Historical information about the Flying Tigers

Communication and historical information

Since mainland Chinese residents had never seen a shark, they mistakenly called these aircraft "Flying Tigers". A newspaper in Kunming used the term "Flying Tigers" One word to describe the volunteer team's aircraft. After the Chinese translator in the aviation team saw it, he told Chennault the name which he translated as "Flying Tiger", so the aviation team was named "Flying Tigers".

In terms of investment, the Flying Tigers are definitely a pure mercenary force: According to the contract signed between the Republic of China government and American pilots, each pilot can receive a lot of compensation. The pilot's monthly salary is US$600, the squad leader's monthly salary is US$650, and the squadron leader's monthly salary is US$700. In addition, there is a $500 bonus for each Japanese aircraft shot down. In comparison, one year later, the maximum monthly salary of a U.S. Army Air Force pilot would be only $347.

Not only that, the living standards of these Flying Tigers members in China were so high that ordinary Chinese at the time could not imagine. According to Chennault's request, the Nationalist Government "should provide each pilot with a single room... provide separate, independent bathrooms and toilets for all personnel... provide game and entertainment rooms for every fifty people. These rooms should have card tables, Game table or ping pong table.” What is actually provided to these people is the service of a star hotel.

This standard continued after the US military came to China to participate in the war, and became a heavy burden for various places: the US military in Kunming alone consumed about 100 cattle every day. Kunming once slaughtered all local cattle to supply meat to the US military, but later had to switch to buffalo meat to continue supplying. Until later, when even buffalo could not be supplied, the Chinese army managed to provide a lot of yak meat to the US military.

When the Flying Tigers came to China, the Eastern Continent was mysterious and attractive to these pilots. Likewise, to the Chinese military and civilians, these people who had traveled across the ocean were Young people find them equally novel. However, the language barrier has become an obstacle to language communication between the two sides. In order to express their respect for these young people who fought in aid of China, the Chinese military and civilians gave a thumbs up and said "ding hao". These pilots liked this slogan and gesture very much. They often gave thumbs up and said "ding hao" to each other with the local military and civilians. This became a popular language and action among the local military and civilians and Flying Tigers members at that time. Some The pilots even wrote the pinyin of this slogan on the plane and on promotional posters.

When the Flying Tigers came to China, color cameras had just been invented. During their exchanges with the Chinese military and civilians, they used color cameras to take pictures of China's customs and customs at that time, which became valuable historical data of color photos. Moreover, the Flying Tigers also brought Coca-Cola and spread it all over the country. Deep friendship

When members of the Flying Tigers perform missions, they also carry the "Aid China and War Banners" with them. When fighting the Japanese army, you will encounter situations where the pilot is injured or shot down, and the pilot parachutes. After the Flying Tigers pilots parachuted to the ground, they were often rescued by local people and helped injured pilots heal. Then find a way to organize personnel to return the pilots to the Flying Tigers' base. In order to protect these pilots who were aiding China as much as possible, the Kuomintang government at that time is said to have issued a notice that anyone who rescued the pilots who were aiding China at that time and escorted them back to the Kuomintang government or the Flying Tigers' military base, etc., would receive generous rewards. and rewards. Rescue pilots are also dangerous. After a Flying Tigers pilot crashes and parachutes, sometimes the Japanese army will follow him to search for traces of the parachuting pilot. After the Flying Tigers pilot is rescued and hidden by local people, the local people face questioning from the Japanese army. , without disclosing the whereabouts of the rescued pilots. Sometimes the injured Flying Tigers pilots could not be caught, and the local people would become targets of revenge and be persecuted. It is said that a pilot was injured and was rescued by people in a local village after parachuting. He hid in the village to recover. The Japanese army failed to find the pilot, so they gathered young and old in the village together and threatened to kill everyone in the village if the pilot's whereabouts were not revealed. Death, the result was fruitless, and in the end several people in the village met with murderous hands. During those war-torn years, it was this kind of expressive emotion that forged a deep friendship between the members of the Flying Tigers and the soldiers and civilians of the Anti-Japanese War.

Return visit from veterans

After the disbandment, most of the pilots of the volunteer team returned to the United States.

Almost all of them have a characteristic: they will paint the "Flying Tiger" logo or the shark mouth pattern on the P-40 fighter jets on their belongings to remember these fighting years. Various types of P-40 series aircraft participated in combat operations on all major battlefields of World War II and are important collections in the aviation museum. During World War II, Japan produced 13,738 such aircraft, and there are still more than 70 in the hands of museums and collectors.

These "Flying Tigers" that once soared in the blue sky have retired, and the once young pilots have gradually aged and disappeared. Many years later, the veterans who were still in the volunteer team and their descendants visited their hometown. Although with the passage of time and development, some once familiar places have changed their appearance, some buildings still retain their original appearance. When these reflected in the eyes of the veterans, they could not hide their excitement and were filled with emotions. Maybe As they say - their youth and memories are here... There are overseas Chinese from Wuyi in the team

According to Cai Hetian, director of the Taishan Museum, during the Anti-Japanese War, many overseas Chinese from Taishan participated in the American Chennault Some of the "Flying Tigers" formed were pilots of the "Flying Tigers" and some were ground staff of the "Flying Tigers". Among the more than 2,000 "Flying Tigers" members led by Chennault that year, about 90% were Chinese Americans, and the vast majority of them were descendants of Chinese who came to the United States from Taishan, Enping, and Kaiping, especially the U.S. Army Air Forces Basically, the ground crew members of the 14th Air Service Group are originally from Guangdong.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States officially entered the war, and the U.S. Congress passed the conscription bill in early 1942. At that time, more than 20,000 Chinese-American youths in the United States were recruited into the military. In the European, Pacific, and Asian battlefields, more than 1,300 Chinese-American soldiers were organized into the 14th Service Group, which was mainly Chinese, and were dispatched to the Chinese battlefield. Support the U.S. 14th Air Force in operations.

It should be noted that because the Chinese are accustomed to referring to all US military units in China as the Flying Tigers, even though the Flying Tigers were disbanded at that time, the Chinese are still used to referring to the US Air Force Task Force in China. The Fourteenth Air Force is known as the Flying Tigers.

Nowadays, most of the members of the "Flying Tigers" from Taishan have passed away. There is a "Flying Tiger Pavilion" built in Taishan City, Guangdong Province. This pavilion was built in March 1991 and is located 2 kilometers northeast of Taishan City. The Shihuashan Scenic Area, known as the "Eight Scenic Spots of Taishan", was built by the Taishan Overseas Friendship Association with donations from more than 10 Chinese-American pilots including Liang Bingcong, a former "Flying Tigers" air force captain whose ancestral home was Chengnan Village, Taicheng Town, Taishan.

The Imprint of Yangtang——The Immortal Past of the Flying Tigers

The Yangtang Airport at the foot of Jigong Mountain in Lingui Yangtang Industrial Park is already the Flying Tigers in Guilin The only remaining architectural remains, the outline of the airport can be vaguely discerned. Back then, this was an important forward base for the Chinese and American air forces to fight side by side and crack down on Japanese bandits. From the second half of 1941 to September 20, 1944, tens of thousands of Guilin people served at the base, leaving behind traces of their youth that they can be proud of.

Seventy years have passed, and a brand new memorial hall has been built. The past events of that year still shine with immortal glory.

Thousands of Guilin people are building Yangtang Airport

A few days ago, reporters came to Chennault's Flying Tigers command post. The command post is located in a cave on the mountainside next to the airport runway. There is a white stone carving on the mountain wall with several very eye-catching characters in Chinese and English: "Old Site of the Flying Tigers Command Post 1943.12-1944.9". The trees below the words are lush and cover the entrance to the command post. The entire cave covers an area of ??three to four hundred square meters. The cave wall is engraved with an overview of the Flying Tigers in Guilin.

There is a large stone outside the entrance of the cave. On the stone is engraved "General Chennault's War Watching Stone" written in Chinese and English by General Chennault's wife Chen Xiangmei. Back then, Chennault stood on this rock to watch his soldiers depart and return. If analyzed from a military perspective, the east and west peaks can serve as natural barriers. The open stretches in the north and south are suitable for aircraft takeoff and landing. Although the clearance conditions are relatively poor, it is an ideal place for a military airport that is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Yangtang Airport was favored by the Central Aviation Commission and its consultant Chennault, and it underwent three large-scale expansions in 1939, 1940 and 1941.

There was no machinery or power for the construction. Thousands of farmers from various counties participated. Every village was ordered to arrange personnel. They built huts and bamboo houses and lived near the airport.

Long Fuxu, an old man from Xiaoshantou Village, built an airport and served as a farm soldier. He is known as the "airport expert". When the runway was being expanded, he was one of the contractors in his 20s. The old man recalled the past scenes to his descendants more than once: "At that time, we first leveled the hills of the airport, then dug the foundation under the big runway, put a layer of large stones as the bottom, then a layer of medium stones, and another layer of stones on the surface. Because there is no cement, small gravel mixed with yellow mud can be used to pave the road. It was not until the later stage of the airport construction that it was changed to a mixture of lime, yellow mud and sand. This unique road surface causes dust to fly on the runway of Yangtang Airport whenever a plane takes off or lands.

Due to the need to take off and land heavy bombers, the runway surface must be hard enough. Without any mechanical equipment, migrant workers like Long Fuxu could only pull a giant roller weighing several tons of reinforced concrete back and forth to compact it. Liu Fusheng, an old man from Liu Village, also participated in such a project. There were three types of stone mills used at that time: large, medium and small. A group of medium-sized stone mills was usually more than 70 people, and a group of large stone mills was 120 people. The old man once said: "We are singing chants and rolling stones at the same time, which is quite interesting."

Limited by backward production technology, many migrant workers will be killed or injured almost every time they open mountains to remove stones, but we all Still actively involved in the construction of the airport, completing great projects one after another, providing the most basic conditions for fighter planes to destroy the invaders.

On June 11, 1942, Chennault personally led the Flying Tigers from Kunming to Guilin with 4 P-40E and 8 P-40B Warhawk fighter jets. When the handsome fleet appeared at low altitude, Guilin citizens waved and cheered.

The Flying Tigers fought a fierce battle with the Japanese army the day after they arrived at Yangtang

The next day, the Flying Tigers ushered in their first fierce battle.

At 5:25 in the morning, the roar of engines shook the earth, and a large formation of 21 Japanese aircraft approached the sky above Guilin. The well-trained Flying Tigers immediately took off to fight. The Japanese plane had just arrived over Yangtang Airport when Bond's crew suddenly climbed up, passed through the enemy fighter group, and flew straight towards the bomber group in the center. A volley of machine gun fire caught the enemy bombers off guard and attempted to escape. Dick, a member of Bond's crew, shot down an enemy plane at lightning speed, and Bob and John also hit two enemy planes with perfect shots.

Bond bit the tail of a bomber and opened fire at the shooter's position on the tail. Unexpectedly, five of his six machine guns were silenced, and the fuselage was hit repeatedly. He quickly avoided enemy fire and prepared to reload. However, the cooling device of the aircraft was hit and it plunged to the ground. It was not until it reached a low altitude of 600 meters that he finally leveled the fuselage. However, a Japanese fighter jet still bit him tightly. At this time, Bond's fighter's oil pressure gauge dropped to zero, and the instrument panel emitted thick smoke due to the lack of oil, making it impossible to continue fighting. Seeing that the skydiving height was not high enough, Bond forced the plane to land in a rice field and was seriously injured but managed to escape death.

While Bond's crew was luring the enemy, the rest of the crew was also entangled with Japanese fighter jets. The Flying Tigers' fighter jets leaped into the air and plunged vertically. The machine guns rattled and sparks shot out. The air battle was very fierce.

After the battle, 11 enemy aircraft were shot down. The Flying Tigers lost two aircraft, and both pilots returned to base safely.

The "Flying Tigers" at Hanzhong Airport

During the Anti-Japanese War, Hanzhong was an important town in the rear area. Japanese planes took off from Wuhan and went up the Han River, often coming to Hanzhong for reconnaissance, harassment and bombing. Part of the "Flying Tigers" led by U.S. Air Force General Chennault was stationed in Hanzhong. Their barracks is located in the northwest outside the city, and can be reached from the northwest corner of the North Campus in the city. At that time, there was a well rope hanging down from the city wall to the outside of the city. By climbing along the well rope, one could go up and down freely to the barracks. During their time in Hanzhong, the American "Flying Tigers" left behind extremely rare video materials. These photos not only become clear evidence of the participation of Hanzhong citizens in the Anti-Japanese War, but also serve as precious historical materials for studying the architecture and urban development of Hanzhong during the Republic of China.