This handwritten page from a China-Burma-India Theater airman's personal photo album describes 300-gallon external drop tanks used to extend the range of American fighter and transport aircraft on long overwater or over-mountain missions. Such auxiliary fuel tanks were critical to CBI operations, enabling aircraft to reach distant targets and supply points across the rugged terrain and vast distances of the theater. The accompanying note about hillside living quarters reflects the austere, improvised nature of forward air bases in this remote theater of war. Project: 218381