THE TRANS-HIMALAYAN “HUMP”

397 Pages·2007·3.25 MB·English

KEEPING CHINA IN THE WAR:
THE TRANS-HIMALAYAN “HUMP” AIRLIFT AND
SINO-US STRATEGY IN WORLD WAR II

DISSERTATION

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate

School of The Ohio State University

By

John D. Plating, M.A.

*****

The Ohio State University
2007

Dissertation Committee:
Approved by
Professor John F. Guilmartin, Jr., Adviser

Professor Allan R. Millett _____________________________

Professor Christopher A. Reed Adviser
Graduate Program in History
ABSTRACT

The trans-Himalayan airlift of World War II, better known as the “Hump,” is recognized
among specialists as the first sustained and most ambitious combat airlift operation in
modern history. Cobbled together with only a handful of airplanes and aircrews in early
1942, the operation grew to become the ultimate expression of the US government’s
commitment to China, in the end delivering nearly 740,000 tons of cargo. This was no
small feat, either, as the US Army Air Forces’ aircraft flew in what is arguably the
world’s worst weather system and over its most rugged terrain, all the while under the
threat of enemy attack.
The thesis of this dissertation is that the Hump airlift was initially started to serve
as a display of American support for its Chinese ally who had been at war with Japan
since 1937. However, by the start of 1944, with the airlift’s capability gaining
momentum, American strategists set aside concerns for the ephemeral concept of Chinese
national will and used the airlift as the primary means of supplying American forces in
China in preparation for the US’s final assault on Japan. Strictly from the standpoint of
war materiel, it comes as no surprise that the airlift was the precondition that had to be
met to make possible all other allied military action, as it was an enabling force in the
theater. It dictated the level of effort the Americans could bring to bear against the
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Japanese, being the sole route to China until the end of 1944, when the Ledo (or Stilwell)
Road opened. Other routes were discussed and attempted, but in the end the only way for
supplies to get into China was over the Himalayas. In addition to being an enabler, the
Hump was also a driver of CBI strategy, as it was an expression of the broader airpower
orientation of the theater. Difficult terrain, extreme weather, and primitive roads all
combined to make the CBI a theater best traversed by air. It was in the CBI, and only in
the CBI, that allied troops were most commonly inserted, supplied, and extracted by air.
Motivations behind the airlift’s execution changed during the war. Once the US
entered the war, the Hump was seen as an extension of its (pre-December 1941) Lend-
Lease aid to China, aid that had previously been delivered over the Burma Road, but was
soon to be cut off by virtue of the Japanese capture of Burma in the spring of 1942. The
airlift was thus seen as a means to continue the flow of supplies to Chiang Kaishek’s
Nationalist Government in an effort to “keep China in the war.” To the US, China’s
national will was tottering as a result of its brutal war with Japan since 1937, and the
influx of US material over the Himalayas was the best way to prevent Chinese
capitulation.
These motives changed at the end of 1943 with the airlift now becoming a facet of
US strategy focused on the destruction of Japan. The Hump would enable China-based
B-29 bombers to begin striking the home islands, while also increasing deliveries to
stockpile supplies at depots on China’s coast in preparation for the planned invasion of
Japan. Hump tonnage would also skyrocket in the operation’s last year because of the
growth of its infrastructure that included a robust air traffic control system, innovative
maintenance procedures, dozens of navigation aid-equipped airfields, hundreds of
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airplanes, and thousands of pilots. All of this combined to dwarf tonnage delivered to
China on land routes, ushering in a paradigm shift in the history of wartime logistics that
saw airlift become the most efficient and durable means of supply.
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Dedicated to the aircrews who flew the Hump

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many people have helped make this project a reality. First, I want to thank Jerry
White for his causal remark to me in 2003 when he expressed that no one had yet
subjected the Hump airlift to academic scrutiny. A quick survey of the literature on the
operation proved the truth of his point, prompting me to see what I might contribute to
this void in airpower history.
Mr. Jay Vinyard and the generous members of the Hump Pilots Association
(HPA) made my job much easier by sharing many hours of war stories and anecdotes that
raised my appreciation for the Hump’s challenges. As the President of the HPA in its
final year of formal existence (it disbanded in December 2005), Jay was always willing to
share his assessment of the airlift with an uncommon degree of lucidity and candor. He
brought a unique blend of professionalism and warmth to the leadership of that
organization and was always prepared to lend me an ear and give me his time as I sought
to get “inside” the Hump some six decades after it happened.
I would also like to thank the research assistants at the Air Force Historical
Research Agency (AFHRA), the Air Mobility Command History Office (AMC/HO), and
the National Museum of the US Air Force for their help. Toni Petito at AFHRA was
always willing to go out of her way to lend a hand or mail off a specially requested
document, and Mark Morgan was kind enough to feed me a constant supply of Air
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Transport Command files during my visit to Scott Air Force Base; Brett Stolle was also
very helpful in digging for documents at the Air Force’s museum in Dayton, Ohio.
I would also like to thank Mr. Don Bishop for his encouragement in prodding me
to make a research trip to China in 2005. He and his staff at the US Embassy made the
excursion a worthwhile endeavor that will not soon be forgotten. I also want to extend
my special thanks to Mr. Zou Guihu and Ms. Lan Xi for their indispensable translation
help, without which I would have been sorely lost. Thanks should also go to Professor
Wang Jianlang (Deputy Director of the Institute of Modern History at the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences), Mr. Liu Xiatong, and Mr. Li Xiaowei for their help in
sharing with me the Chinese perspective of the Anti-Japanese War and the place of the
Hump in that history. I also want to extend my thanks for the rich hospitality and
generosity of Mr. Fan Jianchuan, the owner of the Jianchuan Museum in Dayi County,
Sichuan Province.
I also want to thank my adviser, Joe Guilmartin, for his timely pep talks and
constant encouragement, chiding me on even when I found myself questioning the focus
of this project. He helped me most by believing that I could pull this off, even when I
had serious doubts. I also want to thank Allan Millett for his encouragement and insight
that helped to keep this study on track. Also, I am greatly indebted to Chris Reed for the
level of academic rigor he required of me, one that forced me to grapple with this topic
from both American and Chinese perspectives.
I also want to thank Roger Miller of the Air Force History office for his insights
on the revolutionary impact of airlift on World War II, noting that air transport deserves
as much visibility as strategic bombing and tactical aviation in the larger rubric of
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airpower studies. I am also indebted to Ed Kaplan, a friend and comrade whose technical
expertise helped to make my life as a researcher infinitely easier. Lastly—but surely not
least—I want to thank my wife Paula, who tirelessly nurtured and cared for our four
children in my absence and who served—at the same time—as my keenest critic and
biggest fan. Without her support none of this would have been possible.
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VITA

January 14, 1967………………………… Born – Ann Arbor, Michigan

1989……………………………………….B.S. (History), US Air Force Academy

2001……………………………………….M.A. History, The Ohio State University

2004 – present…………………………….Ph.D. Graduate Student, The Ohio State
University

PUBLICATIONS

1. “Cannon, Egg, Charlie, and Baker: Airlift Links between World War II and the
Chinese Civil War,” Air Power History, Vol. 53, No. 3, Fall 2006.

2. (Professional Journal) “He Fought With What He Had: The Early Pacific War,”
Air Force Journal of Logistics, Vol. 29, No. 2, Summer 2005.

3. (Encyclopedia Contributor) “William H. Tunner,” and “Berlin, Air Battle of
(November 1943–March 1944)” in Tucker, Spencer C. and Priscilla Mary Roberts.
Encyclopedia of World War II: A Political, Social, and Military History. Santa Barbara,
CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2005.

4. (Chapter Contribution) Showalter, Dennis. History In Dispute, Volume 9: World
War I, Second Series. Detroit: St. James Press, 2002.

5. (Broadcast Media) featured as historical advisor for Discovery Wings Channel
hour-long episode “Secret Mission at Dien Bien Phu,” (aired May 2004).

FIELDS OF STUDY

Major Field: History

Minor Field: Modern Chinese History
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract...............................................................................................................................ii
Dedication...........................................................................................................................v
Acknowledgements............................................................................................................vi
Vita.....................................................................................................................................ix
List of Figures...................................................................................................................xii

Introduction.........................................................................................................................1

1. From the Marco Polo Bridge to ABC Ferry Command...............................................21
Routes of Supply and Strategic Strangulation......................................................24
American Military Aid to China...........................................................................37
From Pearl Harbor to the fall of Rangoon............................................................47
Chinese National Aviation Company...................................................................56
American Military Air Transport..........................................................................60

2. Terrain, Weather, Pilots, and Planes............................................................................68
The Terrain............................................................................................................73
The Weather..........................................................................................................84
The Pilots..............................................................................................................92
The Planes...........................................................................................................101

3. ‘Barnstorming’ over the Hump..................................................................................115
The Hump under the Tenth Air Force.................................................................117
The Allied Retreat Out of Burma........................................................................126
Airpower and Chinese Morale............................................................................131
James McHugh and ‘Impression Management’.................................................138
Poor Tonnage Figures & Competing Priorities..................................................144
Slow Improvement and Japanese Counters........................................................151
ATC Takes Over.................................................................................................158

4. The Hump and an Ascendant CBI Air Strategy.........................................................162
The Casablanca Conference................................................................................170
General Arnold’s Trip to China..........................................................................176
The ICW and ‘Humpitis’....................................................................................179
More Airplanes for the India-China Wing..........................................................187
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