This page is dedicated to all the members of the of the 12th Air Service Group that served with the 14th Air Force in the China Theatre of operations during World War Two. These men came together from all walks of life to form a group that did a job under the most adverse conditions in the world. Supplies and equipment were hard to come by since everything had to be flown over the Hump from India into Kunming, China. These guys salvaged everything they could and when they couldn't do that they improvised to keep them flying.
This page is also made in memory fifteen men from the 396th Air Service Squadron that never made it home from China. They made the supreme sacrifice on a routine flight from Kanchrapara, India, to Chabua, India, in preparation to flying the Hump into Kunming,China. We never did know what really happened but all fifteen men and the crew of the converted B-24 perished and it was a full year before the wreckage was found and the bodies identified.
Thanks to the records kept by James E. Sherman,who worked in the 396th orderly room, we have the following list of names for the men on that fatal flight:
- Baldi, Albert M.
- Bischoff, Arthur R.
- Butler, Warren
- Brenner, R.C.
- Litton, Willie R.
- Norwood, Evan W. Jr.
- O'Brien, Willis
- Ray, Patrick R.
- Rush, Frank J.
- Sutton, William H.
- Troy, Frank C.
- Ursillo, Alfred
- Watts, James
- Wheatley, James
- Zobb, Elmer
(Courtesy of Elmer Bukey.)
If anyone has images, information, or biographies for these fifteen men, please contact Pat at pat@rshonor.org.