Edwin S. Seabury and the US Airbase at Shamshernager, India

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Edwin Scribner Seabury (32145720) was drafted into the US military as a Private on April 23, 1941. He was 24 years old at the time, single, had completed three years of college and worked near his birthplace of Boonton, New Jersey as a draftsman at Radio Frequency Laboratories, Inc. His induction came nearly six months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but the war had been raging in Europe for nearly two years and in China for almost four years. US authorities (but not all of the American public) recognized the need to strengthen the American military.

If Seabury saw his state’s Paterson Evening News on the night before his enlistment, the headline, “British Continue to Retreat,” was followed by news about German and Italian successes in Greece and North Africa. In another front-page piece, the newspaper’s publisher called for Americans to awaken “from their lethargy” and respond to the “rapidly-growing chaos abroad.” Neither the Paterson News nor other newspapers carried much information about the war in Asia. Seabury was almost certainly unaware, for example, that 100,000 Chinese troops had just beaten back a major Japanese offensive at Shanggao—an assault that included Japanese use of poison gas. At Shanggao, both sides suffered heavy casualties but the battle ended in a Chinese victory.

One of the earliest US draftees, Seabury was initially required to serve only one year of active duty, followed by ten years in the reserves. In August, as the prospect of American involvement in the war increased further, the US expanded draftees’ active-duty service requirement to 30 months, plus any additional time the President deemed necessary. The increased active-duty requirement applied to previous draftees like Seabury, as well as to future draftees.

By the time he completed 30 months of active-duty service In October 1943, Seabury had advanced to become a Second Lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers and was stationed in British-ruled India. He and Capt. C.S. Wood were assigned to work as project engineers, tasked with designing an airfield at Shamshernagar in what is now Bangladesh. Shamshernagar was remote but accessible via primitive roads and a one-meter gauge railroad that served the area’s tea plantations. The plans Seabury and Wood submitted in October and November of 1943 were secret at the time and for years afterward, but they are now available online. Their work was less dangerous and dramatic than beach landings, bombing missions or other combat assignments, but it contributed to Allied victory in ways that deserve recognition.

Although Shamshernager was initially conceived as a bomber base, it’s primary role in winning the war was as a point of origin for cargo flights “Over the Hump” of the Himalayan Mountains from India to China. Had the war progressed differently, Shamshernager might also have been remembered for providing a ready supply of toxic chemical weapons.

In the overall Allied strategy of “Europe First”, winning in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater was unnecessary. It was essential, however, not to loss. The quantity of human and material resources devoted to the CBI was always far below that devoted to the European and Pacific Theaters, yet Allied authorities recognized the critical importance of places like Shamshernagar.

After capturing the port at Rangoon and cutting the Burma Road, Japanese forces continued to move north and seemed to threaten India, the “Jewel in the Crown of the British Empire.”  A few months after Seabury and Wood completed their assignment, Japanese forces did indeed cross the border between Burma and India and surrounded British and Indian forces at Imphal. Like many other battles, British victory at Imphal was heavily dependent on logistics. The Allies were able to airdrop supplies to the besieged troops and then to reopen a supply road into the city. Meanwhile, Japan had overextended its supply lines to the point that many withdrawing Japanese forces died of starvation and disease.

  On a larger scale, the entire Chinese Army was under siege. Gaining control of China’s food and mineral resources had always been central to Japan’s military goals and occupied as many as 75% of Japanese troops. A Japanese victory in China would not only provide the small, island nation with access to much-needed resources, it would also free a million or more battle-hardened Japanese troops for reassignment to the Pacific or South Asia. Victory in China was a low priority for the overall Allied strategy, but defeat had to be avoided.

In late 1943 when Seabury and Wood arrived at Shamshernagar, Japan controlled China’s entire coast and rail access through Vietnam. Potential supply routes from the north or west were blocked when the Soviet Union (for valid reasons) chose to focus on the European front and signed a non-aggression pact with Japan. Despite its military advantages, Japan had far more difficulty than expected in defeating the poorly equipped Chinese and gaining control of a nation 25 times larger than the Japanese homeland. The cost to China of its continuing resistance in a long, brutal war was enormous. About 15 million Chinese soldiers and civilians lost their lives. China’s losses in the war were second only to the 20 million Soviet lives lost, and vastly exceeded the already horrendous US total of 420,000 fatalities.

Soon after Seabury was drafted and before the US entered WWII, planes of the China National Aviation Corporation began to deliver some supplies over the “High Hump” of the Himalayan Mountains from Dinjan to Kunming. After Pearl Harbor, US planes, pilots and ground crews took over most of this supply effort. Although the route crossed a southeastern extension of the Himalayas rather than the very highest peaks, these flights in unpressurized C-47 and C-46 aircraft were extremely hazardous and could deliver only a small fraction of the cargo needed. Japanese fighter planes based at Myitkyina posed a serious threat to unarmed and unescorted cargo planes, forcing pilots to fly more northerly routes that crossed poorly mapped peaks and ridges above 14,000 feet.

In December 1942, General Stillwell gained approval to construct the Ledo Road to bypass the occupied parts of the Burma Road. Like the air routes at the time, the Ledo Road began near Dinjan and relied on the same Indian rail network. Stillwell expected this land route to become the primary route for carrying supplies to China from railheads in India.  General Chennault was among those who disagreed, doubting that a road through this difficult terrain could match the capacity of the air routes. Work on the road was difficult and expensive, involving 15,000 American soldiers (60% of whom were African American) and 35,000 local workers. At least 1,100 Americans died during the construction, as did many local workers. When the first trucks finally reached the end of the one-lane road at Kunming in May 1945, the much-needed trucks were given to the Chinese but the total supplies delivered by land always fell short of the quantity delivered by air.

The new base at Shamshernager was originally intended to be one of several British and American airbases, designed to accommodate bombers that would protect India and the supply routes to China. Despite British and American fears and the hopes of some Indian sympathizers, the Japanese had no intention of invading India. Japan’s defeat at Imphal was critically important because it protected the rail lines leading to Dinjan. Another key victory came much later in May of 1945 when soldiers of the Chinese 22nd Division and the US Army's Merrill's Marauders captured the Japanese fighter base at Myitkyina. Elimination of the fighter threat enabled supply flights between India and China to follow more southerly “Low Hump” routes that were more direct and somewhat less hazardous.

However critical it may be, actually designing and building a new airbase is no small task. Lt. Seabury and Capt. Wood soon identified specific locations for the runways, taxiways, fuel supply tanks, housing, maintenance facilities, medical facilities, bomb dumps, water wells, interior roads, electricity, radio communications and other essential elements for a base expected to be staffed by 125 officers and 1000 enlisted men. Faced with shortages of equipment, they obtained access to alternatives that included 20 to 30 elephants. Faced with cement and other materials shortages, they selected alternative methods that employed locally available materials. They also negotiated a large number of political issues, such as differences between US and British standard procedures and the reluctance of local tea producers to give up land or laborers. They succeeded in designing and initiating the construction of a base that was capable of supporting all but the very largest American bombers and cargo planes.

In March 1945, Lt. Seabury was back in the US, apparently working near Washington, DC. With this new assignment, he found time to marry Frances Elizabeth Nichols. Meanwhile, the base at Shamshernagar had become very active as a hub for cargo planes flying the “Oboe” route to China. Construction at the base continued throughout the war in an unending push to increase the overall cargo capacity.

The British had begun construction at Shamshernagar soon after Seabury and Wood submitted their plan, moving 125,000 cubic yards of earth using coolie labor. The US 900th Airbourne Engineer Aviation Company arrived with their equipment and expended 175,000 man hours and 12,000 machine hours to move an additional 300,000 cubic yards of earth and to construct runways, buildings and other facilities. A significant setback to the ongoing construction occurred on May 23, 1945, when a tornado caused extensive damage to many structures. Among other things, the damage impacted the base’s ability to stockpile toxic chemical weapons. An engineering update included this statement:

“Advance Chemical Park was reported 35% complete as of 30 April 1945. However, thirteen (13) covered bomb hardstandings blew down on 23 May 1945. It is doubtful that the target date of 1 July 1945 can be met, but it is not expected that completion will be delayed for more than two (2) weeks.”

Plans for the base changed again, of course, when Japan surrendered in mid-August 1945. A brief note in the Organizational History Reports for the 771st Chemical Deport Company at Ondal, India provides additional insight, documenting the arrival from Shamshernagar in late August of 18 railcars loaded with 1000-pound M79 bombs filled with cyanogen chloride (CK). These bombs were destined for disposal at sea in the Bay of Bengal, but their original purpose at Shamshernagar is less clear. Perhaps they were viewed as a possible response in kind if Japan had used chemical weapons during a planned Allied offensive to retake Burma and Singapore. Perhaps they were ready for transport to China for potential use against Japanese forces there.

After the war, Edwin Seabury returned with his wife to Boonton, New Jersey, where he became president of Dowty RFL Industries, Inc. He died in 1989 at the age of 72, survived by his wife, two sons, two daughters and two grandchildren.

In 2023, the airfield originally designed by Lt. Seabury and Capt. Wood remains used for both civilian and military flights, although without regularly scheduled commercial flights.

Sources and Opportunities for Additional Investigation

Paterson Evening News, Paterson, N.J., April 21, 1941: www.Newspapers.com

Battle of Shanggao: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shanggao

Mauroni, Al. The U.S. Army Chemical Corps: Past, Present, and Future: https://armyhistory.org/the-u-s-army-chemical-corps-past-present-and-future/

The Hump: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hump

Map of India-China Air Routes: https://www.cbi-theater.com/air_routes/m0.html

Ledo Road: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ledo_Road

Original Reports from and about Shamshernager:

https://www.hoosierscientist.com/seabury-docs

Original Reports from the 771st Chemical Depot Company: https://www.hoosierscientist.com/771st-history-reports

Fold3 data and tribute: https://www.fold3.com/memorial/86021910/edwin-s-seabury