Newspaper Page Text
History of the Hump Pilots
now at Air Force Museum
By MIKE PRINCIPATO
Staff Writer
The most complete collection of
memorabilia of any U.S. Air
Operation during World War II has
found a permanent home.
The National Hump Pilots
Association announced, Tuesday,
February 12th, it will perma
nently display it's entire collection
of artifacts, archives and related
memorabilia at the Robins Mu
seum.
In addition, the Association is
making an immediate lump sum
cash donation of $30,000 to the
Museum's Phase II Building Fund.
Approximately $70,000 in cash
and pledges from members for the
Hump Pilots Association Memo
rial Fund has been dedicated to the
Aviation facility.
Curator Bill McCoy, of the
Hump Pilots Association Fund,
presented the donations to their
National Chairman, Brigadier
General Bill Scott, during cere
monies at the Museum.
"The exhibit is the biggest col
lection in existence," said McCoy.
"It is complete with aerial navi
gation charts we used during
1942."
The Hump Pilots Association is
a last man organization, consisting
of those who flew the China-
Burma-India supply Line during
the second World War.
Flying the Hump became away
of life for many men who strug
gled to supply China by air as the
country resisted the Japanese in
1942.
The Hump Pilots story is a dra
matic indication of the importance
of logistics during the early years
of the War in the Pacific.
Today, the Association boasts a
membership of approximately
6,000.
"We're all survivors," said Mc-
Coy.
"There are no strangers. We all
lived through the same experi
ence." The club's median age is
73.
McCoy, also, announced he has
prepared a will, leaving his resid
ual estate, estimated at approxi
iii mately $225,000, to the Museum
Foundation.
"I have no living relatives," said
McCoy about the donation.
"1 just want to see what we did
is preserved."
The Association’s exhibit will
be displayed temporarily in the
Museum's present facility until
work is completed on the Mu
seum's proposed new building,
scheduled for completion iit 1993.
The Hump Pilot exhibit will
loverall thine of "Combat in
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The Pettigrew Center of Ike Fart Valley State College will present Study Smart on
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Featuring Joe Posey, Director of Counseling and Testing. Macon College
T Pmm |> ster ’ the Center at 825-6478
Action: Flying The Hump." Seg
ments will consist of The Flying
Tigers, The 23rd Fighter Group,
Robert Lee Scott in China, China-
Burma-India Operations, The Air
craft, The Men, and The Mission.
The Association will continue j
' to have a traveling exhibit for
temporary display around the
county.
PreWorld War II
When the Japanese invaded
China in 1937, they moved
quickly to capture or naturalize
China’s manufacturing and trans
portation system, thereby destroy
ing the country's ability to resist
Japanese conquest. Realizing how
precarious his seaports and supply
lines were, Chinese leader Chiang
Kai-shek was anxious to open a
more secure route to China.
In 1937 and 1938, a work force
of nearly 100,000 built an all
weather road from Kumming
across the southern edge of the
Himalayas to Lashio in northern
Burma. The route became known
as the Burma Road. Supplies ar
rived at Rangoon, traveled up the
Irrawaddy River to Lashio, then
over the Burma Road into China.
As the ports of Shanghai and
Hong Kong fell to the Japanese,
the Burma Road became China’s
only link with the outside world.
In late 1941, the Japanese
launched an invasion of Burma.
Lashio was captured in April of
1942 and the Japanese closed the
Burma Road. Japanese troops then
began advancing up the Burma
Road to China.
U.S. Intervention
Realizing the likelihood of
Burma falling to the Japanese, the
United States Army/Air
Force(USAAF) began to put to
gether a plan to supply China by
air in February 1942 Initial re
sponsibility for the operation fell
to the newly formed Tenth Air
Force in India and the Assaam-
Burma-China Ferry Command.
Supplies would arrive at the port
of Kirachi, West India and would
be transported by rail to the RAF
field at Dinjan in the Assdam
Province. At Dinjan, the cargo
was loaded onto aircraft and flown
over the Himalayas to Kuming,
China.
Flying the Hump
From its meager start in 1942,
die Hump became the largest and
most complex airlift operation
ever undertaken. For three years,
every gallon of gas, every round of
ammunition, every file cabinet and
ream of paper used by the allied
forces in China were flown over
the Hump. Even with the recapture
of the Burma Road and the open
mg of the Ledo Road in 1945,81
percent of the supplies to reach
China were still being delivered by
air.
Starting with only 13 aircraft in
the China-India Wing, it grew to a
force of over 600 transports. By
- the end of the war, over 650,000
tons of fuel, ammunition, sup
plies, and personnel had been de
livered by air.
Though the effort seems less
impressive by today's military
standards, it was enough to keep
Chiang Kai-shek and the Chinese
people in the war.
The success of Hump Opera
tions had a significance that went
beyond the end of the war. In sup
plying the Chinese, the Air
Transport Command(ATC) proved
that a vast quantity of supplies
could be delivered by air, even un
der the most difficult conditions.
The experience proved invaluable
during the Berlin airlift, the Ko
rean War, Vietnam, and the Yom
Kippur War in the Middle East.
Limitations
Although the shortage of aircraft
and parts was a limiting factor in
Hump operations, the most critical
factor was the lack of all-weather
airfields and repair facilities in In
dia. In 1943, ATC began an air
field construction program.
By 1944, Hump flights were
originating from eight additional
bases in Assaam and East Bengal.
Overhaul and depot maintenance
for aircraft assigned to the Hump
were the responsibility of the
Tenth Air Service Command
headquartered at Hastings Mill,
near Calcutta. The Tenth ASC
operated two repair facilities. En
gines were repaired and overhauled
at Hindustan Aircraft Corporation,
Banagalore.
Even with improved facilities,
maintaining aircraft in India's cli
mate remained difficult. The hot,
humid conditions produced corro
sion; thick dust during the dry
season shortened engine life, caus
ing more frequent engine changes
and overhauls. Nearly 100 trans
ports were grounded for main
tenance or lack of spare parts at
one time.
Though the distance between
Assaam and Kumming was only
500 air miles, the Hump Pilots
had to fly over some of the rough
est terrain in the world. Taking off
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Part of the new dispaly at the Air Force Museum commemorating the Hump Pilots
in an overloaded transport designed r
to cruise at 15,000 feet, pilots first I
encountered the 10,000 ft. Patkai
mountain range. After crossing a j
scries of ranges as hieh as 10 000 !
ft, in northern Burma, crews '
struggled over the main "hump" j
that gave the route its name, the |
Santung Range which rose to an |
altitude of over 20,000 feet. After 1
crossing the Mekong River, the !
range began leveling out as pilots j
descended into Kumming.
Weather was also a severe
handicap. The unpredictable
conditions over the Himalayas
were extremely treacherous. The
air route passed through an area
where three major air masses met,
causing sudden and violent storms.
Severe turbulence and cross winds
of between 100 and 150-miles per
hour were common. Sometimes
turbulence was so severe that cargo
not properly secured was ripped
out through the sides of the
aircraft. Fog and clouds were
always a problem; some pilots
completed an entire lour of duty
without ever seeing the mountain
ranges they flew over.
Operational Problems
Hump operations expanded
slowly due to low priority and a
shortage ol suitable aircraft. In die
Spang of 1942, the Army Air
Force(AAF) had only 216 trans
ports of all types. A lack of all
weather bases and proper facilities
hampered operations. Until early
1943, Dinjan remained the only
airfield in Assaam with a paved
runway and consequently was the
only base that could remain in Op
eration during the monsoon
son. Other airfields were a sea of
mud.
Please see MUSEUM, Page 10A
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20. 1991 <
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