Though hard work and human perseverance, the Flying Tigers were able to detain Japanese advancement on Southern Asia and achieve astonishing success. The main purpose of the Flying Tigers was to protect the Burma Road, the vital and sole supply line of foreign defense equipment for China that runs from Rangoon to Kunming. (Wikipedia Combat History) On 12/20/1941, the Flying Tigers surprised ten Ki-48 bombers, eliminating four and forcing the rest of the bombers to return to base.(The History Channel Vol.1) During the next few days, the RAF along with the Flying Tigers destroyed 23 bombers in total, a bitter present on Christmas for Japanese. The Flying Tigers would continue to defend Rangoon until the Japanese wore them out by sheer numbers. Although there were only eight flyable tigers by the time the AVG retreated, they had imposed a toll of 50 Japanese aircraft while only losing 20 P40s. This shows that although the Japanese were better trained and had a numerical advantage, the Americans hung on and didn’t give up. This can be explained by the ideal that one has the ability to make a difference in his or her life, and those that signed up for the military in the first place usually want to influence the others. Although the Flying Tigers eventually had to abandon Rangoon and later Burma, the legacy they left behind demonstrated that even with colossal drawbacks, one can still manage to take on the opponent as skillfully and fiercely as possible. In addition to the high morale of soldiers, General Chennault’s commitment to stalling Japanese advancement in Asia resulted in an atypical way of fighting the Japanese.
Due to Chennault’s unusual way of fighting the lightweight and nimble Japanese aircraft, the Flying Tigers were able to impose the maximum damage on the Japanese Air Force as possible and eliminate an astonishing amount of Japanese fighter aircraft. The main fighters of the Japanese Air Force that the Flying Tigers faced were the Nakajima Ki-27 Nate and the Nakajima Ki-43 Oscar. The Japanese had a tremendous weight and maneuvering advantage, with the Nate at 4000lbs and Oscar at 5000lbs, compared to the 8000lbs of the P40. But as the Japanese aircraft were lightly built, they also had a lower top speed and firing range. The P-40s on the other hand had a higher diving speed, stronger body framework, and more mechanical power. Therefore, General Chennault developed a tactic—Attack the Japanese aircraft by first letting the P40s climb to high altitude and attack them on the way down. (Scott 61-65).He also forbid his pilots to engage in a turning and close combat fighting, since the airplanes would lose to the light and nimble Japanese planes. This “dive-and-zoon” tactic required a network of ground crew to catch Japanese planes early on, so that the P-40s would have sufficient time to climb up to higher altitudes.(Wikipedia Chennault fighter doctrine) Also by enforcing this tactic, Chennault was able to put the less trained pilots as ground crew and make the most out of the men he had. The ability of General Chennault to adapt to these tactics shows that skill and determination can outweigh the trained pilots and nimble Japanese fighters and that even if one is the underdog, determination and wit can make up for the disadvantages one might have. This is the cornerstone of the American Dream, which through diligence and resolution one has control over his or her surroundings. As long as one has the determination and implements it, there is no limit of possibilities of his or her life. General Chennault had observed the former Soviet Union using the similar tactics against the Japanese, and therefore he implemented them once again.(Scott 21) Chennault used the Japanese advantages against themselves by the “dive-and-zoom” tactic—since the Japanese aircraft were so lightly structured, they cannot withstand high-speed diving to go after the P40s, and minimized the Japanese aircraft advantage of maneuverability by going face to face in open fire with Japanese aircraft. The lightly armored Ki-27s and Ki-43s would be easier to penetrate with machine-gun fire, thus concentrating on another weakness of the Japanese aircraft. Because the Flying Tigers were very successful in defending Southern Asia and the only Americans fighting against the Japanese when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, they gained much public attention.( Flying Tigers: American Volunteer Group Par. 1)
The disproportionate amount of aircraft that the Flying Tigers shot down has let the group gain a mythical status. Even though the pilots and crew of the American Volunteer Group and the 1st Flying Tigers were all American, they were not formally recognized as part of the US armed services until 1991, when the Department of Veteran Affairs credited the American Volunteer Group as the first group of Americans to fight the Japanese in the Second World War. (Feltus Par.15) The Flying Tigers Line was the 1st cargo airline in the United States, named after the Flying Tigers. After the US formally engaged war with the Japanese, the nickname of “Flying Tigers” was inherited by the 14th air force, until the operations in China were succeeded by the 23rd Fighter Squadron.(Wikipedia Transition to the USAAF) There have been many questions about the number of Japanese aircraft shot down, ranging from 115 to over 1,500.(Ford X) The official US count is 299, which may be caused by the counting of a downed Japanese aircraft by two pilots who both claimed credit for eliminating the Japanese plane. The official Japanese count is 115(Ford 333-334), while others estimate that there were more planes destroyed on the ground and inflated the number, adding to the mythical status of the Flying Tigers. Whichever number it may be, the Flying Tigers were indeed a successful combat force in even the most conservative on numbers. The legend of the Flying Tiger lives on as “the handful of American pilots who met and bloodied the ‘Imperial Wild Eagles’ of Japan”.(Ford Back Cover)
The Flying Tigers were known for their legendary fight record and the first Americans to stand up and fight against the Japanese. By the extraordinary number of Japanese planes destroyed and the unique tactics of General Chennault for fighting the Japanese, the original Tigers have secured their place in history as one of the most well known fighter groups in American History. They have shown the American Dream; that anyone can achieve his or her goals by diligence and determination. They have shown that intellect can override the Achilles Heel. They have shown that we should fight, despite the arrangement of the board. They were the first to stand up against Japanese aggression, and although they weren’t official US pilots during the war, they secured a record in our nation’s history. Even as warfare today is relied on technology more than ever, Americans before us demonstrated that morale and perseverance can have a much greater impact than it seems.
Works Cited
Ford, Daniel. Flying Tigers: Claire Chennault and His American Volunteers, 1941-1942. Harper Collins Publisher, 1991.
Feltus, Pamela. "Claire Chennault and the Flying Tigers of WorldWar II - U.S. Department of Defense." U.S. Department of Defense Official Website. 20 Dec. 2005. 19 Mar. 2009 <http://www.defenselink.mil/home/articles/2005-12/a121905wm1.html>.
Flying Tigers/American Volunteer Group." Wikipedia-The Free Encyclopedia. 18 Mar. 2009. 19 Mar. 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_tigers>.
Flying Tigers: American Volunteer Group. 23 Feb. 2009. 19 Mar. 2009 <http://www.flyingtigersavg.com/index.htm>.
Scott, Robert Lee , Jr. Flying Tiger: Chennault of China. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood-Heinemann Publishing, 1973.
The History Channel, 2006. Youtube - dltmdgn's Channel. Jan. 2009. 21 May 2009 <http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=dltmdgn&view=videos>.
