WW2 FAMINE IN CHINA

WORLD WAR 2 FAMINE  IN CHINA
 
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 During October, 1942, a famine occurred in the province of Northern Honan which threatened about 20,000,000 people with starvation. This was brought about by nearly two years of severe drought and a plague of locusts, unparalleled for centuries, which ruined the grain and rice fields. The blighted area extended over more than 20,000 square miles, and the districts which suffered most acutely were along the Yellow River in the neighborhood of Cheng Chow, a town which lay only a dozen miles from the Japanese lines. While millions of people were able to leave the province for other parts of China, those who remained had to live on grass, straw, weeds and even the bark of trees. The disaster was greatly aggravated by Japanese troops who had for a long period been systematically burning fields, crops and villages in an attempt to put an end to the activities of the Chinese guerrilla bands. These gallant bands, in spite of many handicaps, had for long been a worry to the Japanese invaders. China was now in the sixth year of her war against Japan, and though she had lost much territory and had sacrificed countless lives, her armies still stood firm in the path of the aggressor. The spirit of the country was still a glorious example for the world. So this additional disaster of famine was borne as bravely as were all her other sufferings. China's plight, however, was a serious one, especially as the loss of the Burma Road supply route made it extremely difficult for America, Britain and other Allies to come to her aid. The picture shows one of the many thousands of poor victims of what was probably the worst famine in the recorded history of China.