Thank you all for your welcoming messages.
In answer to Chugalug:
Yes, CBI stands for China-India-Burma Theater of operations, a US-only term, and one that for the most part was administrative rather than a "proper" theater like ETO. I'm no expert on that. I would say that much of the action in CBI revolved around China in one form or other, while the British focus was naturally India.
By the way, the latest issue of the Air Force Magazine has a historical article concerning generals Stilwell and Chennault, who were mostly at odds with each other. An interesting read. Gen Stilwell was a champion for ground operations in Burma.
My father said they shipped just about everything on those long sea voyages in cosmoline, aircraft parts, jeeps and heaven knows what. It was a true mess to deal with and I would speculate that gasoline or kerosene must have been the solvent of choice. Dad said that the aircraft manufacturers sent technical reps to help the maintenance men sort out the parts and assembly of the aircraft. All I can think is that those test pilots who flew them initially were very brave men. My father was very meticulous as a home builder and I have no doubt he used that trait while assembling these airplanes.
My father did mention the Hump, and if I remember correctly he may have supported some of those operations as ground crew, but never actually flew the Hump, himself. I say that because he characterized it as a harrowing mission with tragic losses not uncommon. If he had done it himself, I think that would have been made plain, and he never mentioned going to China, either. His own flying, it seems to me focused on the objective of Burma. He did visit Rangoon and had a few souvenirs of that. The details of when and how that happened I do not have.
Many years later, my own Air Force service included flying to Burma, India, Pakistan among many other countries. I treasured being able to visit some of the same sites as my father - Agra, Rangoon, New Delhi, Karachi.
Cheers to you all.
Last edited by GlobalNav; 12th Dec 2015 at 02:46.