On 24 November, Paul finally left Karachi, India, on a C-47 for the final leg of his trip to the front in Assam and the 80th Fighter Group, although he still had no word as to which squadron. They designated him an official courier, meaning he was “put not only in charge of, but am signed with 2,140 lbs of pure gold!!! Over a million dollars.” His mission—to deliver the gold to a representative of the National Bank of China in Chabua, India, gold destined for Chiang Kai-Shek. Paul described the flight over central India:
We took off at 5:30 a.m. And flew over the middle of India—typically wasteland-flat and desert-like with a range of small hills now and then. At 10:50 a.m. We landed in Agra—the city of the famous Taj Mahal—“Man’s Greatest Gift to a woman.” As we only stayed there long enough to gas up, I didn’t get the chance I wanted to see it from the ground. But I did see it from the air and am still marveling at its beauty. The marble is dazzling white, and the stately pillars and the dome are really beautiful. The grounds surrounding it are beyond description! Beautiful pools—shrubbery—bird baths—trees—and well-kept lawns. Truly a remarkable monument, and one of the truly beautiful spots in India.
From Agra, they flew to Calcutta where, he reported “much starvation has been—and still is—going on.” He arranged a guard for the gold shipment and a room at the Grand Hotel. He marveled at the congestion in the streets, from large British trucks to rickshaws, and how their Jeep driver “whisked in and out of the congestion with amazing dexterity and with no causalities.”
At the hotel, converted to barracks with 10 beds to a room, Paul was pleased to find “real hot water, too—the first I’ve felt since the States.” He ate dinner at Firpos:
Really a classy joint in line with New York’s more famous eating places. Everyone was well dressed, the soldiers in nice clothes—the civilians in either tux or evening dress, the Indian ladies in their finest “saris”! All types of uniforms were present. American solders and sailors, British in their military shorts and bush coats, even Scottish men in kilts. Immediately behind me were a group of Indian men—seated around a magnificently tuxedoed, bearded and turbaned Maharajah. Quite an imposing place. We ate two complete steak dinners, for we hadn’t eaten since 4 a.m. – and it was now 8 p.m. Made me wonder at all the starvation there—for there certainly was plenty to eat! They had an orchestra, and some couples were dancing.
They arrived at Chabua at midday on 25 November—Thanksgiving Day. Paul spent the afternoon tracking down Mr T. T. Shen, the National Bank of China representative. According to Paul, “After many courtesies, and many paper signings and more courtesies, I finally turned over the gold to him. Boy, what a relief. Having a million dollars on one’s hands is no fun after all—especially when it belongs to Uncle Sam.”
Thus ended Paul’s first official mission in the China-Burma-India Theater.
NOTE: Paul included the above newspaper clipping in his diary.
