December 20 1941 – The American Volunteer Group Enters Service Over Kunming, China

399

*Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons Days after Japan attacked the United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, American pilots secretly ordered to China by President Franklin Roosevelt took to the skies above Kunming on December 20, 1941. The American Volunteer Group (AVG), known as the Flying Tigers, put their skills to the test on behalf of Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist forces in the Second Sino-Japanese War. Over the next six months, the “Special Air Unit” earned a place in aviation lore for its valiant performance against long odds. The seeds for the AVG were planted in 1937, when Claire L. Chennault arrived in China to help Chiang organize and train pilots for combat against the Japanese. Fighting against a numerically- and technologically- superior force, the Chinese struggled to compete in vicious air-to-air combat over the country’s northeastern population centers. When the Soviet Union withdrew fighters it loaned to the Nationalists in 1940, Chennault returned to Washington, DC to help the Chinese ambassador secure aid from the US. Roosevelt, unable to issue a direct response of support, authorized the creation of a “Special Air Unit” and allowing Chennault to work quietly procuring top-of-the-line P-40s for the mission. Pulling pilots from every branch of the American military, the retired officer soon had 300 pilots and ground crew on their way to a British Royal Air Force Base in Burma. Working under the guise of the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company, the team posed as civilians while training on their newly-assembled airframes. Chennault instituted strict guidelines for engagement with the Japanese, encouraging his pilots to nullify enemy advantages by sweeping in from above and maneuvering in ways that favored the sturdier design of the American planes. Though they were ready a month before, the Flying Tigers did not enter combat until December 20, 1941. Twelve days after Roosevelt received a declaration of war from Congress in the wake of Pearl Harbor, aircraft from the 1st and 2nd Squadrons of the 1st AVG left their base at Kunming in southern China to turn away 10 Japanese bombers. With three confirmed kills and a fourth plane so damaged it crashed on its return to base, the Americans achieved their goal. Still not at full strength — more than 20 of the P-40s were not online — the Flying Tigers spent the next several weeks defending Burma from the advancing Japanese. Heavily outnumbered, only ten AVG pilots were killed or went missing. As the Chinese Army was forced further into the mainland, the Americans retreated with them to provide air cover throughout the nation’s heartland. Just seven months after challenging the Japanese for the first time, the 1st AVG was disbanded as the 23rd Fighter Group arrived in Southeast Asia to take over its mission. Known for their famous “shark-faced” planes, the volunteer pilots left China having done more than just fought admirably: they had created one of the best-known paint schemes in military history. Also On This Day: 1522 – Suleiman the Magnificent continues Ottoman conquest by securing the island of Rhodes 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase between the United States and France is made official in New Orleans 1860 – South Carolina attempts to leave the US in the months leading up to the American Civil War 1951 – Nuclear powerplant EBR-1 generates electricity for four light bulbs, becoming the first facility of its kind to do so 1996 – Apple Computer merges with NeXT, forming the software backbone for all future Apple products