Show Severance of Aerial Lifeline Between India China W Would uld Be Staggering Blow to Alli Allied d Cause ause j By DEWITT MACKENZIE Associated Press Tress War Anal Analyst Jan 8 When 8 When you have climbed from India into over the adventurous aerial route which is a substitute for the Japanese controlled Burma road then and then only can you realize how tenuous is the lifeline between China and the outside world It runs as thin and delicate as asa asa asa a spiders spider's thread among m ng and over the great jagged mountain peaks of this region Fogs envelop it it ice clings to it and fierce monsoon winds tear at it until ute tRe wonder of ot it is that it doesn't snap And often the mikado's men lurk among the clouds hoping they may catch some wayfarer unawares Last week I reported from India som something thing of ot the great work our American fliers are doing In maintaining maintaining maintaining main main- I this link Ink between China and her allies alUes It not only is great work but it also is vital to the cause of at the united nations Should the spiders spider's web be severed it would be a staggering staggering- blow to our gallant allies Certainly we can say that if it this artery were cut China not only would suffer terrible material losses but It would be a challenge to public morale I Do not forget that China is allbut all allbut alii but isolated and this lifeline is the touch of at a friendly hand In the I dark I Maintenance of ot this strategic link is an all American all Job Yankee fighters protect the route from prowling Japanese Yankee bombers constantly raid enemy air fields to force the invaders invaders in in- farther back into Burma away from the lifeline Yankee transport planes planes' regularly wing their way into China with those essentials which provide the flint flinto to o set of off the powder It takes a stout heart and a skilled hand han to negotiate that sky- sky line ine A good deal o of it runs across solid mountain ranges where a a forced landing would mean anything any any- anything anything any any- thing you can think of at that's nasty Much of ot the time especially a athis at this season billowing oceans of ot solid white clouds cover the moun mountains with an occasional villainous peak of rock jutting up through Maintenance 1 Problem The pilot must climb into the thin air above th the clouds or fly blind And flying blind with moun mountains of rock all aro around nd you Isn't pleasant Finally th the e re comes the hump or highest part of the J range nget and andover andover nd over this planes planed must be lifted ata at ata a height of maybe feet I have been In some odd places in various parts of the world but going oy oyer r that hump without oxygen was was something new As your breath gets thin and short you wonder whether you really have led the sort of ot life you should should should-if if you see what I mean Not all the effort conies comes in flying flying flying fly fly- ing though The warplanes and transports must be maintained and you find still more of Uncle Sam Sams Sam's s boys boys' scattered along the route to tol l keep the planes in the air This Job of maintenance of at course plays a big part in holding the route open t I encountered one group o of about a dozen of these mechanics at a lonely air field among the moun moun- When they found that Iwas I Iwas Iwas was an American they crowded about me as though I w were re a long lost brother They were were so so- pleased so-pleased pleas d dat at seeing somebody from the States that they were like a bunch of kids They showed me pictures of ot folks back home and boasted of letters less than a month old old old- and believe me a a. fast delivery rys is something for the boys in in this lonely part of the big world I More Transports Needed Sq American skill and nerve I keep the the lifeline open and thus perform an ad an essential operation for forthe forthe forthe the allied cause There is just one fly in the ointment ointment ment and this is that the value of the service could be multiplied if a a few transport planes were available ava One hundred more mor transports as I understand it would make a mighty difference to Chinas China's supply supply sup sup- ply problem em You would understand that if it you could be here and see h how w far the they brave trave people are mak making ng their supplies go And Andr ml mind d you it Is essentials and ri riot not t luxuries which h come oVer that skyline How many items could you pack Into a single transport plane do you think 1 Not many and not nota a huge amount in transports and yet the vital vital war operations of ot one of the big big- four of t tie the e allied nations depend on meager m meager ager supplies sup sup- supplies plies which are coming by air I To anyone on the ground it Is obvious that provision of these transport planes would be a grand investment The subject is one which is so so important that I shall sh return n to it itin itin itin in a subsequent dispatch |