This novel is based on true experiences and fits into a growing number
of books and films where it might be accurate to regard them as
dramatised histories. Its a great read and it covers one of the least
known major efforts of WWII, the air bridge to supply China. Easy to
see why the book received the Gold Medal Award of the Military Writers
Society of America.
NAME: American Airline's Secret War in China, Project Seven Alpha WWII. FILE: R2404 AUTHOR: Leland Shanle PUBLISHER: Pen & Sword BINDING: soft back PAGES: 244 PRICE: £14.99 GENRE: Fiction SUBJECT: WWII, World War 2, World War Two, Second World War, the 'Hump', Asian theatre, China, Burma, Japanese advance towards India, air transport, air drops ISBN: 1-47388-771-2 IMAGE: B2404.jpg BUYNOW: http://tinyurl.com/hj2rvgn LINKS: Current Discount Offers http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/sale DESCRIPTION: This novel is based on true experiences and fits into a growing number of books and films where it might be accurate to regard them as dramatised histories. Its a great read and it covers one of the least known major efforts of WWII, the air bridge to supply China. Easy to see why the book received the Gold Medal Award of the Military Writers Society of America. Much of the US support for China was indirect and/or covert. To avoid triggering war with Japan, the US supplied 'volunteers', aircraft, and supplies to form the Flying Tigers fighter force. When the Japanese forces swept through Indochina and up through Malaya and Burma, it seemed that there was a very real risk that they would advance through India and link up with the Germans and Italians. Once the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbour, full war between Japan and the US was underway and the US was brought into the Allied camp against Germany and Italy. The need for concealment of support for China then ceased, but the volunteer nature of the US efforts in the China-Burma region continued with regular troops gradually becoming predominant. However, the vital air bridge to China was to be run as a secret operation with WWI veterans and civil pilots staffing the collection of aircraft assembled to provide the bridge. The author entertains and informs, providing a fitting tribute to the crews who flew 'The Hump'. The DC3 transports took a long supply route with medium range aircraft, flying very long hours and against the weather. A series of hops took the aircraft across the Pacific and Southern Asia to India. From the Assam Valley there, they flew on over the Himalayas, the highest mountains in the world, to bases in China. Outbound they carried ammunition, arms, food, and key personnel. On the return trip they brought out the wounded. For a time, the air bridge was to be the only link between the US and China. Eventually, the British Chindits took the action to the enemy and the process of forcing the Japanese back was to allow the highway from India through Burma to re-open. This is an epic tale