1941 to 1945
Places and Faces Photo Album - Page 9-4
Eugene J. Link
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1941 to 1945
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Memories of a Pilot WWII CBI Theater
- Eugene J. Link
By Millie Link
(Continued)
Luliang, China
After the monsoon season began, Gene was in one of the three Squadrons that were
moved to Luliang, China. Situated on the high plains of China (6000' elevation) northeast of the Himalayan Mountains
the climate changed from tropical to cold. Tokyo Rose welcomed the troops to Luliang and promised them a visit
by a Japanese bombing force on New Year's Eve of 1944. Her promise was kept, but thankfully the bombs missed the
base by a mile. The men occasionally listened to her station as they enjoyed the popular American music she played.
The crew settled into their tents, putting in wood floors in an attempt to make them
warmer. The tents had just enough room for the 4 cots that surrounded the wood stove in the center. They managed
to hook up an electric wire to their tent and figured out how to split the wires so the 220-volt current could
run a 110-volt radio plus a 110-volt light bulb. Their camp was close to the earth runway and the steady traffic
stirred up an ever-present dust that clung on all their belongings The same shower system was used as in India,
but here the sun did little to warm the icy water.
Drinking water was boiled in open pots and dispensed from canvas "Lister Bags" that hung on a tripod.
The water tasted of ashes and smoke and made tea drinkers out of many. Even at that, they lived and ate like kings
compared to the natives.
The dirt runway at Luliang was lengthened daily by Chinese coolies dumping soil
and rocks into the ravine at the end of the runway. Photos show men, women and children sitting on rock piles pounding
large stones to smaller pieces. The fragments were then hauled away by another crew using buckets carried on long
poles slung over their shoulders. To pack the runway smooth a crew of about 200 coolies pulled a huge rock cylinder
over the dirt. All through this construction, planes were coming and going constantly. Human life in China was
considered so cheap that pilots were given standing orders not to pull up and go around for a second attempt at
landing just to miss any workers on the runway. Gene felt fortunate that he never had occasion to act on these
orders.
Hauling Gas over the "Hump"
In China the planes were used as tankers to haul gasoline to the 14th Air Force in
southeast China. Another Squadron of their group was moved to Tezpur, India in the far northeast at the end of
the railroad. This group hauled gas and supplies to the base at Luliang, and then his group flew it on to Suichwan.
The pilots found out that hauling gas over the Himalayan Mountains was more
difficult and dangerous than dropping bombs in Burma. In each plane bomb bay was outfitted with three 420-gallon
fuel tanks. The B-24's, designed for a maximum gross weight of 58,000 pounds, were often overloaded to 72,000 pounds
and were barely able to get off the ground. Many 1500-mile round trips were made over the "Hump" where
unbelievable "up" and "down" drafts produced some of the worst flying conditions in the world.
The operation took a heavy toll, with accidents on take-off and landings causing deadly explosions. In a period
of less than 3 months Gene's squadron lost 5 out of 20 planes along with 3 crews.
One night flying from Luliang back to India, after delivering a load of gasoline,
extremely high winds, sometimes reaching 100 mph or more blew them off course and they nearly missed home base.
They were unable to pick up the radio signal at Tezpur, unable to shoot the stars because of the solid cloud cover
and with no landmarks below, but Genes' sense of direction (which he felt was aided by a higher power) told him
that they were too far north and were headed toward the high peaks of the Himalayan Mountains. After turning south
they started getting a faint radio signal from their home base and half an hour later they were on the ground.
If they had continued on their original course he has no doubt that they would have run out of gas and ended up
as one of the many mountain casualties.
Reflecting on the past year he wrote home that he thought Christmas of 1943 in
Kansas was hard, but a year later he was half a world away, still in the Army and the time of coming home looked
as far away as ever-if not farther. "I almost have to laugh at myself when I think about it."(How tough
I thought I had it last year) I guess I don't have much to complain about compared to half the people in the world!"
Mail from the States took from 3 to 6 weeks to arrive and packages took longer yet.
When his Christmas packages came through in January Gene wrote his mother the cookies, crackers and cheese were
great, but the fudge and dried beef were moldy. His mother knew he wasn't a fan of fruitcake, but the one the Methodist
Ladies Aid sent tasted good to him. He wrote home "What do you mean Mom, that I don't like fruit cake-you
don't know me anymore!" No doubt, the war had changed and matured him in many ways.
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