Leigh Gough, a kind person and fine poet, was a friend of both Bill and I. The icon below, along with the photo's and text of "Willard G. Mumford's Jacket" were originally presented on her web site. Photo's and text of Willard G. Mumford's Jacket, "American Flight Jackets, Airmen and Aircraft" reproduced there with permission of authors Jon Maguire and John Conway.

(After several years, just before losing her site hosting ISP, Leigh generously offered me rights to her information and style. I have done my best to present in the style which Leigh used.)

Stylized image of C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft flying above mountains.
PROUD HUMP FLYER
Willard 'Bill' Mumford

The Hump, as it was dubbed by the pilots of the China- Burma-India Theatre during World War 2, is that monsterous range of mountains that contains Everest, K2 and some others.  It stretches across the Himalyas between China and India-Burma. The C-47 (or Dakota) was not designed for that duty. With a full cargo load we did well to get to 14,000 feet and mountains we flew past went between 15,000 and 29,000 feet !!" -- Willard G. 'Bill' Mumford

(Click on an image to see a larger version.)

Back of Lt. W.G.Mumford's Jacket:
 Note Camel Mission Scoreboard painted on the back of Mumford's A-2 Jacket, representing 75 trips over the hump, and the leather American Chinese blood chit. 		Jacket Back
Front View of Lt. W.G.Mumford's Jacket :
 Note the patches on either side of the breast. 		Jacket Front
Left Shoulder Patch of Lt. W.G.Mumford's Jacket :
A leather C.B.I. Patch (China-Burma-India), is sewn in place. 		Left Sleeve
Right Shoulder Patch of Lt. W.G.Mumford's Jacket :
A leather A.A.F. patch is sewn in place. 		Right Sleeve
Right Brest Patch of Lt. W.G.Mumford's Jacket :
Detail of unidentified unit insignia sewn to the right brest of the jacket. 		Right Brest Patch
Left Breast Patch of Lt. W.G.Mumford's Jacket :
Leather name and wing over novelty version of the A.T.C patch (which features a reclining nude with her legs raised at a 90 degree angle on the left breast of Mumford's jacket. 		Left Brest Patch
Willard up on the tail of the C-47 when he made his last trip to China. :
The flight was to a P-38 base on the Indo-China border. He got hit by lightning and it blew out all of his engine instruments. He stayed over until they could bring a new set of instruments and install them before he'd "fly that dog back to Burma!"
Willard recalls those days :
"I was flying copilot in C-46s in North Africa. I am not completely sure when or where it was taken, may have been over Africa, the Middle East or the Persian Gulf. It shows I was a dumb young kid, smoking cigarettes!"
Bill in Santa Barbra with his lovely wife, Pat. :
He boasted to us of their 3 children and several grand-children. Prior to his passing on 28 Sep 2000, Bill could be found surfing the Internet with as much enthusiasm as he showed during his younger days.