among the 61,000 of the expeditionary force who died in Burma, most lost their lives to diseases, starvation or were eaten by wild animals when they retreated to the tropical jungles and tried to cross what is referred to as “Wild Man Mountain” (野人山) by Chinese history books.

A TV dramatization of this little known part of Chinese history entitled My Chief and My Regiment was aired on the Mainland Chinese TV channels earlier this year and received high viewership ratings.

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