Imphal, The Hump and Beyond 
Imphal, The Hump and Beyond
U.S.A.A.F. Combat Cargo Groups of the Second World War
1st Air Transport Squadron (Mobile)
QUALIFICATIONS OF PERSONNEL AND TABLE OF ORGANIZATION
| The personnel of the First Air Transport Bomber Squadron were hand picked
from the various Ferry Command Groups. All were well trained in their selected
fields, both in schooling and actual experience. The activation of this squadron was under WD Letter, subject
"Constitution and Activation of Certain Bomber Support Squadrons
(Mobile)" file AG 3.22 (10-14 March 1943)
Lt. Col. Samuel S. Nuckols, a very experienced person in this type operation, was selected to command this special group. He was a graduate of flying cadet-school in 1932. Later in civilian life he was Chief Pilot for the Western Division of American Airlines. As a reserve officer, he was recalled to active duty in the early days of the conflict. Before being selected to head the First Transport Squadron, he was chief of flight training of the Third Over Seas Training School, located in Reno, Nevada. This school was located in the higher elevations of the Rocky Mountains. Its purpose was to familiarize and train pilots for the type flying encountered in the China, Burma, India Theatre and more especially "Hump" flying. One of the qualifications of the first pilots and most of the co-pilots of the First Air-'Transport Squadron was to have successfully completed the course at this school. The table of organization of the squadron was four hundred men. Eighty-two of these were officers and the balance specialized enlisted men. Of the eighty-two officers, sixty seven were rated and fifteen were administrative. The aircraft consisted of twenty C-46 transport type, and they proved to be a very successful one for this kind of work. The men covered all fields of required specialist, including a flight surgeon, but excluding a chaplain. A chaplain was acquired on reaching the permanent station. The squadron was a self-sustained unit, whose mission was to go any place in the world and operate for thirty days without assistance. This required thirty days of supply of rations, water, medicine, a limited amount of aircraft parts, runway lights, a communications officer and equipment. The Twentieth Air Force was scheduled to operate out of India, with Headquarters in Khatagapur, Kalaikunda airfield, located six miles from Headquarters, became the operating and home for The First Air Transport Bomber Squadron. Here began the main part of the history of this small group of men that were, in the future, to establish records in this type operations, second to none.. Submitted by Jim Beamon from a History of the 1st Air Transport Squadron Copyright 2001 |
Back to 1st Air Transport Squadrom Page
| I am
looking for former members of the 3rd Combat Cargo Group, 1st, Combat
Cargo Group, 2nd Combat Cargo Group and the 4th Combat Cargo Group.
In fact I would like to hear from anyone who flew over the Hump during
WW II, or flew any Combat Cargo Missions at any time (Berlin Air-Lift,
Korea, etc)
Please e-mail comment, suggestions, corrections,etc to: bill@comcar.org Imphal, the Hump and Beyond Copyright © 1999, 2001 Bill Bielauskas All rights reserved. Notice to all Viewers: All stories and images within "Imphal, The Hump and Beyond, U.S.A.A.F Combat Cargo Units of the Second World War", are Copyright ©1999-2001, to the Veteran who submitted the text and/or photographs and to Bill Bielauskas, Webmaster at "Imphal, the Hump and Beyond, U.S.A.A.F. Combat Cargo Units of the Second World War". All rights reserved. No part of this page, or those connected via links, either text, or images may be used for any purpose other than personal use. Storage, reproduction, modification on a retrieval system or transmission, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without prior written permission of the Copyright © holder(s) is prohibited. This includes storage on another Internet Website other than "Imphal, the Hump and Beyond, U.S.A.A.F. Combat Cargo Groups of the Second World War" Bill Bielauskas 10 Cayuga Trail, Wayne, NJ. 07470-4406 |