Railroads and Rest Camp
Sometime during their much-needed R&R at the scenic accommodations of Kwan-Sien Rest Camp, Sergeants Lloyd E. Jackson Jr., Andrew R. Allegretto, and Stanley B. Rickman (left to right) enjoy civilization at Chengtu in late April/early May 1945. A. R. Allegretto collection, courtesy of Mary Allegretto Henry.
After the loss of the 14th Air Force base at Laohokow in March 1945, Chihkiang (now Zhijiang) became the most easterly of the bases operated by the 14th Air Force. About twenty miles from Huaihua City in southwestern Hunan Province, it was the largest base south of the Yangtze and held great strategic value because it controlled the vital Hsiang River Valley. The success of raids launched from Chihkiang, including those earlier conducted by Task Force 34, made it the next target for seizure by the enemy. In addition to being a practical base for the bombing and strafing of the Hengyang-Changsha corridor, it lay in the heart of one of China's richest rice-producing areas and served as a point of supply for the 4th Area Army and other Chinese forces stationed in the area. Perhaps of even greater importance, its capture would lay open Kweiyang and thus the approaches to Kunming and Chungking. On April 10, the Japanese initiated a 60,000-troop, three-pronged offensive on Chihkiang airfield that claimed the full attention of the 3rd and 4th Bomb Squadrons, often flying jointly with 5th Fighter Group planes stationed at Chihkiang.
Although Chinese troops fought more valiantly than ever before, CACW defenders received their share of praise in holding the base. “Contributing magnificently to the ground defense were the activities of the 14th Air Force, which played a conspicuous part in the defense of its own base,” wrote the war correspondent. “Lacking air cover, the enemy had little defense against forays by planes of the Chinese-American Composite Wing. Jap lines of supply were harassed, his personnel were struck with demolition and fire bombs and strafed. As Jap supply lines lengthened and striking power correspondingly diminished, it became increasingly obvious that the enemy effort was doomed to failure.” So successful was the opposition against the enemy in the Chihkiang Campaign that it proved to be the last major offensive by the Japanese in China.
As April drew to a close, the 3rd Bomb Squadron was assigned, along with the 1st and 2nd squadrons, to attacking rail traffic, and their Mitchells were successful in holding the enemy's transportation of supplies to a minimum. Capt. Willard G. Ilefeldt, flight leader and historical officer, reported that the squadron’s greatest amount of activity had been on the Ping-Han railroad. “We have hit it constantly, knocking out bridges, tearing up the tracks, and generally disrupting communications along the very important avenue that the enemy uses to carry its supplies from the north to Hankow in Central China. We knocked out a very important bridge in the very hot Hankow area."
As Chinese and American air strikes continued to neutralize the threat to the Chihkiang base, revitalized and reinforced Chinese ground troops moved into positions farther to the north and south in a maneuver to outflank the enemy. The 74th Army, defending the Chinese center on a fifty-mile front, put up a stout resistance and successfully slowed the advance. Gradually, and at high cost to the Chinese in men and materiel, each of the offensive's four prongs was thrown back. Enemy losses were equally heavy, not only because of the intense fighting but also because, as the effort lost momentum and direction, many Japanese troops were cut off, surrounded, and liquidated.
Even as life-or-death operations were being conducted, the daily business of the squadron went on. Capt. James C. Kelso Jr., who had spent a week at rest camp, returned at the end of the month. It was the adjutant's first R&R in twenty-three months of service. Ilefeldt noted that during the recent period of inactivity, Capt. Jack M. Hamilton, 3rd Squadron CO, had instigated a procedure that was well received by everyone in the squadron. “All the men who have been overseas for a rather long time, or those who seem to need a little diversion and rest are being sent to Chengtu, several at a time, to enjoy the ‘almost stateside’ atmosphere, the good ‘American’ food, and the almost white creatures of feminine pulchritude. Everyone comes back to the squadron greatly benefited by their little vacation.”
Far removed from the stresses of battle and providing opportunities for physical and mental relaxation, several of these camps had been established in the western part of China for men who were showing signs of "war-weariness.” Available to officers and enlisted men in an anxiety-free environment were a variety of optional activities, as well as the finest food that was procurable in China. Kwan-Sien Rest Camp, "within easy driving distance" of Chengtu, was in a valley surrounded by the rugged Kwan-Sien (Qingcheng) Mountains just north of the city. TSgt. Frank T. Jakubasz and Sgts. Andrew R. Allegretto, Lloyd E. Jackson Jr., Stanley B. Rickman, and Jack A. Trout were the next to be sent, off on April 26 and returning on May 5.
Jackson, originally assigned as an airplane instrument specialist but now a B-25 crew chief, had been having some sort of health problems that were still unresolved. Aimee Millican, a Presbyterian missionary from Seattle who had first come to China with her husband Frank in 1907, managed the facility at scenic Kwan-sien. Mr. Millican had been imprisoned by the Japanese in 1941 and was detained in a POW camp near Shanghai until Japan’s surrender. Their daughter Edith, a medical missionary who had been working at a hospital in Kweichow Province, arrived for a visit during the same period that 3rd Squadron guests were enjoying their time there. She wrote to friends, "I found [Mother] very busy in the hospitality work of our servicemen. She had a beautiful location for it in a fine big residence with a lovely lawn and garden.” Mrs. Millican wrote a letter to Eleanor Jackson, offering assurance that her husband was well and in good hands. Jackson and his companions spent a leisurely week enjoying the accommodations before returning to Liangshan. After the war, the Millicans remained in China until 1950, when they were forced out by the Communist takeover.
There is far more to this compelling account. Read it in The Spray and Pray Squadron: 3rd Bomb Squadron, 1st Bomb Group, Chinese-American Composite Wing in World War II.