CHANGSHA, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- A museum in central China's Hunan Province on Saturday unveiled two original video clips showing the construction of a crucial military airfield during World War II.
The two clips, acquired from the U.S. National Archives, were filmed by the U.S. forces stationed at the Zhijiang Airport in Hunan's Zhijiang County, according to Wu Jianhong, curator of the Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Zhijiang.
The footage provides a real record of the anonymous laborers who built the airfield, Wu said. Released on China's 12th national memorial day for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre, the release of the videos aims to help more people understand this history and draw strength from the nation's resilience, especially young people, according to Wu.
During World War II, Zhijiang Airport became a key base for the Flying Tigers -- the 1st American Volunteer Group, which was formed in 1941 to help China drive out invading Japanese troops. The Chinese and American air forces based there dealt heavy blows to the Japanese invaders.
The video footage shows laborers, some of whom wear a towel wrapped around the head and others who are barefoot, arriving in Zhijiang carrying their own tools. With no machinery available, men, women and children of various ethnic groups worked together, carrying earth and stone on shoulder poles or in baskets, and pulling giant stone rollers by ropes to level the ground.
In extremely harsh conditions, the workers endured intense labor, material shortages and poor sanitation, Wu said. Outbreaks of diseases like cholera added to their plight, with nearly 10,000 anonymous people ultimately dying there.
"It's very shocking to see these images," museum visitor Deng Tao told Xinhua after watching the footage. "These wartime workers laid the foundation for victory with their bare hands under such adversity. We must remember this history." ■
