Page 68 - History of War - Issue 30-16

THE FLYING TIGERS

Chennault took to his initial task with
Japanese air raids. Among the formidable CURT P-40
renewed vigour, enhancing the training of
Chinese pilots and establishing an early
warning network to alert his bases to incoming
enemy aircraft his pilots faced was the THE WARBIRDS OF THE AVG MAY BE REMEMBERED FOR THEIR ICONIC NOSE ART, BUT IT
Nakajima Ki-27 ighter, which was introduced TOOK MORE THAN GRAPHIC DESIGN TO WIN THE AIR WAR FOR CHINESE FREEDOM
in 1937, and later the Nakajima Ki-43 and the
legendary Mitsubishi A6M Zero.
Chennault admonished his pilots to be
wary of the nimble enemy planes and to avoid
single combat. “Never get into a dogight with
the Zero,” he told them. “When you spot the
Zeroes, make one diving run with guns blazing,
and then get the hell out of there!”
Chennault did his best, but Japanese air
power was overwhelming, and large formations
of enemy bombers hit Chinese cities at will
while ighter planes strafed Chinese troops on
the ground. As the situation worsened, Chiang
Kai-shek turned to his brother-in-law. Soong
persuaded President Franklin D Roosevelt to
allow Chennault to quietly recruit American
pilots and to eventually purchase 100 new
Curtiss P-40 ighters for these ‘volunteers’.
The planes had been earmarked for the British
through the Lend-Lease program but were
considered outdated and rejected for service
with the RAF.
Six months prior to Pearl Harbor, Chennault
had successfully recruited 112 American pilots,
who were allowed to resign from the US armed
forces and join the Chinese with the promise
that they could return to the American military
if the United States became a belligerent or
when their contracts with the Chinese were
completed. The lure of adventure and a fat
paycheck weighed heavily in the decisions of MOUTH & EYE
these young men. The American Volunteer The distinctive shark’s mouth
Group paid $750 a month to a squadron and menacing eye became world
leader, $675 to a light leader, and $600 to a famous as emblems of the Flying
wingman. Ground crewmen were compensated Tigers. The pilots painted the nose
handsomely from $150 to $300 a month cowls of their P-40s to strike fear
depending on an individual’s skill set. To in the hearts of enemy airmen.
sweeten the pot, the Generalissimo added a
$500 bounty for every conirmed shootdown of
a Japanese plane.
In the interest of operational secrecy, the
American pilots were provided with fake
documents and information that presented
them as individuals with occupations from
engineers to tailors and Vaudeville performers.
“I joined the AVG in July 1941,” remembered
Donald Whelpley, who became the group’s
lead meteorologist. “At that time my duty
assignment was Navy meteorologist to Patrol
Squadron 54, Naval Air Station, Norfolk,
Virginia,” he continued. “When the Navy inally
realised that I was serious about resigning my
commission to join Chennault in China, they
released me for a one-year tour with the AVG.
Little did any of us realise what we had gotten
ourselves into.”
ENGINE
The Allison V-1710
“CHENNAULTADMONISHEDHISPILOTSTOBEWARYOFTHENIMBLE ENEMY 12-cylinder liquid-cooled
engine produced 1,350
PLANESANDTOAVOIDSINGLECOMBAT.“NEVERGETINTOADOGFIGHT WITH horsepower and a
maximum speed of 378
THEZERO,”HETOLDTHEM.“WHENYOUSPOTTHEZEROES,MAKE ONE DIVING miles per hour. The V-1710
was the only engine of its
RUNWITHGUNSBLAZING,ANDTHENGETTHEHELLOUTOFTHERE!”” kind produced in the United
States during World War II.

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