Bureaus Exclusive

Veteran Hump pilot tells his story

By Li Yingqing and Guo Anfei (China Daily Yunnan Bureau)
Updated: 2010-09-17 16:36

Former US Flying Hump pilots and their descendants came to Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan province to visit the Hump route and attend a symposium in celebration of the 65th anniversary of China's victory against Japanese aggression on September 16, 2010.

Craig Allan Chinn, the son of Captain Harold Chinn, said, "In 1936, my father Harold decided to join the China National Aviation Corporation. One of his first assignments was to co-pilot the Ford Tri-Motor flying from Shanghai to Nanjing. Donald Wong, another Chinese-American, was the pilot. Donald was from Chicago, Illinois."

"My father continued on this route and others until 1937 when Japan invaded China," said Craig Allan Chinn, "One of the key operational support roles involved flying ammunition, high octane fuel and food from Kunming to Rangoon to support the Flying Tigers.

Once US was brought into World War II, the Allies' strategy was to keep China in the war so as to enable US to operate in multiple theaters of war. Until the Burma road connection was reestablished, the only way to supply China with war material was over the Himalayan Mountains ('the Hump') between India and Kunming. And it continued until 1945, Craig Allan Chinn explained.

"My father flew on average about 20 days a month. In a press release from Pan American Airways, it was noted that (and let me quote) 'Captain Chinn has made this trip (over the Hump) more times than any other individual,'" Craig Allan Chinn told China Daily.

Craig Allan Chinn added, "'For extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight.' This is the wording on the Distinguished Flying Cross presented to five CNAC pilots on February 24,1995. My father's award included four Oak Leaf Clusters. In addition to my father, the other four CNAC pilots were Moon Fun Chin, Donald Wong, Art Chin and Thomas Sew Wong."

From 1942 to 1945, weapons and other cargo were transported to Yunnan using the arduous Burma Road and 'The Hump' air route over the Himalayan Mountains from India. The provincial capital Kunming became the transport hub of unoccupied China, according to Allan.