Air Force the Official Service Journal - Air Force Historical Studies ...

The job of the CASAC ;s to maintain, supply and reclaim soon as there is mdication that the installation may have to
all military aircraft and to build, maintain, supplv and de- be abandoned. After the field is deserted and rcadv for the
fend all American airdromes in China. Operating under dcmolil ion crew. drums arc placed inside each building.
Maj. Gen. T. J. Hanley. [r., Commanding General of the The crew shoots holes in the containers and from a safe
China-Burma-India Air Service Command. and Col. Clar- point outside. hurls burning material through windows or
cnee P, Talbot, Commanding Officer. the CASAC docs a doors to start the blaze.
job which, in its tremendous scope. is peculiar to the China "One tiiuc," the Colonel related, "Lcould n't get the stuff
area. Its activities on this rapidlv developing war front arc burning and the building filled with g,IS fumes in no time.
constantlv coordinated witl: General Chennault. who carries But I finally got it started, and took off, \\Then I was about
responsibility for the personnel. materiel. adequate main. halfway down the path. the building went 'Woosh!' and I
tenanee and protection of all American airbuses and installa- found myself running a race with a window sash!"
tions in China. Bomb and ammunition slots arc destroyed by dumping
\\'ith typical thoroughness. the Air Service Command has gasoline inside and igniting it, The tremendous heat sets off
set up air and ground defense for these installations, com. the explosives and the main problem is planning their de.
plctc with annexes. struetion so that they can be handled speedily, yet allow the
One of these annexes includes a detailed plan for the crews to reach adequate shelter. For explosive demolition
c1estruetion of each airdrome in the event ofabandonment of any rca] size, hastily built lean-to's serve to keep crews
to the enemy, and provides for an adequate Clew to carry safe from falling rock and fragments.
out the complex and dangerous job.' . To illustrate unforeseen dangers encountered in this work.
In the case of Hengyang, a 12-man'crew wrecked in 14 Colonel Treiber recalled the burning of a building full of 50
hours an installation that took thousands of men 11 months caliber ammunition at Hengyaug.
to construct. After that, on July 6, came the destruction of "We fired it and ran like mad for the nearest revetment
, Paoching. Lingling followed, and on September 20, airstrips before the cases began to explode. Fvcrvthing went fine
at Kwcilin were demolished, As the [apancse advanced, until a stray slug hit a gasoline drum ned to us and the
Tunchuk on the West River hadtobe demolished. In everv ~tuff began to trickle down the hill toward the fire....
instance, the job was done by a handful of men specially We didn't stay much longer."
trained for the particular airdrome, and alwavs the demo. , Thc "Annex Plan" provides for tim tvpcs of demolition.
Jition was completed within a few hours after' the field was "destructive" and "explosive." "This." Colonel Treiber said.
abandoned. "means that we destroy as much as \IT can by fire and by
Colonel Treiber, who since the loss of Hengyang has been brcaking it up with sledges. \\'e take earc of most machinmade
Chief of Personnel and Training Division in thc China ery this way, though sometimes when it is too big we have
Air Service Area Command, knows the peculiarities of to use explosives."
American basesin China. Three times he has made a com. The final job is attempting to make thc runway useless to
plete round of them, first to .draw up a detailed defensep1liIl;". .the enemy. This is done by mining the strip with an in.
fpr each, and then to tram crews to carry out cj,efenStf{f genious pattern of bombs devised to accomplish greatest
against ground or air attack and execute the "Demolition' damage in the least time.
Annex" in ~., event of abandonment. ' Nose plugs arc taken out of the bombs and a half-pound
Proud o(t.befact that there has been no single casualty in block of TNT is shaved round to fit, then inserted, To this
carryingt:,'amounting number of demolition jobs, the is attached either an electric or non-electric detonator cap.
Colonel ' "close coordination" with the success. When there is time. the bombs arc buried in the runway
"A well-trained crew," he said, "ordinarilv encounters little to accomplish a m.iximum of damage, but sometimes it is
dangerinhandling explosives. However, these jobs have t{), necessary to tic two or three together and explode them
be dqpeib: ,that every phase must be carefUllv ,.on the surface.
planned one will be endangered to When !\Sing non-electric explosives, the safety cord fuze
. '" man is doing." and prima cords arc ,i:t for approximately five or six minutes.
dure followed in the Demolition An. depending upon the immediate circumstances. A jeep
"Colonel Treiber, is first the burning of sweeps hy each mined spot to pick up the man who touches
estruction of boinb and ammunition slots the mines off. "When using such fuzes, there is always a
dumps. While this work is going on, the run. standby iccp," the Colonel explained. "With this fuel. you
taxi strips and parking stands are mined and made can never be sure your jeep isn't going to 'conk out."
,.' for exploding. When electrical detonators arc used, the crew usually
Jsually, the demolition of .buildings is a comparatively builds a lean-to over the switch box for protection from
simple job, Drums of g