RAFINO Report
ISSUE 20 - Spring 1998 - Return to Index

REMINISCENSES
CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATRE
By Ray Lewis
(Part 2 of 2)

(Ed: This picks up from where we left off at page 14 of the Fall 97 issue.) …….."Living in the Jungle. In order to supply the U.S. and Chinese Forces building the road it was necessary that some supplies be air-dropped-especially during the summer monsoon rains. Human transportation battalions were in critical places along the road. Local Kachins and hills people were used. The natives were small, but strong and were paid with silver Rupees (hard currency). They were given colored cotton dress material for their wives and a daily allowance of opium. The tribesmen used it to relax after a hard days work. It was like a sedative!

As a Finance Officer, I felt the paying of officers and enlisted men was a very important operation. Men wanted to send extra cash, over and above their needs, to their wives and families home. Of course, others kept extra money to gamble, or buy jade or souvenirs. I would often take $20,000 U.S. into the field on a pay day. The Air Corps had small liaison planes (L5s) to go from Leo to Myitkyina after it was captured. It was then possible to take a jeep around the area to pay troops. Please believe me, being paid even during combat was awfully good for the soldiers' morale!

Inflation in China

After the 2nd Burma Campaign, part of the Chinese Combat Command was transferred to Kunming, China. U.S. personnel were paid in U.S. currency as Chinese money was practically worthless. I accompanied a large shipment of Chinese currency (printed by the National Bank Note Co. in San Francisco) to Chungking, the wartime capital of China. 8,000 Chinese dollars was worth one U.S.$! It was necessary to pay several thousand Chinese dollars -- the equivalent of ¼ of a US penny for a haircut- -or 50,000 Chinese dollars for a Chinese meal. Most U.S. personnel exchanged their money on the open market with local "business men" who would follow a soldier on the street saying, "change your money, Joe?" (I pray that U.S. money never suffers the same sort of inflation I saw in China.) When the war was over in Europe, a few select military units were made available to the CBI. Of course, the "Manhattan Project" was ready to be used and the 1st Atomic bomb was dropped. That was the end of the war in the Pacific. It took several months to rotate American military personnel back to the United States. Replacements arrived to take over disbursing accounts --- the most important function of the Finance Corps there. After the war my assignments, among others, included: the USMA, at West Point, NY; University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business; Assistant Attaché to the Paymaster-in-Chief, Royal Army Pay Corps, (in London); then a 4 year assignment with the MAAG in Taipei, Taiwan; and Budget Officer, AC of Staff, G2, at the Pentagon.