Forgotten Facts
A primary source of information for this site was
The Ledo Road
by
Leslie Anders,
published by the
University of Oklahoma Press.
This book is an excellent source of information about the building of
the Ledo Road.
On this page you will see some facts about the building of the Ledo Road,
including the cost in dollars and more importantly, American lives.
You will see numbers supporting the fact that the Ledo Road was quite an engineering accomplishment,
made even more so by the fact that it was built in wartime in the battle zone of northern Burma.
Also included are symbols from the CBI Theater, a chart showing distances along the road, a never used Driver's Award,
and a Corps. of Engineers recruiting poster.
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Symbols
CBI Theater
- The left-hand symbol represents China and is the sun surrounded by 12 points
for each hour in the traditional Chinese day. The star symbolizes the "Star
of India". The red, white, and blue represent the United States. Worn since 1942 it was
offically adopted on 13 November 1944.
Ledo Road
- The winding road proceeds through Burma to China (represented by the sun).
The three stars represent the three countries involved: China, Burma, and India.
Approved for local wear only. Two different versions were worn, one with stars on red field and
the other, more common, stars on blue field.
Southeast Asia Command
- A Phoenix rising from the fire.
Most likely worn by only a few officers who held positions in this
command of which CBI was a part. British Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten commanded.
These symbols were rarely seen in the field. The CBI insignia was officially approved
one month after the theater was split in two.
Ledo Road insignia was approved for local wear only.
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The Cost
While supplies that moved over the road were lend-lease (to be paid for or returned) the
cost of building the road itself was borne mostly by the United States. The exact cost could not
be determined for various reasons, including the fact that some of the costs attributed to
building the road were actually incurred on other smaller projects carried out by the
road engineers.
The final estimated cost:
U.S. Troop labor.................. $ 31,766,000
Materials and Supplies............ 33,912,000
Equipment, fuel, repairs.......... 51,956,000
Overhead.......................... 19,424,000
Sub-Total......................... 137,058,000
Chinese Troop labor............... 2,410,000
Indian military, civilian labor... 9,442,000
Sub-Total......................... 11,852,000
Grand Total....................... $148,910,000
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The Greater Cost
The greater cost of building the Ledo Road is measured in human lives. The entire length of the
Stilwell Road was 1,079 miles. American fatalities in the area commanded from Ledo were 1,133.
For this reason the human cost is often stated as "A Man A Mile."
Overall
Killed in combat................. 624
Died of Typhus................... 63
Died of Malaria.................. 11
Died by Drowning................. 53
Died in Road Accidents........... 44
Died in Aircraft Accidents....... 173
Total Ledo Road Fatalities....... 1133
Among Engineer Units
Killed in combat.................. 130
Died of Typhus.................... 8
Died of Malaria................... 7
Died of Other Causes.............. 116
Total Engineer Fatalities......... 261
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More Than Miles...
Engineers moved 13,500,000 cubic yards of earth in building the road
Enough earth to build a wall 3 feet wide and 10 feet high from New York to San Francisco
Engineers dug 1,383,000 cubic yards of gravel from riverbeds to surface the road
If loaded on rail cars the train would be 427 miles long
The Ledo Road crossed 10 major rivers and 155 smaller streams
Seven hundred bridges over the length of the road
Construction was as much a drainage project as a road building effort
An average 13 culverts per mile were used totalling 105 miles of pipe
Foresters gathered 822,000 cubic feet of lumber for use in building the road
One million board feet of lumber and 2400 pilings were used in a causeway over the swamp
Of the 15,000 Engineers who built the road, over 60% were African-American
The officers were white and many lead integration efforts in the military after the war
The supply line from the United States to CBI was 12,000 miles long
Longest supply line in World War II
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ABOUT THIS AWARD
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FULL CHART
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