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Preferred Citation
Historical Note
Scope and Content of Collection
Related Materials
Title: China Defense Supplies records
Date (inclusive): 1940-1947
Collection Number: 2008C96
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
50 manuscript boxes, 2 oversize boxes, 1 oversize folder
(23.1 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, memoranda, reports, and financial and personnel records relating to procurement and shipment of war materièl
from the United States to China during World War II, military operations in the China-Burma-India Theater, and wartime diplomatic
relations between China and the United States. Includes office files of William S. Youngman, Jr., as president of China Defense
Supplies.
Creator:
Youngman, William Sterling, 1907-1994
Creator:
China Defense Supplies
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2008, with an increment received in 2011.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], China Defense Supplies records, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Historical Note
China Defense Supplies, Inc. was the main agency for coordinating Lend-Lease aid to China from the United States. Incorporated
in the United States in 1941, China Defense Supplies was an organization of the Chinese government chaired by T. V. Soong,
but staffed by Americans and based in Washington, D.C.
In 1941, China Defense Supplies worked to improve transportation over the Burma Road, the main Lend-Lease supply route to
China. When the Japanese invasion of Burma in 1942 impeded access to the Burma Road, China Defense Supplies initiated the
Emergency Air Transport Program to fly goods from India to China and helped to develop an air transport route over a stretch
of the Himalayas nicknamed "The Hump." China Defense Supplies also worked to secure supplies for the American Volunteer Group,
also known as the Flying Tigers.
As Soong spent increasingly less time in Washington during the latter years of the war, the decision was made to dissolve
China Defense Supplies in 1944 and establish a successor organization, the Chinese Supply Commission, which was also active
in obtaining reconstruction aid for China following the war. S. C. Wang became the chairman of this organization in September
1945, when the activities of the Chinese Supply Commission shifted from wartime supply to the procurement of materials needed
to rebuild China's economy.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, and financial and personnel records relating to procurement and
shipment of war materiel from the United States to China during World War II, military operations in the China-Burma-India
Theater, and wartime diplomatic relations between China and the United States. The office files of William S. Youngman, Jr.,
President of China Defense Supplies, can be found throughout the collection.
The
General Office File contains administrative documents such as financial and personnel records, in addition to correspondence and files on individuals
employed by or associated with China Defense Supplies. This series includes a history of China Defense Supplies that provides
detailed information about its various projects and discusses strategy decisions in the China-Burma-India Theater. Also included
are daily reports, weekly information letters, and meeting minutes of the Planning Committee, which give an in-depth look
at the activities of China Defense Supplies.
On July 1, 1944, the Chinese Supply Commission was established as a successor organization to China Defense Supplies. Material
created by the Chinese Supply Commission can be found within the general office file, in the correspondence, and scattered
throughout the collection; these materials can be identified by date.
Material organized by the activities of various departments of China Defense Supplies can be found in the
Departments File, which is divided into six departments: Aviation, Medical and Miscellaneous Supplies, Motor Transport/Transportation, Ordnance,
Signal Corps, and Traffic. For more material concerning the Motor Transport/Transportation Department, see the
Oversize materials.
The
Subject File contains information on projects that were central to the work of China Defense Supplies, such as Lend-Lease operations and
supply routes. Included are documents on the Emergency Air Transport Program and the Burma Road. The reports by Gordon Tweedy
and Don F. Harding (Box 42, Folders 17-18 and Box 43, Folders 1-3), mostly in the form of correspondence, discuss matters
of interest in India. Materials created by various China Defense Supplies departments may also be found in this file.
The
Transportation Fuel Executive File documents projects involving the Kansu Oil Fields and other fuel operations. Since fuel was integral to the work of both
the Motor Transport/Transportation Department and the Aviation Department, materials relevant to those departments can be
found in this file.
In addition to William Sterling Youngman's role as the president of China Defense Supplies, Youngman, who throughout the 1940s
worked as an attorney in a firm headed by Thomas G. ("Tommy the Cork") Corcoran, also played a significant role in the American
Volunteer Group (AVG). The American Volunteer Group, better known as the Flying Tigers, was a group that China Defense Supplies
worked with to transport aid to the Chinese government prior to the U.S. entry into World War II. The pilots of the American
Volunteer Group were paid through contracts with the Central Air Manufacturing Company (CAMCO), which also recruited pilots
and acted as an intermediary between the Chinese government and the American Volunteer Group. The
American Volunteer Group (AVG)/Central Air Manufacturing Company (CAMCO) File documents the financial relationship between CAMCO, the American Volunteer Group, and China Defense Supplies. Materials include
audits, financial documents, personnel files, and a roster of American Volunteer Group pilots. The general files consist mainly
of correspondence, including letters from Claire Chennault and T. V. Soong.
When the American Volunteer Group disbanded in July 1942, some of its members joined the
Chinese National Aviation Corporation (CNAC). Pilots from the Chinese National Aviation Corporation transported Lend-Lease supplies from India to China over a treacherous
stretch of the Himalayan Mountains known as "The Hump." This series contains telegrams between Harold M. Bixby, Vice President
of Pan American Airways, and William L. Bond, who was employed by CNAC. Since the Aviation Department of China Defense Supplies
was involved in the work of both of these groups, materials on the American Volunteer Group and the Chinese National Aviation
Corporation can be found in the
Departments File under the Aviation Department subseries and under air transport in the
Subject File.
The
Speeches and Writings series contains drafts of speeches by T. V. Soong, who served as chairman of China Defense Supplies. His correspondence can
be found throughout the collection.
Related Materials
William Sterling Youngman papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Claire Lee Chennault papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
T. V. (Tzu-wen) Soong papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Whiting Willauer papers, Princeton University Library Mudd Manuscripts Library
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War, 1939-1945 -- Diplomatic history
World War, 1939-1945 -- China
World War, 1939-1945 -- United States
China -- Foreign relations -- United States
United States -- Foreign relations -- China
World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- Burma
World War, 1939-1945 -- Transportation
World War, 1939-1945 -- Equipment and supplies
Lend-lease operations (1941-1945)
World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- China