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Chennault: Giving Wings to the Tiger
A balanced, well-documented portrait of a brave and controversial airman who commanded a training air force for Nationalist China.
Born in rural Louisiana in 1893, Claire Lee Chennault worked as a teacher before joining the army and becoming a commissioned officer. Although he was initially rejected for flight school, he continued to apply and was finally accepted in 1918. He eventually became the lead pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps’ precision flying team. During this time, Chennault developed air-to-air combat techniques that he believed should play a decisive role in warfare. However, his opinion contradicted the official Air Corps policy that military aircraft be used primarily for strategic bombing. Chennault’s frustration and dissatisfaction with this stance was so great that when Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek offered him the opportunity to lead advanced fighter pilot training in China, he quickly left the American military and accepted the position in 1937. There he played a key role in the formation of the American Volunteer Group (AVG), popularly known as "the Flying Tigers." The aviators of the Flying Tigers fought against Japan on behalf of China before and during World War II. Early war newsreels showing them defending Burma mythologized the fighter pilots, and Chennault became a romantic hero to the American public. In 1942, the AVG was deactivated and Chennault returned to active duty with the Air Corps, but his disregard for traditional military procedure earned him many enemies among his peers and superiors and he eventually retired. This book was originally published in hardcover in 1987 by The University of Alabama Press. It was hailed as the best of several biographies of Chennault. Reference and Research Book News stated, "This book is of far better quality than the others previously released. The research employed by the author and the depth of detail give the reader an accurate picture of this controversial and charismatic man."
Born in rural Louisiana in 1893, Claire Lee Chennault worked as a teacher before joining the army and becoming a commissioned officer. Although he was initially rejected for flight school, he continued to apply and was finally accepted in 1918. He eventually became the lead pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps’ precision flying team. During this time, Chennault developed air-to-air combat techniques that he believed should play a decisive role in warfare. However, his opinion contradicted the official Air Corps policy that military aircraft be used primarily for strategic bombing. Chennault’s frustration and dissatisfaction with this stance was so great that when Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek offered him the opportunity to lead advanced fighter pilot training in China, he quickly left the American military and accepted the position in 1937. There he played a key role in the formation of the American Volunteer Group (AVG), popularly known as "the Flying Tigers." The aviators of the Flying Tigers fought against Japan on behalf of China before and during World War II. Early war newsreels showing them defending Burma mythologized the fighter pilots, and Chennault became a romantic hero to the American public. In 1942, the AVG was deactivated and Chennault returned to active duty with the Air Corps, but his disregard for traditional military procedure earned him many enemies among his peers and superiors and he eventually retired. This book was originally published in hardcover in 1987 by The University of Alabama Press. It was hailed as the best of several biographies of Chennault. Reference and Research Book News stated, "This book is of far better quality than the others previously released. The research employed by the author and the depth of detail give the reader an accurate picture of this controversial and charismatic man."
- GenresBiography
472 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 14, 2016
Born in 1893 Claire Lee Chennault was a complex individual yet history is full of such personalities. With the name Claire Lee he learned early on to take a stand, defend himself and brawl with the toughest. On a passive side he appreciated nature and was most relaxed fishing in the middle of a wild Louisiana swamp. Chennault was both a gentleman and a feisty individual, who held his composure when drinking hard liquor. Lt. General Chennault charted his own destiny in both western and eastern societies before his burial in Arlington national Cemetery.
Chennault attended LSU, as a member of the Corps of Cadets, receiving a premiere military background. To support his wife and future 8 children he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps to pursue his passion of aviation. During World War I he patiently served stateside.
Chennault was very competitive in all aspects of his life. Back in college I played bridge accumulating master points and therefore I smiled when Chennault stated one should not play bridge if they had to ask whose deal it was. The trained fighter pilot could also show a bit of humor, exemplified when he beat his sons in a contest and commented they might make good bomber pilots.
In the spring of 1937 at age 43, he retired from the U.S. Army Air Corps and sought private employment in China offering his consulting services to upgrade Chinese aviation. Although Chennault would long for his family he would never have household residence in America again. With China under attack from Japan, he set up an airbase in Kunming, China reporting directly to Madame and Generalissimo Chang Kai-shek, head of the Nationalist Chinese Army. His Kunming location grew into a clandestine private non-profit company called CAMCO with the approval of President Roosevelt. Some U.S. Army Air Corps personnel were allowed to officially depart from U.S. service and team up with Chennault. By the summer of 1941 (prior to Pearl Harbor) roughly 100 pursuit planes and 300 air personnel, known as the American Volunteer Group (AVG) were aligned with CAMCO.
When America entered World War II, Lt. Gen. Joseph Stilwell with an infantry background was put in charge of U.S. military operations in China. Chennault and his AVG operation were officially aligned with the U.S. military and his fighter pilots would now be referred to as the 14th Air Force “Flying Tigers”. Lacking free reign the feisty Chennault blatantly skirted the new chain of command and corresponded directly with President Roosevelt. This naturally infuriated his superiors Stillwell, Arnold and Marshall. To his credit Chennault was known as the “enlisted man’s officer” and received high praise from MacArthur.
In 1942 James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle and his squad of B-25 aircraft bombed Tokyo and headed to China for landing. The mission was so secret that Chennault was not briefed, for if he knew he could have set up a homing device or other method of communication. Chennault’s responsibilities expanded with the creation of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) at Kunming. He quickly established a friendship with missionary and OSS member John Birch.
The biography continues on with his second family in China. What I found particularly interesting was the post WWII era as Chennault played an active role trying to turn back Mao Tse-tung and the communist USSR during the Chinese Communist Revolution. The U.S. role or rather lack of American participation in the civil war is explained in depth. These chapters provide the reader with two books in one.
On a side note both of my grandfathers were born in the early 1890’s and served in combat on the Western Front in WWI. My parents born in the early 1920’s were part of the “Greatest Generation”. Chennault and Doolittle (born 1896) did not see action in WWI as they were in military aviation stateside, but they along with many other senior military officials from the latter two decades of the 19th Century played an active role in WWII. In some respect the “Greatest Generation” transcended two generations.
Chennault attended LSU, as a member of the Corps of Cadets, receiving a premiere military background. To support his wife and future 8 children he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps to pursue his passion of aviation. During World War I he patiently served stateside.
Chennault was very competitive in all aspects of his life. Back in college I played bridge accumulating master points and therefore I smiled when Chennault stated one should not play bridge if they had to ask whose deal it was. The trained fighter pilot could also show a bit of humor, exemplified when he beat his sons in a contest and commented they might make good bomber pilots.
In the spring of 1937 at age 43, he retired from the U.S. Army Air Corps and sought private employment in China offering his consulting services to upgrade Chinese aviation. Although Chennault would long for his family he would never have household residence in America again. With China under attack from Japan, he set up an airbase in Kunming, China reporting directly to Madame and Generalissimo Chang Kai-shek, head of the Nationalist Chinese Army. His Kunming location grew into a clandestine private non-profit company called CAMCO with the approval of President Roosevelt. Some U.S. Army Air Corps personnel were allowed to officially depart from U.S. service and team up with Chennault. By the summer of 1941 (prior to Pearl Harbor) roughly 100 pursuit planes and 300 air personnel, known as the American Volunteer Group (AVG) were aligned with CAMCO.
When America entered World War II, Lt. Gen. Joseph Stilwell with an infantry background was put in charge of U.S. military operations in China. Chennault and his AVG operation were officially aligned with the U.S. military and his fighter pilots would now be referred to as the 14th Air Force “Flying Tigers”. Lacking free reign the feisty Chennault blatantly skirted the new chain of command and corresponded directly with President Roosevelt. This naturally infuriated his superiors Stillwell, Arnold and Marshall. To his credit Chennault was known as the “enlisted man’s officer” and received high praise from MacArthur.
In 1942 James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle and his squad of B-25 aircraft bombed Tokyo and headed to China for landing. The mission was so secret that Chennault was not briefed, for if he knew he could have set up a homing device or other method of communication. Chennault’s responsibilities expanded with the creation of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) at Kunming. He quickly established a friendship with missionary and OSS member John Birch.
The biography continues on with his second family in China. What I found particularly interesting was the post WWII era as Chennault played an active role trying to turn back Mao Tse-tung and the communist USSR during the Chinese Communist Revolution. The U.S. role or rather lack of American participation in the civil war is explained in depth. These chapters provide the reader with two books in one.
On a side note both of my grandfathers were born in the early 1890’s and served in combat on the Western Front in WWI. My parents born in the early 1920’s were part of the “Greatest Generation”. Chennault and Doolittle (born 1896) did not see action in WWI as they were in military aviation stateside, but they along with many other senior military officials from the latter two decades of the 19th Century played an active role in WWII. In some respect the “Greatest Generation” transcended two generations.
April 3, 2013
Claire Lee Chennault was the colorful leader of the Flying Tigers, the famed volunteer group who served in China in the early days of America's involvement in World War II. Chennault should have been played by John Wayne in a movie. He was tough, compassionate, diplomatic, and brash, and he was a leader beloved of his men and hated or disrespected by much of the Army brass. The story of Chennault's brilliant approach to battling Japan in the air has been told in a variety of books and movies, usually focusing on the pilots and planes. But this book tells an equally exciting but ultimately disheartening story of the immense struggle Chennault underwent in trying to accomplish his task. Army and Army Air Force generals like Joe Stillwell, Hap Arnold, and George Marshall may not exactly have sabotaged Chennault's part of the war effort, but they certainly did little to help it, having little understanding and no respect for Chennault's ideas or for his close relationship with the Chinese people and their leader, Chiang Kai-Shek. While Chennault could be bull-headed and unwilling to see the larger picture, what comes across most strongly in this well-researched and fascinating book is the picture of a man forever stymied in doing what he felt was right. While the Flying Tigers material is fairly familiar to World War II students, the sections dealing with the later years of the war and then the post-war collapse of Nationalist China and Chennault's efforts to ward off the communist takeover of the country are far less well-known. Chennault comes across as a real man, a dynamo built on a very human frame. Mary Byrd has written an excellent biography, one that is frustratingly repetitive at times simply because the same frustrations kept happening over and over again to its subject.
March 10, 2020
Biography of Chennault life, his role in the Flying Tigers and how he created Air America and never gave up on the Chinese people who yearned to be free. I enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews