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Air Commandos Against Japan: Allied Special Operations in World War II Burma

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In late 1943, the 1st Air Commando Group of the U.S. Army Air Forces -- a composite unit with fighters, bombers, transports, gliders, reconnaissance aircraft, light planes for air evacuation of the wounded, and later the first military helicopters -- arrived in India. Colonels John R. Alison and Philip G. Cochran had the personal support of General Hap Arnold in taking this unorthodox unit into combat. This book -- skillfully blending the threads of strategy, tactics, command, organization, operations, missions, personalities, and flying tales -- tells the story.

The Group's most celebrated day was March 5, 1944, when they carried the British and Indian Army "Chindits" under Brigadier General Orde Wingate into combat, dropping the gliders onto "Broadway" behind enemy lines in central Burma. (To "see" some of that story, watch the famous Army documentary film "Stilwell Road.") The Air Commandos supplied British, Indian, American, and Chinese troops by air as they drove back the Japanese; their fighters and bombers took the fight all over the theatre. The most notable mission of the 2nd Air Commando Group, which arrived at the end of 1944, was a spectacular raid on the Japanese Air Force at Don Muang Airfield, Thailand, on April 9, 1945.

The Air Commandos of World War II were the forebears of today's Air Force Special Operations Forces. To write this history, author William T. Y'Blood drew on unit records and histories, official publications, memoirs, and oral history interviews with participants. Although the book focuses on the 1st and 2nd Air Commando Groups in Burma, a final chapter on the 3rd Air Commando Group in the Philippines rounds out the book.

Beyond writing out the main narrative, the author wrestled with why the Air Commando concept did not take hold in the USAAF and the USAF after the war. The composite units working with ground commanders crossed too many organizational and doctrinal lines. Theatre commanders were always tempted to peel off fighters or bombers or transports to perform this or that high-priority mission, diminishing the synergy of the composite group, he concluded.

The full history of World War II in the China-Burma-India theatre is still to be written. While American and British records have been open, Japanese materials have not been fully exploited, and historians had no or restricted access to Chinese records for decades. But William T. Y'Blood's final book (completed by Jack Neufeld after Y'Blood's death) now forms a solid building block. It will assure recognition of the Air Commandos in any history of the War, and it will give Alison and Cochran a secure place among the Air Force's great commanders.

-30-

William T. Y'Blood authored eight outstanding books on aviation topics from World War II. He passed away in 2006 following completion of this book. "Tom" always found a little known event or series of events which led inexorably to the outcome of World War 11. As a former Air Force and commercial pilot, historian Y'Blood peels away the years and puts us in the cockpit of a P-51, B-25, or a C-47, and lets us get the feel of the action.

The main characters are British officer Ored C. Wingate who developed the concept of Long-Range Penetration Groups, (LRPGs), General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold, Commander of the U. S. Air Forces, who wanted to use the air force like navy ships and stage an aerial invasion of Burma and two innovative, "Go For Broke" U. S. Army Air Force pilots, Lt. Colonel Philip G. Cochran and Lt. Col. John R. Alison who were told by Arnold "To hell with paperwork! Go out and fight!"

Wingate led the LRPG, disrupting the enemy communication and rear areas while the Air Commandos, made up of light planes to evacuate the wounded, transports to move heavy cargo and personal, a fighter and bomber force to attack the enemy, gliders and helicopters to carry troops and cargo.

The LRPG and the three Air Commando Groups were successful in stopping the Japanese invasion of Burma, attacks on India and forced the Japanese to hold a million troops in China.

The China-Burma-India, regarded as a backwater theater during the war, has not been covered this well in a long time.

It is a great read!

Richard N. Larsen
Senior Reviewer

In his final book, William Y'Blood provides a detailed look at the formation of the First and Second Air Commando Groups (1 ACG, 2 ACG) and their support of combat operations in the Pacific Theater of Operations. The book is written in a very personal manner such that Y'Blood identifies each of the pilots who flew the missions, where the reader learns of both heroic deeds and tragic demises of each of the pilots.

The 1 ACG was formed to support the British Long Range Penetration Groups. Y'Blood covers the original conversations between General Hap Arnold and the two firecracker Lieutenant Colonels selected to create the 1 ACG. Y'Blood covers the organization, training, and equipping issues that these officers faced in standing up their first unit.
The book transitions to a description of the operations in India, Thailand and Burma in support of the Chindits, culminating with case studies on Operations Thursday and Multivite.

Following the success of the 1 ACG, General Arnold directed the creation of three more groups. The 2 ACG stood up in support of General MacArthur's liberation operations in the Philippines

The map of China-Burma-India did not show the location of an important location discussed in the book. The authors stated "as it turned out, the decisive battle for central Burma was fought not at the legendary Mandalay, but at the little-known town of Meiktila." Along with a letter from Hap Arnold directing the creation of three more commando groups that is duplicated in two chapters, these very minor complaints are the only drawbacks to this otherwise excellent book.

There are a few notable Air Force firsts in this book. The First Air Commando Group was the first aerial task force stood up to support a single operation. Unlike other organizations at the time, which were squadrons, groups, and wings of similar aircraft, the 1 ACG was a collection of disparate airframes - fighters, transports, gliders, bombers, utility aircraft, and the first operational helicopters. This organization was totally unlike anything else at the time. In the book's epilogue, the author(s) further discuss this point and why it led to the erosion of Air Commando capability between World War II and Korea.

Secondly, the book also documents the first use of a helicopter in a casualty evacuation. On April 21, 1942 1st Lieutenant Carter Harman flew a YR-4 helicopter to rescue four personnel trapped behind Japanese lines in Burma.

This is a fantastic look at the forefathers of the Air Force's special operating forces of today. This book would be a great add to any airpower enthusiast's library. For readers interested in learning more about the Air Force's special operating forces, I highly recommend "Apollo's Warriors: Us Air Force Special Operations During the Cold War" by Colonel Michael Haas, USAF, (Ret.)

AIR COMMANDOS AGAINST JAPAN: ALLIED SPECIAL OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II BURMA
WILLIAM Y'BLOOD
NAVAL INSTITUTE PRESS, 2008
HARDCOVER, $36.95, 352 PAGES, ACRONYMS, PHOTOGRAPHS, MAPS


While America's eyes were on the European and Pacific Theaters of Operation during World War II, a small band of aviators were making history in the forgotten China-Burma-India Theater of Operation (CBI). The 1st Air Commandos were sired by General of the Army and later General of the Air Force Henry H. "Hap" Arnold and brought to life by the imagination of two men, Lt. Colonel Philip G. Cochran and Lt. Colonel John R. Alison. In gathering men of character and tenacity, these two visionaries molded a unit which had to overcome orthodox military minds, paralyzing fear, and Burma's impregnable terrain before taking the fight to the Japanese. With a focus on the might and the flexibility of air power, Cochran and Alison constructed an experimental unit which cut across the structured lines of conventional organizations.

Forming an air arsenal which was totally unique in its composition and application, they combined the firepower of P-51A fighters and B-25H bombers with the logistical tentacles of C-47 transports, CG-4A gliders, L-5 and L-1 light planes, and UC-64 bush planes to reach far behind Japanese lines. By landing soldiers beyond those lines, the Allies for the first time, used airpower for the backbone of an invasion.

On a moonlight night in March, 1944, the 1st Air Commandos flew more than 200 miles behind the Japanese defenses on the Indo-Burma border to establish an airfield named Broadway in the midst of enemy-held territory. From this beachhead, the Allies poured more than 9,000 specially trained soldiers onto the back porch of Japan's extended empire. The actions of the 1st Air Commandos breathed life into the stagnant China-Burma-India Theater of Operation and turned defeatism into victory. Intended for only a six month mission, the unit made such an impact, they were retained. Assigned to support British General Slim's invasion of Burma, the 1st Air Commandos demonstrated they could perform equally well in a conventional war.

The list of firsts is noteworthy-first airborne glider "snatch" in combat, first double tow of gliders into a combat arena, first helicopter operations, first helicopter combat rescue, first gunship employment, and first rockets fired against an enemy. Flying B-25H Mitchells, P-51A Mustangs, and P-47D Thunderbolts, the 1st Air Commandos' close air support of ground troops became legendary. Their exploits enhanced and enlarged light plane operations. The foundation of modern forward air control (FAC) procedures and air evacuation processes was pioneered by the organization. Unorthodox and eclectic, the 1st Air Commandos serve as a model for conventional and special operations today.

AIR COMMANDOS AGAINST JAPAN: ALLIED SPECIAL OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II BURMA tells the story of how within a few short months these daring aviators trained and equipped an entirely new kind of organization, moved it to India, establsihed bases, and then led it into combat in support of an eccentric and controversial British officer named Orde C. Wingate.

Months earlier, Wingate had developed the concept of Long Range Penetration Groups (LRPGs) to disrupt the enemy's communications and rear area installations and to drive home the strategic air offensive. Such groups, he suggested, offered a "greater opportunity of mystifying and misleading the enemy than any other form of warfare; and should be used as an essential part of a plan of conquest to create a situation leading to the advance of the Allies' main forces". But Wingate needed the Americans to create what would become the USAAF Air Commandos, a unit that marked a milestone in tactical operations.

This book is a clear, concise, and a forceful history of real heroes and daring military strategy. These brave men laid the foundation for much of today's fighting technology using equipment and methods that were very new and dangerous.



Lt. Colonel Robert A. Lynn, Florida Guard
Orlando, Florida