Danny,
I have been away so am just catching up on your excellent story. In respect of the Japanese Army stopping on the Burma/India border I think Imphal and Kohima may well have had something to do with it ! Others more learned than I could fill in the details no doubt without too much thread drift. As chugalugg has said the Hastings and the Hercules used the same airdrop techniques as were developed during those desperate days of WW2.