Inset on a large boulder. On the right-hand side of the plaque, a yellow notice board could be seen.

A large, vertically-oriented, black, granite stone plaque inscribed in English in white lettering. On the top of the plaque are 3 images which are the China-Burma-India Theater insignia, the USAAF insignia, and the 24^th Combat Mapping Squadron emblem followed down by the outline of an F-7A Liberator and the commemoration message then the names of the crew. All featured on the plaque are engraved then painted with colors. The memorial was erected at the site and dedicated by the Village Council on December 22, 2020.

F-7A #42-64189 was part of the CBI Theater of WWII which was established on June 22, 1942, to halt Japanese expansion in Southeast Asia. The American strategy was to invade Japan by building up China as a source of manpower and the base for their bombers. But by January 1942, Japan had surrounded and cut off China from Allied supplies and the U.S. Army Air Force based in India started to haul military supplies 550 miles over the Eastern Himalayan Mountains from airfields in Assam, India to Kunming, China; a perilous air route that American pilots nicknamed ‘The Hump’.

On August 11, 1944, #42-64189 embarked on an ‘Over The Hump’ Combat Mission en route from Jorhat, India to Kunming, China. It was carrying three passengers along with cargoes comprising gasoline, bombs, and ammunition. While en route, the plane exploded in mid-air for an undetermined reason and crashed near the village of Molungkimong. All the 12 persons on board were killed in the crash.

WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL

MOLUNGKIMONG

(26°38'28"N, 94°34'35"E)

TO THOSE WHO SERVED AND MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE

IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE TWELVE AIRMEN OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES (USAAF) WHO

LOST THEIR LIVES DURING THE WORLD WAR II WHEN THEIR AIRCRAFT, AN F-7A CONSOLIDATED LIBERATOR

(AIRCRAFT NO. 42-64189) BELONGING TO THE 24TH COMBAT MAPPING SQUADRON, 8TH PHOTOGRAPHIC

RECONNAISSANCE GROUP, CRASHED HERE AT MOLUNGKIMONG ON 11TH AUGUST 1944 WHILE FLYING

OVER 'THE HUMP' ON A COMBAT MISSION ENROUTE FROM JORHAT, INDIA TO KUNMING, CHINA.

ROLL OF HONOUR

You embraced death far away from home but for a soldier, home is where

his blood meets the soil. We honour your sacrifice.

          Memorial funded, erected and dedicated by,

                                                        Molungkimong Village Council

                                                        Dist. Mokokchung, Nagaland:India