Warbird Information Exchange

From Otago Daily Times (New Zealand):

Search for bodies of WW2 aircrew

Pilot off on US mission
By Sophie Hazelhurst

Queenstown: Stuart Robertson will be searching for the bodies of fellow pilots as he follows the route of a World War 2 aerial supply line over Myanmar, formerly Burma, as part of a US military search mission.
During World War 2, the US military flew more than 650,000 tonnes of supplies past Japanese lines into China over northern Myanmar.
The aerial route crossed over a north-south spur of the Himalayas, known as the “Hump”, and the operation came to take the same name.
The tallest peaks were more than 4800m high, while the valleys were covered in dense jungle, which swallowed the many aircraft which went down en route. Figures released in 1945 by the ATC Search and Rescue group listed 509 aircraft crashed and 81 aircraft missing.
At many of these 600 crash sites lie the remains of crew members, their bodies never recovered.
Mr Robertson, a Queenstown pilot flying with Helicopters NZ Ltd, contracted by the US Ministry of Defence, is looking forward to leaving this week for the recovery mission of these 600 sites.
He said the pilots flying in Operation Hump were often inexperienced, as top pilots were recruited for military offensives rather than supply drops.
“But the conditions were terrible. They had the worst weather conditions. It was turbulent, huge mountains around them, and they were getting shot at.”
Mr Robertson will be based at the northern city of Myitkyina with his New Zealand co-pilot and an Australian engineer, and American personnel employed by the Ministry of Defence.
Together, they will undertake reconnaissance missions to try to find the crash sites and uplift any remains.
Helicopters NZ has been operating out of Southeast Asia for 12 years, and has undertaken similar operations in Laos and Vietnam.
Mr Robertson worked out of Cambodia, on tourist flights, in 2001. He has also worked in the Antarctic, with a scientific research team, and in Europe. Based in Queenstown, he takes tourist flights into Milford Sound.

hi all,
I have often wondered about the tons of material that must litter the various routes flown over the hump.Not only is it freezing,its also dry so things should be rather well preserved.And more importantly, families might finally get closure regarding the fates of loved ones.
Tim..........

_________________
"WHAT ME WORRY?"

Hi,
I just saw this message sent to me by a friend.
Anyone who is looking for MIA planes over the Hump via Burma, please contact me at: khaingtun@netzero.com or to my friend and partner
Clayton Kuhles at: claytonkuhles@cableone.net

Clayton has also been in touch with JPAC and it is a situation of status-quo.

He has personally located (self funded) 3 MIA sites last year in far northern Burma.

I am a Burmese and we are working together on MIA expeditions and also retracing 'old haunts' visiting significant WWII sites of the CBI, China-Burma-India Theater or the Burma Campaign.

We go to Burma every year and we just returned in October to locate another MIA B-24 site and trekked along the Death Railway in Thailand. We are planning to trek along the Railway in Burma next year and also to return to find other MIA sites in the country.

I look forward to hearing from anyone interested to know more about Burma or about our expeditions!

Khine (Ms. Khaing Tun)
www.cbiexpeditions.com

I'm curious about any Halifax that might be resting there somewhere as they were the only Britsh type to fly "The Hump".

Cheers

Cees

Hi Cees,

If you let me know any information on this Halifax, serial number, date of crash, location etc.. I am pretty sure the remains are still lying somewhere on the mountains!
My late father was from the Burmese Air Force, a C-47 Pilot trained under RAF (I grew up watching airplanes) and I know some of his colleagues although retired from the Air Force, would be delighted to assist me.
A lot of the crash sites are between the border areas of Burma and India or China and the vital role is to be able to get 'access' to reach these remote areas.
I am sure with my contacts in Burma, we'll be able to locate any site providing that information is accurate.

Cheers!
Khine

My father was part of the first group of B-29s based in Chengtu, China (468th Bomb Group, 793rd Bomb Squadron) among other bases. They had to fly in all their fuel and supplies for each bombing mission to Japan. My father said they typically carried a spare engine in the bomb bay of their B-29. He said there were a few crashes of B-29's in addition to the normal C-46s that ferried in their supplies in the Hump missions.

In this morning's Arizona Republic there is a good article about Clayton Kuhles and his trips to India and Burma to trace WWII airplane crashes.
Included is his web site address.

www.miarecoveries.org