CBI Theater – January 1945
Here are snippets of what was going on in the China-Burma-India Theater at the opening of 1945.
EAC HQ. – The light of a full moon gave EAC planes an opportunity to hit Jap-held railways, roads, rivers and airfields and smash enemy communication lines, as decisive daylight support was given ground forces on the Burma battlefronts this week.
B-25’s of the 10th Air Force strafed motor vehicles at night in North Burma. The 10th also hit enemy fields at Lashio during daytime, setting two planes afire.
The night intruders, composed of USAAF B-25’s and RAF Mosquitos, Beaufighters and Hurribombers, carried out their operations as far south as Hninpaze, near the mouth of the Sittang River.
Well over 150 sorties were flown in support of the 15th Indian Corps in its current drive in the Arakan.
On the Irrawaddy-Chindwin front, RAF Hurribombers attacked objectives on the road to Yehuphonu. The village of Tabayin was left aflame.
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KANDY – Maj. Gen. Albert C. Wedemeyer, commanding the American Forces in China, and Maj. Gen. George E. Stratemeyer, commanding the Eastern Air Command, have been awarded the Order of the Bath by King George VI, it was announced this week.
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The 533rd Brigade (Provisional) was activated on 26 July 1944. It soon came to be known as the MARS TASK FORCE. It was designed as a Long Range Penetration Force and training, equipment and organization were all directed toward this end.
MARS was able to profit by the experience of Wingate’s Raiders and Merrill’s Marauders in Burma jungle operations. The leaven of veteran jungle fighters was mixed with the freshness of volunteers and the assignment of the 124th Cavalry Regiment.
FAMILY TIES
1328TH ATC BASE UNIT, ASSAM – It’s usually the father who offers guidance and advice to the son, but the combination of the Army and India has proved too much even for such a stalwart tradition.
Cpl. Kadzie Goodwin arrived here recently on a change of station and not long afterward encountered his father, S/Sgt. William A. Goodwin, who he hadn’t seen for more than a year.
Now Kadzie, a ground radio technician in the Army Airways Communication System, guides his father, an aerial radio operator flying The Hump for the ATC’s India-China Division, over the treacherous transport routes between Assam and China.
THE WOMBAT SQUADRON – The story of how two Burmese youths walked 900 miles over some of the most treacherous terrain in the world to evade the Japanese and join the American forces was revealed recently with the appearance of two new waiters in the officers mess hall at this “Liberators of China” field.
TENTH AIR FORCE HQ, BURMA – Probably the first instance of twin brothers meeting in the I-B Theater after a long separation occurred recently when Eugene and Edward Crivaro, 19, of Carnegie, Pa., met each other at a base in Burma. In most cases, twins in the Army remain in the same outfit throughout their service.
Pvt. Eugene, bomb maintenance man for a service group in China, requested and was granted permission to fly over The Hump. Arriving in Burma, he immediately began a quest for his twin whom he had not seen for 20 months. Using an APO number as a guide, Eugene was soon directed to a 10th Air Force fighter control squadron of which Pfc. Edward was a member. Reunion… at long last.
Eugene spent seven hours in the cold Atlantic waters a year ago when the ship taking him overseas was sunk by German torpedo bombs.
Football Round-up
Rice Bowl
GROUND FORCES BEAT SOS (Services of Supply)
HQ CT & CC, CHINA THEATER — Capitalizing on two pass interceptions and a safety, the Army Ground Force, touch football champions of China, fought off a strong SOS team to win the New Year’s Day Rice Bowl classic, 16-0, before a large G.I. crowd.
Ground Force grabbed a slight edge, on a safety in the first Period, adding touchdowns on pass interceptions by Wolfe for 40 yards in the third and Bruner for 60 yards in the fourth. Ben Schall booted both extra points.
SOS often penetrated enemy territory but could not muster a score. Of 20 aerials they tossed in the second half, only four were completed.
The Lineups:
GROUND FORCE: Uhlen, Meyers, Autry, Petiit, Wolfe, Chapman, Schall, Bruner and Becker.
SOS: Crowe, Demski, Harding, Roland, Snyder, Staley, Hardee, Sleteher and Heckman.
Information from CBI Theater.com and CBI Roundup. Clark King & Gary Goldblatt also have a CBI website.
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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Military Humor – CBI Style –
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Farewell Salutes –
Florence Blohm – Wooster, OH; US Navy WAVES, WWII
Peter Carrie (102) – Dundee, SCOT; RAF, WWII, ETO, Flt. Engineer / CBI, Tank Corps
Alan Dick – NZ; RNZ Air Force, Wing Commander (Ret.)
Raymond Evans – Stollings, WV; US Army, Vietnam
Harry Hanen – Alberta, CAN; RC Air Force, WWII
Keith Iwen – Milwaukee, WI; US Navy, WWII
Mancel King – Agra, KS; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, B-24 pilot
William Marshall – Vine Bluff, UT; US Navy, WWII
Edward Reimuth Jr. – Poughkepsie, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 7th Infantry & 11th Airborne Div.
Harold Wilbur – New Castle, DE; US Navy, WWII / US Coast Guard, Korea
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Posted on January 1, 2018, in WWII and tagged 1940's, Burma, CBI, China, family history, History, India, Military, New Years, veterans, WW2, WWII. Bookmark the permalink. 75 Comments.
Like those snippets of relatives meeting up during their service, very unusual reading of Cpl. Kadzie Goodwin guiding his Father at that time. Imagine their story’s after the War when reminiscing.
Enjoy your military humor gp, these cartoons were well appreciated at the time due to their honest perceptions of actual moments on leave or furlough.
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These stories and humor are all from the military weekly newspaper, so I enjoy the perception written then, rather than a history written decades later. I’m glad you find them interesting as well!
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I especially like the family ties stories, GP. A Happy New Year to you and your family, and keep the stories coming! 🙂
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Thank you so much, my dear friend. And I’ll certainly try!
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There must be a special place in heaven for those who gave their lives for their country. It is worse than a shame that we have forgotten what these men achieved. The countless sacrifices and acts of heroism — often unrecognized and unrewarded — are a priceless legacy.
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So well said, Anna. We study the past to enlighten the future, but I doubt we’ll see another generation such as this.
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Reblogged this on Truth Troubles.
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Thank you.
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I enjoyed the read, I enjoy history lessons. I am gong to reblog this article for you Sir.
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Thank you on both counts – much appreciated!
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Happy New Year and Best wishes GP Cox!! 🙂
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And all the same wishes for you and your family!!
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I enjoyed the tale of the Rice Bowl. How appropriate, for this time of year. And it really was interesting to think about the contributions of the forces in the China/Burma/Indian theater. For some reason, I’ve never thought of Indians being a part of the war, even though they have fine fighting forces among various groups, like the Sikhs, and they certainly did contribute.
It’s so sad to think of Burma today — now, Myanmar, where the Rohingya Muslims are the victims of terrible treatment. Perhaps a new year will bring them some relief — and some peace here, for that matter!
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The Indians actually were on both sides of the war, but they did put in quite an effort.
It would be great if people would unite in peace – this planet can’t take too much more of human treatment.
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Happy New Year, GP!
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And all the very best to you and yours as well!!
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As always…very informative post and appreciate all that you do!! Have a great New Year to you and yours!!
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Thank you very much, Kirt – I hope we are both happy and healthy in 2018 and continue our friendship.
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I saw theatre and thought play, but this was no game, people must remember the audience don’t all leave this type of theatre. My latest opera scene is a French Nun whose whole order was put to death at the guillotine, hard to believe people did such things in the past but it was based on a true story.
All my best wishes for a Happy New Year GP 🙋🏼
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Humans have been hurting others (all species) since the dawn of time. I wonder why Nature put such a trait in our character….
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Survival of the fittest perhaps, I saw a nature program over Christmas that had a lizard that had to run from rock to rock with loads of its snake predators lying in wait hoping for a tasty treat. But I wonder how many other animals attack each other for territory or power?
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I would have to look into that one, really not sure.
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The design of the stone sign commemorating those who flew “the hump” is appropriate. It certainly captures the fact that the planes had to fly over the mountains.
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Happy New Year to you, GP!
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All the best for 2018 to you too!!
I had to copy that photos when I saw it. Like you said, it fits the situation perfectly.
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Een onderwerp waar ik praktisch niets van wist bedankt
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Je doet het nu – dat is wat perfect is om de geschiedenis rond te houden, voor ons om te leren.
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Happy New Year !! To you and yours, and to all the surviving B-25s, but above all to any of the surviving touch football champions of China. I suppose they kept their title for ever. You certainly don’s seem to hear of anybody contesting the “New Year’s Day Rice Bowl classic” any more.
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No, I don’t suppose you do, John. (No instant reply back then either, haha)
Hope to see you through 2018 with more of your terrific posts!
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I don’t mean to be hard on you,I don’t want you to dislike me,
so this year 2018,I wiill write something Good!!
Give me a few seconds….
Oh!!
Rice Bowl=Rice ball means with Japanese food made from white Rice and seaweed!!
It’s Japanese soul food!:D
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Here in the US, we have college football games that end the season (Sugar Bowl, Peach Bowl, etc.), in WWII, they had sort of a contest between two different units of the army and today the contest is played in Japan.
You can be hard on me if you like. I am talking here about another world that exited 75 years ago.
Have a great day!
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Just poppin’ in to say Happy New Year, GP! To you and your family! 🙂
Thank you for all of your great blogs of 2017! 🙂 Keep telling the stories, keep sharing the lives, keep helping us to be grateful and appreciative! 🙂
My best to you in 2018! 🙂
HUGS!!! 🙂
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Thank you so very much for such a lovely compliment and welcome into the New Year! Let’s hope 2018 will run as smooth.
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Reblogged this on John Cowgill's Literature Site.
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Thank you for your interest, John. Being as our schools don’t teach history in any depth, this info can fade away.
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Sadly, school are not teaching any important stuff anymore.
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All too true and all too sad.
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Happy New Year G.! May the new year be filled with health, happiness and prosperity. – H.J.
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To you as well, HJ!! You’ve taught me more about our avian friends than I’ve ever known and it has made me more aware of our wildlife friends right here in my area!! Thank you.
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Wingate was killed just a few months after the episode you mentioned. He was an unusual soldier.
When George VI gave those 2 Yankees a bath, well the Order of Bath, it was at the instigation of Churchill.
There was a lot more going on in the world back then than most people realize. It was a genuine world war
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It most definitely was!! Churchill alone had a number of backdoor things going on from the very start.
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Happy New Year. This is especially of interest to me as we have spent lots of time in Burma and India.
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Yes, I’ve seen your photos and it’s interesting to have seen before and after pics!! Glad you find it of interest as well!
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Blessing to you and yours for a happy, healthy, and hopeful new year. One of my favorite blogs. Mahalo
Aloha
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Thank you very much. May 2018 make all your dreams come true!
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Happy New Year GP
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Thank you, Tim!! Have a great one – I’m looking forward to it!!
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My 10th grade biology teacher fought in Burma—-I learned more that year about Burma and battles than I did biology—and you know what….that was probably the better of the two educational options!!
Happy New Year and keep reminding this world about the Greatest Generation!!!!
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I’ll laid odds on that too, Julie!! All the very best to you!!
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It’s the New Year day and you made me cry! Thank you.
I am so touched by those families…
Wish all for a Healthy and Happy 2018!
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All the very best, Helen! Here’s to our friendship in 2018!! 🍸 🍸
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This is so interesting! I love stories like these! 😀
My grandfather served in the CBI, but we know hardly anything about his wartime experiences. I really wish he had at least told us what unit he was connected with . . .
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Perhaps the archives would have that information. You know his branch of service, WWII years and theater of operations – if you could also include his birth date, place of birth, anything for them to locate the records, they might be able to help.
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Happy New Year G.P.
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Back atcha! Have a happy and healthy 2018!!
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Excellent post, GP. So much information about a relatively unknown theater of operations. The Rice Bowl must have been a hoot.
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Believe it or not, John, there still is a Rice Bowl, played in Japan now for X-Division football. But you’re right, back then during the war must have been a hoot! I tried to find photos, but to no avail.
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Thanks for the info, GP.
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Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
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Thank you, Michael. And a happy, healthy and successful new year to you!!
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Happy New Year, GP!
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Same to you, Amy!! A happy, healthy and successful one at that!!
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The British army in Burma was called ‘the forgotten army’ by the people back home. It wasn’t seen as ‘exciting’, it was far from home and when you consider that the guys there knew this and had to combat not only the Japanese, but the dense jungle, malaria, dysentery, beri beri and the infernal humidity – those guys were real heroes. Thanks for giving me time to spare a thought for them today GP.
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My pleasure, Rich. They certainly deserve any and all the recognition they can get!!
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This area seemed to be its own war zone. I tend to forget about it. Thanks for these posts to help me understand the whole story.
Happy New Year.
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A heck of a lot more than I depict here – the CBI Theater is a story by itself, but sadly, even more ignored than the Pacific!
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I wonder that is wise – placing siblings in the same unit. In a critical juncture, it is asking a little too much to expect a guy to help a stranger at the expense of his own brother – even if it made good operational sense to do so.
Just saying…
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True thought there. But then again, they allowed the 5 Sullivan brothers, didn’t they? Thought they had learned their lesson.
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‘In most cases, twins in the Army remain in the same outfit throughout their service.’ This was intriguing. I didn’t know this was the case.
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If one wanted out, they could have applied. Obviously they didn’t.
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The fighting continues into 1945. If only they had known it would end that year. So many sad losses still to come.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Things kept getting hotter and moving faster!!
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More snippets of heroism
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Yessiree… they walked the walk.
Happy New Year, Derrick!!
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🙂 You, too, our friend, GP
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