The 1st American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Chinese Air Force in 1941–1942, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was composed of pilots from the United States ...
Flying Tigers
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| 1st American Volunteer Group |
 |
| Active |
20 December 1941 – 4 July 1942 |
| Country |
 China
 United States |
| Allegiance |
American volunteers |
| Branch |
Army Air Corps |
| Type |
Fighter group |
| Size |
3 squadrons;
60 aircraft average |
| Nickname(s) |
"The Flying Tigers" |
| Commanders |
Notable
commanders |
Claire Chennault |
US Air Forces video:Flying Tigers Bite Back
The
1st American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the
Chinese Air Force in 1941–1942, nicknamed the
Flying Tigers, was composed of pilots from the
United States Army Air Corps (USAAC),
Navy (USN), and
Marine Corps (USMC), recruited under
presidential authority and commanded by
Claire Lee Chennault. The shark-faced
nose art
of the Flying Tigers remains among the most recognizable image of any
individual combat aircraft or combat unit of World War II.
The group consisted of three
fighter squadrons of around 30 aircraft each. It trained in
Burma before the American entry into World War II with the mission of defending China against
Japanese
forces. The group of volunteers were officially members of the Chinese
Air Force. The members of the group had contracts with salaries ranging
from $250 a month for a mechanic to $750 for a squadron commander,
roughly three times what they had been making in the
U.S. forces.
While it accepted some civilian volunteers for its headquarters and
ground crew, the AVG recruited most of its staff from the U.S. military.
The group first saw combat on 20 December 1941, 12 days after
Pearl Harbor
(local time). It demonstrated innovative tactical victories when the
news in the U.S. was filled with little more than stories of defeat at
the hands of the Japanese forces, and achieved such notable success
during the lowest period of the war for both the U.S. and the
Allied Forces
as to give hope to America that it might eventually defeat the
Japanese. AVG pilots earned official credit, and received combat
bonuses, for destroying 296 enemy aircraft,
[1] while losing only 14 pilots in combat.
[1] The combat records of the AVG still exist and researchers have found them credible
[citation needed] . On 4 July 1942 the AVG was disbanded. It was replaced by the
23rd Fighter Group of the
United States Army Air Forces, which was later absorbed into the U.S.
Fourteenth Air Force with General Chennault as commander. The 23rd FG went on to achieve similar combat success, while retaining the
nose art on the left-over P-40s.
Origin
Chennault in his Kunming office, May 1942. He wears a US Army brigadier
general's star on his left shoulder but Chinese insignia otherwise.
The
American Volunteer Group was largely the creation of
Claire L. Chennault, a retired
U.S. Army Air Corps officer who had worked in
China since August 1937, first as
military aviation advisor to
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in the early months of the
Sino-Japanese War, then as director of a
Chinese Air Force flight school centered in
Kunming.
Meanwhile, the Soviet Union supplied fighter and bomber squadrons to
China, but these units were mostly withdrawn by the summer of 1940.
Chiang then asked for American combat aircraft and pilots, sending
Chennault to Washington as adviser to China's ambassador and Chiang's
brother-in-law,
T. V. Soong.
Since the U.S. was not at war, the "Special Air Unit" could not be organized overtly, but the request was approved by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt himself. The resulting clandestine operation was organized in large part by
Lauchlin Currie, a young economist in the White House, and by Roosevelt intimate
Thomas G. Corcoran. (Currie's assistant was
John King Fairbank,
who later became America's preeminent Asian scholar.) Financing was
handled by China Defense Supplies – primarily Tommy Corcoran's creation –
with money loaned by the U.S. government. Purchases were then made by
the Chinese under the "Cash and Carry" provision of the
Neutrality Act of 1939.
[1] Previously in the 1930s, a number of American pilots including Annapolis graduate
Frank Tinker had flown combat during the
Spanish Civil War, engaging Nazis and fascist Italians. Members were organized into the
Yankee Squadron.
Chennault spent the winter of 1940–1941 in Washington, supervising the purchase of 100
Curtiss P-40 fighters (diverted from a
Royal Air Force order; the Royal Air Force at that time deemed the P-40 obsolete
[citation needed]
) and the recruiting of 100 pilots and some 200 ground crew and
administrative personnel that would constitute the 1st AVG. He also laid
the groundwork for
a follow-on bomber group and a second fighter group, though these would be aborted after the
Pearl Harbor attack.
Original American Volunteer Group
3rd Squadron Hell's Angels, Flying Tigers over China, photographed in 1942 by AVG pilot
Robert T. Smith.
Of the pilots, 60 came from the
Navy and
Marine Corps and 40 from the
Army Air Corps.
(One army pilot was refused a passport because he had earlier flown as a
mercenary in Spain, so only 99 actually sailed for Asia. Ten more army
flight instructors were hired as check pilots for Chinese cadets, and
several of these would ultimately join the AVG’s combat squadrons.) The
volunteers were discharged from the armed services, to be employed for
"training and instruction" by a
private military contractor, the
Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company
(CAMCO), which paid them $600 a month for pilot officer, $675 a month
for flight leader, $750 for squadron leader (no pilot was recruited at
this level), and about $250 for a skilled ground crewman.
[2]
Some of the pilots were also orally promised a bounty of $500 for
each enemy aircraft shot down, however no one knew if that would
actually happen until they returned home and found the funds deposited
in their bank.
Resignation letter from the U.S. Marine Corps, used to accept a position with the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Co.
Although sometimes considered a
mercenary
unit, the AVG was closely associated with the U.S. military. Most
histories of the Flying Tigers say that on 15 April 1941, President
Roosevelt signed a "secret
executive order" authorizing servicemen on active duty to resign in order to join the AVG. However, Flying Tigers historian
Daniel Ford could find no evidence that such an order ever existed, and he argued that "a wink and a nod" was more the president's style.
[3]
In any event, the AVG was organized and in part directed out of the
White House, and by the spring of 1942 had effectively been brought into
the U.S. Army chain of command.
During the summer and fall 1941, some 300 men carrying civilian
passports boarded ships destined for Burma. They were initially based at
a British airfield in
Toungoo for training while their aircraft were assembled and test flown by CAMCO personnel at
Mingaladon Airport
outside Rangoon. Chennault set up a schoolhouse that was made necessary
because many pilots had "lied about their flying experience, claiming
pursuit experience when they had flown only bombers and sometimes much
less powerful airplanes."
[4]
They called Chennault "the Old Man" due to his much older age and
leathery exterior obtained from years flying open cockpit pursuit
aircraft in the Army Air Corps. Most believed that he had flown as a
fighter pilot in China, although stories that he was a combat ace are
probably apocryphal.
[5]
The AVG was created by an executive order of Generalissimo Chiang
Kai-shek. He did not speak English, however, and Chennault never learned
to speak Chinese. As a result, all communications between the two men
were routed through
Soong Mei-ling, or "Madame Chiang" as she was known to Americans, and she was designated the group's "honorary commander."
Chennault fighter doctrine
Chennault preached a radically different approach to air combat based
on his study of Japanese tactics and equipment, his observation of the
tactics used by
Soviet pilots in China,
and his judgment of the strengths and weaknesses of his own aircraft
and pilots. The actual average strength of the AVG was never more than
62 combat-ready pilots and fighters. Chennault faced serious obstacles
since many AVG pilots were inexperienced and a few quit at the first
opportunity. However, he made a virtue out of these disadvantages,
shifting unsuitable pilots to staff jobs and always ensuring that he had
a squadron or two in reserve. (The AVG had
no ranks, so no division between officers and enlisted soldiers existed.
[6])
Chennault and the Flying Tigers benefited from the country's warning
network, called "the best air-raid warning system in existence":
[6]
Starting from areas in Free China, in hundreds of small villages, in
lonely outposts, in hills and caves, stretching from near Canton through
all Free China to the capital in Chungking and to Lanchow,
far northwest, are a maze of alarm stations equipped with radios and
telephones that give instant warning of the approach of Japanese planes.[6]
When Japanese aircraft attacked, Chennault's doctrine called for
pilots to take on enemy aircraft in teams from an altitude advantage,
since their aircraft were not as maneuverable or as numerous as the
Japanese fighters they would encounter. He prohibited his pilots from
entering into a turning fight with the nimble Japanese fighters, telling
them to execute a diving or slashing attack and to dive away to set up
for another attack. This "dive-and-zoom" technique was contrary to what
the men had learned in U.S. service as well as what the
Royal Air Force
(RAF) pilots in Burma had been taught; it had been used successfully,
however, by Soviet units serving with the Chinese Air Force.
[7]
Curtiss P-40
Main article:
Curtiss P-40
1943: A
Kittyhawk Mark III of 112 Squadron, taxiing through scrub at
Medenine, Tunisia. The ground crewman on the wing is directing the pilot, whose view ahead is hindered by the aircraft's nose.
A ZG 76 Bf 110C with "sharks mouth" nose paint
AVG fighter aircraft came from a Curtiss assembly line producing
Tomahawk IIB models for the Royal Air Force in North Africa. The
Tomahawk IIB was similar to the U.S. Army's earlier P-40B model, and
there is some evidence that Curtiss actually used leftover components
from that model in building the fighters intended for China.
[8] The fighters were purchased without "government-furnished equipment" such as
reflector gunsights, radios and wing guns; the lack of these items caused continual difficulties for the AVG in Burma and China.
The 100 P-40 aircraft were crated and sent to Burma on third country
freighters during spring 1941. At Rangoon, they were unloaded, assembled
and test flown by personnel of
Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company (CAMCO) before being delivered to the AVG training unit at Toungoo.
[9]
One crate was dropped into the water and a wing assembly was ruined by
salt water immersion, so CAMCO was able to deliver only 99 Tomahawks
before war broke out. (Many of those were destroyed in training
accidents.) The 100th fuselage was trucked to a CAMCO plant in Loiwing,
China, and later made whole with parts from damaged aircraft. Shortages
in equipment with spare parts almost impossible to obtain in Burma along
with the slow introduction of replacement fighter aircraft were
continual impediments although the AVG did receive 50 replacement P-40E
fighters from
USAAF stocks toward the end of its combat tour.
AVG fighter aircraft were painted with a large
shark face on the front of the aircraft. This was done after pilots saw a photograph of a P-40 of
No. 112 Squadron RAF in North Africa,
[10] which in turn had adopted the shark face from German pilots of the
Luftwaffe's ZG 76 heavy fighter wing, flying
Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighters in Crete. (The AVG nose-art is variously credited to Charles Bond
[11]
and Erik Shilling.) About the same time, the AVG was dubbed "The Flying
Tigers" by its Washington support group, called China Defense Supplies.
[12] The P-40's good qualities included pilot armor,
self-sealing fuel tanks,
sturdy construction, heavy armament, and a higher diving speed than
most Japanese aircraft – qualities that could be used to advantage in
accordance with Chennault's combat tactics.
[13]
Chennault created an early warning network of spotters that would give
his fighters time to take off and climb to a superior altitude where
this tactic could be executed.
[14]
Combat history
The port of
Rangoon in
Burma and the
Burma Road
leading from there to China were of crucial importance. Eastern China
was under Japanese occupation, so all military supplies for China
arrived via the Burma route. By November 1941, when the pilots were
trained and most of the P-40s had arrived in Asia, the Flying Tigers
were divided into three squadrons: 1st Squadron ("Adam & Eves"); 2nd
Squadron ("Panda Bears") and 3rd Squadron ("Hell’s Angels").
[4]
They were assigned to opposite ends of the Burma Road to protect this
vital line of communications. Two squadrons were based at
Kunming in China, and a third at
Mingaladon Airport
near Rangoon. When the United States officially entered the war, the
AVG had 82 pilots and 79 aircraft, although not all were combat-ready.
Tiger Erik Shilling, part of the third squadron commented:. "This was
the beginning of the greatest adventure I would ever hope to experience.
It wasn't until years later that I fully realized the magnitude and
significance of this first step, to be a lifelong adventure in the
mystic Far East."
[15]
The AVG's first combat mission was on 20 December 1941, when aircraft of the 1st and 2nd squadrons intercepted 10 unescorted
Kawasaki Ki-48 "Lily" bombers of the 21st
Hikōtai
attacking Kunming. The bombers jettisoned their loads before reaching
Kunming. Three of the Japanese bombers were shot down near Kunming and a
fourth was damaged so severely that it crashed before returning to its
airfield at
Hanoi.
Furthermore, the Japanese discontinued their raids on Kunming while the
AVG was based there. One P-40 crash-landed; it was salvaged for parts.
Defense of Rangoon
A "
blood chit" issued to the American Volunteer Group
Flying Tigers.
The Chinese characters read: "This foreign person has come to China to
help in the war effort. Soldiers and civilians, one and all, should
rescue and protect him." (R. E. Baldwin Collection)
The first squadron had flown up to Kunming to defend the terminus of
the Burma Road and saw some combat action on 20 December 1941 while
defending Rangoon from Japanese bombers, taking down four of them and
disrupting their attack on Burma Road.
[16]
At this time, the focus of Japan's offensive efforts in the AVG's
coverage area was southern Burma. The 3rd Squadron – 18 aircraft strong –
defended Rangoon from 23–25 December. On 23 December,
Mitsubishi Ki-21 "Sally" heavy bombers of the 60th, 62nd and 98th
Sentais, along with single-engined
Mitsubishi Ki-30 "Ann" attack bombers of the 31st Sentai, sortied against Rangoon. They were escorted by
Nakajima Ki-27 "Nate" fighters of 77th
Sentai. The
Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (JAAF) formation was intercepted by the AVG and RAF
Brewster Buffalos of
67 Squadron. Eight Ki-21s were shot down for the loss of three AVG P-40s. The 60th
Sentai
was particularly hard hit – it lost five out of the 15 bombers it had
dispatched. Nevertheless, Rangoon and Mingaladon airfield were
successfully bombed, with the city suffering more than 1,000 dead. Two
Buffalos and two P-40s were destroyed on the ground, and one P-40
crashed when it attempted to land on a bomb-damaged runway.
On 25 December, the JAAF returned, reinforced by Ki-21s of 12th
Sentai and
Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa (Oscars) of the 64th
Sentai (Colonel
Tateo Katō's
Flying Squadron). A total of 63 bombers escorted by 25 fighters were
committed. These were intercepted by 14 P-40s of the AVG's 3rd Squadron
and 15 Buffalos of 67 Squadron. In the two encounters, 35 Japanese
bombers and fighters were shot down. The Allies lost two pilots and five
P-40s.
[15] Mingaladon airfield was once again damaged, and eight Buffalos were destroyed on the ground.
After its losses in the 23–25 December battles, the 3rd Squadron was
relieved by the 2nd Squadron "Panda Bears", which carried out a series
of raids on JAAF airbases in
Thailand. The Japanese had moved aircraft to
Malaya to finish off
Singapore, and its remaining aircraft in the area (the 77th, 31st and 62nd
Sentais) launched fighter sweeps and counter raids on the Allied airfield at Mingaladon.
On 12 January, the Japanese launched their
Burma Campaign.
Significantly outnumbered, the AVG was gradually reduced through
attrition, but often exacted a disproportionate toll of their attackers.
On 24 January, six Ki-21s of the 14th Sentai escorted by Ki-27s
attacked Mingaladon. All the Ki-21s were shot down by the AVG and RAF
defenders. On 28 January, a fighter sweep of 37 Ki-27s was engaged by 16
AVG P-40s and two RAF fighters. Three "Nates" were shot down for the
loss of two P-40s. The next day, another sweep of 20 Ki-27s of the 70th
Sentai was met by 10 Allied fighters (eight P-40s and two
Hawker Hurricanes). Four were shot down for the loss of no Allied aircraft.
Despite these minor victories and Chennault's reinforcement of the
"Panda Bears" with pilots from the "Adam and Eves", by mid-February,
only 10 P-40s were still operational at Mingaladon. Commonwealth troops
retreated before the Japanese onslaught, and the AVG was pressed into
the ground attack role to support them. One unfortunate result of these
missions was a prolonged air attack on a suspected Japanese column on 21
February that turned out to consist of Commonwealth troops. More than
100 Allied lives were lost in this
friendly fire
incident. On 27 February, after hearing that the RAF was retreating and
pulling out its radar equipment, the AVG withdrew to bases in northern
Burma.
By 24 January, the Flying Tigers had destroyed 73 Japanese aircraft
while only losing five themselves — a notable performance, considering
the AVG was outnumbered and faced experienced and fully trained Japanese
pilots. The main disadvantage of JAAF fighter pilots of this period was
the near-obsolescence of their predominant fighter type in the theater,
the Ki-27. Though more maneuverable than the P-40, its armament and
performance was inferior. Lightly constructed and armed, it could not
withstand frontal attacks nor could it out-dive Allied fighters such as
the P-40; if it attempted to, it often came apart in the air. In fact,
its cruising speed was less than that of the Ki-21 bombers it was
intended to escort.
[16]
Retreat into China
After Rangoon was lost to the Japanese at the end of February, the AVG relocated to
Magwe,
a small British airfield more than 300 miles north of Rangoon.
Chennault started moving elements of the now reconstituted 3rd Squadron
to Magwe as reinforcement to his worn down 1st and 2nd squadrons.
Aircraft attrition became so high that at this point, individual
squadron distinctions became meaningless, and all three squadrons had
elements based there, along with a number of RAF aircraft. In total, the
Allies had 38 aircraft, including eight P-40s and 15
Hawker Hurricanes.
Opposing them were 271 Japanese aircraft, including 115 fighters.
Although the AVG and the RAF scored some successes against the JAAF,
Magwe was continuously bombed, including a very heavy raid on 21 March
by 151 bombers and fighters. On 23 March with only four aircraft left,
the AVG was forced to relocate to Loiwing, just across the Chinese
border. The Tigers crossed into China on a rickety suspension bridge
over a deep gorge. A few months later, they came back to destroy the
bridge so no Japanese soldiers could come across that way into China.
[17]
The
Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa was a single-engined land-based fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force in World War II
Reinforced by new P-40E "Kittyhawks" and by repaired aircraft from
the AVG's excellent maintenance group, 12 P-40s were based at Loiwing on
8 April. Despite the long retreats, their losses and incessant air
combat, the AVG still retained their abilities. That day, 12 Oscars from
the 64th
Sentai raided the base. In the ensuing series of
dogfights, four Ki-43s were downed in exchange for one P-40E destroyed
on the ground. During this period, Chinese and American commanders
pressured Chennault to order his pilots to undertake so-called "morale
missions". These were overflights and ground attacks intended to raise
the morale of hard-pressed Chinese soldiers by showing they were getting
air support. The AVG's pilots seethed with resentment at these
dangerous missions (which some considered useless), a feeling which
culminated in the so-called "Pilot's Revolt" of mid-April. Chennault
suppressed the "revolt" and ordered the ground attack missions to
continue. But despite their efforts, the Allied situation in Burma
continued to deteriorate. On 29 April the AVG was ordered to evacuate
Loiwing and relocate to
Baoshan in China.
Like the AVG's other bases, Baoshan was repeatedly bombed by the
Japanese Army Air Force. Still, the AVG scored against their JAAF
tormentors, bringing down four "Nates" of the 11th Sentai on 5 May and
two "Anns". By 4 May, the successful Japanese Burma offensive was
winding down, except for mopping up actions. One of these was an attempt
by a regiment of the Japanese 56th Division to drive for Kunming, an
effort that was stopped by the Chinese army operating with strong air
support from the AVG. On 7 May the Japanese Army began building a
pontoon bridge across the upper Salween River, which would allow them to
move troops and supplies into China and drive towards Kunming. To stem
this tide, 2nd Squadron Leader
David Lee "Tex" Hill
led a flight of four new P-40Es bombing and strafing into the mile deep
Salween River Gorge. During the next four days, the AVG pilots flew
continuous missions into the gorge, effectively neutralizing the
Japanese forces. This prevented a Japanese advance on Kunming and
Chungking; the Japanese never advanced farther than the west bank of the
upper Salween. Claire Chennault later wrote of these critical missions,
"The American Volunteer Group had staved off China's collapse on the
Salween." Despite being on the defensive thereafter, the AVG continued
to harass the JAAF with raids on their Vietnamese bases.
With the Burma campaign over, Chennault redeployed his squadrons to provide air protection for China. The
Doolittle Raid
had prompted the Japanese to launch an offensive to seize AVG air bases
that could be used for attacks on the Japanese homeland. By 1 June,
personnel that would form the nucleus of the new USAAF 23rd Fighter
Group (the AVG's replacement) were beginning to trickle into the
theater. Some of the last missions the AVG flew were defending Guilin
against raids by JAAF Nates, Lilys, and new
Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu
("Nick") heavy fighters. The AVG's last combat was over Hengyang on the
day it was disbanded, 4 July 1942. In this final action, the AVG shot
down four Ki-27s with no AVG losses.
Assessment of the AVG
The AVG lacked many resources. Despite its location in areas with
malaria and
cholera,
it only had "four doctors, three nurses and a bottle of iodine." Pilots
found the food disgusting, and the slow mail from home and lack of
women hurt morale. A squadron had 45 maintenance personnel compared to
the normal more than 100, and only one base could perform major repairs.
[6] Nonetheless, the AVG was officially credited with 297 enemy aircraft destroyed, including 229 in the air.
[19]
Fourteen AVG pilots were killed in action, captured, or disappeared on
combat missions. Two died of wounds sustained in bombing raids, and six
were killed in accidents during the Flying Tigers' existence as a combat
force.
The AVG's kill ratio was superior to that of contemporary Allied air
groups in Malaya, the Philippines, and elsewhere in the Pacific theater.
The AVG's success is all the more remarkable since they were
outnumbered by Japanese fighters in almost all their engagements. The
AVG's P-40s were superior to the JAAF's Ki-27s, but the group's kill
ratio against modern Ki-43s was still in its favor. In
Flying Tigers: Claire Chennault and His American Volunteers, 1941–1942, Daniel Ford attributes the AVG's success to morale and group
esprit de corps.
He notes that its pilots were "triple volunteers" who had volunteered
for service with the U.S. military, the AVG, and brutal fighting in
Burma. The result was a corps of experienced and skilled volunteer
pilots who wanted to fight.
During their service with the Nationalist Chinese air force, 33 AVG pilots and three ground crew received the
Order of the Cloud and Banner,
and many AVG pilots received the Chinese Air Force Medal. Each AVG ace
and double ace was awarded the Five Star or Ten Star Wing Medal.
Members of the AVG
Aces
- See also List of Flying Tigers pilots, which includes their victories and bonuses paid.
Nineteen pilots were credited by the AVG with five or more air-to-air victories:
[19]
- Robert Neale: 13 victories
- Ed Rector: 10.5 victories
- David Lee "Tex" Hill: 10.25 victories
- George Burgard: 10 victories
- Robert Little: 10 victories
- Charles Older: 10 victories
- Robert T. Smith: 8.9 victories
- William McGarry: 8 victories
- Robert Walters: 8 victories
- Charles Bond: 7 victories
- Frank Lawlor: 7 victories
- John V. "Scarsdale Jack" Newkirk: 7 victories
- Robert Hedman: 6 victories
- C. Joseph Rosbert: 6 victories
- J. Richard Rossi: 6.25 victories
- Robert Prescott: 5.5 victories
- Percy Bartelt: 5 victories
- William Bartling: 5 victories
- Edmund Overend: 5 victories
- Robert Sandell: 5 victories
- Robert H. Smith: 5 victories
Legacy
Transition to the USAAF
The success of the AVG led to negotiations in spring 1942 to induct it into the
USAAF.
Chennault was reinstated as a colonel and immediately promoted to
brigadier general commanding U.S. Army air units in China (initially
designated
China Air Task Force and later the
14th Air Force), while continuing to command the AVG by virtue of his position in the
Chinese Air Force.
On 4 July 1942, the AVG was replaced by the 23rd Fighter Group. Most
AVG pilots refused to remain with the unit as a result of the strong arm
tactics by the USAAF general sent to negotiate with them. However, five
pilots accepted commissions in China including "Tex" Hill, one of
Chennault's most loyal devotees, with others remaining for a two-week
transition period. (U.S. airmen and the press continued to use the
"Flying Tiger" name to refer to USAAF units in China to the end of the
war, and the name continues to be applied to certain air force and army
aviation squadrons.) Most AVG pilots became transport pilots in China,
went back to America into civilian jobs, or rejoined the military
services and fought elsewhere in the war.
[27]
One of the pilots drawn to the success of the AVG was
Robert Lee Scott, Jr. who was flying supplies into Kunming over
the Hump
from India. He convinced Chennault to loan him a P-40 which he flew to
protect the supply route; his aggressiveness led to Chennault's
recruiting him as commander of the 23rd Fighter Group. Scott brought
recognition to his exploits and those of the Flying Tigers with his 1943
best-selling autobiography
God is My Co-Pilot that was then made by
Warner Bros. into a
popular film in 1945.
Tributes and memorials
Flying Tigers Monument
Ocala, Florida Memorial Park
There are several museum displays in the United States honoring the Flying Tigers. The
National Museum of the United States Air Force in
Dayton, Ohio, has an extensive display dedicated to the AVG, including an
A-2 jacket worn by an AVG pilot in China, a banner presented to the AAF by the Chinese government, and a P-40E. The
National Museum of Naval Aviation in
Pensacola,
Florida also has a Flying Tiger display. The Chennault Aviation Museum
in Monroe, Louisiana has an extensive collection of Flying Tigers and
AVG memorabalia. The AVG monument in the
National Museum of the United States Air Force Memorial Garden features a marble sculpture of a
pagoda
crowned with a brass model of a P-40; the monument stands nearly 14
feet tall. The Palm Springs Air Museum has a display of memorabilia
inside a mockup of AVG ground facilities, with a P-40N painted in AVG
markings. Finally, a memorial to the AVG and 14th AF is located at
Vandenberg Air Force Base
in California, depicting a P-40 in AVG markings with a bronze plaque
describing the unit's history and Vandenberg's role as headquarters for
the 14th AF.
There are also several memorials to the AVG in Asia. In
Chiang Mai, Thailand, a
marble obelisk was dedicated on 11 November 2003, inscribed to Chennault; to Jack Newkirk, who was killed in North
Thailand
on 24 March 1942; and to Charles Mott and William McGarry, who were
shot down and captured in Thailand. In Taiwan, Madame Chiang Kai-Shek
requested a statue of Chennault in the New Park of Taipei to commemorate
this wartime friend after his death (the statue has since been
relocated to Hualian AFB). A Flying Tigers Memorial is located in the
village of
Zhijiang,
Hunan Province,
China and there is a museum dedicated exclusively to the Flying Tigers.
The building is a steel and marble structure, with wide sweeping steps
leading up to a platform with columns holding up the memorial's sweeping
roof; on its back wall, etched in black marble, are the names of all
members of the AVG, 75th Fighter Squadron, and 14th Air Force who died
in China. In 2005, the city of Kunming held a ceremony memorializing the
history of the Flying Tigers in China, and on 20 December 2012, the
Flying Tigers Museum opened in Kunming. The date is the 71st anniversary
of the first combat from Kunming of the Flying Tigers. The Memorial
Cemetery to Anti-Japanese Aviator Martyrs in Nanjing, China features a
wall listing the names of Flying Tiger pilots and other pilots who
defended China in World War II, and has several unmarked graves for such
American pilots.
[28]
The largest private museum in China,
Chengdu Jianchuan Museum,
devotes a wing in its military section to the history of the Flying
Tigers, including a tribute wall featuring a thousand porcelain photos
of members of the Flying Tigers as well as many historical artifacts
from the era.
[29]
In March 2015, the Flying Tiger Heritage Park was opened in Guilin in
collaboration with the Flying Tiger Historical Organization. The park
is built on the site of Yangtang Airfield and includes a museum,
aircraft shelters, and relics of a command post located in a cave.
[30]
Flying Tigers wrecks
The wreckage of a P-40 with CAF serial number
P-8115 is on display in
Chiang Mai,
Thailand. The aircraft is believed to be that flown by William "Mac"
McGarry when he was hit by anti-aircraft fire while flying top cover
over Chiang Mai on 24 March 1942. The aircraft crashed into the
rain forest in northern
Thailand. McGarry was captured and interrogated, and spent most of the war in a Thai prison. Toward the end of the war the
Office of Strategic Services (OSS) arranged for the
Free Thai Movement
to spirit him out of the prison to a PBY Catalina in the Gulf of
Thailand. The wreck of his P-40 was discovered in 1991, and consists of
the P-40's Allison engine, Hamilton Standard propeller and parts of the
airframe. Today the wreckage is displayed at the Tango Squadron Wing 41
Museum in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
[31][32]
The wreck of another AVG P-40 is believed to be in
Lake Dianchi
(Lake Kunming). The fighter is believed to be a P-40E piloted by John
Blackburn when it crashed into the lake on a gunnery training flight on
28 April 1942, killing the pilot. His body was recovered from the
aircraft, which was submerged in 20 feet of water. In 1997 a
U.S.-Chinese group called the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation
was formed to locate the aircraft and possibly raise and restore it. In
March 1998, they contacted the China Expedition Association about
conducting the recovery operation. Over 300 aircraft are believed to
have crashed into Lake Dianchi (including a second AVG P-40) so locating
the aircraft proved difficult. In 2003, an aircraft believed to be
Blackburn's was found embedded in nine feet of bottom silt. An effort
was made in September 2005 to raise the aircraft, but the recovery was
plagued with difficulties and it remains deep under the lake bottom.
Since the aircraft was complete and relatively undamaged when John
Blackburn's body was removed from it in 1942, it is hoped that the
aircraft will be in good condition and capable of being restored,
possibly to flying condition.
Recognition by the United States
Just before their 50th reunion in 1992, the AVG veterans were
retroactively recognized as members of the U.S. military services during
the seven months the group was in combat against the Japanese. The AVG
was then awarded a
Presidential Unit Citation for "professionalism, dedication to duty, and extraordinary heroism." In 1996, the U.S. Air Force awarded the pilots the
Distinguished Flying Cross and the ground crew were all awarded the
Bronze Star Medal.
[33]
Popular culture
A number of feature films have referenced the AVG directly or indirectly, the most famous being
Flying Tigers, a 1942 black-and-white film from Republic, starring
John Wayne and
John Carroll as fighter pilots. Other wartime films with an AVG angle included
The Sky's the Limit (1943, starring
Fred Astaire as a Flying Tiger ace on leave);
Hers to Hold (1943, with
Joseph Cotten);
God is My Co-Pilot, (1945, with
Dennis Morgan as
Robert Lee Scott,
Raymond Massey as Chennault, and
John Ridgely as Tex Hill); and
China's Little Devils (1945).
Similarly, the Flying Tigers have been the focus of several novels, including
Tonya, by
Pappy Boyington;
Remains, by
Daniel Ford; and
Spies in the Garden, by Bob Bergin.
In the
Star Wars guidebook
The Essential Guide to Warfare, an X-wing Starfighter squadron named the "Lightspeed Panthers" was mentioned in the book.
Warfare co-author Paul R. Urquhart confirmed in
Warfare's endnotes that the squadron was intended to be a direct reference to the Flying Tigers.
[34]
An American TV show,
Tales of the Gold Monkey,
featured a fictional ex-Flying Tiger named Jake Cutter. The show had
only one season, airing between 1982 and 1983. Despite the Flying Tigers
not existing prior to 1941, while wearing the trademark Flying Tiger
jacket with blood chit, Cutter repeatedly says throughout the show "it's
1939." This however was the least of the show's historical
inaccuracies.
In Warthog PLC's space-based science fiction flight simulator
computer game Starlancer, the player's squadron is renamed from the 45th
Volunteer Squadron to the 45th Flying Tigers or Tigers for short after
destroying a key enemy ship.
In the
alternate history comic series
Atomic Robo, the titular character flew with the Flying Tigers for a time.
2011 Chinese TV film
Feng Shui featured a fictional Flying Tigers character.
See also
About China
About American volunteers
References
Notes
The American Volunteer Group was largely the creation of Claire L. Chennault, a retired U.S. Army Air Corps officer who had worked in China since August 1937, first as military aviation advisor to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in the early months of the Sino-Japanese War, then as director of a Chinese Air Force flight school centered in Kunming. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union supplied fighter and bomber squadrons to China, but these units were mostly withdrawn by the summer of 1940. Chiang then asked for American combat aircraft and pilots, sending Chennault to Washington as adviser to China's ambassador and Chiang's brother-in-law, T. V. Soong.Chennault in his Kunming office, May 1942. He wears a US Army brigadier general's star on his left shoulder but Chinese insignia otherwise.
3rd Squadron Hell's Angels, Flying Tigers over China, photographed in 1942 by AVG pilot Robert T. Smith.
Of the pilots, 60 came from the Navy and Marine Corps and 40 from the Army Air Corps. (One army pilot was refused a passport because he had earlier flown as a mercenary in Spain, so only 99 actually sailed for Asia. Ten more army flight instructors were hired as check pilots for Chinese cadets, and several of these would ultimately join the AVG’s combat squadrons.) The volunteers were discharged from the armed services, to be employed for "training and instruction" by a private military contractor, the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company (CAMCO), which paid them $600 a month for pilot officer, $675 a month for flight leader, $750 for squadron leader (no pilot was recruited at this level), and about $250 for a skilled ground crewman.[2]P40 Warhawk painted with Flying Tigers shark face at the National Museum of the United States Air Force
Although sometimes considered a mercenary unit, the AVG was closely associated with the U.S. military. Most histories of the Flying Tigers say that on 15 April 1941, President Roosevelt signed a "secret executive order" authorizing servicemen on active duty to resign in order to join the AVG. However, Flying Tigers historian Daniel Ford could find no evidence that such an order ever existed, and he argued that "a wink and a nod" was more the president's style.[3] In any event, the AVG was organized and in part directed out of the White House, and by the spring of 1942 had effectively been brought into the U.S. Army chain of command.Resignation letter from the U.S. Marine Corps, used to accept a position with the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Co.
1943: A Kittyhawk Mark III of 112 Squadron, taxiing through scrub at Medenine, Tunisia. The ground crewman on the wing is directing the pilot, whose view ahead is hindered by the aircraft's nose.
AVG fighter aircraft came from a Curtiss assembly line producing Tomahawk IIB models for the Royal Air Force in North Africa. The Tomahawk IIB was similar to the U.S. Army's earlier P-40B model, and there is some evidence that Curtiss actually used leftover components from that model in building the fighters intended for China.[8] The fighters were purchased without "government-furnished equipment" such as reflector gunsights, radios and wing guns; the lack of these items caused continual difficulties for the AVG in Burma and China.A ZG 76 Bf 110C with "sharks mouth" nose paint
The first squadron had flown up to Kunming to defend the terminus of the Burma Road and saw some combat action on 20 December 1941 while defending Rangoon from Japanese bombers, taking down four of them and disrupting their attack on Burma Road.[16]A "blood chit" issued to the American Volunteer Group Flying Tigers. The Chinese characters read: "This foreign person has come to China to help in the war effort. Soldiers and civilians, one and all, should rescue and protect him." (R. E. Baldwin Collection)
Reinforced by new P-40E "Kittyhawks" and by repaired aircraft from the AVG's excellent maintenance group, 12 P-40s were based at Loiwing on 8 April. Despite the long retreats, their losses and incessant air combat, the AVG still retained their abilities. That day, 12 Oscars from the 64th Sentai raided the base. In the ensuing series of dogfights, four Ki-43s were downed in exchange for one P-40E destroyed on the ground. During this period, Chinese and American commanders pressured Chennault to order his pilots to undertake so-called "morale missions". These were overflights and ground attacks intended to raise the morale of hard-pressed Chinese soldiers by showing they were getting air support. The AVG's pilots seethed with resentment at these dangerous missions (which some considered useless), a feeling which culminated in the so-called "Pilot's Revolt" of mid-April. Chennault suppressed the "revolt" and ordered the ground attack missions to continue. But despite their efforts, the Allied situation in Burma continued to deteriorate. On 29 April the AVG was ordered to evacuate Loiwing and relocate to Baoshan in China.The Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa was a single-engined land-based fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force in World War II
The AVG lacked many resources. Despite its location in areas with malaria and cholera, it only had "four doctors, three nurses and a bottle of iodine." Pilots found the food disgusting, and the slow mail from home and lack of women hurt morale. A squadron had 45 maintenance personnel compared to the normal more than 100, and only one base could perform major repairs.[6] Nonetheless, the AVG was officially credited with 297 enemy aircraft destroyed, including 229 in the air.[19] Fourteen AVG pilots were killed in action, captured, or disappeared on combat missions. Two died of wounds sustained in bombing raids, and six were killed in accidents during the Flying Tigers' existence as a combat force.Flight leader and fighter ace Robert "R.T." Smith stands next to his P-40 fighter at Kunming, China. The “Flying Tiger” insignia was created by the Walt Disney Company.[18]
There are several museum displays in the United States honoring the Flying Tigers. The National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, has an extensive display dedicated to the AVG, including an A-2 jacket worn by an AVG pilot in China, a banner presented to the AAF by the Chinese government, and a P-40E. The National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida also has a Flying Tiger display. The Chennault Aviation Museum in Monroe, Louisiana has an extensive collection of Flying Tigers and AVG memorabalia. The AVG monument in the National Museum of the United States Air Force Memorial Garden features a marble sculpture of a pagoda crowned with a brass model of a P-40; the monument stands nearly 14 feet tall. The Palm Springs Air Museum has a display of memorabilia inside a mockup of AVG ground facilities, with a P-40N painted in AVG markings. Finally, a memorial to the AVG and 14th AF is located at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, depicting a P-40 in AVG markings with a bronze plaque describing the unit's history and Vandenberg's role as headquarters for the 14th AF.Flying Tigers Monument Ocala, Florida Memorial Park
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