Caleb V. Haynes

He was born in Dobson, the county seat of Surry County, North Carolina, on March 15, 1895, to Caleb Hill Haynes, Jr. and Margaret Elizabeth "Lizzie" Bunker. The couple produced five daughters and four sons — Caleb Vance Haynes was the fourth child and the second son. At the time of his birth, his father was the Surry County, North Carolina Registrar of Deeds. The father continued to rise in North Carolina Democratic Party politics, serving as one of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention in 1912. A Mason, Caleb Hill Haynes, Jr. was the county sheriff for twenty years following which he was elected to the North Carolina General Assembly in 1931.[6]

On his mother's side, Caleb Vance Haynes had Thai and Chinese ancestors through his grandfather Chang Bunker, one of the original Siamese Twins. The conjoined twins married sisters, with Chang Bunker marrying Adelaide Yates. The couple produced seven daughters and three sons, and lived west of Mount Airy, North Carolina. Three of their Anglo-Chinese offspring, including Lizzie Bunker, Haynes's mother, married into the local Haynes clan.

Young Caleb Vance Haynes grew up and went to school in Mount Airy. He moved some 140 miles (230 km) to the southeast to attend Wake Forest College. There, he graduated in 1917 with a Bachelor of Laws degree.[1]

Two months after receiving his law degree, Haynes entered the United States Army as a flying cadet on August 15, 1917.[2] From August to November 1917, he attended the School of Military Aeronautics at Georgia Polytechnic Institute, after which he sailed for France. He served at Saint-Maixent-l'École until the following March and then entered the Machine Gun School at Gondrecourt-le-Château. In May 1918, he was commissioned a temporary second lieutenant in the Air Service, and sent to Tours as a test pilot. In July of that year, he became an instructor at the Second Aviation Instructor Center at Issoudun and the following September was transferred to Orly as a test pilot. After the armistice in November 1918, he served as an aide to President Woodrow Wilson during the Paris Peace Conference.[1]

In December 1941 at the start of direct involvement of the U.S. in World War II, Haynes was made base commander of Borinquen Field, an important defensive stronghold in the Caribbean and the first refueling stop after Florida in the southern route to Cairo. The following February he returned to Washington, D.C., to organize Force Aquila, the advance party of the Tenth Air Force, an operation that intended to bomb Tokyo using B-17s and B-24s flying from bases in the Zhejiang province of eastern China, supplied by C-47 Skytrains.[17][18] In Florida, Haynes gathered a force of one B-24, 12 B-17 bombers and a small group of C-47s. Haynes and his mixed unit flew individually to Brazil, then Africa, and on to Karachi, India; landing in April 1942 with no losses. One of the B-17 pilots, Robert Lee Scott, Jr., wrote about his view of the voyage in his autobiography, God Is My Co-Pilot. Haynes began organizing the supply lines for HALPRO, beginning with aviation fuel deliveries to China. On April 9, Colonel William D. Old piloted the first flight over the Hump;[19] Haynes the second. The airmen were chagrined to hear that, with the Doolittle Raid, other Americans had beaten them in being first to attack Tokyo. A further blow came in May 1942 when Japanese forces captured the Chinese bases HALPRO was to use. The project was canceled and its men and B-17s were reassigned by General Lewis H. Brereton to become part of the Tenth Air Force. The HALPRO group of B-24s never reached Karachi; instead, the initial group was diverted to the Ninth Air Force in North Africa.

C-47 Skytrain transport

Brereton sent Haynes to Dinjan Airfield in the Indian state of Assam to continue his supply-line work under the name Assam-Burma-China Ferry Command, or ABC Ferry Command, with the mission of supplying American forces in China. This air organization was formed to carry supplies over the Hump, the air route replacement for the enemy-held Burma Road.[1] At first, Haynes worked with only two C-47 transports,[20] and was accompanied on some missions by just one P-40 Warhawk fighter flown by the outfit's executive of operations, Colonel Robert Lee Scott, Jr., who had shifted to flying a fighter once HALPRO was canceled.[4] When Burma appeared to be falling to the Japanese, Haynes and a handful of other airmen of the Chinese National Aviation Corporation and the Royal Air Force flew hundreds of evacuation missions from April to mid-June, bringing some 4,500 passengers westward to safety in India.[1] The American ferry aircraft would typically deliver supplies to China then stop in Burma on the way back to Assam.[19]

General Joseph Stilwell marching out of Burma

On May 4, 1942, Haynes flew to rescue 30 members of General Joseph Stilwell's mission when they got cut off in Northern Burma, though "Vinegar Joe" himself refused the lift, preferring to walk out with the remainder of his force.[4][21] Haynes subsequently dropped supplies to Stilwell's group as they made their way west through the jungle. On one such mission, a Japanese fighter attacking his C-47 was discouraged into retreat when the crewmen of the supposedly unarmed transport opened up on it with fire from Thompson submachine guns and 45-caliber M1911 pistols.[5][19] Around this time Tokyo Rose announced on the radio about Haynes that the Japanese would no longer have anything to worry about because the Americans "made that old broken-down transport pilot commander-in-chief".[5][22] Haynes, in command of no bombers with which to retaliate, instead loaded a transport with 100-pound (45 kg) fragmentation bombs and had some soldiers throw them out over enemy forces. He returned the next day to drop leaflets which read "Compliments of the Old Broken-Down Transport Pilot".[5][23] For this action, Haynes was awarded the Silver Star.[24]

Flying ace Colonel Robert Lee Scott, Jr. led the fighters protecting Haynes's bombers.

In June 1942, Haynes went to China to organize and command the Bomber Command of the China Air Task Force (CATF) under General Claire Chennault. His fighter group counterpart was Scott—the three air leaders were the subject of a Life magazine article in August which described them as like-minded Southerners who "are quietly tough, despise the word can't, eliminate all red tape and allow subordinates full range for individual initiative".[4] Haynes told Jack Belden, the Life journalist, that he "used to like pursuits better but now he likes bombers", and other airmen confirmed to Belden that Haynes handled bombers as easily as fighters.[4] Belden wrote that the open and frank bomber group leader "does not give a damn about playing Army politics".[4] Chennault, Haynes and Scott were said to "form just about the smartest, don't-give-a-damned-est trio Asia has ever seen."[4] Rarely able to send out more than four or five B-25 Mitchell twin-engine bombers at a time, supported by P-40s each carrying another bomb, Haynes constantly shifted his targets and kept the enemy guessing. Fuel and bomb scarcity limited the scope of operations. For instance, the only sortie on July 8 was Haynes piloting a single B-25 to bomb Japanese headquarters in Tengchong, China, near the border of Burma. Claims and losses in July proved the value of the strategy: One B-25 and five P-40s were lost in the destruction of 24 enemy fighters and 12 bombers.[25] Supplies began to increase in the following months.

An IATF B-24 Liberator lifts off over P-40 Warhawks at an advance airfield in China.

In October 1942 at the rank of brigadier general, he returned to India where he organized and commanded the India Air Task Force (IATF) of the Tenth Air Force under General Clayton Bissell. In Bissell's re-organization, five commanders reported to him: Haynes ran the IATF, Chennault ran the CATF, Robert F. Tate ran the India–China Ferry Command, Robert C. Oliver ran the Tenth's service arm and Francis M. Brady operated the large air base at Karachi.[25] Haynes's task force assembled three bomber groups: the 7th BG Heavy, the 51st Fighter Group and the 341st BG (Medium). On paper were more squadrons not yet prepared for war—some had no aircraft, some had too little training and some were bare cadres.[25] Haynes used what few aircraft were available, mostly war-weary medium bombers. The bombing missions often included in their payloads some of the "Compliments of" leaflets as a continuation of the defiant response to Tokyo Rose.[5] Men under Haynes noted that the general was never flown by others—he always did his own flying. He emphasized operational preparedness and self-motivation, yet his personal style put people at their ease. Sergeant John Boyd observed that Haynes was "not a desk general but a field and operations commander who believed in getting things done."[5] One of the earliest offensive efforts made by the new task force was a multi-stage 5,500-mile (8,900 km) voyage from the main base at Karachi, through various Chinese airfields with the ultimate goal of attacking the docks of Hong Kong and returning. During this attack, Life journalist Theodore H. White rode in one of the bombers, and wrote a story about the experience for the magazine.[26] On October 25, ten B-25 Mitchells led by Haynes took off on the final leg from an advance airfield at Kunming, accompanied by seven P-40s commanded by Scott. The small force destroyed a transport ship, bombed Hong Kong's vital Kowloon Harbor and claimed 27 enemy aircraft for the loss of one bomber and one fighter.[5] Haynes asked Bissell for more Norden bombsights—the Mitchell mediums shared only two between all the squadrons, and their supplied D-8 bombsights were ones Haynes considered to be of no value.[25]

He sent a small force of eight B-24s to bomb Mandalay on November 8 followed in two days with a repeat visit by six of the heavy bombers. Further B-24 missions continued with slowly increasing numbers of sorties flown. In January 1943, IATF moved to Barrackpore, more than 1,300 miles (2,100 km) nearer its targets in Burma. The combat strength of IATF, though not yet 100%, was strong enough to challenge Japanese air superiority in Burma.[25]

Haynes returned to Assam in June 1943, to organize for Bissell the Assam-American Air Base Command (AAABC) which he led as a mixed force composed primarily of Tenth Air Force units with some elements of the Fourteenth Air Force. Haynes was tasked with coordinating area defense and offensive destruction of the enemy, the emphasis on the former. For the first two months, Haynes was given fewer officers and men than he deemed necessary, and the AAABC made little headway in its mission.[25] In mid-August, large-scale re-organization of Allied forces in Asia resulted in the AAABC being renamed the American Air Base Command 1, and placed under George E. Stratemeyer.[25] Haynes led the group until September 1943, when he returned to the U.S. after 18 months in Asia.[1] Before he left, he told American reporters that his forces had helped deny the port of Rangoon to the enemy, and helped soften Burma for invasion. He stated that the highlight of his time in Asia was the air raid against Hong Kong. After his upcoming air crossing of the Atlantic, his eighth such, Haynes said that the first thing he intended to do was look up his 14-year-old son in high school and his wife who was working in the drafting department at Sperry in Garden City, New York.[27]

In October of that year, he became commanding general of the I Bomber Command of First Air Force at Mitchel Field, flying anti-submarine warfare missions along the Eastern Seaboard. In July 1944, he went to MacDill Field in Florida, where he took over the III Bomber Command, a bomber training group that also hunted for submarines.[1]

In December 1945, he was assigned to headquarters of the Atlantic Division of Air Transport Command at Fort Totten, New York, and the following month was appointed commanding general of the Newfoundland Base command at Fort Pepperell, Newfoundland.[1] There, he oversaw operations of American stations in Greenland, northern Quebec, Baffin Island and Labrador. Haynes told a National Geographic reporter that, even though the air stations were remote, "our troops' morale is high".[28]

In July 1949, Haynes became Inspector General, Military Air Transport Service (MATS) at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. He was appointed deputy commander for services of MATS two-month later, at the rank of major general. In January 1951, he assumed command of the 3750th Technical Training Wing at Sheppard Air Force Base, Wichita Falls, Texas.[1] Haynes retired in 1953.

Haynes married Margery McLeod, born about 1899 in California, and the couple welcomed a child, Caleb Vance Haynes, Jr., born in Spokane, Washington in 1928. The son, known as Vance Haynes, served in the USAF 1951–1954 in special weapons, then studied archaeology and geology, earning a doctorate from the University of Arizona in 1965. He became a professor of archaeology at universities in Texas and Arizona, and through his excavation work at Sandia Cave, helped establish the timeline of human migration through North America.[29]

Haynes and his wife toured the American West after his retirement, indulging themselves while searching for a permanent residence. Some of the general's friends suggested Wichita Falls, the city of his last military post, but he left to assess the possibility of living in Taos, New Mexico, where he and his airman son hiked and explored ancient human settlements. Deciding against Taos, Haynes and his wife continued in their tour, soon finding Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, to their liking. There, he bought two adjoining lots on North Carmelo Street with one existing house.[30] Rather than accepting any of the offers he received promising an executive career in the aeronautics industry, he relaxed by hunting and fishing.

Haynes joined a number of men's clubs. He was a Freemason in the Granite Lodge of Mount Airy, a holder of the 32nd degree in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, and a Shriner.[31] He was a member of the Quiet Birdmen, a secretive fraternal order of pilots, and he joined the American Legion.[30] He enjoyed visits by friends, especially playing cards and sipping bourbon with his former military colleagues. He died at his home during the night of April 4–5, 1966, of acute peritonitis flaring up from a chronic duodenal ulcer.[30] He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on April 8.[30]

Haynes was awarded:

• Command Pilot Wings
•   Distinguished Service Medal
•   Silver Star with oak leaf cluster[2]
•   Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters
•   Air Medal with oak leaf cluster
•   Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
• World War I Victory Medal
• American Defense Service Medal
• American Campaign Medal
• Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
• World War II Victory Medal
• National Defense Service Medal
• Mackay Trophy
• Order of the Merit of Chile

• Private, First Class, Aviation Section, Signal Corps – August 15, 1917[2]
• Second lieutenant (temporary), Air Service – May 31, 1918
• Second lieutenant – June 1920
• First lieutenant – July 1, 1920
• Captain – October 14, 1932
• Major (temporary) – August 27, 1936
• Major – November 1, 1939
• Lieutenant colonel (temporary) – March 21, 1941
• Colonel (temporary) – January 5, 1942
• Lieutenant colonel – March 4, 1942
• Brigadier general – September 5, 1942[2]
• Major general – September 1949

• Yerkey, Gary G. (2018). A Pilot's Pilot: Gen. Caleb V. Haynes and the Rise of American Air Power 1914-1944. ISBN 1984121480
• Yerkey, Gary G. (July 2019). "A Pilot's Pilot: Forgotten Bomber Leader Caleb Haynes Pioneered Military Routes Across the North and South Atlantic and over the 'Hump'". Aviation History.

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• Arlington National Cemetery