Airlift in World War II

A Brief History of Airlift in WW II

Though Billy Mitchell conceived the idea of using airplanes to move troops during World War I, the war came to an end before he could implement his plans. It fell to the Russians to be the first to demonstrate the potential of airlift in combat operations, a potential that the Germans used with great effect in the opening days of World War II.

The United States had paid only lip-service to airlift prior to 1940, when the whole world was shocked as the Germans invaded Holland from the air. The War Department began working to develop its own airborne capability. With no military transports available, the Army turned to Douglas for its DC-3 airliner. Modifed for military purposes, the DC-3 became the C-47 and C-53.

Though several troop carrier groups had been authorized in early 1941, no transport organization existed in the Philippines when the Japanese invaded the islands. A former retired Naval enlisted aviatior, Paul I Gunn, was running a small air transport operation in Manila. Gunn was impressed into the Army with the rank of Captain and given command of a transport squadron made up of his own Beech 18s and a few other airplanes that were in the islands. For several weeks Gunn's small airlift force flew personnel, cargo and dispatches throughout the islands. Gunn was ordered to Australia, where in February, 1942, he was given command of a new troop carrier squadron, the 21st TCS. Along with a sister squadron, the 22nd TCS, the 21st was the first American airlift unit to engage in combat operations. The two squadrons operated a mixed-bag of transports and worn-out bombers that were unsuitable for combat operations.

With the military situation in New Guinea in doubt, the 21st and 22nd squadrons were put to work supporting Australian troops engaged in combat with the Japanese on the Kokoda Track through the Owen-Stanley Mountains. Landing on remote airstrips when they could, and dropping supplies from the air when they could not, the two squadrons became the lifeline for the Allied forces in New Guinea.

In the summer of 1942 Lt. Gen. George C. Kenney arrived for duty as General Douglas MacArthur's chief of staff for air operations. Kenney, who had a reputation as an innovator, believed that the airplane would be invaluable in the kind of campaign needed in the Southwest Pacific. He believed that airlift could provide mobility to ground forces and thus enhance their effectiveness. In October, 1942, Kenney mounted an airlift of elements of the U.S. 32nd Division to Port Moresby. Using every available transport he could find, Kenney organized an airlfit that moved an entire infantry division into combat several weeks sooner than would have been required had the unit gone by sea as planned.

Kenney convinced General MacArthur to take advantage of the mobility provided by airlift to begin an offensive against the Japanese. Fifth Air Force transports moved troops into several small airstrips that had been created on the New Guinean coast south of Buna. Supported by airlift and airdrop, the Allied forces began moving north to ultimately capture Buna and then move north toward Lae. A Japanese attack on the mountain outpost at Wau was beaten back when American transport crews braved thunderstorms and muddy runways to bring reinforcements into the Wau airstrip while it was under heavy Japanese attack.

In the summer of 1943 Kenney used airlift to establish an Allied air base near Marlininan. After flying in all of the materials and equipment needed to build the base - using two and half ton trucks that had been sawn in half for C-47 transport - Kenney used the airfield at Tsili-Tsili as a staging base for an airborne attack on Nadzab. After a fierce strafing attack by B-25s, paratroops of the 503rd parachute infantry jumped over the airfield and took it within minutes. With Nadzab in Allied hands, General MacArthur launched a pincher attack on Lae that is credited with shortening the war in the Pacific by several months. Airlift continued to play a major role in the Southwest Pacific campaign for the remainder of the war. Fifth Air Force transports airlifted combat troops into new areas of operations, kept them supplied as they secured the area, and provided logistical support for the air units in the region.

Airlift also played a major role in the war for Burma. The first airlift forces arrived in the area in early 1942 when several Pan American DC-3s were sent there to airlift fuel into China for the Doolittle Raiders. They were joined soon afterwards by several Army transports that were given to a special unit that had arrived in India in B-17s on a secret mission to bomb Japan. The DC-3s and C-47s were soon evacuating refugees from Burma.

A major mission in the CBI was the airlift of supplies into China from Allied bases in India. The under-strength troop carrier squadrons of the Tenth Air Force were overworked in combat operations. The Allies contracted with a Chinese airline to fly supplies into China. In late 1942 the China resupply operation was taken over by the Air Transport Command, a new organization headquartered in the United States to control the mobilized American airline industry.

In early 1944 the Allies invaded Burma in an airlifted operation. Gliderborne troops landed at BROADWAY, a landing zone in the Burmese interior. Engineers constructed a landing strip for C-47s and additional troops were airlifted in. Airlift supported BGen. Frank Merril's "Marauders" as well as British Brigadier Orde Wingate's "Chindits." When the Marauders took the airstrip at Myitkynia, C-47s brought in reinforcments and supplies to support the siege to take the town. Airlift was credited with a major role in the success of military operations in Burma.

Airlift operations in Europe began with the invasion of North Africa in November, 1942. Troop carrier groups based in England airlifted the American 82nd Airborne Division and British paratroops to Africa. During the North African campaign, troop carrier squadrons proved essential to the conduct of the war as they airlifted supplies to air and ground combat units operating far in advance of ground lines of supply.

With North Africa secure, the next objective was Sicily, where airlift played a major role in airborne and glider operations. The airlift operations during Operation HUSKY were plagued with problems due to high winds, the inexperience of some of the crews and a lack of communications between the various Allied units. Several Allied transports were hit by "friendly fire" from ships in the invasion force and from the troops on the beach. Airlift became an established part of military planning in the Mediterranean campaign.

In the summer of 1944 the Allies invaded the European continent. Massive airborne and glider operations were part of D-Day. Early morning airborne operations met heavy enemy fire and encountered low ceilings that caused the drops to be badly scattered. Many of the gliders were destroyed during landing, but the airborne operations were declared to be an overall success, just as they had been in Sicily.

With the Allies ashore in Europe, airlift proved the only effective means of resupplying fast-moving armored columns moving out of the Normany beachead. In late summer British Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery conceived Operation MARKET-GARDEN, a joint airborne/armor operation to take bridges across the Rhine in Holland. While the airborne operations were highly successful, the ground forces were unable to link up with the paratroopers in time to exploit the new airhead. Airlift crews were praised for their courage during paratroop and resupply missions during the operation. MARKET-GARDEN also saw the use of B-24s to airdrop supplies.

In December of 1944 the Germans counterattacked in the Netherlands. When the 101st Airborne Division was surrounded at the Belgian town of Bastogne, Ninth Troop Carrier Command airlifters were called upon to brave intense enemy fire to deliver supplies to the trapped paratroopers. At first plagued by low ceilings and snow, the C-47 crews were greeted by blue skies and cold temperatures on December 23. Even though the operation cost several airplanes and crews, the airlift resupply of Bastogne was credited with saving the 101st.

Airlift continued to play a major role in the war in Europe right up until VE Day in May, 1945. A massive airborne operation was part of Field Marshall Montgomery's crossing of the Rhine. The Rhine Crossing cost several transports, mostly C-46s who were making their first appearance as airborne transports. The C-46 was poorly designed for combat operations as hits in the fuel tank caused fuel to run back and pool in the fuselage where it was then set fire when the airplane was hit by enemy fire.

World War II began with airlift hardly even thought of, yet it ended with air transportation having proven itself as a major military weapon. General Dwight D. Eisenhower paid tribute to airlift when he credited the C-47 as being the most important weapon of the war.

Though it was in the troop carrier squadrons that airlift proved itself as a military weapon, the airline industry made a major contribution to the war effort as well. In the summer of 1942, in response to political pressure, the War Department established the Air Transport Command as an umbrella organization to control airline military contract operations. The ATC was expanded to include long-range military transport operations as well. While some ATC squadrons flew the same C-47 that was proving itself with the troop carrier squadrons, most flew C-46s and the transport version of the B-24, known as the C-87. By the end of the war, ATC was operating four-engine C-54 transports all over the world in what was literally a military airline. For most of the war ATC was responsible for one segment of what has since become known as The Hump Airlift. ATC flew supplies over the lower Himalayas to the Chinese government and to some Allied military units in China, though the Troop Carrier Command and other units in the theater were engaged in Hump flying as well. The major ATC contribution was to provide a line of communications between the United States and combat units overseas.

Though the war began with little thought having been given to airlift, by the time it ended very few military operations had been conducted that did not depend upon airlift to some extent. Airlift had become a weapon.

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