Flying the Hump: Memories of an Air War

Williams-Ford Texas A&M University Military History Series

by Otha Cleo Spencer

Noted historian Theodore White called it "the most dangerous, terrifying, barbarous aerial transport run in the world . . . the skyway to Hell." This is the story of the air war over the Himalaya Mountains, in World War II, when Japan and China were locked in a death struggle. China was completely cut off from the world, and the transport planes of the Allies flew day and night missions for three and one half years over the Himalayas to keep China supplied with the needs of war. This was called the Hump. Gen. Claire Chennault's Flying Tigers crossed the Hump to outgun the Japanese Zeros in some of the most spectacular air battles of World War II. More than one thousand airmen and six hundred transport planes were lost, flying air routes that were so dangerous they were called the "aluminum trail." The B-29 Superfortress flew four-day missions across the Hump to bomb the Japanese mainland. The Hump was the epic of World War II in the air. This is a scholarly and historically accurate description of the development of air power in China, explaining the need for the Himalayan airlift and recording the important dates and events of the war over the Hump against Japan. Otha C. Spencer was a Hump pilot and recounts his own experiences and those of the men who flew the planes through the world's worst weather over the world's highest mountains. Dozens of photographs, most taken by Hump airmen, show the glory and tragedy of this great air war. This book will be an important addition to the libraries of the general reader as well as the military historian.

Genres: Aviation

217 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1992

Reviews

[Andrew Post · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic, detailed, thrilling, and very personal history of the "Hump" airlift: the herculean effort of young American pilots of the USAAF's Air Transport Command to move thousands of tons of supplies from India over the titular "Hump" of the Himalayas to Allied forces fighting the Japanese in China. A precious glimpse into the underpublicized and underappreciated China-Burma-India (CBI) theater of World War II, and a harrowing tale of flying over the roof of the world.

[Nicholas Kokolakis · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful and really fun book on how truly incredible Aviator’s battled the elements their aircraft and even the elements to logically meet one of the greatest airlift requirements in history! The stories I’d birdstrikes and of “outrunning the dragon” were really interesting. Man, the B-25 and C-47 are amazing aircraft!

[Toni Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally! books are being written by and about those crews who were more important than the flashy fighter planes. Without fuel, those fighters would not have been able to fly. Without the C47s the crews would have had no food or other supplies

[David Ingrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

My wife had an uncle who flew the Hump. I never had the opportunity to talk to him about his service in that theater.
My wife recently spoke to one of her uncle's daughters and told her that I was reading this book. My wife's cousin said that her father never spoke to her or her sisters about his war-time service. Having read this book, maybe I understand his reluctance to re-visit what might have been viewed by him as old, painful memories.

[Randy L. Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best I have read on flying the hump during World War II. My father, a bombardier, rarely talked about his war experiences. He did tell me he was occasionally allowed to fly the plane, but the crew disliked being airsick.
I wish I read this when he was alive and coherent.