The Flying Tigers were the American Volunteer Group, or AVG, a force of volunteer pilots and ground crew who flew in China early in World War II. The AVG was organized by then-Col. Claire Chennault, a retired U.S. Army Air Corps fighter pilot, at the behest of the Nationalist Chinese government.
Outside aviation circles, most Americans don’t know of them but in China they are national heroes. “Even small children know who they are,” said Larry Jobe, president of the Flying Tigers Historical Organization, which is working to build a museum dedicated to the Flying Tigers in China’s Yunnan Province, in one of the caves they used as a base during the war.
The idea for creating the museum was born during a 2006 tour of aviation facilities in China led by Jobe, a retired airline pilot who organizes the tours. One stop was the cave.
The tour group included men who had been Flying Tigers and Chinese who recounted stories of the pilots who defended them. The Chinese returned the favor by hiding pilots who had been shot down from the Japanese, risking death if they were caught.
“It was a very moving experience,” Jobe recalled. “We stood on the rock where Chennault stood to watch the battles in the valley below.”
According to tour participant turned museum founder Maj. Gen. James Whitehead Jr., USAAF retired, the area is being developed rapidly. “There was a sign near the city that described all the development that they planned to do. They have beautiful buildings there, but we realized that we couldn’t let the cave be lost. We have to preserve it,” Whitehead commented.
The AVG was established in 1941 to fight the Japanese in Burma and China. For seven months prior to the United States’ entry into the war, the Flying Tigers flew against the Japanese forces. Very often outgunned and outnumbered, the pilots relied on surprise, mobility and the unorthodox tactics developed by Chennault to outwit the enemy. The group flew Curtiss P-40s decorated with a shark mouth and eyes on the nose. The squadron insignia, a tiger with blue wings leaping out of a blue V, was designed by Walt Disney.
After America entered the war, the Flying Tigers name was used by the 14th Army Air Force. From December 1941 to September 1945, the Flying Tigers – both the AVG and 14th Air Force – shot down 2,600 Japanese military planes and destroyed 44 warships.
“The Flying Tiger Heritage Park will honor and remember all U. S. personnel who served in China during the Second World War,” Jobe stated. “The Chinese do not distinguish between flying forces but rather consider all airmen who served in China to be Flying Tigers, everyone from ground crews to fighter pilots, bomber and transport pilots.”
The project has the support of Chinese government and tourism officials, Jobe said. “Originally, we asked them for 15 acres to build the Heritage Park on. They came back and offered us 300 acres. They will also be contributing $3 million dollars to the project. It’s up to us Americans to raise an additional $400 thousand to make it happen.”
For more information: FlyingTigerHeritagePark.com.
Images courtesy Larry Jobe, Flying Tigers Historical Organization