Lost in Tibet
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First Americans in Lhasa
British Mission in Lhasa
Chinese Mission in Lhasa
Tibetan independence
Chinese invasion
The Dalai Lama
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Richard Starks
Miriam Murcutt
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Along The River
that Flows Uphill
Lost in
Tibet
by Richard Starks and Miriam Murcutt
The story behind 'the Hump'
In the early twentieth century, Japan was an aggressive country with dreams of building an empire. In particular, it was determined to take control of its much bigger neighbor, China.
In 1931, it annexed Manchuria, and in 1932, it landed 70,000 troops at Shanghai. Then, in 1937, it launched a full-scale invasion, sending its armies sweeping across China's eastern seaboard.
As told in the book, Lost in Tibet:
"By the end of 1938, Japan had destroyed China's navy, as well as its miniscule air force, and imposed a blockade on all of China's major ports. China's army was forced to retreat, driven back as far as Chungking on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and there it was cut off. Supplies could reach it only through the beleaguered city of Kunming, the capital of the Chinese province of Yunnan. Without those supplies, China faced certain defeat."
For a time, supplies to Kunming were able to get through via French Indochina - now Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. But when France surrendered to Germany in the early stages of the Second World War, that route was shut down. Goods for Kunming were then trucked along the notorious Burma Road. But in 1942, Japan overran Burma, and that route, too, was abruptly closed. By then - four months after Pearl Harbor - the United States had formally entered the war against Japan.
"President Roosevelt faced a difficult dilemma," says Lost in Tibet. "Either he could cut China loose and leave it to its fate at the hands of the attacking Japanese, or he could keep China's army fighting by continuing to supply it via Kunming. What tipped Roosevelt's decision in favor of China was one simple fact: Japan had committed nearly one million troops - more than one-third of its enlisted men - to its struggle with the Chinese. Roosevelt did not want those troops deployed elsewhere. In particular, he did not want them freed so they could fight American troops. So he promised Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of China's Nationalist Forces, that supplies to Kunming would continue to flow without interruption - no matter the difficulty, no matter the cost."
With Japan controlling most of the territory around Kunming, that meant all supplies - everything from medicines to guns, and ammunition to fuel - would have to be flown in from bases the Allies planned to build in India.
It was an unprecedented commitment.
"Goods from America were shipped nearly halfway around the world to Bombay or Karachi," says Lost in Tibet, "then taken by train across the widest part of India to Bengal or Assam. From there, the goods were flown into Kunming over some of the highest and most treacherous mountains on earth - the Himalayan range that gave 'the Hump' its name."
For three years - 1942-45 - the Hump was
the only route by which Chinese forces could be supplied. At its peak,
the route saw as many as
650 Allied planes landing in China every day. So many wrecked
transports littered the mountains between India and China
that the Hump was also known as the 'aluminum trail.'Altogether, some 600 planes were lost, and more than 1,000 men were killed.
In 1945, the Hump was replaced by the Ledo Road - a more northerly version of the Burma Road. But by then the war was nearly over.
In 1948, the Hump became the model for the Berlin airlift.
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Richard Starks and Miriam Murcutt
Lost in Tibet
"An intriguing tale that keeps the reader riveted to the story. A 'must read'." - American Legion Observer
"Authors Starks and Murcutt provide an enlightening tale of survival and political expediency. Lost in Tibet is revealing for its insights into the brave crews who flew the challenging 'Hump' supply route." - WWII Aviation Booklist
"This is a thoroughly researched true story that holds the reader's interest and is difficult to set aside. I highly recommend this fascinating, well-written and superbly documented book." - Peyton Walmsley, Editor, China-Burma-India Hump Pilots Association