Skies of Thunder

The Deadly World War II Mission over the Roof of the World

By: Caroline Alexander

Narrated by: Fred Sanders

Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

“Riveting.”—The New York Times

From the New York Times bestselling author, a breathtaking account of combat and survival in one of the most brutally challenging and rarely examined campaigns of World War II

In April 1942, the Imperial Japanese Army steamrolled through Burma, capturing the only ground route from India to China. Supplies to this critical zone would now have to come from India by air—meaning across the Himalayas, on the most hazardous air route in the world. SKIES OF THUNDER is a story of an epic human endeavor, in which Allied troops faced the monumental challenge of operating from airfields hacked from the jungle, and took on “the Hump,” the fearsome mountain barrier that defined the air route. They flew fickle, untested aircraft through monsoons and enemy fire, with inaccurate maps and only primitive navigation technology. The result was a litany of both deadly crashes and astonishing feats of survival. The most chaotic of all the war’s arenas, the China-Burma-India theater was further confused by the conflicting political interests of Roosevelt, Churchill and their demanding, nominal ally, Chiang Kai-shek.

Caroline Alexander, who wrote the defining books on Shackleton’s Endurance and Bligh's Bounty, is brilliant at probing what it takes to survive extreme circumstances. She has unearthed obscure memoirs and long-ignored records to give us the pilots’ and soldiers’ eye views of flying and combat, as well as honest portraits of commanders like the celebrated “Vinegar Joe” Stillwell and Claire Lee Chennault. She assesses the real contributions of units like the Flying Tigers, Merrill’s Marauders, and the British Chindits, who pioneered new and unconventional forms of warfare. Decisions in this theater exposed the fault-lines between the Allies—America and Britain, Britain and India, and ultimately and most fatefully between America and China, as FDR pressed to help the Chinese nationalists in order to forge a bond with China after the war.

A masterpiece of modern war history.

©2024 Caroline Alexander (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“A clear and engaging narrative. . . . A thorough, but never dull, history for the reader curious about the reality of World War II.”—The New York Journal of Books

"A thrilling aviation adventure that also casts an assured historical lens on a lesser-known arena of WWII diplomacy, this is sure to enrapture readers."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Readers interested in the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II and Asian history will enjoy Alexander’s detailed and beautifully written account."—Library Journal (starred review)

Riveting History of The Hump and Burma Campaigns

This book is an exciting and detailed history of the strategic airlift over The Hump and the Burma campaigns fought by British, American and Chinese armies against the Japanese in the China Burma India (CBI) theater during World War II. The author describes how the Burma Road was built to supply the Chinese army during the Second Sino-Japanese War when Japan blockaded supplies from the sea. The Japanese invasion of Burma (now Myanmar) in December, 1941 and subsequent seizure of the Burma Road drove the allies under US leadership to develop the world’s first strategic airlift from Assam, India to Kunming, China in order to establish an aerial supply stream

The route known as The Hump was over rugged, mountainous territory that was often at 12,000 to 14,000 ft with peaks to 17,000 ft. The region had extreme weather with highly turbulent air, crosswinds, severe icing at required altitudes and poor visibility that required instrument flying sometimes immediately after takeoff. Aircraft used and their merits/flaws are described. Pilots initially flew reliable DC-3/C-47’s that had limited cargo capacity and poor performance above 17,000 ft. Subsequent hastily developed aircraft (e.g., C-46, C-87) with higher ceilings and greater cargo capacities had major initial reliability issues that increased crash rates and crew casualties. The perils faced by crews parachuting from crippled aircraft into jungles and highlands are graphically described.

Major ground battles against fierce Japanese army units in Burma and India are reviewed that involve famous fighting units including the Chindits formed under Orde Wingate and Merrill’s Marauders led in fact by Charles Hunter. Amazingly innovative fighting tactics developed by units such as the 1st Air Commando under Col. Phil Cochran are described. Construction and fighting efforts on the Ledo Road and the campaigns to recapture the airfield at Myitkyina are summarized. Troops in these actions were faced with horrendous fighting conditions and diseases such as malaria, dysentery, respiratory disease, foot rot, and leeches.

The peculiarly convoluted politics and difficult, variably-effective leaders with illogical chains of command are described that contributed to disorganization and to units acting at cross purposes. Command, control and logistics were so disorderly at times that long-suffering troops and commanders often remarked that CBI stood for “Confusion Beyond Imagination.”

U.S. military leaders such as Joseph Stilwell and Claire Chennault who received favorable press treatment in the early years of the war to bolster the army’s image on the home front get a more complete examination and much more critical assessment in this book.

Of greatest interest is the view provided by the book of Chiang Kai-shek. The strategic airlift over The Hump was initiated because President Roosevelt (FDR) wanted to show material and equipment/aircraft support for Chiang and to keep China in the war against Japan. Several incidents are described where Chiang used this leverage to extort favorable decisions and additional supplies from FDR. This leverage ended when US Forces captured Saipan for B-29 bases and FDR died.

There are discussions at several points in the book that critically examine the magnitude of benefit derived by the Allies against Japan by The Hump and the Northern Burma campaigns. There is also an assessment of the percentage of supplies successfully shipped to China over The Hump that actually were used to support Chinese combat against the Japanese. Theft, corruption and black market sales of the materials were profligate. Chiang may have been more interested in hoarding supplies and funds during the war to fight the communists and warlords who would challenge his rule after the war than in fighting Japanese.