John Caraway Arrowsmith (June 4, 1894 – June 1, 1985) was a

Brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

in the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

, commanding the 45th Engineers in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Arrowsmith was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1918, promoted to first lieutenant in 1919, while stationed at Camp Fremont California. During the 1920s he was detailed to the 3rd Engineer Regiment, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, the 2nd Cincinnati Engineer District, and the 13th Engineer Regiment, Camp Humphreys, VA. From 1930 to 1933 he was assigned to the San Francisco Engineer District, and promoted to captain in 1933. He was detailed to the Office of the Corps of Engineers in Washington, D.C. from April 1933 to July 1938, when he was assigned to the Missouri River Division, COE. He was promoted to major in 1940, and lieutenant colonel in 1942, when he was sent to

Camp Blanding Camp Blanding Joint Training Center is the primary military reservation and training base for the Florida National Guard, both the Florida Army National Guard and certain nonflying activities of the Florida Air National Guard. The installation is ...

, Florida. as commander of the 45th Engineer General Service Regiment. In Nov. 1942 he went with these troops to India, where Arrowsmith was placed in command of Base Section 3 in Ledo,

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

, which was responsible for construction of the

Ledo Road The Ledo Road (from Ledo, Assam, India to Kunming, Yunnan, China) was an overland connection between India and China, built during World War II to enable the Western Allies to deliver supplies to China and aid the war effort against Japan. ...

. Under Arrowsmith's command, the road reached the

Patkai The Pat-kai (Pron:pʌtˌkaɪ) or Patkai Bum ( Burmese: ''Kumon Taungdan'') are a series of mountains in the Indo-Myanmar border falling in the north-eastern Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Upper Burma region of Myanmar. They ...

mountains and crossed into

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. Stillwell, while recognizing the problems that diversion of roadbuilding assets to airfield construction had caused, was still unsatisfied with progress and began searching for a replacement.

Lewis A. Pick Lieutenant General Lewis Andrew Pick (November 18, 1890 – December 2, 1956) was a United States Army officer who served as Chief of Engineers in the United States Army. Early life Pick was born in Brookneal, Virginia. He was part of the firs ...

replaced him as Chief Road Engineer in October 1943, but retained command of the 45th Eng, GSR. While Arrowsmith received a temporary promotion in July 1943 to brigadier general, he reverted to colonel in Jan. 1944. In Feb. 1944 he was detailed to the XXI Corps as Corps Engineer at Camp Polk, La., later accompanying these troops into France and Germany. From Sept. 1945 to Nov. 1947 he was assigned to the U.S. Office of Military Government for Germany. From Jan. 1948 to Oct. 1949 he was commanding officer of the Engineer Research and Development Laboratories at Fort Belvoir. In Nov. 1949 he received his last assignment as a Deputy Chief in the Army Security Agency. He retired from the military in May 1953 as a brigadier general. He died in 1985 and is buried in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

with his wife Nell B. (1895–1986).Burial Detail: Arrowsmith, John C
– ANC Explorer

Decorations

References

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1894 births 1985 deaths People from Reno, Nevada Burials at Arlington National Cemetery United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army generals of World War II United States Army generals Recipients of the Legion of Merit {{US-army-World-War-II-bio-stub