| Original caption: “A United States convoy, which operates between Chen-Yi and Kweiyang, China, is ascending the famous twenty-one curves at Annan, China.” Original caption: “All supplies, after being shipped fifteen thousand miles by water, had to be transported by truck over a narrow, winding, treacherous road or flown over the Hump, and then trucked on from there over roads which in the States would not be tolerated. Kunming is the gateway to the Hump Road, also known as the Stilwell Road. Trucks twist toward the front over twenty-one curves along this mountainous stretch.” The “Twenty-Four Bends” was thought to be in Burma or Yunnan, China, for over 50 years, until research showed it was actually in Qinglong County, Guizhou Province. Markers were placed for each of the 24 switchbacks. The “Twenty-Four Bends” was not part of either the Burma Road or the Ledo (“Stillwell”) Road. It was an extension between Kunming and Kweiyang (today Guiyang). Constructed in December 1935, the “Twenty-Four Bends” is an unpaved road that famously represented the dangerous route of the Burma Road to the general public. It was not until March 1995 that the actual location of the “Twenty-Four Bends” was decisively determined. Historian Ge Shuya (born 1952), based in Yunnan, traced the location of “Twenty-Four Bends” for the 1st time since the war. In Fall 1943, expecting the need to transport 15,000 tons of war materiel per month, the United States Army China-Burma-India Command under Lieutenant General Joseph W. Stilwell (March 19, 1883 – October 12, 1946) sent a memorandum to the Foreign Affairs Bureau of the Nationalist Government, requesting improvements to the Highway between Chanyi, Yunnan and Duyun, Guizhou, including the “Twenty-Four Bends.” Major projects included increasing the radius of hairpin bends at turns 9, 11, 13, and 15, eliminating turns 21 and 22, improving drainage culverts, and constructing multiple retaining walls, the highest of which reached 12 meters (40 feet). To improve driving conditions on the winding mountain road, a new construction began in July 1944 and was completed by the end of December. The United States Army Corps of Engineers participated in the reduction of bends, rerouting, and maintenance. Simultaneously, they selected sites along the mountain road with weak slopes to build stone walls, reinforce retaining walls, and stabilize the slopes to prevent landslides and road blockages. Except for the heavy excavation and hauling work, which was contracted to local Chinese authorities, all other aspects of the project, such as design, supervision, and organizational construction management, were handled by United Army highway engineering technicians. Chanyi, at the time a small village near Qujing in Yunnan (not Annan) Province, was the termination of the rail head and was built up as a Quartermaster Supply Depot. By old roads, it was approximately 675 miles (1,030 kilometers) from Kunming, Yunnan Province, to Liuchow, Guangxi Province, where many Kuomintang Army units received supplies. Kweiyang, today known as Guiyang in Guizhou Province, was about 300 miles (480 kilometers) from Chanyi and was another major Kuomintang supply base. The Burma Road, spanning 1,154 kilometers (717 miles) from Kunming, Yunnan province, in Southwest China to Lashio, Burma, was China’s only lifeline for international supplies during the early phase of the Sino-Japanese War. It took 200,000 people 10 months to finish the road’s Chinese section in August 1938, and as many as 2,300 laborers lost their lives in the process. Drivers had to contend with monsoons, bandits, and bad roads. Semi-tractor-trailers could not operate on these dirt roads, so only General Motors and Dodge 2-and-a-half-ton 6-by-6 trucks, which had off-road capability, were able to negotiate the Burmese and Chinese trails. In early 1942, the Japanese overran Burma and cut off the road, forcing the Allies to set up flying over the Hump, a very dangerous aerial route over the Himalayas. At the same time, the Allies began constructing the Ledo Road, linking it to the section of the Burma Road in northern Burma, which they had regained by 1945. But the Ledo Road took time, and the 1st convoy didn’t roll until January 1945. As a token of appreciation, the Chinese government named the Burma and Ledo roads, a total of 1,736 kilometers (1,078 miles), the Stilwell Road after United States Army General Joseph W. “Vinegar Joe” Stilwell (March 19, 1883 – October 12, 1946), who was the commander of all American forces in the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II. United States Army Private John F. Albert (August 29, 1918 – June 5, 2008) of Palmyra, Pennsylvania, enlisted on March 3, 1942. He was a darkroom technician at the November 1942 Louisiana Maneuvers. He was sent overseas on January 10, 1944, and returned to the United States on December 12, 1945. Albert was discharged on December 24, 1945, at Indiantown Gap Military Reservation, Pennsylvania. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1528.jpg |
| Image Size | 963.26 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2176 x 2868 |
| Photographer | John F. Albert |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | March 26, 1945 |
| Location | |
| City | Guizhou |
| State or Province | Qinglong |
| Country | China |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-111-SC-208807 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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