by Robert Lyman
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Plating, John. The Hump: America’s Strategy for Keeping China in World War II. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2011.
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Schroth, Raymond. The American Journey of Eric Sevareid. South Royalton, VT: Steerforth Press, 1995.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book would have been impossible without extensive use of the published and unpublished accounts of many of the participants, including Philip Mills, Eric Sevareid, Jack Davies, Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf, and Harry Neveu. One of these was the account in The Naked Nagas by Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf of the 1936 expedition and also his marvelous photographs, digitized in 2008. Who would have thought that such wonderful history could be viewed in black-and-white today? I am grateful to his son, Nick Haimendorf, for permission to quote so extensively from his father’s story and for permission to use some of the marvelous treasure trove of his father’s photographs. I am indebted to Mrs. Geraldine Hobson for allowing me to use the letters written by her father, Philip Mills, to his wife, Pamela—The Pangsha Letters of J. P. Mills—during the expedition and for introducing me to her father’s papers and photographs. I also wish to thank Suzanne St. Pierre Sevareid for permission to quote from Eric Sevareid’s beautifully written account of his adventures in Not So Wild a Dream. I acknowledge the pioneering work of Mark Bradley in uncovering the secret story of Duncan Lee in his excellent biography A Very Principled Boy (2014). None of my story could have been told without the richness of these sources. My take on Joe Stilwell was first developed in The Generals: From Defeat to Victory, Leadership in Asia 1941–45 (London: Constable, 2008), which owed much to my good friend David Rooney, author of Stilwell the Patriot (2005). A number of secondary sources have been invaluable in the telling of this story, all of which are listed, and gratefully acknowledged, in the bibliography. I am grateful also to the Japanese historian Dr. Kyoichi Tachikawa for information about the dispositions of the Eighteenth Division in northern Burma in 1943.
Finally, and by no means least, I wish to acknowledge the support of Philip Grover, archivist at the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford; Charles Chasie, author and member of the Kohima Educational Society, Kohima (and descendent of the Khonoma chief who killed G. H. Damant in 1879); Professor Alan Macfarlane; Robert Palmer; Khrienuo Ltu; the librarians of the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress; and Robert and Sylvia May for making this book possible.
INDEX
Naga names of individuals are indexed as single names. Names of Naga villages and tribes are identified as such.
A Million Died (Wragg), 24
Adams, Philip (sahib of Mokokchung)
briefed McKelway on Naga situation, 169
concern about Konyaks in rescue party, 193–194
concern for survivor safety, 193
convinced Mongsen to care for crash survivors, 189–190
as ICS administrator and anthropologist, 98
as leader of rescue party, 209
letter from Pawsey about headhunting, 224
life after rescue, 226
magistrate duties in Noklak, 199
Nagas told to help survivors, 164–165
perceptions of Nagas, 209–210
punitive expedition (1943), 157, 158
as representative of British king, 192–193
; respect shown by Nagas, 192
responsibility to Naga population, 103
on semi-independence for Naga Hills, 231
stopped Nagas fighting over survivors’ trash, 196–197
unable to enforce authority in Patkoi Hills during war, 219
visit to Sangbah’s home, 201
Administered Area
ambiguous rule enforcement, 222–223
to be extended with consent of population, 222
benefits of governance in, 210, 221
bordering Dikhu River Valley, 152
gaonburas in, 122
lawlessness from outside, 93–94
as only area of control, 93
opposition to slavery, 156–158
Agching village, 157
air support for China decision, 43
Air Transport Command (ATC)
aircraft accidents, 12–13
ATC members on Flight 12420, 5, 58
in crisis at Chabua, 14
search and rescue capacity in, 206, 215
Sevareid on Hump pilots, 7
White on, 11
aircraft types at Chabua, 1
Alexander, Edward, 170, 182, 188, 203
Allies
bomber crew tortured and beheaded by Japanese, 32
Chennault’s push for air capability in China, 49
Chinese Army training by Britain, 7
forced out of Burma, 26
Germany as second front, 65
support of China, 43–44, 47–48, 51, 53–54, 56
aluminum trail, 162
American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society, 89
American Society of Airplane-Haters, 13
American Volunteer Group (AVG), 19
Anangba village, 115
Angami Naga tribe, 86–87, 90, 99
Angami territory, first flights over, 78
“Anthropology as a Hobby” (Mills), 101
anti-British nationalists aiding Japanese, 33–34
Ao Naga tribe, 91–92, 94, 153–154
The Ao Nagas (Mills), 99, 102
Arbuthnot, Glenn, 162
Archer, Bill, 98, 99, 103, 226
“Asia for the Asiatics” and Japanese militarism, 31
Assam, 3–4, 85
Assam Rifles
firepower vs. local knowledge, 120
as former Gurkha soldiers, 121
formerly Naga Hills Military Police, 94
on guard at Chingmei, 139
protecting India from Japanese, 192
punishment expedition against Pangsha, 110–113
Shakespear as commandant, 82
unavailability for rescue mission, 192
as USAAF watch station guards, 219
Assam tea, 85
Assam-to-Yunnan air-ferry route (Hump route), 2, 10, 43
ATC. See Air Transport Command
Aung San, 33–34
Aung San Suu Kyi, 34
AVG. See American Volunteer Group
B-25 Mitchells, 1
bail-out advice, 3
Baisden, Chuck, 20
Balbahadur, Subedar, 131
Barker, George, 85–86
bashas (temporary shelter), 5, 181
Bataan Death March, 30–32
Battle of Kohima, 225, 232
Belloc, Hilaire, 121
Bennett, Elizabeth, 228
Bert (slave), 144, 150
Blackie’s Gang, 215–218
Blah, Hari, 156
Blainey, Geoffrey, 93
Blitz, London, Sevareid’s coverage, 61
blood chits, 1–2
Blossom, Bill, 216–217
Boatner, Haydon, 73
Bootland, Alan and Beth, 24–25
boots for return hike, 194, 197–198
Bower, Ursula Graham, 101
Bradley, Mark, 63–65
Brahmaputra River Valley, 4, 43, 83, 142, 211
Bren light machine guns, 218
Britain. See East India Company; Raj
British censorship of Burma situation, 22
British East India Company (EIC), 4, 83–85, 88, 91–92, 98
British Empire, Sevareid on, 208
British imperialism and control of Nagas, 85
British political agent, 176, 180
British surveying expeditions, 90
Brodie, T., 91
Bronson, Miles, 88
Brookes, Stephen, 23–25
Brown, Anthony Cave, 70
Burma
British rule (1885–1942), 17
ethnic and tribal frictions, 21
exodus from, 20–25
extended Control Area toward, 155–156
geography of, 16–17
hill country tribes, 21
Indian workers in, 21
Japanese invasion, 17–18
ongoing civil war, 34
population exodus after attack, 20–25
Stowe’s reportage on, 19
villages raided from Patkoi Hills villages, 220–221
Burma Army, tribespeople recruited, 22
Burma Independence Army, 34
Burma Road, 17–18, 24, 45, 47, 50–51
Burmese people, sided with Japan against colonial British, 21
Bushido, 31
C-46 Commandos, 1–2, 11–14
C-47 Skytrains “Gooney Birds,” 1, 80, 161–162, 168
C-54 Skymasters, 1
C-87 Liberators, 1
camp organization, 178–179, 181
canned water, 183
Carton de Wiart, Adrian, 55
CBI (China-Burma-India) theater, 50
“Celestial Catering Service.” See rescue packs
Chabua USAAF air base (“Dumbastapur”), 1–2, 4, 217
Chakhesang village, 78–79
Chang expedition (1889), 94
Chang Naga tribe, 99, 107, 117–118
Chare village, 113–114, 206, 221
Chasie, Charles, 233
Chennault, Claire Lee, 5, 44, 49, 51–55, 230
Chennault Plan, 53, 73, 230
Chentang village, 119, 122, 144, 149–150
Chiang Kai-shek
demand for Allied resources, 56
lobbied for American support against Japan, 43
objectives and strategies, 46, 48
promoted Chennault plan, 53–54
refusal to meet Sevareid, 227
relationship with Stillwell, 45, 48, 229–230
Yoke Force, 51, 53
See also Kuomintang
Chiang-Chennault air offensive plan, 73
Chicago Daily News, Stowe on Burma Road, 19
children, visibility of in villages, 167–168
China
Allied policy of support, 43
Chinese intelligence and SACO, 66
honest with US, 44
manipulation of American views, 72–73
Mao’s defeat as goal, 44
political sense per Davies, 71
Trident Conference plans for, 55–56
US airpower in, 49
China National Aviation Corporation aircraft at Chabua, 1
China-Burma-India (CBI) theater, 50
Chinese Air Force, loan of P-43s, 5
Chinese Army, 7, 71–72
Chinglong village, 94–97
Chingmak
emotional leave-taking with Mills, 152
fealty sworn to George V, 107, 138
guide provided to expedition, 127
as Mills’s friend, 123
as protector of survivors, 180–181, 193
Chingmei village
as advanced base camp for punitive expedition, 123
attack on Law Nawkum, 219
enforcing Mokokchung’s injunctions, 223
Matche sought sanctuary in, 107–108
return after punitive expedition, 138
stop on return march, 200–201
Chingpoi village, 95
Chins (Burmese hill country tribe), 21, 33
Chirongchi, 116
Chongtore village, 115–117, 205
Christian missionaries, 87–89, 104, 209–210
Chrysanthemum (Eighteenth) Division (Japan), 27–28, 33
Church Parade, 187
Clay, Joseph, 58
Cloud, Stanley, 59, 227
clouds’ effects on planes, 8
Clow, Andrew, 102, 226, 231–232
Cockpit Joe ballad, 4
Coleman, Kenneth, 191
Communism in China, predicted by Sevareid, 226–227
Control Area
bordering Dikhu River Valley, 152
destabilizing effect of Pangsha’s actions, 108
head-hunting in, 222–223
life without government intervention, 210
opposition to slavery, 156–158
Pawsey’s concern, 219–222
request to include Pangsha, 155–156
Corsica Daily Sun (Texas) on Martin as MIA, 22
Cross, John, 28
crossbows with poisoned arrows, 114–115, 186, 193–195
cultural anthropology, understanding Nagas, 99–100
Curtis-Wright aircraft at Chabua, 1
Dacca Military Police, 95
dacoits (bandits), 24
Dai Li, 6, 66–69, 227–228
Damant, G. H., 82, 90–91
daos (swords), 80, 96–97
Davies, John Paton, Jr. (Jack)
on bail-out decision, 38–39
on beauty of country, 207
as celebrity in survivor group, 206
in charge of bartering with Nagas, 179
on Dai Li and Miles, 66–69
fitness level on march, 203
as Flight 12420 passenger, 5, 15, 58
on leaving Pangsha and Ponyo, 195
on Lee, 6
life after rescue, 227
on lunch for survivors at Mokokchung, 211
met native men after parachute jump, 75–76
on Miles and SACO, 227–228
under Naga observation, 183
on Pangsha treatment of survivors, 194–195
parachuted from Flight 12420, 74
in party joining survivors in Wenshoyl, 175–176
retrieval of rescue loads, 179
and Stilwell, 43, 71–72, 73
survivor camp description, 187
Davies Papers, Truman Library, 76
Dayak (Iban) headhunters, Borneo, 83
DeChaine, John Lee, 191, 229
Detachment 101 (OSS), 34, 67–71
A Different Kind of War (Miles), 68
Dikhu River, 113, 152–153
diplomatic tour to Panso village, 143
dissonance between civilized imperatives and native culture, 104
dobashis (interpreters), 111, 132
Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine, 65–69