<p>China was captive, its eastern coast and southern land borders blocked by the Japanese. Only one supply route remained; it led from Assam, in northeastern India, to the Chinese cities of Kunming and Chungking. For almost three years of the war, every single item that reached either the American forces in China, or the armies of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, got there by air. Bulldozers and typewriters, toilet paper and gasoline, shoes, rifles and medicines were airlifted to China in one of the most hazardous and difficult flying missions ever attempted.
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<p>The airlift portion was only part of a 1,300-mile (2,090-km) tortuous supply trail. Cargo was unloaded at the Indian port of Calcutta, moved to Assam by slow train, was loaded on air transports and flown to Myitkyina, in Burma. There it was transferred to barges on the Irrawaddy river and floated downstream to Bhamo, where it was offloaded and trucked to Kunming over the winding Burma Road. In May 1942, the Japanese seized the airfield at Myitkyina, and cut that route.
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<p>Only a direct air link between Assam and Kunming remained as a possibility. It was a 500-mile (800-km) run above some of the worst terrain and in some of the worst weather in the world. Between the two terminals lies the Santsung Range, an extension of the Himalayas known to pilots as 'The Hump' or 'The Rockpile'. Its peaks topped 16,000 ft (4,875 m) and its passes were above 14,000 ft (4,270 m). Thunderstorms, 100-mph (160-km/h) winds, frightening turbulence, and icing at every level above 15,000 ft (4,570 m) combined to make the route a pilot's nightmare.
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<p>It was begun with Douglas C-47s of Tenth AF, valiant but out of their depth in the fierce conditions of the Hump route. Airfields were totally inadequate, from any viewpoint. The Hump region was uncharted, and any other navigational aids were non-existent. Living conditions were as bad as anywhere in the world; civilization, in the GI sense, had not reached the upper Assam valley. The Japanese bombed the airfields, and there were only about 40 Tenth AF fighters for defending the bases and escorting the transports on the Hump run.
