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Air America Japan, but the Korean War, Which Began on 25 June 1950

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Air America Japan, but the Korean War, Which Began on 25 June 1950 CAT and Air America in Japan by Dr. Joe F. Leeker First published on 4 March 2013 I) A new beginning: As has been shown elsewhere, Civil Air Transport, after its glorious days during the civil war in mainland China, had to go into exile on the Island of Formosa in late 1949. With only very few places left where to fly, CAT had enormous financial problems at the end of December 1949, although on 1 November 1949, CAT and the CIA had signed an agreement by which the CIA promised to subsidize CAT by an amount of up to $ 500,000.1 In order to prevent the fleets of China National Aviation Corp. (CNAC) and Central Air Transport Corp. (CATC) detained at Hong Kong‟s Kai Tak airport from falling into the hands of Communist China, General Chennault and Whiting Willauer, the main owners of CAT, had bought both fleets from the Nationalist Government of China against personal promissory notes for $ 4.75 million – an amount of money they did not have2 – and registered all aircraft in the United States to Civil Air Transport, Inc. (CATI), Dover, DE on 19 December 1949. But it was not until late 1952 that the former CATC and CNAC aircraft were awarded to CAT by court decision,3 and so this long lasting lawsuit, too, meant enormous financial expenses to CAT. Finally, in order to prevent their own fleet from falling into the hands of Communist China, on 5 January 1950, the Chennault / Willauer partnership transferred their aircraft to C.A.T. Inc – not identical with CATI, although resident at exactly the same address, that is at 317- 325 South State Street, Dover, Delaware.4 C.A.T. Inc. later changed its name to Willauer Trading Corporation.5 CAT‟s first contact with Japan was a passenger service linking Tokyo and Singapore that was inaugurated on 20 April 50.6 The aircraft used on the run was a DC-4 chartered by CAT from POAS (Siam), with pilots drawn both from POAS and CAT ranks.7 On 6 June 1950, CAT inaugurated a weekly airfreight service linking Taipei and Tokyo, using one of their own C-46s.8 It was not this purely commercial operation, however, that created what was later called Air America Japan, but the Korean War, which began on 25 June 1950. This situation enabled Willauer to successfully negotiate the sale of CAT to the CIA, and in the summer of 1950, all details had been cleared: On 10 July 1950, the Airdale Corporation was incorporated in Delaware as a holding company for the operating entities in South East Asia. On 10 July 1950, CIA General Counsel Lawrence R. Houston incorporated CAT Incorporated under liberal Delaware laws, which was to become the operating entity. In August 1950, the Airdale Corporation acquired 100% of the assets and capital stock of Civil Air Transport from 1 Leary, Perilous missions, pp.66-99; Robbins, Air America, pp.52/3. 2 Leary, Perilous missions, p. 95, who quotes Willauer from a taped memoir of 1 December 1960. 3 Leary, Perilous missions, pp.97-99 plus 171/2; (anonymous), “CATI wins legal battle in CATC case”, in: CAT Bulletin, vol. V, no.9, September 1952, pp.1-2; “Hong Kong Hi-Lites”, in: CAT Bulletin, vol. V, no. 12 / vol. VI, no.1, December 1952 / January 1953, p.3. 4 Copies of the Bill of Sale and related documents kindly sent to the author by Martin Best in his e-mail dated 15 July 2009. 5 See Memorandum dated 19 April 1954, in: UTD/Bisson/B5, microfilm reel no. 2. 6 Souder, “Highlights in the history of Civil Air Transport”, p.55, in: UTD/Lewis/B2F3: “April 20: CAT inaugurates, using a chartered POAS DC-4, weekly roundtrip service from Singapore to Bangkok to Hongkong to Taipeh to Tokyo.” 7 Ed Souder, “CAT inaugurates fast DC-4 service linking Tokyo and Singapore”, in: CAT Bulletin, vol. III, no. 7, 15 April 50, p. 6. 8 Souder, “Highlights in the history of Civil Air Transport”, p. 55, in: UTD/Lewis/B2F3; (anonymous), “CAT inaugurates weekly airfreight service linking Taipeh and Tokyo,” in: CAT Bulletin, vol. III, no. 9, 1 July 50, p. 5. 1 Willauer Trading Corporation and transferred them to CAT Inc. the same day.9 From 21 August 1950 to 28 February 1955, CAT operated on 4 levels: both charter and scheduled airline services; contract work; covert missions; and maintenance. II) During the Korean War: CAT Inc in Japan 1) Flights for the US Military While CAT‟s airline services were operated out of Taipei, and while most maintenance work was carried out at Tainan on Taiwan, flights that CAT made for the US Government mostly originated in Japan. Flights for the US Government were either contract work – and this was mainly done out of Tachikawa Air Base near Tokyo – or secret missions flown for the CIA, which often originated in Atsugi Naval Air Station south of Tokyo. All flights out of Tachikawa and Atsugi were operated by CAT Inc., making them nearly a separate entity to be distinguished from CAT, the Taiwanese flag carrier operating out of Taipei.10 So CAT Inc. was the real predecessor of Air America Japan, even if some of the contract work was not done out of Japan. Most of the contract work CAT was involved in was related to the Korean War. When North Korea attacked the south on 25 June 1950, CAT operations had been cut back severely. “Only the skeleton of the organization existed. Most pilots were LWOP [= on leave without pay], and the aircraft were stored (preserved) at Tainan. July 1-19, 1950: Task Force Smith, 24th Infantry Division, arrives in Korea on July 1, the first American ground unit committed to the war. The unit engages the enemy on July 5. There follows a series of delaying actions as the North Koreans advance rapidly to the south. The 374th Troop Carrier Wing (C-54‟s) was the only USAF air transport unit in the Far East at the outbreak of the war. A C-47 unit was formed at Ashiya in early July. These aircraft carried personnel and ammunition to Korea; used at first in evacuation of Korea, then for carrying wounded out (usually landing at Itazuke, near the large Army hospital in Fukuoka). July 20, 1950: Taejon abandoned following bitter fight. [...] August 1, 1950: By August 1, the UN forces establish the Pusan perimeter behind the Naktong River – 80 miles from north to south and 50 miles from east to west. There are three airfields within the perimeter, at Pusan, Taegu, and Pohang. The fields have thin asphalt surfaces and are soon unsuitable for C-54‟s. The [USAF] C-54‟s carry cargo and personnel from Tachikawa to Ashiya (3 hours), where they are transferred to [USAF] C- 47‟s for Korea.”11 By 7 September 50, more USAF aircraft had arrived in Japan: 3 Squadrons of C-119s had been assigned to Ashiya, and a C-46 outfit had been established at Tachikawa. On 10 September 50, General Tunner formed Combat Cargo Command (Provisional), which was redesignated 315th Air Division (Combat Cargo) on 25 January 51.12 When the Korean War broke out in late June 1950, CAT was operating 3 aircraft flying Army supplies for “Operation AD” from Japan to Korea. However, several CAT planes showed the results of having been more or less inactive for several months, and so Willauer instituted a program of test hops to be flown. On 2 September 50, CAT‟s Director of Operations Joe Rosbert noted: “All CAT planes have been checked & test-flown, and are in good shape. As soon as word is received on expansion, all planes which have been flying will 9 However, it does not contain the former CNAC and CATC assets claimed by CATI. For “the CIA kept its distance from the disputed assets of CNAC and CATC. CATI, the company formed by [Thomas] Corcoran to pursue the case in the courts, would remain separate from CAT Incorporated” (Leary, Perilous missions, pp.94- 96 and 111). 10 E-mail dated 29 August 2002, written by Air America pilot Jesse Walton to the author. 11 Leary, “CAT and the Korean War, 1950-1951: A Chronology”, pp.1/2, in: UTD/Leary/B18F8. 12 Leary, “CAT and the Korean War, 1950-1951: A Chronology”, p.3, in: UTD/Leary/B18F8. 2 again be test-flown.”13 For since July 50, Whiting Willauer, Lew Burridge and others hoped that the Korean War would also mean business for CAT. But it was not until 25 August 50 that Willauer could cable to Chennault that the “Northern Project (Korea)” had been approved. The same evening he wrote to Corcoran and Brennan “that the contract for Okinawa, Japan and Korea [had] been approved by SCAP14 subject to negotiations of details. All this means [...] that we can look forward to a very busy and I hope profitable fall and winter and even more important that CAT will be used in the anti-Communist drive.”15 In the December 1950 issue of CAT Bulletin, CAT‟s President Whiting Willauer had an optimistic message for his readers: “Starting on the 15th September of this year, CAT entered into a new phase of intense activity which is already taking planes and men to the limit of their facilities. We are all very happy to be busy again after a long period of idleness and are particularly gratified that the job we are doing is directly in support of the United Nations efforts to maintain freedom and democracy in the Far East.
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