India, Brookley, Airlift


	Spitfire Wingman

India, Brookley, Berlin Airlift

"Yes, Virginia, you can fly the C-54 solo."

Air Transport Command C-54 to India and the Himalayan "Hump"

Later renamed as the Air Transport Command (otherwise known as "Allergic to Combat"). Haun's sister Julia Grenley visiting in Florida, 1945 or '46.

Back from the war as a new flying phase begins.

INDIA

This is definitely the India crew. Names other than Haun not known at present.

Bharakpore, India - a few miles from Calcutta - 1945

"I got a 12 Gauge Wichester pump and a supply of GI issue double ought buck. There were about a hundred of the nasty rascals funneling down to within thirty feet of the ground, so by shooting at the higher birds and working down, I had time to reload and..."

Chapter 16, where Haun foolishly clears runway of sacred buzzards

One well-named ship

The "Hump Pilots Association" remains an elite fraternity. Their eastern route crossed the Himalayas and the lost cities buried in the jungles of Cambodia.

Braving riots and rugged peaks, they spanned post-war Asia

For Brookley AFB & Berlin Airlift photos, click here.

"Yes, Virginia, you can fly the C-54 solo."

Jimmy Haun, Jr. stormwatch@bellsouth.net
Copyright © U.S. Library of Congress 2004. All rights reserved.
Revised: November 13, 2009.