When Orde Wingate executed the First Chindit Campaign in February 1943, he was hoping to use guerrilla tactics learned from his career in Africa and the Middle East to improve the situation for the Allies in Burma. He called his operations “long-range penetration,” or LRP. Essentially, he split his forces into columns small enough to remain hidden in the jungle and infiltrate the Japanese front lines. They would then spread out to cut lines of communication and perform acts of sabotage that would keep the Japanese focused inward instead of outward. When the Japanese responded, Wingate’s troops just melted back into the jungle.

The LRP operation was successful, but at a very high price. Attrition was high in jungle warfare, and only 2,182 of his 2,800 soldiers eventually returned from Burma. Men too injured or weak to move were simply left behind. He had no way to evacuate his wounded or receive replacements. “We can’t carry him because he becomes a burden,” he explained. “We have to prop him up against a tree and give him a gun or let him stay there and give him money … hoping that the natives would take care of him.” It was a terrible fate and terrible for morale.

Wingate went to the Quebec conference in August 1943 to explain his operations. He wanted to lead another campaign, but this time he asked for air support. Specifically, he asked for light aircraft to evacuate his casualties. The idea sparked the imagination of President Franklin Roosevelt, who tasked his Army Air Force Chief of Staff, “Hap” Arnold, with supporting the campaign.

Arnold selected Lieutenant Colonel Philip Cochran and Lieutenant Colonel John Alison. Both men were fighter pilots, neither had experience in supply or evacuation operations. Arnold told them to “steal the show,” however, and by the time they arrived in Burma in November 1943, the light plane operation had turned into a task force with fighters, bombers, light aircraft, transports, and gliders. The task force was later dubbed the First Air Commando Group. The close cooperation developed between the Air Commandos and the Chindits became a model not just for future operations in Burma and China, but also for future wars.

Next time: what were these revolutionary tactics used by the Air Commandos?