Celebrating the New Year
Although others sometimes accompanied him, TSgts. Ewell F. Wilkerson (left) and John P. Barge (right) were my father’s most frequent companions on outings into town or nearby villages. Their shared adventures whenever they could obtain passes included sampling the fare of local restaurant and shopping for souvenirs, as well as rickshaw rides and trans-mountain journeys by sedan chair. Separated from their families by many thousands of miles during the holidays, Barge, Wilkerson, and my dad, Sgt. James H. (“Hank”) Mills, celebrated the arrival of the New Year in Chungking. The three men worked closely together and had much in common, including their Southern heritage. Originally from Alabama before moving to Georgia, Barge was, like Hank, a crew chief and married. Frasier Wilkerson, a flight chief, was from Mississippi. "We always called him 'Wilkie,’” J. H. Mills collection
Girls were to again be imported for a dance held at the Chinese Recreation Hall for the enlisted men at Peishiyi (Baishiyi) on December 28, 1944. Maj. Don Hummel, Chinese-American Composite Wing intelligence and historical officer, described the preparations. “About the GI hostel that evening there was preparatory spit and polish, shoes were shined, faces were scraped pink, medals, down to the conduct ribbon, were pinned across the chest, all to impress the promised truckloads of Chinese beauties. This time the customary outlandish ration of one man to 20 women would not pertain.” Every man was to have his own dancing partner “to knead and maul, and haul around the floor.” Alas, when the truck appeared, only two girls were on it. The officers party of two nights before “had not left a sweet savor.” Most of the girls had been unable to stand the rough ride by weapons carriers over the mountains to the dinner-dance held at the Chialing House in Chungking (Chongqing), and “most had heaved their pretty guts.” None were in the mood for further manhandling by GI's and GI trucks. The dance was called off, and the disappointed GI's removed their finery and got sullenly drunk. “Our excessive holiday spirit was backfiring; everybody was satiated.”
Americans may have had their fill of celebration, but the Chinese had more entertainment in store. They wanted to again share their favorite diversion with their American comrades, so for three consecutive nights they presented an extravaganza of Chinese opera. Hummel described the elaborate presentation:
Officers and enlisted men were the honored guests, with specially-reserved front seats. The five hours of opera―three distinct protracted musical plays―were presented each evening in a cavernous barn-like Chinese airplane factory, drafty and damp and cold. The benumbed GI spectator huddled up in his overcoat tried to follow the endless gyrations of an involved cast of performers in a bewildering series of entrances and exits to the deafening clanging of cymbals and kettles, and the thunderous beating of drums. The cold of the cement floor stole up his feet to further benumb his addled brain from making any sense out of the wild evening on the stage. Chinese opera seemed most athletic. The tearing in and off stage was interspersed with long chants in an affected falsetto tremolo to the accompaniment of stately gestures, pirouetting, and hand and finger posturing wherein every delicate toss of the hands supposedly held interpretive significance. The involved tortuous gyrations of an enormous cast on a tiny stage, disporting itself in wild leaps and snaking convolutions before it poured at top speed off stage, was meaningless to the western mind, but was so full of glittering color, resplendent costume and wild banshee action that for a while it held the attention of the huddled spectator.
The first of the plays was "a delicate fantasy,” the next "an honest slapstick comedy,” and "a bombastic historical drama of ancient battles and invasions" climaxed the marathon. "A little of this would have been interesting for sheer tantalizing curiosity. But a lot of it on top of the benumbing cold added up to a totality of boredom for the GI turtlenecked in his overcoat.” Hummel concluded, "Numb with opera we recreationally ended the year 1944."
As the year came to an end, the 3rd squadron received more additions to personnel. The monthly historical report stated that the "Spray and Pray Boys" welcomed 2nd Lt. Allan Mikola as squadron navigator, as well as Flight Officer Barton L. Wherritt (B-25 pilot), Sgt. Loren E. Gaffney (A/P mechanic-gunner-flight engineer), and Cpls. John J. DeFabritis (radio operator-mechanic-gunner) and Robert G. Hugel (A/P armorer-gunner), who had all arrived on Christmas Day. SSgt. B. F. Thomas Jr., a radar specialist from the Communication Section at 1st Bomb Group HQ, joined the squadron soon afterward. Cpl. Andrew R. Allegretto returned from the hospital in Kunming, where he had spent more than a week.
All American officers and enlisted men stationed at Peishiyi were invited to attend New Year's celebrations hosted by the China National Federation of Industries, Association of Factories Removed to Szechuen, the Southwest Industrial Association, Association of Merchants and Manufacturers of China Products, and the Chungking Chamber of Commerce. They held separate parties―for officers on Saturday evening, December 30, and for enlisted men on Sunday evening, New Year's Eve. Both events took place at the Victory House in Chungking and included buffets and music. In addition, "many girls of all nationalities were present and available for dancing.”
My father, then Sgt. James H. (“Hank”) Mills, recalled the evening. He attended with his friends, TSgts. John P. Barge and Ewell F. (“Wilkie”) Wilkerson. “We went to that place, and a man came out and invited us to come to a big auditorium-like room with a bunch of Chinese—the ruling class. They had been to school in Germany and different places over the country. They spoke English.” He remembered that they ate a meal together, “and they kept jumping up and having a toast to Eisenhower, a toast to Chiang Kai-shek, in little bitty containers, and they put some of that rice wine in there, and that'll make you crazy, that rice wine.” Not a heavy drinker, he preferred to remain sober. “One time I went outside and put my finger down my throat and threw up so I wouldn't have that stuff in me. We told them finally that we didn't want to hurt their feelings, but we were going to have to leave—and that's all I remember about it.”
1Lt. Paul L. Young had been the squadron's historical officer for the past five months. He wrote, on December 31 in his final entry: “To all the new officers and enlisted men who joined our squadron in the last two months, we put our best foot forward in the hope that they will enjoy being with us as much as we enjoyed being with them.” He wished good luck to Capts. Thomas S. Simpson and Louis F. Graves Jr., 1Lt. Eugene H. Dorr, and TSgt. William L. Armstrong, who had all returned to the United States during the year. “May fortune be as generous with them as it has been in giving us such friends,” he added.
According to the monthly historical report for December, the 3rd Bomb Squadron flew thirty-five sorties in eighteen combat missions totaling fifty-eight combat hours (including the sixteen missions credited to the detachment serving with Task Force 34 at Chihkiang) and expended 6,210 rounds of .50-caliber, five rounds of 75 mm cannon shell, 291 M50A1, M47, M47A2, and M41 incendiary clusters, and 506 M30 100-lb. demolition bombs. As the year ended, the 3rd squadron comprised nineteen American officers, forty-four American enlisted men, eighty-eight Chinese officers, and 137 Chinese enlisted men. Aircraft assigned to them were eight B-25Hs and three B-25Js.
January 1 was a day of leisure for the "imbibers of Chunking gin" affectionately known as "jing bao juice" (although other fermented or distilled concoctions that included rice wine and plum wine shared this appellation). Most members of the squadron stayed in bed until noon. Many later lined up outside the "doc's office" for something to alleviate the inevitable headaches and other symptoms of overindulgence. By the following day, the year-end excesses were put behind and activities returned to normal.
As the New Year began, Wing headquarters announced estimates of damage inflicted upon the enemy. Unofficial totals included 190 enemy aircraft destroyed in the air and 301 more on the ground. In addition, 1,467 vehicles were listed as destroyed, 131 probably destroyed, and 1,074 damaged. CACW bombers and fighters had additionally sunk several hundred thousand tons of shipping and taken a heavy toll on enemy ground troops, facilities, railroads, and bridges. Since its first combat mission in November 1943, thirty-five fighters and eight bombers had been lost to enemy ground fire and twenty fighters shot down by Japanese aircraft. The fact that not a single CACW bomber had been lost to enemy interceptors was attributed to both the abilities of the B-25 pilots and their crews and the quality of the escort protection provided by Wing fighter pilots.
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