My Musings on May 08, 1945, Victory in Europe, V-E Day. No Peace without preparing for War. The Legacy of World War II Hump Flights.
My Musings on May 08, 1945, Victory in Europe, V-E Day. No Peace without preparing for War. The Legacy of World War II Hump Flights.
On May 08, 2020, 75-Years after the Victory in Europe, I want to claim that there will be no Peace without preparing for War. I am specifically speaking about Peace, Freedom, and Justice for the Tibetan people. During the concluding phase of World War II, after the celebration of Victory in Europe, Tibet received a golden opportunity to prepare for War to prevent the Chinese Aggression of 1950.
I ask my readers to learn about the Hump Flights which essentially describe the beginning of ‘The Cold War’ in Asia. Apart from defeating the Japanese aggression in China, the US was deeply concerned about the spread of Communism to mainland China. At the same time, Tibet was concerned about its own security. Tibetans were concerned about the military power of both the Nationalists and the Communists who were fighting to gain control over the mainland China. The US delivered arms and ammunition to Tibet using the Hump Flights. That military assistance was inadequate and insufficient to meet the security challenge to Peace and Freedom in Tibet. Between 1945 and 1950, Tibet missed this golden opportunity to prepare for War that would have prevented the Chinese military conquest in October 1950.
Rudra Narasimham Rebbapragada
Special Frontier Force-Establishment No. 22-Vikas Regiment
6 brutal facts about ‘flying the hump’ — the deadly World War II air route over the unforgiving Himalayas
Blake Stilwell, We Are The Mighty Jun 15, 2018, 11:43 AM
My Musings on May 08, 1945, Victory in Europe, V-E Day. No Peace without preparing for War. The Legacy of World War II Hump Flights.
“The Hump” was the nickname Allied pilots gave the airlift operation that crossed the Himalayan foothills into China. It was the Army Air Force’s most dangerous airlift route, but it was the only way to supply Chinese forces fighting Japan — and things weren’t going well for China.
World War II began in 1937 for Chiang Ki-Shek’s nationalist China. By the time the United States began running supplies to the Chinese forces fighting Japan, the Western part of the country was firmly controlled by the invading Japanese. The Japanese also controlled Burma, on India’s Eastern border, cutting off the last land route to the Chinese. Aid would have to come by air and American planes would have to come from the West — over the “Roof of the World.”
But getting there was terribly inefficient.
As a matter of fact, the original plan to bomb targets on the Japanese mainland involved flying B-29s loaded with fuel over the Hump from India into China. But when the planes landed at Chengdu, they would often have to take on fuel to ensure they could make the flight home, as recounted by then-Army Air Forces officer and later Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in the film The Fog of War.
Beyond the inefficiency of flying the Hump, it was incredibly dangerous. More than 1,000 men and 600 planes were lost over the 530-mile stretch of rugged terrain, and that’s a very conservative estimate. It was dubbed the “Skyway to Hell” and the “Aluminum Trail” for the number of planes that didn’t make it.
1. Flying the Hump was central to winning the war.
My Musings on May 08, 1945, Victory in Europe, V-E Day. No Peace without preparing for War. The Legacy of World War II Hump Flights. The Curtis C-46 Commando in flight.
When reading about World War II’s Pacific Theater, what comes up most often is the gallantry and bravery of Marines, sailors, and coasties who were part of the island-hopping campaign.
We also hear a lot about the bomber groups of airmen who devastated the Japanese home islands. What we seldom hear about is the US Army in the China, India, Burma theater who were busy building a 1,000-mile road and flying over the Himalayan foothills to keep China in the fight.
And this was vitally important.
China is a vast country, and when the Communists and nationalists joined forces to take on the Japanese, they were a massive force to take on. Three million Chinese soldiers kept 1.25 million Japanese troops in China, away from the ever-creeping Allies who were taking island after island, slowly getting closer to the Japanese mainland.
2. Extreme weather took down more US pilots than the Japanese.
My Musings on May 08, 1945, Victory in Europe, V-E Day. No Peace without preparing for War. The Legacy of World War II Hump Flights.The extent of Japanese control, red, in 1940.
Forget, for a moment, that American pilots were flying planes dubbed “The Flying Coffin” — the Curtis C-46 Commando — at times. The mountain ranges of the Himalayas caused jetstream-strength winds and dangerous weather at extreme altitudes. And when that doesn’t take you, a Japanese Zero will be there to try.
Pilots would plod along at ground speeds of around 30 miles per hour while the wind lifted their planes to 28,000 feet and then back to 6,000 shortly after. If pilots weren’t fighting ice storms or thunderstorms, they were fighting the Japanese.
3. Many pilots flying the Hump were newbies.
My Musings on May 08, 1945, Victory in Europe, V-E Day. No Peace without preparing for War. The Legacy of World War II Hump Flights. A C-46 transport plane of the Air Transport Command in the China India Burma Theater about to be loaded for important flight across “The Hump” to China, May 29, 1944.
(AP Photo)
Although the China National Aviation Corporation ran the route before the war and its pilots continued to run cargo over the Hump, the Army’s pilots were newly-trained flying officers with little experience flying in anything, let alone extreme weather. Even General Henry “Hap” Arnold — the only General of the Air Force ever bestowed such a title — got lost due to lack of oxygen flying the Hump.
This may have added to the fatality rate on the route — a full one-third of the men flying it died there.
4. If the weather didn’t get them, the terrain might.
My Musings on May 08, 1945, Victory in Europe, V-E Day. No Peace without preparing for War. The Legacy of World War II Hump Flights. Allied transportation lines in Burma and China’s Yunnan Province during World War II.
5. Inside the plane wasn’t great either.
My Musings on May 08, 1945, Victory in Europe, V-E Day. No Peace without preparing for War. The Legacy of World War II Hump Flights. Winging along over the 500-mile India-China air route that replaced the old Burma road, this plane from the Indian-China wing of the Air Transport Command returns to India from a trip into China on January 19, 1944. These ships, which fly the hazardous run alone, carry into China all supplies for the US 14th Air Force.
AP Photo
Pilots were issued fleece-lined jackets, boots, and gloves to keep their extremities from freezing during the flight. Lack of oxygen could cause pilots to veer off-course and into an almost certain death. C-46 cargo planes did not glide, their heavy engines causing an almost immediate dive. Once out of fuel, crews would have to bail out with minimal protection, cold weather gear, and nine rounds of a .45-caliber pistol.
6. That last bullet is for you.
My Musings on May 08, 1945, Victory in Europe, V-E Day. No Peace without preparing for War. The Legacy of World War II Hump Flights.The India-China division of the Air Transport Command celebrated Air Force Day on August 1, 1945 by sending over the “Hump” the most cargo ever carried in a day in regularly scheduled air operations — more than 5,327 tons of military equipment for use in China.
(AP Photo)
Whether crashing or bailing out into the freezing cold or jumping into enemy-held territory, there would be no search and rescue mission coming for crews flying the Hump. A rescue crew would be subject to the same extreme cold weather and fuel issues as any other plane. In enemy territory, Japanese patrols would capture American pilots, torture them, then kill them. Part of the training regimen for Hump pilots included the right way to use the last bullet on oneself.
My Musings on May 08, 1945, Victory in Europe, V-E Day. No Peace without preparing for War. The Legacy of World War II Hump Flights.
The United States Must Evict the Military Occupier of Tibet-The Unfinished Korea-Vietnam War.
In my analysis, ‘The Cold War in Asia’ represents the dangers of the spread of Communism to the mainland China. The United States armed intervention in the Korean Peninsula did not prevent the Communist takeover of Tibet in 1950. The United States must recognize the real Enemy and must evict the Military Occupier of Tibet to secure Peace, Freedom, Democracy, and Justice in South Asia.
Rudra Narasimham Rebbapragada
Special Frontier Force-Establishment No. 22-Vikas Regiment
The United States Must Evict the Military Occupier of Tibet. Special Frontier Force VS The Evil Red Empire-Red China .
India-China clash: Diplomats ‘strongly protest’ over border clashes
BBC June 17, 2020, 2:52 PM UTC
The two nations have an agreement that says no guns should be taken within two kilometres of the border
The United States Must Evict the Military Occupier of Tibet. India and China have an agreement that says no guns should be taken within two kilometres of the border.
The Indian and Chinese foreign ministers have exchanged protests over clashes in a disputed Himalayan border area which led to the deaths of at least 20 Indian troops.
India’s Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said China tried to erect a structure inside Indian territory, while China’s Wang Yi said Indian troops attacked first.
But in a phone call both men promised not to escalate the situation.
It was the first deadly clash at the disputed border for at least 45 years.
Soldiers reportedly brawled with sticks and bats but no shots were fired.
China has not released casualty figures. Unconfirmed reports in Indian media say at least 40 Chinese soldiers died. Some Indian soldiers are still believed to be missing.
Earlier Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Indian deaths “will not be in vain” and that India would be “proud that our soldiers died fighting the Chinese” in the clash in the Ladakh region on Monday.
Addressing the confrontation for the first time in a televised address on Wednesday, he said: “India wants peace but when provoked, India is capable of giving a fitting reply, be it any kind of situation.”
What did the two diplomats say?
An Indian government statement following the phone conversation said that Chinese troops had tried to put up a structure on the Indian side of the de facto border, the Line of Actual Control (LAC), in the strategically important Galwan Valley.
It described this as “premeditated and planned action that was directly responsible for the resulting violence and casualties” and urged China to “take corrective steps”.
Google Maps view of Galwan Valley
The United States Must Evict the Military Occupier of Tibet. Google Maps view of Galwan Valley
The statement concluded that neither side would take action to escalate matters.
Meanwhile a Chinese statement quoted Mr Wang as saying: “China again expresses strong protest to India and demands the Indian side launches a thorough investigation… and stop all provocative actions to ensure the same things do not happen again.”
“Both sides should resolve the dispute through dialogue, and keep the border safe and tranquil,” he added.
What happened?
The fighting occurred in the precipitous, rocky terrain of the Galwan Valley.
Indian media say soldiers engaged in direct hand-to-hand combat, with some “beaten to death”. During the fight, one newspaper reported, others fell or were pushed into a river.
A satellite image of Galwan Valley shows the rocky and barren terrain
The United States Must Evict the Military Occupier of Tibet. A satellite image of Galwan Valley shows the rocky and barren terrain.
The Indian army initially said a colonel and two soldiers had died. It later said that “17 Indian troops who were critically injured in the line of duty” had died from their injuries, taking the “total that were killed in action to 20”.
“I understand that some [further] Indian soldiers went missing. The Indian side is still working to release them from Chinese custody,” defence analyst Ajai Shukla told the BBC.
Indian forces appear to have been massively outnumbered by Chinese troops.
A senior Indian military official told the BBC there were 55 Indians versus 300 Chinese, who he described as “the Death Squad”.
“They hit our boys on the head with metal batons wrapped in barbed wire. Our boys fought with bare hands,” the officer, who did not want to be named, said.
The clash has provoked protests in India, with people burning Chinese flags.
China has not confirmed how many of its personnel died or were injured. The BBC’s Robin Brant in Beijing says that China has never given contemporaneous confirmation on military deaths outside of peacekeeping duties.
Our correspondent adds that on this occasion China’s propagandists may not want to fan nationalist flames at home by making much of any loss, or admit to a significant and demoralizing loss.
This is not the first time the two nuclear-armed neighbors have fought without conventional firearms on the border. India and China have a history of face-offs and overlapping territorial claims along the more than 3,440km (2,100 mile), poorly drawn LAC separating the two sides.
India shows restraint
Analysis by Geeta Pandey, BBC News, Delhi
The first comments from the Indian government on the violent standoff on the Chinese border came nearly 24 hours after the news broke on Tuesday.
And Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet colleagues – the defence minister and the home minister – have chosen their words carefully.
Usually boastful and given to grandstanding, Mr Modi and his ministers have displayed utmost restraint in their public messages this time, mostly sticking to mourning the loss of soldiers.
The prime minister did say: “India wants peace but, if instigated, it is capable of giving a befitting reply.” But this is seen as aimed more at his political rivals and supporters domestically, rather than as a warning to Beijing.
How tense is the area?
The LAC is poorly demarcated. The presence of rivers, lakes and snowcaps means the line can shift. The soldiers either side – representing two of the world’s largest armies – come face-to-face at many points.
Border patrols have often bumped into each other, resulting in occasional scuffles.
The last firing on the border happened in 1975 when four Indian soldiers were killed in a remote pass in the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. The clash was variously described by former diplomats as an ambush and an accident.
But no bullets have been fired since.
At the root of this is a 1996 bilateral agreement that says “neither side shall open fire… conduct blast operations or hunt with guns or explosives within two kilometres of the Line of Actual Control”.
Kashmir map
The United States Must Evict the Military Occupier of Tibet. Kashmir map
But there have been tense confrontations along the border in recent weeks. In May Indian and Chinese soldiers exchanged physical blows on the border at Pangong Lake, also in Ladakh, and in the north-eastern Indian state of Sikkim hundreds of miles to the east.
India has accused China of sending thousands of troops into Ladakh’s Galwan Valley and says China occupies 38,000 sq km (14,700 sq miles) of its territory. Several rounds of talks in the last three decades have failed to resolve the boundary disputes.
There are several reasons why tensions are rising again now – but competing strategic goals lie at the root.
The two countries have devoted extensive money and manpower to building roads, bridges, rail links and air fields along the disputed border.
Both India and China see each other’s construction efforts as calculated moves to gain a tactical advantage, and tensions often flare up when either announces a major project.
SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE VS THE EVIL RED EMPIRE : FOR SEVENTY YEARS, TIBETANS HAVE LIVED UNDER MILITARY OCCUPATION . WHAT IS TIBET’S FUTURE? HOW TO EVICT THE EVIL RED EMPIRE FROM TIBET ?
