News correspondent Eric Severeid, who covered the China-India Theater
for CBS Radio, visited a Hump base at Chabua, India. "There were at
this time absolutely no amenities of life," he said. "No lounging
places....nothing cool and refreshing to eat and drink, no nearby rest
resort to visit on leave. It was a dread and dismal place."It all took its toll on morale, but the men were a resolute bunch who took pride in their work. Often they flew up to 165 hours a month, pursuing the 650-hour requirement for rotation to the States. Units and aircrews competed to see who could carry the most cargo, fly the largest number of sorties, have the fewest accidents, and squeeze the most flying hours out of an airplane. And always, the aluminum-littered trails beneath reminded them that comrades had sometimes crashed flying these dangerous missions.
In spite of every effort to ensure flight safety, some aircraft broke down during flight. In several instances the difficulties were so extreme that aircrews had to bail out, let their planes crash in the mountains, and hike out of the jungle.
On Aug. 2, 1943, for instance, a loaded C-46 carrying cargo and 17 passengers from Chabua to Kunming had an engine failure that forced abandonment over some of the roughest terrain of the flight. The crew and passengers included William T. Stanton of the U.S. Board of Economic Affairs; John Davis, a Department of State official serving on General Stilwell's staff; and Mr. Severeid. All bailed out and landed safely except the co-pilot; he was killed in the crash after his parachute apparently caught on the tail section of the aircraft.
Search and rescue aircraft soon went into action and spotted the survivors in the jungle. Harsh terrain prevented immediate rescue of the group, but the aircraft dropped emergency supplies. Because several of the survivors needed medical attention, Col. Donald Flickinger, a physician, and two enlisted medics parachuted to assist them. A British patrol was sent from a forward Indian base into the jungle to link up with the survivors and escort them to safety. It took two weeks for the men to return to civilization.
In April 1943, General Chennault visited Washington to sell the Joint Chiefs of Staff on a plan for an aggressive air offensive against the Japanese in China and Burma. The key to its success was the ability of Air Transport Command to increase its tonnage over the Hump. A month later the Army Air Forces ordered a step-up in aerial deliveries and the construction of several new airdromes on both sides of the Himalayas
General Arnold ordered that more men and aircraft be allocated the Hump airlift operation. Throughout 1943 the India-China Wing received additional aircraft, and by the end of the year, 93 C-46s, 25 C-47s, and 24 C-87s were in regular service. As a result of the expanded mission, the Army Air Forces sent an additional 2,49o men to the theater.
Tonnage goals were not immediately achieved, but by working night and day the wing surpassed its goal of 10,000 tons by December 1943. Six months later the total reach 15,000 tons a month. In August the figure climbed to 20,000 tons and by November 1944 he tonnage figures had risen to 34,914 per month. To support this rate, transport aircraft took off an average of once every three minutes. Ground support teams worked around the clock to keep the airplanes flying.
On Sept. 3, 1944, Brig. Gen. William H. Tunner assumed command of the Hump operations. He had already gained recognition for making Air Transport Command's Ferrying Division into the largest and most efficient activity in the command. Later, he would manage the Berlin Airlift, an operation patterned after Hump operations. He also played a leading role in the 1950-1953 airlift operations in Korea, and commanded the Military Air Transport Service (now Military Airlift Command) from 1958 to 1960. His mission as commander of the redesignated India-China Division was two-fold: increase tonnage while decreasing accidents.
General Tunner initiated several improvements to the system. He gained increases in the number of personnel and aircraft---from 249 aircraft and 17,032 men in December 1944 to 332 aircraft and 22,359 men at the end of the war.
To demonstrate his need for more people, General Tunner used both elephants and civilians to help load aircraft in India. He had pictures made of civilians "scrambling all over the airplanes, washing them down, and elephants loading gasoline drums." He sent the pictures to his bosses hoping they would see that he was in great need of personnel.
The ploy backfired. His superior responded: "Since you've done well in hiring indigenous personnel and elephants, I shall have to take some more men away from you to send to Southeast Asia."
General Tunner also took a major step toward greater aircraft reliability while decreasing maintenance time by introducing production line maintenance. The procedure required an aircraft to be towed through a succession of maintenance stations where specially trained crews performed specific maintenance operations. Each India base specialized in one type of aircraft repair.
Although the general encountered some initial opposition to the concept, he persisted and within a few months each base was successfully involved in the project. The number of operationally ready aircraft rose from 75 to 85 percent between January 1945 and the end of the war. Daily utilization rates rose sharply as well, increasing from 7.51 hours per aircraft per day in April, to 11.65 hours in July 1945, the last full month of operations. The time required for the 100-hour aircraft inspection was reduced 25 percent during thee months.
General Tunner stressed the necessity of reducing accidents while raising tonnage and his initiatives led to success in both areas. The accident rate dropped, from 23 accidents and 36 fatalities in January 1945 to 8 accidents and 11 fatalities in the last full month of the war. At the same time, tonnage rates had risen to 71,042 tons by July 1945.
The airlift demonstrated the feasibility and set the precedent for the resupply o military forces by air. Between 1944 and 1945, 81 percent of all supplies entering China came in via Hump aircraft.
On the 40th. anniversary of its success, the airlift is remembered both as an effort that greatly facilitated the Allied victory in World War II and as a significant milestone in the development of American airpower.