The commander of the U.S. occupation zone in Germany, General Lucius D. Clay, wanted to send some tanks along the Autobahn from West Germany to West Berlin, with instructions to fire if they were stopped or attacked. President Truman said no, because that may start a war. Clay was told to ask General Curtis LeMay, commander of United States Air Forces in Europe, to see if an airlift was possible. General Albert Wedemeyer, the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, was in Europe when the blockade began. He had been commander of the American forces in India and China in 1944–45. He knew about the Allied airlift from India over "The Hump" of the Himalayas to China. He was in favour of starting an airlift.