Jim's father, James P. Trebes, died in 2000. He left behind a large military bag full of documents from World War II. During the war he served in the Army Air Force as a C-47 pilot in India, China, and Burma. He flew the Hump. This meant having to fly from India over the Himalayan Mountains and into China. Below are selected documents from the "bag".

"Pilots faced a "Catch 22". If the weather was good, we had Japanese Zeros to contend with. If the weather was bad, we had mountains, icing conditions, turbulence and navigational problems. During the winter of 1943 -1944, bad weather was preferred to Japanese fighters. One day during that period, the Japanese fighters shot down 14 of our transports... Between the weather and Japanese fighter aircraft, odds were 75 to 1 of not making it over the Hump and back." from CBI Hump Pilot by Thomas Herrod

C-47 transport aircraft

James P. Trebes

His instrument flying rating card.

Here is my father's paycard. The total monthly pay of $327 in 1943 is equivalent to $3400 in today's dollars. Oddly enough this is about the same as the pay that a new pilot will get fighting in the Middle East right now.

In 1944 Jim's father received a proficiency certificate from the Army Air Force to fly as a pilot on a C-47 aircraft. You can see this certificate by clicking here. It will take about 15 seconds to download via phone line.

Here is the flight record when my father shipped out for India. He is flying to Karachi, India. This was before Pakistan existed. This file will take about 30 seconds to download via phone line.

Here is a flight record from operations out of Karachi. This will take about 20 seconds to download via a phone line.

Here are the orders sending him back to the US. This will take about 20 seconds to download via a phone line.

Here is a portion of a car insurance policy. Note that the car was purchased in the 14th month of 1945. I do not know if this is a typo or part of a special deal for returning servicemen. This will take about 20 seonds to download via a phone line.