‘Skies of Thunder’: World War II Missions in the Himalayas

"Skies of Thunder: The Deadly World War II Mission Over the Roof of the World," by Caroline Alexander.

One incredible achievement during World War II was that the United States brought supplies to China over the Himalayan Mountains. It was an airlift over some of the world’s most difficult terrain, and by war’s end it moved over 750,000 tons of cargo to China. The aircrew flying this route called it “the Hump.”

“Skies of Thunder: The Deadly World War II Mission Over the Roof of the World,” by Caroline Alexander, tells the story of the Hump. The book describes the airlift, what it took to assemble the resources to conduct it, and the circumstances that led to starting and continuing it.

A Dangerous Route

Ms. Alexander opens by sketching in the background, describing the wars between China and Japan and the need to supply Chinese armies from abroad. Eventually, the sole path to China was the overland Burma Road, between Rangoon, Burma (now called Myanmar), and Kunming, China. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and Britain. Japan invaded Burma, a British colony. A disastrous British defense allowed Japan to capture most of Burma, which Ms. Alexander describes in painful detail. It severed the Burma Road.