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A Fixture
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The Americ American Volunteer Group was largely the creation of Claire L. Chennault (see photograph), 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 Meanwhile, the Soviet Union supplied fighter and bomber squadrons to China, but these units were mostly withdrawn by the summer of 1940.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 an adviser to China's ambassador and Chiang's brother-in -law, TV Soong.
Chennault spent the winter of 1940–1941 in Washington, supervising the purchase of 100 Curtiss P-40 fighters 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.
The flying tigers began arriving in China in April 1941. The group first saw combat on December 20, 1941, 12 days after Pearl Harbor.
Of the pilots, 60 came from the Navy and Marine Corps and 40 from the Army Air Corps.
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 (see photograph), "Madame Chiang" as she was known to Americans, and she was designated the group's "honorary commander."
The AVG did not have many resources. Despite its location in areas with malaria and cholera, it had only "four doctors, three nurses and a bottle of iodine". The pilots found the food disgusting and the slowness of the mail from home and the lack of women hurt morale. A squadron had 45 maintenance workers compared to more than 100 normal, and only one base could carry out major repairs. However, the AVG was officially credited with 297 destroyed enemy aircraft, of which 229 were in flight. Fourteen AVG pilots were killed in action, captured or disappeared in combat missions. Two died from injuries sustained in the bombing and six were killed in accidents during the existence of the Flying Tigers as a fighting force.
The AVG's kill rate was higher than that of contemporary allied air groups in Malaysia, the Philippines and elsewhere in the Pacific theater. AVG's success is all the more notable since they were outnumbered by Japanese fighters in nearly all of 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 success of the AVG to morale and team spirit. He notes that his pilots were "triple volunteers" who had volunteered for service with the US military, the AVG and the brutal fighting in Burma.
During their service with the Chinese Nationalist Air Force, 33 AVG pilots and three ground crew members were awarded the Order of the Cloud and Banner, and many AVG pilots were awarded the Chinese Air Force Medal. Each AVG ace and double ace was awarded the Five Star or Ten Star Wing Medal.
Down 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
some members
Gregory "Pappy" Boyington broke his contract with the AVG in the spring of 1942 and returned to active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps. He went on to command the "Black Sheep" Squadron and was one of two AVG veterans (the other being James H. Howard of the USAAF) to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
David Lee "Tex" Hill later commanded the USAAF 23rd Fighter Group. (see photograph)
Charles Older earned a law degree postwar, became a California Superior Court judge, and presided at the murder trial of Charles Manson.
Kenneth Jernstedt was a long-time Oregon legislator and mayor of his home town of Hood River.
Robert William Prescott, founder of the first scheduled cargo airline in America named Flying Tiger Line.
Allen Bert Christman, who bailed out at Rangoon, was strafed and killed while parachuting to the ground in January 1942, had earlier scripted and drawn the Scorchy Smith and Sandman comic strips. (see photograph)
Harry R Bolster had one air-to-air victory with the 2nd Squadron AVG. He returned to the US Army Air Force and was killed flying an experimental Fisher XP-75A at Eglin Field, Florida, October 10, 1944.
Journalist Joseph Alsop served as Chennault's "staff secretary" while the AVG trained at Rangoon; he was interned at Hong Kong on Christmas Day, 1941.
Nurse Rebecca Chan Chung served under Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Fred P. Manget in Kunming, China. She was recruited by Colonel Dr. Thomas Gentry (see photograph)
.
the aces:
Robert Neale: 13 victories
Ed Rector: 10.5 victories (see drawing at the end)
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
Roger Pryor: 8 victories
Charles Bond: 7 victories
Frank Lawlor: 7 victories
John V. "Scarsdale Jack" Newkirk: 7 victories
Gregory "Pappy" Boyington: 6 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
John Garrity: 5 victories
Edmund Overend: 5 victories
Robert Sandell: 5 victories
Robert H. Smith: 5 Gentry victories.
(cut and sew wikipedia)
Chennault spent the winter of 1940–1941 in Washington, supervising the purchase of 100 Curtiss P-40 fighters 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.
The flying tigers began arriving in China in April 1941. The group first saw combat on December 20, 1941, 12 days after Pearl Harbor.
Of the pilots, 60 came from the Navy and Marine Corps and 40 from the Army Air Corps.
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 (see photograph), "Madame Chiang" as she was known to Americans, and she was designated the group's "honorary commander."
The AVG did not have many resources. Despite its location in areas with malaria and cholera, it had only "four doctors, three nurses and a bottle of iodine". The pilots found the food disgusting and the slowness of the mail from home and the lack of women hurt morale. A squadron had 45 maintenance workers compared to more than 100 normal, and only one base could carry out major repairs. However, the AVG was officially credited with 297 destroyed enemy aircraft, of which 229 were in flight. Fourteen AVG pilots were killed in action, captured or disappeared in combat missions. Two died from injuries sustained in the bombing and six were killed in accidents during the existence of the Flying Tigers as a fighting force.
The AVG's kill rate was higher than that of contemporary allied air groups in Malaysia, the Philippines and elsewhere in the Pacific theater. AVG's success is all the more notable since they were outnumbered by Japanese fighters in nearly all of 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 success of the AVG to morale and team spirit. He notes that his pilots were "triple volunteers" who had volunteered for service with the US military, the AVG and the brutal fighting in Burma.
During their service with the Chinese Nationalist Air Force, 33 AVG pilots and three ground crew members were awarded the Order of the Cloud and Banner, and many AVG pilots were awarded the Chinese Air Force Medal. Each AVG ace and double ace was awarded the Five Star or Ten Star Wing Medal.
Down 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
some members
Gregory "Pappy" Boyington broke his contract with the AVG in the spring of 1942 and returned to active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps. He went on to command the "Black Sheep" Squadron and was one of two AVG veterans (the other being James H. Howard of the USAAF) to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
David Lee "Tex" Hill later commanded the USAAF 23rd Fighter Group. (see photograph)
Charles Older earned a law degree postwar, became a California Superior Court judge, and presided at the murder trial of Charles Manson.
Kenneth Jernstedt was a long-time Oregon legislator and mayor of his home town of Hood River.
Robert William Prescott, founder of the first scheduled cargo airline in America named Flying Tiger Line.
Allen Bert Christman, who bailed out at Rangoon, was strafed and killed while parachuting to the ground in January 1942, had earlier scripted and drawn the Scorchy Smith and Sandman comic strips. (see photograph)
Harry R Bolster had one air-to-air victory with the 2nd Squadron AVG. He returned to the US Army Air Force and was killed flying an experimental Fisher XP-75A at Eglin Field, Florida, October 10, 1944.
Journalist Joseph Alsop served as Chennault's "staff secretary" while the AVG trained at Rangoon; he was interned at Hong Kong on Christmas Day, 1941.
Nurse Rebecca Chan Chung served under Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Fred P. Manget in Kunming, China. She was recruited by Colonel Dr. Thomas Gentry (see photograph)
.
the aces:
Robert Neale: 13 victories
Ed Rector: 10.5 victories (see drawing at the end)
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
Roger Pryor: 8 victories
Charles Bond: 7 victories
Frank Lawlor: 7 victories
John V. "Scarsdale Jack" Newkirk: 7 victories
Gregory "Pappy" Boyington: 6 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
John Garrity: 5 victories
Edmund Overend: 5 victories
Robert Sandell: 5 victories
Robert H. Smith: 5 Gentry victories.
(cut and sew wikipedia)
