Item Description
Original Items. Only One Group Available. This is a lovely little group consisting of a Technician 5th Grade’s WWII uniform with a gorgeous theater-made CBI (China, Burma, India) patch and an Army Service Forces patch. The uniform comes with a gorgeous A-11 flight helmet.
The jacket has a lovely CBI bullion patch on the left shoulder and four overseas stripes on the left cuff. There are Technician 5th Grade chevrons on both sleeves, and a Ruptured Duck patch above the right breast pocket. The interior is marked size 36R.
The A-11 flight helmet is in good service-worn shape and is size large. There is an AAF stamp inside. There are no headphones. The tag reads:
TYPE A-11
SPECIFICATION 3189
SIZE - LARGE
STOCK NO. 8300-396010
CONT. NO. W33-038AC-3172
THE SELBY SHOE CO.
PROPERTY A.F. U.S. ARMY
A great set ready for further research and display.
The China-Burma-India Theater
Officially established June 22, 1942, the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations (CBI) is often referred to as the Forgotten Theater of World War II. Of the 12,300,000 Americans under arms at the height of World War II mobilization, only about 250,000 (two percent) were assigned to the CBI Theater. Relatively few Americans were in combat in the theater. The 12,000 mile supply line, longest of the war, was often last in line for supplies from the United States.
Not forgotten to Allied war planners, CBI was important to the overall war strategy. Occupation of Burma in 1942 by Japanese forces cut the last supply line of communication between China and the outside world. Keeping China in the war was important as it occupied an estimated 800,000 Japanese troops that might have been used elsewhere. A military airlift to supply China was begun although it was generally agreed that this would not be enough and a land supply route would be needed. A road from Ledo, Assam, India was begun in late 1942. Ledo was chosen because it was close to the northern terminus of a rail line from the ports of Calcutta and Karachi. Construction of the Ledo Road was completed in early 1945.
Allied forces in CBI, mostly British, Chinese, and Indian, engaged large numbers of Japanese troops. America's role in CBI was to support China by providing war materials and the manpower to get it to where it was needed. The Flying Tigers fought the Japanese in the air over China and Burma. The Services of Supply managed supplies from the U.S. to India and on to China. Army Air Forces flew supplies Over The Hump from India to China. Merrill's Marauders and the Mars Task Force fought through the jungles of Burma. Army Engineers built the Ledo Road to open up the land supply route.
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