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Aviation History
1944
1944 - 2099.PDF
OCTOBER 12TH, 1944 FLIGHT 359 Air Power in Burma Marvels of Air Transport ; Japanese Failures By MAJOR F. A. de V. ROBERTSON, V.D. • .11. „ ip ..> i; "a M" K.OH1MA AP V t r%tm> LUSH A %\i v> Tiddim Jfc'.' ///^««lMl Iff NOT nearly enough has yet been heard by the British public about the part which air power has played in the Burma campaign, but some details have just become available, and here is a brief abstract of what is a truly amazing story. First, it will be useful to outline the organisa tion. At the head of everything, of course, stands Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, the Supreme Commander. His Deputy is the American General Stilwell, and the two men are great friends. The Air Command, South-East Asia, is unde.1 Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Peirce. He had under him several groups, some of which do duty on the N.W. Frontier and elsewhere, while one, equipped with Catalinas, Sunderlands, Liberators and torpedo-aircraft (such as Beau- forts) scour the Indian Ocean looking for enemy sub marines, German as well as Japanese. In addition Sir Richard has under him the Eastern Air Command, with which this article is chiefly concerned. Its C.O. (perhaps G.O.C. would be more correct, though if he were British he would be A.O.C.) is General George Stratemeyer. The Eastern Air Command is divided into the 3rd Tac tical Air Force (under Air Marshal W. A. Coryton) and the Strategic Air Force under the American Brigadier Gen. H. C. Davidson. Part of the 3rd Tactical Air Force is the Troop-carrier Command under Brig.-Gen. W. O. Old. Special Air Forces Two other special Air Forces need mention: (1) the Air Commando under Col. Philip Cochran, which worked entirely with General Wingate's Chindits, before the Chindits joined up with General Stilwell's forces; and (2) the Northern Sector Air Force, which is entirely devoted to working with General Stilwell's British and Chinese forces. Finally, we must not forget the Indian Air Force, which has grown to maturity in the stress of war. The I.A.F. squadrons are with the 3rd T.A.F. Now for the equipment of these Commands: The 3rd T.A.F. has three types of dive-bomber, the Vengeance (said to be an ideal dive-bomber for jungle fighting), the " Hurribomber " and the Invader, which last is a version of the Mustang. Its single-engined fighters are the Spit fire, the Kitty hawk and the Mustang. The twin-engined fighters are the Beaufighter (some equipped with rockets) and the Lightning. There is also a Photographic Recon naissance Unit which uses Mosquitoes. The Strategical Air Force has Liberators (flown by American and R.A.F.) Wellingtons and Mitchells. The Troop-carrier Command uses Dakotas and some Com mandoes. The same two types are used by the U.S. Air Transport Command which flies over "the Hump," carry ing supplies to the Chinese at Chungking. When the 1944 campaigning season started, the Japanese • .NORTHERN .SAKAN: 9Buthedaung Maiingdaw \ SBKf GHINnwjN^V^, opened two main attacks. Their idea was to cross the frontier into India, which they hoped would lead to a popular rising by discontented Indians (in which hope they were grievously disappointed), and to cut the railway which runs roughly east and west from Assam to Bengal. A Surprise for the Japanese The first attack was along the coast road in Arakan. Here they were soundly defeated. They overlooked British air power. The troops in Arakan formed a " box " while the Dakotas of Troop-carrying Command flew in supplies and reinforcements. The troops captured Maungdaw, which is the only place in the area where it is at all toler able to pass the monsoon period without undue sick casual ties. The Japanese had to put up with more unhealthy quarters. Next, they were attracted by the tempting bait of the road which runs southward from the railway through Kohima to Imphal. By attacking from the east they put us to the disadvantage of having to defend a supply route parallel to our fighting front—a notoriously weak position. Imphal lies in a plain surrounded by hills. Kohima is a hill station, used as a sanatorium. At Arakan we had given the Japanese a surprise by our use -of air transport. At Imphal we made a still more striking use of it. There the garrison was on the small side, but as Arakan was considered perfectly secure, the Dakotas flew up a whole division, complete with 25- pounder guns, from MaungdaW to Imphal. It was the first time such a feat had been carried out, or even attempted. Airborne divisions have often been transported by air; that is their normal way of moving. But to fly up ha ordinary infantry division—just think of what that entails! It was a most remarkable feat. What is more, not a single Dakota was lost on the way ; and the first lot of troops were in action at Imphal within 24 hours of emplaning at Arakan. For three months over four divisions were maintained at Imphal by air. In addition to the infantry divisions there were squadrons of the R.A.F., and they required lots of petrol as well as other things. The Dakotas kept them all supplied, though it meant that many pilots flew T40 hours per mensem. 90 of them by night. The Dakotas, as they flew, were all within fighter range of the Japanese. Under 20 of them were lost. The Japanese were short of aircralt at that time, and they
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