R&I – FS
Eighty years ago this week, a small group of American aviators fought in their first battle in World War II.
Their mission was unusual: They were mercenaries hired by China to fight against Japan.
They were called the American Volunteer Group and later became known as the Flying Tigers. Though only in combat for less than seven months, the group became famous at the time for its ability to inflict outsize damage on Japan’s better-equipped and larger aircraft fleet.
Their victories came when Japan seemed unstoppable. “The AVG was a bright spot in history when everything was bleak and black, and they have received a lot of recognition for that,” says Larry Jobe, president of the Flying Tiger Historical Organization.
On the 80th anniversary of their first combat, here’s an abbreviated history of how Americans ended up fighting for China.
In the West, 1939 is considered the start of World War II. But in Asia, China and Japan had been at war since 1937.
China was already fighting its own civil war between the Nationalists of Chiang Kai-shek and Communist forces. The two sides came to a truce to fight against the Japanese. China, however, had little air power to fend off Japanese bombings.
Enter Claire Lee Chennault, a U.S. Army aviator, instructor and tactician, once described by Time magazine as “lean, hard-bitten, taciturn.” Health problems and disputes with his superiors pushed him into retirement from his position with the Army Air Corps in 1937, at age 43.
But he quickly got a lucrative job offer with the Chinese Air Force, which was operating under Chiang’s Nationalist government. Chennault was asked to come survey the readiness of its fleet.
FoundingFrog
Article URL : https://www.npr.org/2021/12/19/1062091832/flying-tigers-americans-china-world-war-ii-history-japan