Page 67 - History of War - Issue 30-16

THE FLYING TIGERS

Madame Chiang was charged with raising
the combat prowess of the Republic of China
Air Force, and she proved quite capable in CBIA AGE
the role. Without doubt, her most signii cant
accomplishment was in persuading a grizzled
American captain to come out of retirement FLYING TIGER PILOTS IN THEIR CURTISS P-40 WARHAWK FIGHTERS FOUGHT
in Louisiana, travel halfway around the SUPERIOR NUMBERS OF JAPANESE PLANES ABOVE CHINA AND BURMA
world, and take on the monumental task
of revitalising that l agging fortunes of the Curtiss P-40 warhawk
Chinese air arm. YEARSINSERVICE:1939-1945
Claire Lee Chennault was a veteran of the Fast in level light and capable of out-diving the Japanese MAXSPEED:580 KM/H (360 MPH)
US Air Corps and a former stunt l ier. To the ighters that the pilots of the American Volunteer Group faced, ARMAMENT:SIX .50-Z (12.7MM)
detriment of his career, he had also been a the Curtiss P-40 ighter was well suited to the ‘boom and zoom’ BROWNING M2
tireless, vocal champion of developing i ghter tactics advocated by Flying Tiger boss Claire L Chennault. MACHINE GUNS
aircraft and tactics, during an era that was
dominated by senior ofi cers who promoted the
deployment of heavy bombers bristling with
guns. The prevailing sentiment among these
ofi cers was that the big bombers could defend
themselves without the help of i ghter escorts,
pound enemy cities and military targets,
and actually win a modern war by raining
devastation from the skies.
Chennault never bought into that concept
and argued forcefully against the prevailing
i ghter tactics that emerged during World War
I. “There was too much of an air of medieval Nakajima Ki-27
jousting in the dogi ghts,” he said boldly,
“and not enough of the calculated massing of Lightly armed and armoured, the Nakajima Ki-27 ighter, YEARSINSERVICE:1937-1945
overwhelming force so necessary in the cold, nicknamed ‘Nate’ by the Allies, was highly manoeuvrable and MAXSPEED:470 KM/H (292 MPH)
cruel business of war.” He believed that i ghter easily out-turned Allied opponents lying Curtiss P-40s in a ARMAMENT:TWO 7.7MM TYPE 89
pilots should work together in pairs and in dogight. However, it was rapidly outclassed by other aircraft MACHINE GUNS
larger numbers rather than as lone hunters, types early in World War II.
and in 1935 he put his theories on paper in the
book The Role of Defensive Pursuit.
Within months of his book’s publication,
Chennault was serving as an instructor
at Maxwell Field, Alabama. He was notii ed
that the teaching of i ghter tactics was to
be terminated. Suffering from hearing loss
sustained during hours of l ying in open
cockpits along with chronic bronchitis,
Chennault retired with 20 years of service in
1937, still a junior ofi cer at the age of 47.
Although few in Chennault’s own country
had paid any attention to his i ghter doctrine,
General Mao Pang-tso of the Republic of “THENAKAJIMAKI-27FIGHTERWASHIGHLYMANOEUVRABLE
China Air Force attended one of his l ying
demonstrations and passed along his AND EASILY OUT-TURNED ALLIED OPPONENTS”
favourable impressions of the American
pilot’s skills. It was then that Madame Chiang
charmed Chennault, who visited the country Mitsubishi A6M Zero YEARS INSERVICE:1940-1945
in the spring of 1937 during negotiations to MAXSPEED:534 KM/H (332 MPH)
procure his services. He later remarked, “She One of the legendary ighters of World War II, the Mitsubishi ARMAMENT:TWO7.7MMTYPE97
will always be a princess to me.” A6M Zero was highly manoeuvrable, heavily armed, and MACHINEGUNS;TWO20MMTYPE
In his own way, Chennault learned to superior to early Allied types. ROC Air Force pilots faced the 99-1CANNON
manipulate Madame Chiang, tendering his Zero, but debate continues as to whether Flying Tiger pilots did.
resignation to her when the Nationalist
government moved too slowly regarding some
issue or failed to provide support in a timely
manner. Madame Chiang always refused to
accept the commander’s resignation, and
she remained his foremost advocate during
later contentious disagreements with General
Joseph Stilwell, the American commander in
the China-Burma-India Theater (CBI) during
World War II. Through his association with
Madame Chiang, and the exploits of the
Flying Tiger pilots, he would soon command,
Chennault became one of America’s early
heroes of the war, exerting tremendous
inl uence on its conduct in the CBI.

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