During World War II, the United States and China forged a strong friendship based on the mutual need to defeat Japan. A key Chinese contribution involved thousands of workers using stone rollers to construct hundreds of airfields by hand throughout China to support Allied air operations.
Runways measured up to 7,000 feet long, 150 feet wide, and five feet thick. Heavy equipment and fuel were not available for airfield construction as Japan isolated China from land and sea supply routes.
The hand-carved stone roller on display weighs about 10,000 lbs. Hundreds of workers pulled rollers like this back and forth to compress earth and rock. Laborers used this roller to build and maintain the central Cheng Gong airfield in Kunming. Their hard work smoothed the runways for fighters, bombers, and transports flying the "Hump" over the Himalayas from India to China.
Airfields built by the Chinese people proved critical in the success of the US air campaign against Japan. This simple stone roller symbolizes Chinese determination, toil, and sacrifice in resisting Japanese aggression.
Citizens of Yunnan Province, People’s Republic of China, donated this stone roller in 2004.
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