War Stories II (30 page)

The daring plan, approved by Admiral Mountbatten, also solved Wingate's dilemma of how to evacuate the sick and wounded from deep behind enemy lines. American “air commandos” would bring in equipment
to cut landing strips in the jungle from which light aircraft could operate and fly out casualties to hospitals in China or India.

Such cooperation was relatively rare in the CBI theater. It was no secret that Chiang Kai-shek and the acerbic “Vinegar Joe” Stilwell all but hated each other. Nor did Stilwell make any pretense of getting along with Chennault. Nonetheless, after being pressured by General Hap Arnold in Washington, he gave his grudging approval to Mountbatten's plan. The concept of using gliders and light aircraft to support LRP operations was the brainchild of two brilliant young aviators, Lieutenant Colonels Phil Cochran and John Alison. Because heavy transport aircraft would never be able to take off from the rough-cut airstrips carved out of the jungle, Cochran and Alison proposed using American-built CG-4A Waco gliders to ferry men and matériel behind enemy lines. Thousands of the CG-4A gliders were being built for use in World War II. Designed for a one-way trip into combat, the plywood and fabric craft were inexpensive to construct, could be towed to the vicinity of their landing sites by conventional transports, and required only a clearing in which to land. But they also needed incredibly daring pilots and crews to fly missions in them.

 

The Waco CG-4A glider

Cochran and Alison also convinced Hap Arnold that the air commandos would need an allocation of tiny, single-engine, Stinson L-5 aircraft to use as air ambulances. They had run some tests and confirmed that the little planes could carry one ambulatory patient and one litter patient from the bare-bones landing strips built by the air commandos.

General Arnold approved the Cochran-Alison air support plan and convinced Stilwell to go along with it. Alison recalled Arnold's admiration for Wingate: “This man walks into Burma, and it takes him six weeks to get into position to where he can really hurt the Japanese. When he gets there, his men are tired, many of them have malaria, and a lot of them are sick. Some of them are wounded—some killed.” The plan Wingate's subordinates had
developed would move the irregular troops into place in just a few hours by air. Arnold then told the two young officers, “I don't want them to walk. I'm going to give you everything you need to do it. Now... which one of you is gonna go?”

After briefly thinking about it, Arnold dispatched both Alison and Cochran as “co-commanders” to India to oversee the delivery of equipment, the assembly of the Waco gliders, and the training of the 523 American pilots and aircrews who volunteered to join the 1st Air Commandos. The two men were uniquely suited to the task.

Alison had already proven himself a skilled pilot, a gifted flight instructor, and a resourceful staff officer. He was already an ace, having shot down more than five enemy aircraft while flying with British and Russian pilots that he'd helped train.

Alison's close friend Lt. Colonel Phil Cochran was the epitome of the suave and daring fighter pilot. Milton Caniff, creator of the
Terry and the Pirates
comic strip, fashioned Terry's flight instructor after Cochran. He wasn't just a great fighter pilot; he was also a charismatic leader who instilled confidence in the men he led.

Charles Turner served with Alison and Cochran as one of the Waco glider pilots in the 1st Air Commandos. Sergeant Raymond Bluthardt was an Army engineer who helped cut airstrips and build roads deep inside Burma during Operation Thursday—the largest unconventional warfare campaign in the CBI theater.