FIRE BALL EXPRESS

 The June 5, 1944 issue of LIFE magazine featured a pictorial entitled TO INDIA AND BACK IN 10 DAYS.It chronicled the 26,000 mile trip of the FIRE BALL EXPRESS, a U.S. Army Air Corps transport flying urgently needed supplies from Miami, Florida to Chabua, India.

 There were more than two dozen photos used in the pictorial, all taken by LIFE photographer Thomas McAvoy.On this page are those photos plus about 370 more, all taken during the ten day round-trip.

 All photos are from the LIFE Photo Collection at Google Arts & Culture.The photos are not captioned.

 From the pictorial: "Originally pioneered by the world-circling engineers and pilots of Pan American Airways, the route of the Fire Ball cuts across the Caribbean, down the coast of South America to Natal, across the Atlantic to Accra, across Africa to the Red Sea, thence east to India. Operating several times weekly, the great transport liners on the Fire Ball carry their precious cargoes to the very foot of the Himalayas, whence ATC's India-China wing lifts them "over the hump" to the forces of General Chennault."