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ANNALS OF THE FLYING TIGERS
One of the most interesting bits in The Shadow Tiger is an account of the Hawk 75 and Claire Chennault's supposed combat victories in China. With the kind permission of Billy McDonald III, I have copied that page and published it here as Billy McDonald and the Hawk 75 with a wonderful photo of the two pilots and the fixed-gear export fighter, based on an airframe that would evolve into the legendary P-40 Tomahawk flown by the Flying Tigers.
And Barret Tilman sent along this fascinating image from the Naval Aviation
Museum's Facebook page. It's a memo by Admiral Chester Nimitz about his
August 18, 1941, meeting with Frank Knox, the secretary of the navy; Lauchlin
Currie, the young economist who all but ran the American Volunteer Group
from the White House; Admiral Harold Stark, the chief of naval operations;
and other worthies to discuss the recruitment of pilots by the Central
Aircraft Manufacturing Company. As I make it out, the memo says: "Today
in SecNav's office - conferred with Mr Currie, Stark, Ramsey, Beatty -
re CAMCO - matters. SecNav directed that all officers - Navy and Marine
Corps who had applied for resignations - should be let go for CAMCO.
Subsequently in my office - Mr Currie - Lynch and I agreed that if we
released a total of 63 (Navy and Marine) officers - he would be satisfied
for the present. C.W. Nimitz."
Satisfied for the present, indeed! Currie would soon be back in hopes of recruiting an all-Navy 3rd American Volunteer Group to join the others in January 1942.
Nice photos and story on the Xinhua website about a restored Douglas C-47 in U.S. Army Ferry Command warpaint, landing at Kunming after crossing the infamous Hump of the Himalyas that claimed so many American and Chinese lives during the 1940s. The plane is destined for the Flying Tigers Heritage Park in Guilin. Blue skies! — Daniel Ford
A 'Special Air Unit' for China:
Recruiting the 1st AVG: Bruce Leighton's memo
Recruiting the 2nd AVG: the Chennault-Soong cables
Greg Boyington resigns from the Marine Corps
Sgt. Charland Down Under
Bob Klemann signs on to fly a Lockheed Hudson for China
Another chaplain? 'Jimmy' Stewart's odd story (Time magazine)
FDR orders the navy to release men for the 3rd AVG
Six B-25s for Chennault, bombing Lashio en route
Lauchlin Currie: a spy at the heart of the AVG?
Meet Olga and Harvey Greenlaw
About those 'engineering helpers'
See also the Annals of the Chinese Air Force
The Tigers forge a legend:
Roster of the 1st American Volunteer Group
Lacy Mangleburg writes home from Hamilton Field
'Your resignation is accepted' (George Burgard's scrapbook)
'He has crashed up three planes in the first week'
AVG fliers who crashed in U.S. Army service
An AVG identification card
Lew Bishop writes home from Burma
Three who died: the graves of St. Luke's
Status of the AVG at the outbreak of war
Layout of Mingaladon airport, Rangoon, December 1941
Aircraftman Wilf Jepson of the AVG
Bob Neale in Rangoon (from his diary)
'What Odds They Faced in Burma's Sky!'
Jack Newkirk, down in Thailand
On the tactics used by AVG pilots (Erik Shilling)
Bert Christman: life imitating art (Andrew Glaess)
Greg 'Pappy' Boyington, Flying Tiger
Arnold Shamblin writes home from Yunnan-yi
Melvin Woodward's memories of the AVG
Some of the lads at Kunming (Clare Boothe Luce's photo)
AVG pilot losses, December 1941 - July 1942
AVG victory credits, air and ground
Nineteen Flying Tiger aces
The P-40 files:
Pilot's Notes for the AVG Tomahawk
A Russian view of the P-40 Tomahawk
100 Hawks for China: the planes shipped to Rangoon
Assembling and testing P-40s in Burma (Byron Glover)
On spinning the Curtiss fighters (Erik Shilling)
Number 80 does a ground loop at Toungoo
Christman's nose art for the 2nd Squadron Tomahawks
R.T. Smith's iconic photo of Tomahawks on patrol
Is this Tomahawk Number 23?
Some AVG 'veterans' in Kunming, c. 1943
About those small-mouthed P-40 survivors
Mac McGarry's Tomahawk in Thailand
Recovering that P-40 from Lake Kunming
The Bill Pawley files:
The CAMCO/AVG factory and airfield at Loiwing
Layout of the CAMCO operation
The fall of Loiwing, April 1942
Books etc.:
The Lady and the Tigers
Remains: A Story of the Flying Tigers
An AVG bibliography
Books reviewed on this site | recommended titles
A short guide to AVG films, past and present
'The Story of the 14th Air Force' (streaming video)
Wow! Bam! Flying Tigers Comix! | Les Tigres Volants
A good myth never dies:
'Straight from the Tiger's Mouth!' (GM advertisement)
Ajax Baumler, the 100th Flying Tiger
No, sorry, the AVG never met the Zero in combat
Did the RAF 'sell' victories to the AVG?
1,500 planes shot down? The ultimate AVG myth
Chris Shores on the subject of AVG victory claims
Ed McClure: The Last Flying Tiger Ace (Zeke Striker)
The exfiltration of Mac McGarry (Bob Bergin)
The strange journey of "Little Olson"
Not a Tiger: an imposter 'fesses up
What about that 'phantom P-40' shot down in China?
It's official: the AVG fought for the U.S.
The multiple weddings of Olga Greenlaw
Harvey Greenlaw in Baja: a friend remembers
Erik Shilling, off on his last flight
Hostel Number One and the Hump Bar, Kunming
Tiger Yee of Aurora, Colorado
Preserving the Flying Tiger Heritage (Bob Bergin)
Heroes—but were they legal? (Richard Dunn)
A ghostly airfield in Yunnan province (Bob Bergin)
Question? Comment? Newsletter? Send me an email. Blue skies! — Daniel Ford
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Posted November 2016. Websites © 1997-2016 Daniel Ford; all rights reserved.