Title: The Hump : America's strategy for keeping China in World War II /
Authors: Plating, John D. 1967-
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press,
Year: 2011
Subjects: United States. Transport service History.; World War, 1939-1945 Aerial operations, American.; World War, 1939-1945 China.; World War, 1939-1945 Himalaya Mountains.; Airlift, Military United States History; Military doctrine United States History; United States Foreign relations
Abstract: "[In this work] the first concentrated historical study of the world's first sustained combat airlift operation, John D. Plating argues that the Hump airlift was initially undertaken to serve as a display of American support for its Chinese ally, which had been at war with Japan since 1937. However, by 1944, with the airlift's capability gaining momentum, American strategists shifted the purpose of air operations to focus on supplying American forces in China in preparation for the U.S.'s final assault on Japan ... Drawing on extensive research that includes Chinese and Japanese archives, Plating tells a ... story in a context that relates it to the larger movements of the war and reveals its significance in terms of the development of military air power"--Jacket.
Contents: From the Marco Polo Bridge to ABC Ferry Command -- Terrain, weather, pilots, and planes -- "Barnstorming" over the Hump -- The Hump and an ascendant CBI air strategy -- "Ten thousand tons by Christmas" -- The Hump goes to war -- The Hump becomes an airline -- The end of the Hump -- Notes.