The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 116
116 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN to Dinjan, in Assam, and then from Dinjan over the Hump peaks, 18,000 feet high, which necessitated flying at 21,000 to 23,000 or 24,000 feet. At that time there was no question of any oxygen or any pressurization or anything of that kind, and they had to fly blind as there were no arrangements for obtaining information on weather, etc. From Dinjan the flight went to Kunming, and from Kunming it went on to Chungking, on the Yangtze where, during the months when the river was not in flood, it landed on an island in the middle of the river. It was a weekly service that generally left Calcutta about 10 a. m. It was able to get to Chungking at about 4 in the afternoon. There were only bucket seats in the plane. It was really a freight service, but some passengers were permitted to use it. My military secretary and I, accompanied by a small staff, one superintendent and one assistant, proceeded to Chungking by that service and arrived at our destination without mishap. The Imperial Chemical Industries had a bungalow on the south bank of the Yangtze river and it was lying vacant at that moment. The officer or officers who had been occupying it were not then in residence, and they offered to let my military secretary and me occupy it. That was indeed a great boon. Chungking is situated at the junction of the Yangtze and Kialing rivers and has hill ranges on both sides, so that it lies in a sort of trough and is very humid. Being shut in by the hill ranges, it scarcely gets any breeze at all. It is very oppressive in the summer. In the winter it is enveloped most of the time in thick mist and cloud. It was a common saying in Chungking that if there was anything worse than the Chungking summer it was the Chungking winter. When the Japanese forces occupied Eastern China, Chungking was chosen as the capital, partly for the reason that during the winter it could not be effectively bombed: it was not visible from the air. In the summer it was vulnerable from the air and had been very badly battered during the two previous summers. As good luck would have it - nobody knows for what reason - the Japanese did not attempt any bombing of Chungking during the summer of 1942 when I was there. I know my presence in Chungking was not the reason, but I certainly got the benefit of their restraint that year, whatever the reason. In other respects everything was almost unbearable, not only the climate, but also the filth, the isolation and the complete lack of amenities. All communication with the outside world