23rd Fighter Group: Chennault's Sharks (Aviation Elite Units)

128 Pages·2009·0.48 MB·English

by  Carl Molesworth

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OSPREY
Aviation Elite Units • 3 I
PUBLISHING
23rd Fighter Group
'Chennault's Sharks'
Carl Molesworth
Series editor Tony Holmes
FrontCover Firstpublished in CreatBritain in 2009 byOspreyPublishing
CONTENTS
P-51AsandP-40Ksofthe76thFS/ Midland I-louse, WesrWay, Bodey,Oxford OX2OPH, UK
23rdFG hadafierceencounterwith
443 ParkAvenueSouth, NewYork, Y10016, USA
Ki-43-llsofthe11thand25thSentais
E-mail;[email protected]
neartheairfieldatSuichuan,in
China,on27December1943.The
76thFS,ledbyitsnewlyappointed © 2009OspreyPublishingLtd.
commandingofficerCaptJohn
SStewart,hadonlymovedfrom INTRODUCTION 6
All rightsreserved. Aparrfrom anyfairdealingfor thepurposeofprivatestudy,
Kweilintotheadvancedbaseat
research,criticismor review, aspermined under theCopyright, Designsand
Suichuan,ontheKan Riverin
Kiangsi Province,24hoursearlier. PatemsAct, 1988,no parrofthispublication maybe reproduced,swred in
CHAPTER ONE
Japaneseintelligencewasclearly arenievalsystem,ornansmined inanyform orbyanymeans,e1ecrronic,
verygoodinthisarea,asthe electrical,chemical, mechanical,optical, phowcopying, recordingorotherwise, AVG PASSES THE BATON 8
JapaneseArmyAirForce's3rdAir
withoutthepriorwrinen permissionofthecopyrightowner. Enquiriesshould
Divisionlaunchedanattackonthe
basefrom Cantontheverynext beaddressed w the Publishers.
morning. CHAPTER TWO
SevenP-51AsandsevenP-40Ks ACII'cataloguerecord for thisbook isavailablefrom the British Library
scrambledat1130hrsuponreceiving CHINAAIR TASK FORCE 22
wordofapproachingenemyaircraft
PrimISBN 978 I84603421 3
viathewarningnet.Atabout1145
hrs,sixKi-48'Lily'bombersmade PDFe-book ISBN978 I84603 8846
arunoverthebasefromsouthto CHAPTER THREE
northat1500ft, destroyinga6-25in Edited byTony Holmes
arevetmentandthe76thFS'salert ACTION IN THE EAST 39
Pagedesign by Mark Holt
shack.Meanwhile,CaptStewartled
CoverartworkbyMark Posdethwaite
hismixedfighterformation inan
attackontheescortingKi-43 'Oscars' Aircraft ProfilesbyJim Laurier
CHAPTER FOUR
at12,000ftdirectlyoverheadthe Index byAlanThatcher
base. Atremendousfightthen Originated by PDQDigital MediaSolutions,Suffolk, UK MUSTANGS JOIN THE BATTLE 71
ensued,afterwhichStewartclaimed
Printedand bound inChina through Bookbuilders
one'Oscar'probablydestroyed.
Allbutoneofhispilotssubmitted
claimsfollowingtheengagement, 09 10 II 12 13 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 CHAPTER FIVE
fiveofwhichwereforthe
destructionofKi-43fighters. FORACATALOGUEOFALL BOOKS PUBLISIIED BYOSPREY BATTLING ICHI-GO 85
Thiswasan unusuallyaccuratetally
fortheC61,asthe25thSentaihad MILITARYAND AVIATION PLEASECONTACT
indeedlostthree'Oscars'andthe OspreyDirect,C/O Random House DistributionCenter,400 Hahn Road,
11thSentaione. Westminster, MD 21157 CHAPTER SIX
AmongtheJapanesepilots
E-mail;[email protected]
killedwasCaptNakakazuOzaki, LONG HAULTO VICTORY 100
a19-victoryaceandcommander
ofthe2ndChutai/25thSentai. ALLOTHERREGIONS
Hecrashedten kilometressouthwest Osprey Direct,The BookService Ltd, Distriburion Cenne,ColchesrerRoad,
ofSuichuan.TheJapaneseinturn FratingGreen,Colchester, Essex,C077DW, UK APPENDICES 120
claimedtenvictories,buttheonly
E-mail;[email protected] COLOUR PLATES COMMENTARY 122
76thaircraftlostwastheP-40K
flown byLtRobertSchaeffer.The
BIBLIOGRAPHY 127
lattersubsequentlyreportedwhat TheWoodlandTrust
had happenedtohim; Osprey PublishingaresupporringtheWoodlandTrust, the K'sleading
'Iwasin P-40No112,rolling woodland conservationcharity, byfunding thededication oftrees.
straightdownonaZero'stailwhen INDEX 128
Ifelttheenginejump.Ilookeddown
atmymanifoldpressuregauge, www.ospreypublishing.com
whichstarteddropping,and realised
Iwashit.SoIdoveawaytotheeast sitdown someplace.Ipickedouta Unhurt,Schaefferqu~k~made
onthedeck. Itriedtousethe sandbarintheriver,cuttheengine contactwithsomefriendlyChinese
throttleandpropcontrols,butboth withthemixturecontrol.pumped locals.whointurnhelpedthe
wereuseless.Thefightwasstill downfullflapsandbelliedin. I Warhawkpilotfind hiswaybackto
goingonoverthefield,andas overshotabitandbouncedoff Suichuanairbasethefollowing day
Ihadonly20inchesHg Imercury} aneight-footbankontoanother ICoverartworkbyMark
showing,IdecidedIwouldhaveto sandbar.' Postlethwaite}
z INTRODUCTION
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Z lrhough overshadowed in hisrory by irs forebear, rhe American Z
Volunreer Group (AVG), rhe USAAF's 23rd Fighrer Group
(FG) made arguably rhe largesr conrriburion roward rhe Allied
vicroryin rheChina-Burma-India( BI)Thearreofanyairunirin World
War2.Accordingrorheofficial AFwebsite,the23d FGaccounredfor
thedestrucrionof621 enemyaeroplanes in aircombatand 320 moreon
theground.Thegroupsank more rhan 131,000 ronsofenemyshipping
anddamagedanorher250,000rons. Finally,rhe23rdcausedanesrimared
enemyrrooplossofmorerhan 20,000men.
These statistics were compiled during the course of24,000+ combat
sOfTies rotalling more than 53,000 flying hours, and at a cost of 110
aircraft losr in aerial combat- 90 shotdown bysurfacedefences and 28
destroyed whileparkedon theground.
Shownhereintheautumnof1942,
Bytheauthor'scounr,32acesscored fiveor morevicroriesflyingwith thesefourkeypilotsofthe75thFS/
the 23rd, and eighr more claimed at least one vicrory with the group. 23rdFGwerecreditedwithshooting ThishandsomeP-51Dwasassigned servedasamodelfor SAFtacticaloperarionseversince. Butrhe23rd FG
Pilorsdo notcompilestaristicslikethesebyrhemselves, however. Ittakes downatotalofnearly30Japanese toLtColBruceCDowns,thevery did even morethan thar,as its pilotsflewweatherreconnaissance, phoro
aircraftbetweenthemduringthe lastwartimecommanderofthe
acompleteteam effort, wirh alargestaffofground personnelsupporting reconnaissance and even combar cargo missions, the larrer seeing drop
courseofthewar.Theyare,from 74thFS.Thesquadronbadgeshows
flightoperarions. Manyofthesemenserved inChinafor morerhan rhree left,CaptJohnRAlison,MajDavid agorillaridingapony.Downshad ranks filled with ammunirion and supplies delivered ro Chinese rroops
yearsbeforetheywereable ro return home,and rheirskillsand devorion L'Tex'Hill,CaptAlbertJ'Ajax' flown intheRAF'sNo121'Eagle' undersiegearChangshaand Hengyangduring 1944.
rodUlycannorbeoversrated. BaumlerandLtMackAMitchell. Sqnearlierinthewar,andhealso Every year, veterans ofthe 23rd FG who served in hina meet for a
TheP-40Ebehindthemdisplaysthe participatedinthedefenceofMalta,
Justas importantas the 23rd FG's outstandingcombat record was irs reunion.Therurnourrhinsalirrleareachgarhering, butin rhepeakyears
unofficialunitbadgeofthe23rdFG priortotransferringtotheUSAAF
development, and employmenr, offighter-bomber raeries, which have (BruceHolloway) inSeptember1942(JohnConn) irwasnorunusual formorerhan 100personnelroshowup. Forafewdays
rheypeel back60+yearsofbarkand return ro rhecoreoftheirlives- the
pivoral rimerheysharedin hina.Thebaropensearlyandstaysopenlate,
with no moneychanginghands. Voices rise in laughterasoldsroriesare
rerold for rhe umpreenth time. Hands swoop and dive when the pilots
describeairbarrlesoflongago.
Iwas lucky enough ro attend one ofthese reunions in Ocrober 1991,
when rhe23rd FGveteransmetatFortWalron Beach,Florida.Onawarm
afternoon 1sroodwith themon thefieldatnearbyEglinAirForceBaseand
watchedtwomenacing-lookingjetaircraftperformingaerobati inthesky
above. Eventually, thejets landed and began ro taxi roward thecrowd. As
theydrewcloser, irwasclearroseethatthedark-green A-I0Thunderbolts
weresportingafamiliardecoration on theirnoses- aleeringsharksmouth
and eyes. Like the vererans in the audience, thesejersand their pilots had
experiencedcombat. -arlierthatyear,when USmilitafYforceshelpedeject
the Iraqi miliraryfrom Kuwait, the23rdFG hadgonebackinroactionasa
keyunitinOperation DesertStorm.
Muchofthemarerialcontained in thisbook,and mypreviousworkon
the 23rd FG, Sharks Over China, is rhe result of rhe cooperation and
supporr rhar I received from the veterans ofrhe 23rd FG at that 1991
reunion. Ihavestayedinrouchwithmanyofthemovertheyears,and Iam
proud ro consider rhese men my friends and my heroes. 1hope they
consider my efforts in chronicling the hisrory ofthe 23rd FG a worthy
triburerothesacrificesrharrheymadefortheircounrryaratimewhen rhe
6 furureoffreedom anddemocracywason thelinearound rheworld. 7
UJ AVG PASSES THE The American milirary had been building up ar a franric pace for more »
Z <
o rhan a year as rhe prospecrs ofwar became increasingly likely. Newly Gl
UCIJ: minred pursuirgroups were in rraining rhroughour rhe U ,and ar firsr -»0
af. . glance rhe 23rd appeared ro be desrined ro join rhem in preparing for en
« en
:I: BATON combar. Bur from rhe very beginning, rhis unir was desrined ro be emn
u
differenr,assubsequenrevenrswouldsoonshow. --l
:I:
Maj Roberr A ulberrson, a broad-shouldered, grey-haired career m
officer, was assigned as rhe group's firsr commander. He and his small »OJ
cadre ofexperienced officers and COs were given abour 100 recruirs o--l
W ar news filled rheSunday papersacross rhe nired Srares on drawn from orherunirsarLangleyand rold rogerrhem readyroshipour Z
1March J942, and for rhe mosr pan noneofirwas good. Ir foroverseasinshonorder.Someofrhe recruirs had joined rheArmyjusr
wasjusr II weekssince rhesurpriseJapanesearrack on Pearl a few days earlier, and had nor even experienced rhe 'pleasures' ofbasic
Harbor, and rhe narion was reeling from repons ofone serback afrer rraining. Wirhin aweek an advancederail under rhe command ofMSgr
anorheron rheAJlied warfronrs. In rhe orrh African desen, Allied and Clyde Casro wenr ro Charlesron, Sourh Carolina, ro secure rhesupplies
Axisforces weresralemaredarGazala. In rhe USSR,German rroopswere and equipmenr rhar rhe group would need ro rake overseas. The resr of
bying siege ar Leningrad. In nonhern Europe, Lufrwaffe bombers rhe 23rd arrived a week larer ar Charlesron's Overseas Discharge and
conrinuedropoundLondon from basesinoccupied France. Replacemenr Cenrer with orders ro ship out immediately for foreign
Ifanyrhing, rhenewswaseven worsefrom rhe Pacific. As rhe US avy assignmenr. The group had still not yer been organised inro squadrons
srruggled ro recover from rhe pounding ir had raken ar Pearl Harbor, becauseirhad neirherpilors noraircrafr.
American ground forces were rerrearing in rhe face of rhe Japanese 23rd PG personnel boarded rhe converred ocean liner SS Brt/zit
advance in rhe Philippines. Singapore had fallen rwo weeks earlier, and during rhe evening of 17 March 1942, and rhe ship lefr harlesron's
Japanese forces were landing in Java. The firsrJapanese air raids againsr harbourar0600hrsthenexrmorning. Irsdesrinationwasunknown rorhe
norThernAusrraliahadalsojusrbegun. men ofrhegroup, who made up burasmall numberofrhe 6500 rroops
Thesiruarionwasjusralirrleberrerin Burma(nowMyanmar),wherea SquadronleaderRobertNealeflew embarkedin rhevessel.AB-25mediumbomberparrolledoverheadin rhe
H-81Tomahawk'7'ascommander
groupofAmerican fighrer pilors had been arrracringworldwidearrenrion cool morningairas rheship made irs wayon azigzagcourse roward an
oftheAVG's1stPursuitSquadron
sinceDecemberforrheirspirireddefenceofrhegrearporrciryofRangoon during1941-42.Nealeservedas Juan, Puerro Rico. On board rhe ship, rhe men found rhemselves in
(Yangon)againsrJapanesebombingarracks. Commanded byarerired S temporarycommanderofthe23rd crampedquarrers.Theysrood in longlinesarchowrimeand had lirrlero
ArmyAirCorps (USAAC) caprain by rhe nameofClaire Lee hennaulr, FGforthefirsttwoweeksafter do for rhe resr ofrhe day. Afrer aquick srop wirhourshore leave ar an
theunitwasactivatedinJuly1942,
rhe AVG consisred ofcivilian pilors and groundcrews secrerly recruired Juan, USS Brazi~ alongwirh an escorrcruiserand asmall aircrafrcarrier
althoughtechnicallyhewasacivilian
from USmiliraryunirsin 1941 roAy 100exponmodelsofrhe urrissP-40 atthetime(JackCook) loaded wirhscourbiplanes,headedouracrossrheAdanri Ocean.
fighrerforChina.Theirmissionwasrodefend'TheBurma Road', rhelasr
supplyroureinroChina,fromJapaneseairarracks.
Flyingfrom newlycapruredairfieldsinThailand,Japanesebombers,wirh
srrongfighrerescorr,firsrarracked Rangoonon23and25December194I
less rhan a week afrer rheir firsr bloody encounrer wirh rhe AVG over
Kunming, China. The AVG's 3rd PursuirSquadron (PS), aJong wirh rhe
RAF's No 67 Sqn, Aying American-builr Brewsrer BuffaJoes, inrercepred
borh raids wirh grear success. In rwo days, rhe 3rd PS claimed no fewer
rhan 35 vicrories, firmly esrablishing rhe AVG's glowing repurarion. Time
magazinesoon ragged rheAVG wirh rhenickname'TheFlyingTigers',and
alegendwasinrhemaking.WhenphorographsofrheAVG'ssharkmourhed
Tomahawk fighrers srarred appearing in rhe press, rhe American public's
inreresrandaffecriongrew.
TheAVGconrinuedrofighroverRangoon forrwomonrhs,burdespire MajGenClairel Chennault,
legendarycommanderofthe
irs successes, Brirish and colonial ground forces were unable ro hair rhe
ChinaAirTaskForceandlaterthe
Japaneseadvanceinro Burma.TheAmerican presswouldnorreporTunril
FourteenthAirForce,iscredited
much larer rhar rhe lasr AVG Tomahawks had evacuared Rangoon on withdevelopingthetacticsand
IMarch 1942. strategiesthatthe23rdFGand
otherunitsunderhiscommand
Back in rhe Unired Srares,aseeminglyunremarkableevenr rook place
usedsosuccessfullyagainst
on IMarch 1942,when rheUSAACacrivaredrheheadquanerssecrionof
JapaneseforcesinChinaduring
8 rhe newly forming 23rd PursuirGroup (PG) ar Langley Field, Virginia. WorldWar2(RayCrowell) 9
UZJ Afewdayslarerrheconvoyarrivedar Freerown,inSierra Leone,on rhe 23rd Fighrer Group (rhe unir's designarion had been changed from Anextensivesystemofcivilian l<>
o wesrerncoasrofAfrica. Again rhe men wereprevenred from rakingshore 'pursuir' ro 'fighter' in orders dated 15 May 1942) made rheir way spottersbehindenemylines GJ
Ua:J: leave, bur rhey found adiversion in counringrhe nearly200ships in rhe rhrough rhe ciry ro rhe ew Malir anronmenr, on rhe edge of rhe providedearlywarningofincoming "
e<f0.. t. harbourand warchingRAF fighrers parrollingoverhead. nearbySind Desert. Jthaepa2n3erdseFGai,rpraeirdsso.nOnneltchoeualdirfaiessldesssof lCC>//))
I When USS BrazifclockedarCapeTown,inSourhAfrica,on 18April, New Malir was a huge airfield with very lirtle on ir, save a cavernous thethreatbywatchingthenumber m
U rhemen happilyserfoorondryland for rhe firsr rime inamonrh. From hangarrhathadoriginallybeenbuilrrohouseaBririshdirigible.The23rd ofpaperballsthatwererun up C--/-)i
rhere,rheshiproundedrheCapeofGood Hopeand madeanorhershorr FG wasassigned ro' Area',and lived in ascarreringofblock buildings. apoleneartheoperationsoffice. mI
Atwo-ballalert,asshownhereat
sroparParrElizaberh, beforeserringouron rhe final legofrhejourney. lrwasdusry, boringand exrremelyhor. Soon, however,Sgr RoySell had Kweilin,meantenemyaircraftwere co
l>
AfterpassingrhroughrheMozambiqueSrrair berweenMadagascarand an excellenr mess hall operarion going, which improved life quire a bit. approachingthebaseand o---i
Africa, rhe convoy headed norrh rhrough rhe Indian Ocean ro dock ar Meanwhile, SSgr Edwin Jones organised sporrs acriviries rhar gave rhe interceptorsshouldscramble- Z
athirdballsignifiedanattack
Karachi, in India(now Pakisran)on 17 May 1942.Soon rhe menofthe menachanceroblowoffsomesream. Burfor nowrhe23rd Fe remained wasimminent(TomRaleigh)
WARIN CHINA
WorldWar2in iawasalreadymorerhanrenyear rran porration hub throughout eastern China.
old when rhe Japanese arracked Pearl Harbor on hiang was cur offfrom rhe urside world, ex ept
7 December 1941 and drew rhe Unired rare inro for a thin rhread ofasupply line rhat ran from the
rheconflict.Japan'saggre si n began in eprember British- onrrolled port of Rangoon 800 miles
193] wirh rheisland narion's aprureofMukd nin through BurmaandOntO ir rerminu arKunming,
norrheasr hina. Byearly 1932 rheenrire province in ourhwe r hina. The rourewould oon become
ofManchuria- hina' mineraland indu uialhearr knownworldwideas'TheBurmaRoad'.
- wa under Japanese conrrol. Infrequenr clashe The Chinese Air For e ( AP) had made a
occurred berween Japane e and hine e rroops re p crable howingduringtheearlyfightingagain t
rhroughour rhe mid-1930 , de pire rreary r rms the invader, flying aircraft imported from
limiringJapan ro rhearea norrh ofrhe .rearWall. the Unired tare, the oviet Uni n, Italy and
Then in 1937 open warfare berween Japan and elsewhere.A keyelemenrin ir poradi su ce swas
hina resumed. the influence of rerired AA pilar apr laire
Fearing rhar rival arionali rand omrnuni r Lee hennaulr,whocamero hinain ]937ro erve
force in hina were abour ro merge, which could as Direcror of ombat Training for the AP. He
renderrhenarion roostrongrosubduebyf, rce, rhe er up flying s hool , advi ed hiang on air rafr
Japanese army inciredan exchange ofgunfire wirh pur ha e and devi ed an air-raid warning system.
hineserroopsarrheMar 0 PoloBridgenearPeking Ac ording ro som ources, hennault also flew
on 7July 1937. Wirhin a marrerofdays, Japane reconnaissance mis ion and may have engaged in
ground force began pouringinro hinaand afull aerial combat againsr rhe Japane e, a1rhough hi
calewarwa underway.ThefighringwenrbadJyfor combarrecord ha neverbeen onnrmed.
rhe hinese for e under Generalissimo Chiang Evenrually, the CAP wa overwhelmed by the traveledroWa hingron,D. .,roworkwith hine e radio experr John William, the n r wa greatly
Kai-shek. Pekingfell quickly, followed by anking increa ing number ofm dern combaraircraft thar ambas adorT V oongonsellingrhe nired tare expanded in 1940 0 thar rhe inf, rmarion uld be
in De ember 1937 and rhen rhe major porr of Japancommirtedroit waragainst hina.A eries f a new plan for bolsrering hina' air defence. The Fed inrocommand cenrre where inr r eprdire t r
anron and ciry of Hankow in crober 1938. air raids again r hungking began in April 1940, re ultofrhar rrip was rhe f, rmarion ofrheAV In coull lead hennauJr' fighrer ro appr a hing
Hainan Island in rhe ourh hina eawas invaded andso nanewImperialJapane e avyfighrerrype, the ummerof1941. Japan eformari n .
in February 1939, by whi h rime mo t acrive theMitsubishiA6MZero- en,moppedupwharwa A key parr f hennaulr's grand plan was rhe [rwas aid rharrhe nerworked 0 w II rhar\ hen
resisran eon rhe hine emainlandhadcea ed. leftoftheCAP' airdefen e .Bytharrime,however, mainrenanceofan air-raid warning ner rhrough ur Japane e aircraft rook offfr m rheir ba ar und
Japanrhenrurnedir arrenrionbackroManchuria, hennauJthad gainedawealrhofknowledgeabout hi areaofoperarion .Thenerwasa omplexwebof Hankow, hennaulr would know about it wirhin
where ir foughr a birrer engagemenr againsr rhe rhe capabilities ofJapane e aircrafr, a well as the gr un Iobserver, many ofthem hine e civilian, minute in Kunming, ome 800 mile away. nly
ovierUnion FromMayro eprember1939. srraregies and racri semployed byJapaneseairmen arranged in a grid parrern and linked by relephone on rare occasi n did rhe ncr Fail ro give advan e
hiangretreareddeepinr wesrern hina, etting and theirleaders.Stirred bythewanron de trLlction andradio. hennaulrhadbegunsettinguptilewarn warningofenemyairraids.Hisc nfid n einrhen r
up his apiral ar hungking, in zechuan Province, rhe hine e had uffered at rhe hand of the ingnersoonafrerarrivingin hina in 1937,and by allowed hennaulr ro spread hi meagre force ro
andmillion of hine erefugee followed himrhere. Japane e, hennault wa determined ro put thi 1942 manyofthe observer in easrern hina were advan edairfield nearenemylin with littlefearof
Japan nowoccupiedall major hine eseaporr and information ro good use. [n crober 1940, he located behind enemylines. Under the direction of havingthemcaughton rhegroundand d froyed.
10
11
LJ.J apaperorganisarion wirhour pilorsoraeroplanes. Evenrswere unfolding arlasrgo home.Theyenjoyed rhelooseorganisarionofrheAVGand did »
Z <
o elsewhere, however, rharwouldsoonchangerhissiruarion. nor look forward ro rhe possibiliry ofhaving ro bend ro spir-and-polish Gl
c::: InChina,rheAVG hadconrinuedrobuildonirsrepurarionduringrhe Armyrules. »-0
LJ.J
f 23rd'srwo-monrhseavoyage. inacrionoverBurmaandsourhwesrChina When rhe Tenrh Air Force senr an inducrion ream from India ro (/)
«CL againsr rhe invadingJapanese forces, AVG pilors racked upsuccessafrer pressure rheAVG rosign up, rhe pilorswanred no parrofir,and mosrof (m/)
::c (/)
u success over enemy aircrafr and ground rargers. Bur rhe AVG's srarus rhegroundcrewfelrrhesame.Someresigned from rheAVG immediarely. -j
::c
as a civilian organisarion was proving problemaric for Army 'brass' in The resr resolved ro serve our rheir contracrs, bur would call ir quirs on m
cc
Washingron, D.C.. If rhis rowdy bunch could go roe-ro-roe wirh rhe Independence Day. The USAAF could have whar remained of rheir »
Japanese,whywereregularArmyfighrerourfirshavingsucharough rime dwindlingforceofP-40s,burrharwasall. o-j
z
ofirin rhePhilippinesand rheSourh Pacific?Therewasmoreperceprion Whileall rhiswasgoingon, nineArmypilorswhowould larerserve in
rhan realiry behind rhis rhinking, bur rhe image of rhe AVG as an rhe 23rd FG arrived in China in May ro gain combar experience flying
embarrassmenrro rhe U AAF heldswayneverrheless. wirh rhe AVG. On ofrhese men was Maj Bruce K Holloway, a lanky
The remedy for rhesiruarion seemedsimple. inducringrheAVG inro Wesr Poinrer from Tennesseewho wangled his wayourofasraffjob in
rheArmylock,srockandbarrelwouldlegirimiseirsexploirs,andallowrhe TenrhAirForceheadquarrersbysecuringordersroreporrroChennaulras
USAAF ro claim irs furure successes. Viewed in rhis lighr, ir becomes an observerofrhe AVG. He recorded his firsr impression ofChennaulr,
obviouswhyrhe23rdFGwassenrroawarzonewirhouraircrafrorrrained who hadjusrbeen promored robr'igadicrgeneral, in hisdiary;
pilorsand groundcrews- rhe men and aeroplanes werealready in China 'He is a sincere, inreresring and affable man - none of rhe usual
Sgt0 EWestlakeandChinese fighringrhewar. overbearingand obnoxious rrairsassociared wirh somegeneral officers in
assistantsworkonthehydraulic Inwar, somesrraregies work and orhersdo nor. The inducrion ofrhe rhe USArmy.'
systemandlandinggearofaP-40E
AVG wasonerhardid nor. Chennaulraccepred inducrion inro rheArmy Holloway flew several rimes wirh rheAVG burdid norseeanyacrion
wingatKunmingFactoryNo10.
wirh rherankoffullcolonel inApril 1942,and began meeringwirh AVG prior ro joining rhe 23rd FG. He would see plenty afrer rhar, however.
Withthelandinggearfairing
removed,thedetailsofthestrut's personnel ro urge rhem ro follow his lead. Bur mosrofrhe men were by When he finally lefr China in rhe aurumn of 1943, Holloway was borh
retractionsystemarevisible.Amix nowrhoroughlywar-weary,and manyofrhem were ill roboor.Theyhad rhegroupcommanderand rheleadingace in rheCBI wirh 13confirmed
ofTomahawkandKittyhawk AVGarmourersbore-sitethegunsof
fuselageslinethewallinthe signed up ro fighr forayear,and rhebulkofrhem werefixed on rhedare vicrories. The lessons learned from Chennaulr conrinued ro serve anewlyarrivedP-40EatKunmingin
background(BruceHollowayl 4July 1942,when rheirconrracrswirhChinawouldexpireandrheycould Holloway well rhroughour his milirary career, and he evenrually rerired thespringof1942.TheAVGreceived
from rhe USAFasafour-srargeneral. about30E-modelsasattrition
replacementsfortheHawk81-A2s
FellowearlyarrivalCaprAlberrJ'Ajax' Baumlerwasrheonlyoneofrhe
acquiredin1941,and18ofthese
ninepilorswirhcombarexperience,havingflown Polikarpov1-15and 1-16 survivedlongenoughtobeturned
fighrers wirh rhe Republican forces in 1936-37during rheSpanish Civil overtothe23rdFG.Some28ofthe
War - he had claimed 4.5 kills and twO probables during rhis p riod. 100TomahawksissuedtotheAVG
werealsohandedovertothegroup
Baumlerflewwirh rhe USArmyfrom 1938ro 1941,and rhen resigned his
whentheformerdisbandedon
commission ro join rhe AVG. His firsr arrempr ro reach China was cur 4July1942IAVGAssociation)
12 13
UJ scrambleagainsttheincomingenemyforce. Badwearherprevented P-40s »
Z
o at I(weilin From reaching Hengyang ro join the fighr, so Recror and his <
CURTISS P-40WARHAWK Gl
c::
«afU. .J. The P-40 Warhawk, with a fearsome shari mouth fighters as medium-altitude, short-ranged weapons meAn dheatdaitloedgoriercaolrodneo.f rhe fight does nor survive, but Four Japanese (»-/0)
:r: paintedonit distinctiveenginecowling,isoneofthe atthattime. fighrerswereclaimedasdestroyedFornolosses.ThecitarionForBaumler's (m/)
u enduringimagesofWorldWar2.Itwasahandsome De piteit shortcomings,theP-40began roarrive firstAirMedalcreditshimwirhoneKi-27, ate'destroyed thatday.This (/)
--l
machine, with it pointed nout, tapered wings and atArmy fighter bas s in May 1940. Pilots found it gave Baumler the disrinction of having scored the AAF's first :mr:
voluptuously r unded tail surfaces. In phorographs, tri kyrotakeoffandlandin theaeroplaneuntil they confirmed vicrory in the CBI Theatre. He would duly achieve an OJ
»
paintings and even car becameaccusromed rothe impressive record as a fighter pilot and squadron commander in China --l
o
roon ,theP-40(or' hark' high rorque of irs engine duringrherumulruousyearahead. Z
in23rdF parlance)came and the narrow track of While rheAVe was holding rhe line in China, orher Americans were
rosymboliseAmerica'swar irs landjng gear. nce In busy Ferrying P-40E fighrers across AFrica roward Karachi. These pilots
effort- rough, cocky and the ajr, they were mo t already had oneadventure behind them, havingflown 68 aeroplanesoff
colourful. impres ed by one aspe t rhe deck of rhe aircraFr carrier USS Rangeron 10 May ro begin rheir
TheP-40design had its ofthe P-40's performance journey. Their successFul launch was no small Feat, because rhe P-40 _
roOts in the earlier blunt - its spectacular diving aheavyaircraFtwirhaslowrateofclimb- had norbeendesignedwirh the
nosed urtissH-75Hawk speed. rake-offcapabilitiesneeded Forcarrieroperarions. Evenrually,25ofrhese
fighter, which was pow During 1940, pilotswouldbeassignedrothe23rdFe,therestfiIIingaurrheranksofthe
ered bya radial engines. Designed in 1934-35, the redesignedirsP-40B/Crotakeadvamageofthenewly 5IsrFe,which had recentlyarrived in IndiawirhjusrahandfulofP-40s.
aircraftenteredservicewith the AA in 1938as dev loped, more powerful, ver ion of the Alii on LiFe wenr on as before For rhe 23rd FG at ew Malir unril 12June, Repairfacilities,suchastheNo10
the P-36. In an attempt ro build a faster fighter, engine, the V-171O-39. The aircraft, designated when ordersarrived rosendaderail of19enlisted men to Kunilling,site FactoryinKunming,helpedtokeep
urtiss propos d replacingtheP-36's radial engine H-87 byirs manufacturer, had anewfuselagedesign oftheAVe'sheadquarrers. Byrhistimeitwasknown tharthe23rdwould the23rdFGsuppliedwithaircraftby
rebuildingdamagedaeroplanesand
with the newAJli on V-1710 liquid-cooled power withalowerthru tlineandabiggercockpitopening, be taking over From rhe AVG on 4 July, but ir srill was nor clear how.
strippingpartsfromothersthatwere
plantrocreatetheP-40.TheArmyliked the idea and all ofirsguns were mounted in the wing. The To complicare matters, Maj Culberrson Fell ill at ew Malir and was beyondrepair.Seenherein1942,the
espe ially the fact that Curtiss would be able ro British c.o.Iled the new aeroplane the Kittyhawk (the hospitalised,whilethegroupadjutant,Maj PeterBorre,wasreassigned to factoryisworkingonfourP-40splus
producethe newaeroplanequickly- and itissueda previous model had been dubbed the Tomahawk), rheair basecommand ar Karachi. ow the 23rd FG could add alackof aRepublicP-43Aatbottomleft.Note
theChineseinsigniaontheP-40
contractformorethan500ofthefighters. and in Service it was k.nown informally as the leadership ro itslonglisroforherobviousshortcomings.
wingintheforeground(DonHyaN)
TheP-40 didachievean increase in rop speed of Warhawk. tartingwiththeP-40D,allfuturemodels
nearly50mphovertheP-36,butthenewaeroplane - and theywouldbe numerous- weremodification
uffered in other ways. Its greater weight slowed oftheoriginalH-87design.
the rate of climb and reduced manoeuvrability TheP-40wasneverthebestperformingfighter in
compared ro the P-36. Perhaps most importantly, thesky,butitwasreiiable,itcarriedheavyarmament,
theAJli onengineproducedmaximumperforman e and ir could withsrand amazing amoum ofbattle
atan altitudeofjuSt15,000ft, which was far below damage andstill bring its pilot home afely. By the
the operational ceilingsofcontemporaryEuropean rime production ended in 1944, urtiss had bujlt
andJapane e fighters. This was not the fauJr ofthe more than 15,000 P-40sofall types. They flew for
engine 0 much as it was the product ofoutdated moreAJIiednationsthananyothercombatajrcraftof
thinking on the part ofthe Army, which till aw WorldWar2.
MajBruceHollowayfliesa76thFS shorr by the Pearl Harbor attack, so he rejoined rhe Army, bur he soon
P-40EnearKunmingin1942.The wangled an assignment ro China. Baumler finally arrived ar Chennaulr's
planelacksthe U.S.ARMYmarking
headquarters in Kunmingin May 1942,and the following month found
underitswings,indicatingthatit
maybeoneoftheAVGhand-me himattheAVG'seasternmosrbase,Hengyang,itchingForacrion. Hesoon
downs.Theblue76thFSfuselage gOtIt.
bandisbarelyvisible(8i/lJohnson) AsAVGengagementsgo, theairbartlenear Hengyangon 22Junewas
successful, but notextraordinary. At 1320 hrs, rhe Chinesewarning net
reported a force of 14 Japanese Ki-27 'Nare' fighrers bearing down on
Hengyang.AVG 2nd PSViceSquadron LeaderEd RectOrmadeacall for
help ro the lsr P , based at nearby Kweilin, and rhen pulled rogerher a
14 flighr of six P-40E Warhawks, including one flown by Baumler, ro
15
LJ.J Thegroup'sadvancedetachmentarrived at Kunmingon 15June, and OneofjustfiveAVGpilotswho :<J>
aZ the men were pleasanrly surprised by their new dury station. [n the acceptedinductionintotheUSAAF Gl
andstayedonwiththe23rdFG -0
cc foothills ofthe Himalayasatan altiwdeof6230 ft, Kunming had acool wasMajWesleySawyer,whoflew :J>
L«<fJl ..J. scIaitmatattehethnaotrwthaesranwenedlcoomfTeiereniiCefhfirhomLatkhee(JauJsnoechalelaetdoLfaIknediKa.uTnmheinagir)faienldd Hinethsceo7re6dthtwFSouvnictitloDrieescewmitbherth1e942. (((mIII'''lll
u:I: featured acrushed-s[Qne runway that was 6137 ft longand 375 ft wide AVGandonemoreinAugust1942 --I
withthe76thFS!DwayneTabattl :I:
m
running northeast [Qsouthwestso as [Q take advamageofthe prevailing
OJ
winds.ThecityofKunmingitself,siwatedaboutthreemilesnorth ofthe :J>
--I
airfield, was packed with refugees who had fled from Japanese-occupied a
Z
areasofChina.
The men, under thedirection ofAVG SquadronLeaderArvid Olson,
began workingalongsideAVG groundcrews in theirspecialities[Qlearn
their jobs as quickly as possible. More USAAF personnel arrived in the
days that followed and pitched in immediately. On 18 June the first
USAAF pilotsarrived in Kunming[Q begin trainingon theAVG P-40s
thatwould beturned over[Q them inafew weeks. Bythis timetheAVe
lieutenall( colonel or full colonel, and Chennault knew he needed
was down [Q JUSt 48 operational fighters - a mixwre ofearly model
someonewithfighterexperienceandanaggressivenature. Forwnately,he
P-40Bs(Curtissdesignation Hawk81-A2)and theremainsof35P-40Es
that began arrivingas replacements in late March. Obviously, the latter ColRobertLScott,seenhereinthe knewwhere[Qfind justsuchaman.
cockpitofaP-40E,commandedthe Col Robert LScott was a 34-year-old West Poill( graduate who had
aircraft had logged fewer hours than the older P-40s, but all had seen
23rdFGfrom mid-July1942until
spent mostofhis pre-warcareer flying fighters, butat this momell( was
heavyservicein theAVG. earlyJanuary1943.Hereturnedto
cooling his heels in the Assam-Burma-China Ferry Command, flying
theUSastheleadingaceinChina
NEWCOMMANDING OFFICER withtenconfirmedvictories,and transports from Dinjan, in India, across the 'Hump' in[Q China. In his
wentontowritethebest-selling sparetime,Scottused a P-40Eborrowedfrom theAVG to fly patrolsout
WhenChennaultlearnedthattheailingCulbertsonwould notbecoming
bookabouthisexperiencesinthe
ofDinjanoverthewestern portionofthe'Hump' route.Scottgothisnew
with the23rd FG [QChina, hehad [Qscramble[Qfind a newCO [Qlead CBI, GodIsMyCo-Pi/at
thegroup. Thecommand structurecalled for an officerwith the rank of (BillJohnson) assignmem [Q the 23rd FG on 20June and flew up [Q Kunminga week
later[Qbeginorganisinghisheadquarters.
Meanwhile, 4 July and the dissolution of the AVG were moving
inexorablycloser. Chennault[Qoks[Qckofthesituation and realised that
the23rd FG could nO[ possibly be ready[Q takeoverby thatdate. Hesat
down for heart-[Q-heart talks with someofhis most trusted AVG pilots
and eventually convinced five ofthem [Q stay on with him and accept
commissions in the USAAF. These men - Majs Frank Schiel, David L
'Tex' Hill, Edward F Rec[Qr, J Gilpin 'Gil' Bright and Capt Charles W
Sawyer - would give the new squadrons ofthe 23rd FG a hard core of
combatexperiencethatwould help[Qcarrythemthrough thedifficultfirst
five mOll(hsincombatinChina.
In addition, 18 AVG pilots agreed [Q delay their departure for twO
weeks following 4July, providing Chennault with justenough flyers [Q
hold the line until additional USAAF pilots arrived. Just as important,
33AVG ground personnelagreed [Q be inducted in[Q theArmyandstay
oninChinawith the23rdFG.Theirtechnicalskillsandexperiencewould
beofinestimablevaluein themOll(hsahead.
The 23rd FG suffered its first casualrysince arriving in hina on the
morningof3July 1942. PvtMarshall F F Brown wasservicingthewing
guns ofa P-40 at Kunming when another enlisted man working in the
cockpit accidell(ally tripped the trigger on the aeroplane's control
column. Brownwasstandingdirecrlyin frontofthefighter's twO0.30-cal
winggunswhen theyfired ashortburst.Two roundsstrucktheprivatein
the head, killing him instanrly. Brown was buried in the local cemetery
twOdayslater. 17
16