Description
Book SynopsisColonel John Hart Caughey, a US Army war plans officer stationed in the Chinese Nationalist capital of Chungking, was an eyewitness to the battle for China in the final months of the war (194445) and beyond, when he rose to become head of the Theater Planning Section. In frequent letters to his wife as well as in several diaries, he chronicled the US military's role in wartime China, especially his life as an American planner (when he was subject to military censorship). Previous accounts of the China Theater have largely neglected the role of the War Department planners stationed in Chungking, many of whom were Caughey's colleagues and friends. He also penned colorful descriptions of life in wartime China, which vividly remind the reader how far China has come in a mere seventy-odd years.In addition, his letters and diaries deepen our understanding of several of the American leaders in this Asian war, including China Theater commander Albert C. Wedemeyer; Fourteenth Air Force chief Cl
Trade ReviewThis collection of personal letters provides a window into the human anecdotal side of American support for the Chinese military at the end of the Second World War. Combined with the detailed and finely crafted comments from the editor to provide context, the book adds a new dimension to the Wedemeyer mission to China during the last two years of the war. -- Stephen MacKinnon, Arizona State University
Roger B. Jeans enriches his absorbing account of an American officer in the China Theater during World War II by including the letters of Colonel John Hart Caughey, describing the sights, sounds, and smells of wartime China. Vivid eyewitness accounts range from flying the ‘Hump’ to Chinese funeral processions. The combination of eyewitness impressions and superb scholarship provides fascinating insights on every page. -- Edward J. Drea, U.S. Army Center of Military History (retired), author of MacArthur's Ultra
This superbly edited collection of the letters and diaries of a little-known US Army colonel provides rare insights into the American experience in wartime China from the perspective of the China Theater’s war planners. Bringing to life the relationship between Colonel Caughey and General Wedemeyer, this collection tells an insider’s story of the American operations. It will be welcomed by scholars interested in the war plans aspect of the Wedmemyer mission to China and in furthering research on the history of the US war effort in the closing year of the war. -- Edmund S. K. Fung, Western Sydney University
Table of ContentsIntroduction, Roger B. Jeans Part 1: The China Theater under General Albert C. Wedemeyer, 1944–1945 Part 2: War Planner for Wedemeyer: John Hart Caughey and the “Asiatic Operations Division,” 1944–45 Part 3: The Letters of John Hart Caughey, November 1944 to November 1945 Part 4: The Diary of John Hart Caughey, January to November 1945
