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Title: W. Langhorne Bond papers
Date (inclusive): 1930-1998
Collection Number: 2005C58
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
5 manuscript boxes
(2.0 Linear Feet)
Abstract: The papers describe China during the period surrounding World War II and the Chinese Revolution. The documents, including
correspondence, reports, writings, printed matter, personal documents, and photographs, contain descriptions, observations,
and insights about political events in East Asia especially during the Sino-Japanese War and World War II. A majority of the
material is documentation about the China National Aviation Corporation.
Creator:
Bond, W. Langhorne, 1893-1985
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
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.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2005.
[Identification of item], W. Langhorne Bond Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives
| 1893 November 12 | Born William Langhorne in Petersburg, Virginia, son of Thomas Baker Bond, a tobacco buyer, and Mary Potter Langhorne |
| 1917 | Enlisted in World War I, serving in the army in France for the duration of the war |
| 1929 | Started working for Curtiss-Wright Corporation |
| 1931 | Accepted the position of Operations Manager for the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC), in Shanghai |
| 1933 | When Pan American Airways purchased Curtiss-Wright interests in CNAC, Bond became a Pan American employee |
| 1935 May 15 | Married Katherine (Kitsi) Dunlop in Shanghai |
| 1937 | When fighting broke out between Japan and China, Pan American withdrew from active operations in China during the United States policy of political neutrality. Bond became a CNAC employee to ensure the continued operations of CNAC as a Chinese civilian air transport company. After the war, he returned to work for Pan American |
| 1937-1942 | CNAC continued to be active through the war despite evacuations from the main operating bases of Shanghai, Hankow and Hong Kong |
| 1941 | Pioneered the "Hump" route between China and India, an essential air link to China during World War II |
| 1947 | Promoted to vice president, Orient by Pan American Airlines |
| 1949 | After the fall of the Nationalist Chinese government, CNAC assets were sold to China for the Civil Air Transport |
| 1950 | Retired to his farm in Warrenton, Virginia |
| 1985 July 16 | Died, Ponte Vedra, Florida |
| 2001 | Author, Wings for an Embattled China, ed. James E. Ellis, Lehigh University Press, 2001. Posthumously published autobiography and history of the CNAC |
Scope and Content of Collection
Acquired by the Hoover Institution in 2005, the W. Langhorne Bond papers describe China during the period surrounding World
War II and the Chinese Revolution. The documents contain descriptions, observations, and insights about political events in
East Asia during the time. A majority of the material is documentation of the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC).
CNAC was first established as a cooperative company by the Curtiss-Wright Corporation and the Chinese Government. The American
interest in the company, known as China Federal Airways, was purchased by Pan American Airways in 1933. Bond, known to most
as "Bondy," began as operations manager for the company in 1931 and continued to work for the company until his retirement
from the post of Pan American's vice president, Orient in 1950.
CNAC provided passenger, freight, and mail services to the Chinese Nationalist government. The small but effective airline
was active during World War II, even as the Japanese took over large segments of China. The materials in the collection document
events such as the evacuation of Hong Kong and a CNAC plane shot down by the Japanese. Bond also pioneered the "Hump" route
over the Himalayas from China to India in 1941, which brought necessary supplies to the Chinese during the war. Prints in
the Photographs document the first flight over the "Hump."
Materials documenting the operations of CNAC may be found in the Correspondence series. Of note is correspondence between
Bond and other Pan American employees including H. M. Bixby, a Pan American vice president in China and the Philippines, and
S. E. Morgan, a corporation general purchasing agent in New York. However, most CNAC correspondence before 1937 was lost when
moved from Shanghai to Hankow after the outbreak of war with the Japanese. Additional information on the overall history of
CNAC may be found in materials the Writings series, as well as the CNAC Files.
Images of the CNAC Staff, airplanes, airports, the Bond family, and travel in China during the 1930s and 1940s are found in
the Photographs.
Wings for an Embattled China, By W. Langhorne Bond, ed. James E. Ellis, published by Lehigh University Press in 2001 is an autobiography of Bond and overall
history of CNAC.
Throughout the collection description, the Romanization of Chinese place names have been kept as they were spelled by Bond
in the 1930s and 1940s.
Arranged in five series: Biographical File, Correspondence, Writings, China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) Files, Photographs,
and Printed Materials
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War, 1939-1945 -- Aerial operations
Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945
Aeronautics -- China
World War, 1939-1945 -- China
World War, 1939-1945 -- Transportation
China National Aviation Corporation
Pan American Airways Corporation