Gregory Crouch's Blog, page 43
September 13, 2011
William Langhorne Bond
For all that I've written about Moon Chin since I started this China's Wings website last year, he's not my main character. That distinction goes to William Langhorne Bond.
Like Moon, Bond was truly a remarkable man, and although I never had the opportunity to meet him (he died on July 17, 1985, when I was just starting my second year at West Point), he left behind a large collection of letters, interviews, and the handwritten manuscript of a book. Bond's letters are especially good, for he wrote with clarity and elan, often in exquisite detail, recounting stories, jokes, and pithy asides, and his correspondence with Harold Bixby and Stokely Morgan at Pan Am headquarters in the Chrysler Building and with his wife Kitsi, who was often in Washington, DC, provided the lion's share of the source material from which I reconstructed his incredible story.
A 37-year old former heavy construction foreman from Petersburg, Virginia, William Langhorne Bond arrived in China on March 17, 1931, Saint Patrick's Day, to take a job as the Operations Manager of the China National Aviation Corporation. He didn't know it, not then, but CNAC and the Middle Kingdom would dominate the next twenty years of his life.
William Langhorne Bond at Shanghai's Lunghwa Airport, probably 1936
September 12, 2011
Four DC-2s on the Lunghwa flightline, 1937
Here are CNAC's four DC-2s on the Lunghwa flightline in 1937, before the Marco Polo Bridge incident, the Japanese invasion, and the Battle of Shanghai.
These were four remarkable airplanes, and they gave the airline many thousands of hours of productive flight time. One of them became the first civilian airliner ever shot down by hostile air action when it was attacked by the Japanese after leaving Hong Kong in August, 1938… salvaged, repaired, renamed, renumbered, and reinstalled in service, it would get shot down and totally destroyed by the Japanese for a second time in October, 1940. Two of them were bombed to death in the Japanese air raid on Hong Kong's Kai Tak airport on the morning of December 8, 1941 (Pearl Harbor Day west of the international dateline), and the last one crashed and burned while trying to take off from Kunming in March, 1942.
Four DC-2s at Shanghai 1937 (Courtesy of Tom Moore at cnac.org)
Moon Chin was the copilot of CNAC's first DC-2 crew, for DC-2 number 24, when it debuted for the airline in the spring of 1935, and he would fly it regularly until December, 1941, when he watched it get blown out of existence from his bedroom window.
Tom Moore of cnac.org is the nephew of pilot Emil Scott, who was killed in the March 1942 crash of CNAC's last DC-2. Here's the link to Scotty's page at cnac.org.
September 11, 2011
Bound galleys China's Wings
Very excited!
September 10, 2011
Me and Moon Chin
Fabulous party at Moon Chin's house yesterday afternoon. It absolutely boggles my mind to think that this man started flying in China during the winter of 1933. For those of you who might be new to my China's Wings blog and unfamiliar with Moon Chin's story, here's a link to the beginning of some of it: all-roads-led-to-moon-chin (Work your way forward from there…)
Gregory Crouch and Moon Chin, 9/9/2011
Moon and his wife, Elsie, some 70 years ago
September 9, 2011
An envelope that flew with CNAC
The CNAC reunion is in full swing yesterday and today, so I'm pretty distracted — and very excited for the party at Moon Chin's house tonight. But before I head out for the day, here is the promised scan of Alistair Watt's CNAC cover and the history blurb he included.
Thanks, Alistair!
September 7, 2011
One of the biggest mountains of the Hump!
Alistair Watt shares the fascination with CNAC and aviation in Asia during the Second World War. He stumbled across this blog, made a few comments, sent an email, and was kind enough to share this photo of Mt. Kawakarpo, which is apparently on the Salween/Mekong divide astride the Hump Route.
Alistair went to the base of the main glacier.
Tomorrow, I'll post a pic of one of his envelopes that flew with CNAC during the war.
The mountaineer in me would like to point out that this is one hell of a fine looking peak, and probably remains unclimbed…
September 6, 2011
Translations of those crib sheets
Well, after an absolutely epic work push, I finished reading the page proofs of China's Wings and returned them to New York. Another big "tick" made. I'm very happy with how everything is shaping up.
Picking up the thread of those crib sheets for a paper son that I posted a few weeks ago, Rebecca Lem's aunt Rose Lem was kind enough to translate them. (Thank you Rebecca and Rose!)
Here's the link to the crib sheets: http://gregcrouch.com/2011/crib-sheets-for-a-paper-son
And here's the link to a further explanation of what they actually were when Donald Chan looked into his family history: http://gregcrouch.com/2011/more-on-those-crib-sheets
And here's what Rose Lem translated for us:
Q: Did you attend Wing-Cheong's wedding banquet?
A: I did not go.
Q: Where was his wife come from?
A: I heard that his wife came from Shan-Wu Village.
Q: How many children does Wing-Cheong have?
A: One daughter, name Yok-Xiao. She is one year old. He has no son yet.
Q; How far is your Che-Lang Village to Long-Sing Village? Can you see it from your village?
A: About 10 li. I cannot see it from my Che-Lang Village.
Q: What are the gifts at Wing-Cheong's wedding?
A: I didn't go so I do not know.
Q: Where is Wing-Cheong and his parents now?
A: They came to America in 1932. (actually, arrived in Jan 1932)
Q: How many persons are still in China?
A: There are three persons in China ( Wing-Sing, Yok-Xiao and Wing-Cheong's wife)
The attached maps shows the relative distance among other villages.
And the second document:
A. My husband's sisters had pass away long time ago. I did not see them at my wedding. I don't know their names.
Q: How many plots in your village and does it has a temple?
A: In the front, there are six. Including the Temple there are nine. Now there are twelve in the back
Q: How many houses in your village?
A: In the front, there were 14 houses. Now there are 17 excluding the Temple and its two small houses.
Q: Which plot and which house do you live at?
A: I live at the first plot and the first house at the rear of the village.
Q: Does your house have tiles?
A: Yes
(if asked about the surroundings and the design of the old house, just say the actual things of my old house)
Q: Is there a shrine in your house ?
A: No
Q: Are there any market places near your village?
A: Wu-Xi market place is about 3-2 li from my village.
Q: Which direction does your village facing?
A: My village is facing Northwest.
Q: Does your village have mountain and water?
A: There is a little hill in the rear, rice field in the front.
Q: Where were your father and mother –in-law buried? And how far?
A: Their burial ground is in the hill in the back of the village, facing east. Approximately 1 li
Q: How far is your in-law's village from your?
A: About 10 li
Q: What kind of wedding did you have?
A: The old fashioned way.
Q: Do you have a marriage certificate?
A: No
Q: Do you have the three generations document?
A: I had it before, but I have lost it long time ago. Now I don't have it.
Q: When did you leave the village to Hong Kong?
A: (Tell the actual date)
If asked about your association with the Communist Party, the answer is no
The attached drawing is the layout of the houses in the village
The name of owner is listed.
August 25, 2011
Page proofs are in!
Page proofs just arrived from New York. It's a book at last, and I'm thrilled with work done by Bantam's design team.
Here's a picture of the title page:
August 17, 2011
Hand fueling a DC-2
To get us back on the aviation track, here's a fine pic of a CNAC ground crew hand fueling a DC-2 in the late-1930s. Probably at Chengtu.
Hand fueling a DC-2 (photo courtesy of J.L. Johnson)
August 16, 2011
More on those "paper son" crib sheets
This came in from Donald Chan last night as we delve further into the content of those crib sheets:
Greg, I talked to my dad, and have discovered that I wasn't exactly correct about those crib sheets. All of the "crib sheets" in my possession are not from when my grandfather immigrated. They (or the vast majority) are crib sheets for my grandmother when my grandfather applied for her to come to the US in the 1950′s! They had actually sent letters to each other to ensure their "answers" were to match when she would be interviewed upon arrival. This included knowing her husband's "paper" family history, not his real family. Well, those sheets were not what I thought, but still an amazing piece of history!
I certainly agree with Donald's last line. Makes me proud of his family.
