Page 73 - History of War - Issue 30-16

THE FLYING TIGERS

TIGER L CALL

A NUMBER OF FLYING TIGER PILOTS ACHIEVED SUCCESS DURING AND AFTER THEIR DAYS WITH THE FAMOUS FIGHTER GROUP
Brigadier General David Lieutenant Colonel
Lee ‘Tex’ Hill Charles Older

Tex Hill served as both a l ight and squadron A leading AVG ace, Charles Older entered light
commander with the Panda Bears and remained training with the US Marine Corps after graduating
in China to train pilots and lead the 23rd Fighter from college in 1939. He resigned to join the AVG
Group of the US Army Air Forces, ending the war in the summer of 1941 and participated in aerial
with 15.25 aerial victories. After World War II, Hill engagements above Rangoon, Burma, in December.
engaged in mining, ranching, and oil speculation. Flying with the 3rd Squadron, Hell’s Angels, Older
He remained in the Army Reserve and in 1946 completed his AVG tour with ten victories. Returning
became the commander of the newly formed Texas to the US in the summer of 1942, he joined the
Air National Guard. Promoted to brigadier general US Army Air Forces. He later served in China as
at the age of 31, he was the youngest general ofi cer in the history of the Air operations ofi cer and deputy commander of the 23rd Fighter Group. At the
National Guard. Hill retired from duty in 1968 and became a frequent guest end of World War II, he had tallied 18 kills.
at air shows and events commemorating the Flying Tigers around the world. After the war ended, Older graduated with a law degree from the University
In 2002, he received the Distinguished Service Cross for valour, 60 years of Southern California. In 1967, Governor Ronald Reagan appointed him to
after the engagement for which he was being recognised. Hill died at his Superior Court in Los Angeles. Judge Older presided over the trial of notorious
home in Texas in 2007. He was 92 years old. murderer Charles Manson. He died at his home in Los Angeles on 17 June
2006 at the age of 88.
Colonel Ed Rector “FLYING WITH THE 3RD SQUADRON,HELL’S

Ed Rector was serving as a naval aviator, lying from
the aircraft carrier USS Ranger, when he resigned ANGELS, OLDER COMPLETED HISAVGTOUR
his commission to join the American Volunteer
Group. Rector scored the Flying Tigers’ irst aerial WITH TEN VICTORIES”
victory against the Japanese in combat above the
Chinese city of Kunming on 20 December 1941. He
was the second-highest scoring ace of the AVG with Major General
10.5 kills and went on to command the 76th Fighter Charles Bond
Squadron of the 23rd Fighter Group, shooting down
two enemy ighters on 25 September 1942. As A US Army Air Forces pilot, Charles Bond, resigned
commander of the 23rd Fighter Group, he recorded his commission, arriving in Burma on 12 November
his last kill, and reportedly the last for the unit, on 2 April 1945. Rector 1941, to join the Flying Tigers. He was credited with
remained in China after the war, serving as a military advisor. He retired from seven aerial victories and was shot down twice.
the US Air Force in 1962 and worked as an aviation consultant in numerous Some historians credit Bond as the irst Flying Tiger
countries. He died on 26 April 2001 at the age of 84. to paint the famous shark mouth on his P-40 ighter.
In October 1942, Bond rejoined the Army Air
“RECTOR SCORED THE FLYING TIGERS’ FIRST Forces, serving as the pilot for W Averell Harriman,
US Ambassador to the Soviet Union. After World
AERIAL VICTORY AGAINST THE JAPANESE IN War II, he worked as a commercial pilot before returning to the military. In the
1950s, he commanded the 25th and 28th Air Divisions. During the Vietnam
COMBAT ABOVE THE CHINESE CITY OF KUNMING War, he led the 2nd Air Division and the 12th and 13th Air Forces.
Bond retired in 1968. In 1984, his book, A Flying Tiger’s Diary, became a
ON 20 DECEMBER 1941” bestseller. Bond served as a consultant for Texas Instruments and died on 18
August 2009, at the age of 94.
Colonel Gregory Lieutenant Colonel
‘Pappy’ Boyington Robert T Smith
The best known of the Flying Tigers, Colonel Gregory Robert T Smith was an early Flying Tiger
Boyington, served as a l ight leader with the AVG and commitment, resigning from the US Army Air Forces
was credited with two Japanese planes. Originally in July 1941. He l ew his irst combat mission on 23
a Marine pilot, Boyington rejoined the Corps in December, shooting down a Japanese bomber while
September 1942 and became famous commanding sharing credit for another. On Christmas Day 1941,
Fighter Squadron 214 (VMF-214), the ‘Black Sheep’, Smith shot down three enemy planes. He became
in the Solomons. At 31, Boyington was older than l ight leader in the AVG’s 3rd Squadron, the Hell’s
the other pilots. They called him ‘Pappy’. Angels. When the AVG was disbanded, he had tallied
Boyington became the top Marine ace of World 8.9 aerial victories.
War II with 28 victories. He received the Medal of Honor for an engagement in Soon Smith returned to the Army Air Forces. He commanded the 337th
which 24 Corsairs shot down 20 enemy i ghters with no losses. On 3 January Fighter Squadron, the 329th Fighter Group, and the 1st Air Commando Group,
1944, Boyington had just l amed his 28th enemy plane when he was shot leading medium bombers and l ying i ghter escort missions.
down. He spent 20 months in a prison camp. Boyington retired from the After retiring from the military, Smith l ew as a commercial pilot, wrote
Marines in 1947 and worked at various jobs. The television series Baa Baa radio scripts, and worked for the Flying Tiger Line, the irst air cargo company
Black Sheep, more i ction than fact, brought notoriety. He died at the age of in the US. He published a book, Tale of the Tiger, based on his diaries. Smith
75 on 11 January 1988. died on 21 August 1995, at the age of 77.

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