Walong

Walong is a small cantonment and administrative town in the Anjaw District of the state of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India. Walong is also the easternmost town in India Anjaw was carved out of Lohit District in 2004. Walong's approximate position is 28 degrees 06 minutes North, 97 degrees East. It lies on the west bank of the Lohit River (a tributary of the Brahmaputra), approximately 20 kilometres south of the Chinese border. Just north of the border lies the Tibetan trading town of Rima. Walong is approximately 180 km. by road from the district headquarter town of Tezu. It had an Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) capable of taking Otters and Caribous planes, which has now been abandoned. There is an operational helipad. The town is connected to Tezu by a thrice-weekly bus.

In autumn of 1962 Walong was the scene of the Battle of Walong when the Indian Army 11th Infantry Brigade battled the Chinese advances. Even though Indians where forced to withdraw, this turned out to be one of the bloodiest battle of the war. The sikh, gorkha and kumaoni soldiers suffered heavy casualties but the Chinese suffered immense losses. As the battle ended the number of Chinese dead where five times that of the Indians. This was especially significant considering that the Chinese used heavy mortar fire while the Indians had no mortar support.

A canopied memorial to the Indian war dead of 1962 was erected long ago next to the airstrip with the following verses composed by a Walong veteran inscribed on it:

The sentinel hills that round us stand

bear witness that we loved our land.

Amidst shattered rocks and flaming pine

we fought and died on Namti Plain.

O Lohit gently by us glide

pale stars above us softly shine

as we sleep here in sun and rain.

Next to this is a marker relating the history of Walong ALG, and nearby the wreck of a Caribou which crashed here. A new large memorial to the Walong war dead of 1962 has come up in 2002 on the road leading North to Kibithu.Two small temples have also come up on 'Helmet Top', a hill position some 18 kilometres away, which was so named because of helmets and other military gear found strewn there.

The forest around Walong is rich in wildlife. Rare mammals such as Mishmi takin, Red goral and Leaf muntjac occurs while among birds there is the rare Sclater's Monal.^[1] A flying squirrel, new to science, i.e., Mishmi Hills Giant Flying Squirrel Petaurista mishmiensis also occurs in this district (site of a paratype).^[2]

See also

• 1987 Sino-Indian skirmish
• Events leading to the Sino-Indian War
• Kargil War
• Sino-Indian War
• Sino-Indian relations

References

• [1]
• [2]

References