bigpigeon.us webpage WWII - Japan > China-Burma-India > India - 1942-45, updated by RAC 18 May 2022.

This webpage ties in to the other three China-Burma-India webpages, namely China, Burma, and Crossing the Hump.
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The United State's priority in the China-Burma-India Theater was to maximize China's involvement in the War with Japan, thus keeping the bulk of the Imperial Japanese Army tied up in China rather than in the Pacific Islands where most US combat occurred.

However, in early 1942, Japanese forces in Burma cut off the Burma Road, the Allies' last overland supply line to China. The US felt it imperative to open a new supply line to China. In the absence of an alternative land route, The US initiated an airlift from northeastern India across a remote mountainous region into southwestern China. Two major US commands, with their major bases in Assam and West Bengal in eastern India, supported this airlift to China:
  • The Tenth Air Force was activated February 1942 and moved to India March-May 1942. It handled most air combat operations near India, especially over nearby Burma. It also managed the India to China airlift until December 1942. Headquarters were originally in New Delhi, India, moving to the Calcutta, India area in October 1943.
  • Starting in December 1942, the Air Force's Air Transport Command (ATC) flew the Hump, i.e., handled the India to China airlift. The ATC component involved in this operation was called the India-China Wing, or after mid-1944 the India-China Division.
  • From mid-1944 through early 1945, the XX Bomber Command of the Twentieth Air Force attempted long-range bombing of Japan using rear-area bases west of Calcutta and advanced bases in China in an air campaign known as Operation Matterhorn. ​ See the Strategic Air War - Japan webpage for this aspect of the War with Japan.
  • The China National Aviation Corporation, CNAC, also participated in Hump operations, but on a much smaller scale than the US Air Transport Command. CNAC was jointly owned by the Republic of China and Pan American Airways.
With major exceptions noted below, India did not witness combat during WW II.
  • In early April 1942, two Japanese fleets attacked respectively the east coast of India and British naval forces near Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. The British suffered moderately heavy losses and the British fleet withdrew to the west.
  • After the US developed air bases in northeast India, they were attacked at times by Japanese aircraft, especially in late 1942, with moderate damage.
  • In 1944, the Imperial Japanese Army invaded India from Burma. After initial successes, they were stopped near Imphal (at the very top of the map) and Kohima (further to the north) and withdrew with heavy losses.
1942 Indian Ocean Raids
The 1942 Indian Ocean Raids by the Imperial Japanese Navy
Sources for the India - 1942-45 webpage: 
  • The 1942 Indian Ocean Raids map is courtesy of weaponsandwarfare.com.

Pottawattamie Area WW II Dead - China-Burma-India > India - 1942-45: 11-02 - China-Burma-India Theater > India - 1942-45: (no dead, updated 7 Nov 2021)
  • Roster members who were based in India or died in India appear in the China, Burma, Crossing the Hump, or Strategic Air War - Japan webpages.