The Hump - Background: The China Supply Dilemma

Background: The China Supply Dilemma

The Second Sino-Japanese War and Japanese operations in Indochina closed all sea and rail access routes for supplying China with materiel except through Turkestan in the Soviet Union. That access ended following the signing of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1941, and the Burma Road became the only land route.

The rapid success of Japanese military operations in Southeast Asia threatened this lifeline and prompted discussion of an air cargo service route from India as early as January 1942. On February 25, President Roosevelt wrote General George C. Marshall that "it is of the utmost urgency that the pathway to China be kept open", and committed ten C-53 Skytrooper transports for lend-lease delivery to the Chinese National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) to build its capability to 25 aircraft. When the Tenth Air Force opened its headquarters in New Delhi in March 1942, it was assigned the responsibility of developing an "India-China Ferry" using both U.S. and Chinese aircraft. Although never given command authority over aircraft or personnel, the officer responsible for the India-China Ferry was Tenth Air Force chief of staff Brig. Gen. Earl L. Naiden, who held that responsibility until mid-August.

From its onset, the air route was predicated on creating two branches: a trans-India route from India's western ports to Calcutta, where cargo would be transshipped by rail to Assam; and a route from bases in Assam to southern China. The original scheme envisioned the Allies holding northern Burma and using Myitkyina as an offloading terminal to send supplies by barge downriver to Bhamo and transfer to the Burma Road. However, on May 8, 1942, the Japanese seized Myitkyina and this, coupled with the loss of Rangoon, effectively cut Allied access to the Burma Road. To maintain the uninterrupted supply to China, U.S. and other allied leaders agreed to organize a continual aerial resupply effort, or "air bridge", directly between Assam and Kunming.