It's Christmas Day, 1941,
and 23-year-old American pilot,
Bill Reed, is stationed in an airbase near Rangoon.
His squadron have been told to expect an attack
and at 11am they get the signal to scramble.
Climbing into the airspace in Burma
he holds position with 4 other fighters over Rangoon.
They are at the controls of American Curtiss P-40B fighters.
Under the command of Claire Lee Chennault
known affectionately as “Old Leather Face”
Bill’s orders are to attack the enemy from above.
At 15,000 feet, he thinks he’s high enough.
The enemies are the Japanese, who up to now have been masters of the air
raining down hell on China and the Burma Road,
a vital supply line.
Bill is from Iowa.
The devastating attack upon Pearl Harbor
took place a little over a fortnight ago,
and it’s fresh in his mind.
Half an hour goes by.
Bill and his team scan the clouds for signs of approaching planes.
The Japanese were reportedly preparing to strike.
One of Bill’s team rocks his wings to show he's spotted something.
Scanning below Bill can see nothing.
Looking up into the sky though he sees them.
Dozens of enemy fighters and bombers loom over Bill’s patrol
at a few thousand feet above their current position.
Commander Chennault’s tactic of striking from the highest position goes out the window today.
Bill is going to have to play this very carefully.
The P-40s are at their best when flying above the enemy.
There are two .50-caliber machine guns on the nose
and a couple of .30-calibers on the wings.
Targeting is a challenge because the P-40’s gun sights are on the rudimentary side.
These aircrafts are at an advantage when bearing down,
relying on altitude and air speed
as the P-40 is a slow climber.
That isn’t an option for Bill today.
Instead he’ll have to rely on the sturdy build of the P-40,
as it’s going to have to take a lot of punishment.
Bill aims his plane at the heavens to get to the bombers.
But one of the Japanese escorting fighters sees the threat and heads to meet him.
It’s clear he’ll butt noses with the enemy.
Closing fast he opens fire on the Japanese fighter.
He’s on target peppering the fuselage with tracers
and it’s a critical hit.
On his way to the bombers, Bill engages in skirmishes with 2 other fighters.
But determinedly, he presses on.
The bombers are at 20,000 ft
and Bill engages them head on firing all of his guns.
But today luck is with the Japanese as his shots either miss the target
or don’t cause enough damage to stop them.
Streaking past the formation,
Bill throws the P-40 into a tight turn to get a second pass.
As he turns he spots another American pilot in trouble about a mile away,
beset by the Japanese.
Reed swoops in to help.
The dogfight spills out across the Andaman Sea in South Burma.
A spiraling dance and a bullet-strewn whirlwind of fighting ensues.
However no one could get shots on target.
With fuel running low, Bill and the other P-40 decide it’s time to break off
and get back to base.
While heading back home
the two P-40’s see 3 more Japanese fighters below them
heading back to base in Thailand.
Already low on fuel and over the sea,
they decide to chance their luck with yet another dogfight.
The two American planes, drop down behind the Japanese,
firing on them from behind,
Bill narrowly avoids a fiery end
as a Dragon explodes at close range right in front of him.
The other P-40 clips the wing of another Japanese plane
and it crashes into the sea below.
With one Japanese fighter left, Bill swooped lower away from it to escape.
Seeing even more Japanese fliers coming into view.
Bill checks the gas meter, which is critically low.
He realized he must get out of the sky as soon as possible,
otherwise he’s going to sputter out and crash into the sea.
He finally lands back on the airfield with barely a drop of fuel to spare.
Looking at his bird he realizes it’s covered in holes, saying later,
“These P-40s absorb lead like a sponge does water.”
He doesn’t realize it,
but Bill is part of a major victory against the Japanese today
with 15 fighters and 9 bombers being taken down.
The mood in America is somber this Christmas
after the shock and devastation of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
With some good news, the press have a frenzy with everyone wanting to hear
how this small band of American pilots have taken the fight to the Emperor's aviators.
The wounded America strikes back against the Empire of Japan.
But Bill isn’t exactly flying on behalf of the US.
While America is only just entering World War II,
he’s been on his own path for a while.
He traveled to China to be part of the American Volunteer Group, or AVG.
This brave and adventurous group of pilots and ground crew
are lured away from the US Army and Navy with promises of adventure,
better pay and bonuses for every Japanese plane they down.
The US authorized the sale of 100 P-40s to China
to help them in their fight against the Japanese,
but what was not made public was the American pilots and ground crew
who went with the planes.
President Roosevelt authorized the clandestine operation.
Commander Chennault was allowed to recruit Army and Navy pilots and crew
but as America wasn’t able to help officially
they had to “resign” from the military and join the endeavor
under a "commercial" agreement.
As such Bill and his pals are fighting for Chiang Kai-shek –
leader of the Republic of China.
Under the direction of Commander Chennault,
the servicemen helped the Chinese to build a fighting force in the air.
Japan had been inflicting heavy blows on China since the early 1930s,
and China needed the right kind of expertise to mount a defense.
While not in the air the AVG didn’t exactly behave like a military unit.
With no official uniforms and an odd kind of discipline,
many had long hair and sported facial hair.
Some had pet monkeys and gave the appearance of somewhat of a menagerie.
Many of the men drank frequently,
but when it came to performance in the air they were stone cold professionals.
The pilots became known not only for the shark motif painted on the noses of their planes,
but also the image of a cartoon tiger on the side of the planes.
A symbol of the name for which they will forever be associated...
the "Flying Tigers".
In 1942 and 1943, Chennault recruited and trained
Chinese pilots and air crew at a time when the world came together
to defeat a common enemy.
We’d like to thank one of our viewers, Kevin Chiao,
for supplying details of his Grandfather, Major General Fred Chiao,
who trained under Chennault and received the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart,
Air Service Medal, and Presidential Unit Citation from Franklin D. Roosevelt.
You can hear more of his story in an interview with him in the link in the description.
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