Aerial Engagements of The Second Sino-Japanese War - 1941

1941

After withdrawing its volunteer pilots from China in the summer of 1940, the Soviet Union continued to supply aircraft to China until June 1941. Fighting continued on the northern front near Lanzhou, which was the Chinese terminus of the Chinese-Soviet transportation route. Chinese pilots were left to defend the northern front against Japanese air attacks.

On 21 May 1941 eight I-15s of the 21st Squadron and one I-15 from the 29th Squadron flying in 2 formations on patrol encountered 27 Japanese bombers over Lanzhou. The first group of I-15s led by Squadron Commander Chen Sheng-hsing shot down one of the Japanese Mitsubishi G3M long rang bombers and damaged another. On 22 May, 25 Japanese G3M bombers from the unit of Mihoro Kokutai were on a morning raid on Lanzhou. Seven Chinese I-16s of the 24th Pursuit Squadron and one Tupolev SB bomber of the 9th Bomb Squadron were ordered to disperse. Due to bad weather, the I-16s landed at Chung Chuan Chun Airfield just north of Lanzhou. As the Japanese bombers were sighted overhead, one of the I-16s flown by Kao You-hsing having just landed with the engine still running, took off to attack the Japanese planes, and shot down a G3M bomber flown by Lieutenant Shin-Taro Hashimoto and damaged another. The remaining six I-16s were able to take off and dispersed. On 26 May, Japanese fighters encountered 18 I-15s from the 29th Pursuit Squadron flying from Gansucheng to Lanzhou; two I-16s were shot down, both pilots bailing out, and the other 16 I-16s were destroyed on the ground when they landed for refuelling.

Since World War II erupted in Europe on 1 September 1939 after Nazi Germany invaded Poland, the United States had maintained its neutrality until the unanounced Japanese air attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. In October 1940, China appealed to American president Franklin D. Roosevelt to allow the sale of military aircraft to China and the recruitment of American pilots for the resistance war against the Japanese invasion. In December, Washington approved China's request to recruit American pilots who would resign from U.S. military services and volunteer to serve in the Chinese Air Force. On 11 March 1941, the U.S. passed the Lend-Lease Act, which permitted the U.S. government to provide war equipment and material to Britain, France and other allied countries. In April, this policy was extended to China as well.

In August 1941, American Lockheed Hudson A-29 bombers arrived in China (22 planes turned over to Chinese Air Force). The Chinese 9th and 30th Bomber Squadrons were re-equipped with the Hudson A-29. In October 1941 the 9th Bomber Squadron was combat ready and flew bombing missions on Yuncheng, Shanxi, Hankou and other Japanese-occupied cities in China.

The American Volunteer Group, known as the Flying Tigers, was officially formed on 1 July 1941, consisting of 3 squadrons of 30 planes each under the direct control and command of Claire Lee Chennault. In August, through the efforts of Chennault, 100 American volunteer pilots and about 200 mechanics and ground personnel were recruited. Curtiss-Wright Company also agreed to provide China 100 Curtiss Tomahawk P-40Bs, which had previously been rejected by Britain and later allocated to Sweden.

The Flying Tigers began to train in September 1941 in Taungoo, Burma. On 12 December 1941 the 3rd Squadron stationed in Rangoon joined the British Royal Air Force in defense of Rangoon. The 1st and 2nd Squadrons were sent to Kunming on 18 December, guarding Kunming and the Chinese section of the Burma Road against Japanese air attacks. On 20 December the Flying Tigers saw first action in the skies of Kunming when the 1st and 2nd Squadrons intercepted a formation of Japanese planes on a bombing raid; the Flying tigers shot down nine of ten Japanese bombers and lost one P-40. Three days later, the Flying Tigers' 3rd Squadron inflicted comparable damage on a formation of Japanese planes on a bombing raid to Rangoon. For the next six months aerial battles of Flying Tigers' P-40s with Japanese Zero fighters were regular sights in the skies over south Yunnan and Burma.

When Rangoon fell to Japanese forces in early March 1942, Chennault withdrew all Flying Tigers squadrons to the base at Kunming. The Japanese Zero fighter was more maneuverable as compared to the Flying Tigers's P-40. However, the skills of the Flying Tigers' pilots were able to take advantage of the fast diving speed of the P-40s to gain an edge over the lighter Japanese Zero fighters. The American Volunteer Group was officially disbanded on 4 July 1942 when its one-year contract expired. The Group celebrated its final day by shooting down five Japanese fighters over Hengyang and escorting B-25 bombers of the United States Army Air Forces to bomb the Japanese air base at Guangzhou. In the short period of some six months from 20 December 1941 to the beginning of July 1942, when the one-year contract of the American Volunteer Group expired, the Flying Tigers had flown on more than 50 combat missions, destroying 299 Japanese planes including bombers, A6M Zero and Nakajima Ki-43 fighters, and 153 probables; the Flying Tigers lost 12 planes in air battles and 61 on the ground; 13 pilots were killed and three were captured as prisoners of war. Those were incredible records in aerial combat.