Flying the Hump

bigpigeon.us webpage WW II - Japan > China-Burma-India > Flying the Hump, updated by RAC 3 Sep 2020

By the middle of 1942, Japanese expansion in Burma had cut off the Burma Road, the last overland supply line to China.

The United State's priority in the China-Burma-India Theater was to keep China involved in the War with Japan, thus tying up the bulk of the Imperial Japanese Army in China, rather then in the Pacific Islands where most US combat occurred. To do this, the United States felt it imperative to open a supply line to China.

The Allies devised an alternative supply line, which included a long and dangerous airlife over the Hump, the popular name of a series of rugged mountains ranges in northern Burma and southwestern China.

By rail from the coast in the Calcutta area in Bengal, India to west of Ledo in northern Assam, India. (India and Burma were both British colonies at the time.)
By US aircraft from an airfield complex west of Ledo, flying over northern Burma with most flights terminating at the railhead of Kumning in southwestern China.

WW II Supply Line to China - 1942-45

In theory there was a preferable route over the Hump, the Low Hump Route from Calcutta to Kumning as shown on the accompanying low-resolution map. This route eliminated the need for long rail transportation and flew over lower mountains. However, it also flew over Japanese-occupied territory and thus was subject to air attack. Late in the war, as Japanese air power waned and the Japanese were pushed out of central Burma, it became feasible.

For most of its lifetime, the Hump airlift was operated by the United States Army Air Force Air Transport Command. Meanwhile, the 10th Air Force handled combat operations in India and Burma.

The Low Hump Route

Note on the accompanying map:

The marked airfields. There were probably additional airfields
The railroad lines running into the airfield areas.
The nearby mountains, as high as 9,120 feet, southeast of the main airfield complex.
Ledo, the western terminal of the Ledo/Stilwell Road, built in 1943-44 to bypass Japanese-occupied areas.

Hump Airfields in northern Assam

Although Hump operations began in mid 1942, infrastructure deficiencies in northeast India and limited American resources kept the Hump operation from reaching its goals until December 1943.

Until late in the war, Hump pilots had to fly over 15,000 foot ranges plagued with foul weather, since a more-direct route to the south was within range of Japanese interceptor aircraft.

The Air Transport Command lost 600 aircraft in the Hump operation, with 1,500 air crew deaths.

Hump Tonnage 1943

Sources for the Flying the Hump webpage:

The webpage header photo, Flying the Hump, is courtesy of historicaltruth101.com.
The WW II - Supply Line to China map is courtesy of http://iloveww2warbirds.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Hump-Map.jpg.
The Low Hump Route map is courtesy of https://www.warhistoryonline.com/guest-bloggers/guess-wwiis-biggest-airlift-hump.html.
The Upper Assam, India in WW II map is courtesy of http://www.firebirds.org/menu1/coleson3c.htm.
The Hump Tonnage 1943 chart is courtesy of the Pacific War On-line Encyclopedia at https://pwencycl.kgbudge.com.

Pottawattamie County, Iowa area WW II Dead - China-Burma-India > Flying the Hump
(taken from the bigpigeon.us WW II Dead webarea)
0901 - China-Burma-India > Flying the Hump (four dead, updated 3 Sep 2020)
† Finley, Clyde Clem Jr., SN T-004898, USAAF, Harrison Co.
1333rd AAF Base Unit, Chubua, Assam; Curtiss C-46A-5-CK Commando #43-47003 co-pilot; DNB 31 Aug 1945 in Assam, India; plane crashed on flight from Kumning, China to Chabua; initially buried at crash site 56 km NW of Dibrugarh-Chabua Airport
† Jones, Donald Eugene, SN 37-484-709, USAAF, Pott. Co.
1305th AAF Base Unit headquartered at Dum Dum, near Calcutta/Kolkata, West Bengal, India; C-47B-1-DL Dakota #43-16261 radio operator; d. 27 Nov 1945 N of Kuala Lumpur, Malaya; flight from Singapore to Butterworth, Malaya; BNR. Note: Did not die on a Hump flight.
† Malick, William Burton, SN 17-024-190, USAAF, Pott. Co.
6th Ferrying Sqdn., 1st Ferrying Gp., 10th AF, Air Transport Command; C-47 Skytrain/Dakota #41-38656 radio operator; KIA 2 Aug 1943, near Yunnanyi, W of Kumning, China; cargo flight from Mohanhari, India over the Hump to Kumning; CBI Theater.
† McCue, Dudley Van, SN 6-554-498, USAAF, Montgomery Co.
77th Sqdn., 22nd Transport Gp.; C-87 Liberator Express cargo plane #41-11908 crew member; KIA 10 Sep 1943, Hukawng Valley, Kachin State, N Burma; flight over the Hump from Jurwat, Assam, India to Kumning, China; CBI Theater; BNR.