Aerial Engagements of The Second Sino-Japanese War - 1943

1943

On 10 March 1943, Claire Lee Chennault was promoted to Major General, taking command also of the 14th Air Force, that was newly formed on 5 March 1943. On 19 March 1943, the CATF was incorporated into the United States Army as the 14th Air Force. The 10th and 14th Air Forces became the major American combat forces in the China-Burma-India theatre. The 14th Air Force took on the name of Flying Tigers. In the eight-month operations of the CATF from July 1942 to March 1943, they shot down 145 Japanese planes and 85 probables, and flew 65 bombing missions; they lost 16 P-40s and one B-25 Mitchell bomber.

In May 1943, the Japanese launched a ground offensive advancing into the area of Dongting Lake in northeastern Hunan and the region of the Yangtze River feeding to the lake. The objectives of the offensive were to secure the communication line and capture the fertile Chinese "Rice Bowl" region. To counter the Japanese offensive, both the 14th Air Force and the Chinese Air Force's 4th Air Group flying P-40s and P-43s provided air support to the Chinese ground troops. The 4th Group went into action on 19 May with 8 P-40Es and 4 P-43s escorting A-29 Hudson bombers over the enemy positions. On this mission, the Deputy Group Commander Xu Baoyun, flying a P-40E, was shot down by anti-aircraft gunfire. On 31 May Lieutenant-Colonel John Alison, an American ace and two USAAF wingmen led seven P-40s from the 4th Air Group escorting nine B-24 bombers to Yichang; Alison's P-40 was badly shot up by Captain Ohtsubo Yasuto, leader of the 1st Chutai (squadron) of the 33rd FR. Lieutenant Tsang Hsu-Lan, nicknamed "Bulldog" (plane No. 2304) of the 4th Group shot down Ohtsubo, saving Alison's life. Tsang was awarded the American Silver Star as well as China's highest decoration.

On 6 June, eight Japanese light bombers escorted by 14 fighters were on a raid on Liangshan. 13 P-40s from the Chinese Air Force led by Colonel Li Hsiang-yang were returning to Liangshan from a mission. Having just landed, Captain Chow Chin-kai, commander of the 23rd Squadron and veteran of many years combat ran from his P-40 to a P-66 parked nearby, and took off to attack the Japanese formation. While the Japanese fighters were strafing the airfield, Chow attacked the bombers and destroyed three. Despite Chow's heroic act, 12 P-40s and one fleet trainer were destroyed on the ground. Chow received the Blue-Sky-White-Sun (Chinese Nationalist emblem) award personally from Chiang Kai-shek.

By June 1943, the ground operations on the front of the "Rice Bowl" campaign were stabilized. In that campaign from 19 May to 6 June 1943, the Chinese Air Force flew on 336 fighter sorties and 88 bombing missions. The "Rice Bowl" campaign took its toll on the Chinese Air Force, which suffered heavy losses in combat and on the ground. At the end of the campaign the Chinese Air Force units numbered no more than a total of 77 combat aircraft, including seven A-29s, ten SBs, five P-40Es, nine P-43s and 46 P-66s, and of the total only 59 were serviceable. In May, the 14th Air Force received about 50 new P-40K, P-40M and P-40A fighters, and high altitude Lockheed P38 Lightning fighters in July, phasing out the old P-40s.

From July to September 1943, Japanese air units carried out concentrated attacks in three consecutive phases each targeting on a different area. The first phase from 22 July to 22 August concentrated on American air bases centered on Guilin, resulting in 50 American planes destroyed by the Japanese. The second phase began on 23 August, in which they targeted their attacks on Chongqing, Chengdu and eastern China air bases. At dawn on 23 August, 21 bombers escorted by 17 fighters took off from Hankou and were joined en route by another 14 fighters to strike an arsenal just to the west of Chongqing. A total of 29 fighters including ten P-40s, eight P-43s and 11 P-66s of the Chinese Air Force from the 4th and 11th Group at Peishiyi Airfield scrambled and took to the air to intercept. A flight of American fighters also scrambled from a distant air base but was too far to intercept. In the ensuing battle, the Japanese shot down two P-66s, one each of the P-40s and P-43s, and lost one bomber. The Chinese reported to have shot down three Japanese fighters and five bomber probables. In the third phase beginning in September, the Japanese resumed their attacks on targets in Guilin and Yunnan.

As a part of the 14th Air Force, Chennault created a special unit known as the Chinese-American Composite Wing (CACW) under his command. The CACW comprised the 1st Bomber Group, and the 3rd and 5th Fighter Groups with American pilots, and Chinese pilots from the Chinese Air Force, as well as American and Chinese ground crews. Since many of the Chinese pilots were young pilots of the Chinese Air Force, who had recently returned after completion of their training in the United States, lacking any combat experience, the unit was under an American commander, assisted by a staff of Chinese officers. The CACW was officially formed on 31 July 1943, and activated on 1 October 1943. The newly formed CACW were sent to Karachi, India, where they were re-equipped with B-25s and new P-40Ns, and trained under American supervision.

On 25 November 1943, six B-25s from the 2nd Bomber Squadron of the CACW took off from Guilin at 6 am and staged through Suichwan, where they were refueled and joined by eight B-25s of the 11th Bomber Squadron and 16 fighter escorts of P-38s and P-51s from the 23rd Fighter Group of the 14th Air Force to attack Japan's largest air base in Taiwan, hitting a parking area, hangars, barracks, and buildings. The formation crossed the Taiwan Strait, flying at low altitude and caught the Japanese unprepared. 32 Japanese planes were destroyed in the air and on the ground while the Chinese did not lose a single plane. Seeing no opposing interceptors and only minimum anti-aircraft gun fire, Lieutenant Colonel Irving Branch of the CACW led his flight of bombers on a sweep down low strafing the airfield. The raid was the most successful thus far in the history of the 14th Air Force. Branch was awarded a Distinguish Flying Cross.