The morning after, the years ahead

In 1952 the CAF began to receive its first Privateers which were initially seen abandoned at the US Shangri La Navy Station, south of Manila. In March, 12 air crews from the 8th Heavy bombardment Group were ferried by two C-46s to Luzon. They were led to the bone yard of the base, a dozen PB4Y-2S long-range patrol bombers under the "as it is" condition were waiting for them. As an effort to bring the 8th BG back to FOC status, these Convair Privateers would replace its Consolidated Liberator relics on a squadron-to-squadron basis.

As an entire replacement of the 8th's B-24Ms was not immediately available, the PB4Y-2s had to be repaired as fast as possible and ferried back to Taiwan. But, getting them back in the air had not been easy, for it took combined efforts of many specially-trained technicians and lots of contributions to keep these vintage bombers airworthy. After one week of superhuman efforts, by applying the similar experience on the B-24Ms, all 12 Privateers emerged as a painstaking restored tribute to all the PB4Ys that had seen combat in World War II. Without proper tools and spare parts, these monsters were temporally repaired to the flyable level. After a three hours flight, the Chinese Privateers landed safely at the Jiayi AFB, while the 8th's home base Xinzhu had it's strips rebuilt then.

In 1954-56 besides the foregoing impressive heavies supplied under the Military Aid Program terms, further 26 units were transferred to the 8th, which comprised of the 33rd, 34th, and 35th BSs based at Xinzhu AFB. Struggled to maintain its Liberator remnants and a Liberator Express C-87 duo, fortunately the 8th began beefing up its strength to defend the Free China in Taiwan. Discharged in 1961, the PB4Y was the last four engine bomber operated by the CAF.

Soviet Volunteer Group in China

One of the significant Soviet-made battle aircraft during the Sino-Japanese War was the Ilyushin DB-3 long range bomber. The partially developed DB-3 had no occasion for combat in Spain, so Stalin decided to give the new weapon a test in China. Acquired through the Chinese-Soviet trade agreements of 1937, 12 DB-3s were delivered to the CAF 8th Heavy Bombardment Group from Oct 1937 to Dec 1938. These twin-engined bombers were received in the desert city Lanzhou, wherein the 8th finished its conversion training, then ferried the new flotilla to Chengdu in mid-Oct 1939. Meanwhile the Soviet Volunteer 2nd Bombardment Group’s 24 DB-3s stationed in Lanzhou and Chengdu.

The 1939 period of Chinese aerial combat was characterized by the change from defensive operations to active tactics, with the DB-3s attacked Japanese air bases and transport proceeding on the Yangtze River. It gave great support to the Chinese army and carried out its blows against the superior Japanese forces under arduous conditions. 0900, Oct 3, 9 DB-3s of the 2nd BG each loaded ten 300 lb high explosion bombs took off from Taipingsi airfield in Chengdu, heading for Japanese occupied Wangjiadun airfield in Hankou. On this visit 40 of 100 Japanese aircraft grounded were destroyed, and the raiders inflicted no damage.

20 DB-3s went off for the 2nd‘s second strike over Hankou on Oct 14. Each bomber carrying high explosive, 14 kg shrapnel, and 50 kg incendiary bombs took off at 0830. The first 11 ships formation led by Cpt. G. A. Kulishenko (CO of the 2nd) and second 9 ships formations led by N. A. Kozlov (the 2nd‘s second-in-command) reached the target at 1155 and 1230, respectively. Their bombardier got a good sight and put their ordnance in the middle of the rows of some 30 twin-engined bombers. Over 50 of the 70 plus aircraft were engulfed in a sea of flames. During the subsequent 20 minutes violent chase, 3 of the 9 interceptors were destroyed, while 1 DB was brought down. Still under their parachutes, 2 of the 3 crewmen were riddled by the Japanese strafing in midair, only the pilot Navlienk survived. Afterward the crippled CO ship ditched on the Yangtze in Sichuan, with badly wounded Kulishenko killed onboard.

In total 322 Russian bombers were sent to China in 1937-41, including Ilyushin DB-3, Tupolev TB-3, and Tupolev SB-2 Katyushka, which were replaced by the Lockheed A-29A Hudson maritime patrol bomber in 1942.

Operation Humane Expedition 人道遠征

In 1938 the Japanese bombers maintained their absolute supremacy over the CAF, which operated only 3 depleted twin-engined bombardment squadrons among its inventory. For obvious reasons, the CAF had to carry out its defensive strategy wisely. Its most historical and daring action taken was the Operation Humane Expedition to call up the self consciousness of Japanese civilians. Three years before Doolitle's air raid over Tokyo, 2 Martin 139WC bombers of the 14th BS/2nd BG performed a successful leaflet drop on southern Japan.

On the night of May 19/20 under the Sqn CO Maj. Xu Huan-Sheng (徐煥昇), s/n 1403 and 1404 were spread out in a network of home base Hankou, forward base Ningpuo, and 7 navigation outposts. They reached the enemy coast line in the dusk and released leaflets over Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Kurume, and Saga, also reconnoitered air bases and harbors below. For the poorly-equipped CAF at the time, it was a complicated risk. The importance of this "psy-ops" was the boost which the humanitarian mission gave to the Chinese; surely the “consciousness” of the trigger-happy warmonger was untouched.

Endured years of hardship and penny-pinching expenditures, the CAF BSs fought in a limited way by adapting to e.g. Martin 139WC (export version of B-10B, "C" was for China), Heinkel He-111, Henschel Hs-123, Curtiss Shrike (export version of A-12), and Vultee V-11G bombers to meet the needs of the next emergency.

United We Stand

Before the full-scale Japanese invasion, the Guangdong Provincial Air Arm (廣東空軍) was amalgamated into the central government air strength in 1936, thus increasing the size of the CAF (Chinese Nationalist Air Force, or Republic of China Air Force) to a large extent. Trapped in the provincial warlord-Generalissimo struggling, the GPAA crewmen chose “Together, stronger” to fight the imminent Great Resistance War. Under partisanship, fliping side gained no benefit from their considerable skills, and these idealists didn't know how it's going to turn out.

However, June 30 first 4 O-2MC light bombers (5th sqn) and 3 Boeing 281 pursuers (2nd sqn) defected to Nanchang airfield to join the CAF. On July 18, 74 in IOC status among some 150 GPAA aircraft collectively swooped off the airstrip and headed for Nanchang via Qujiang and Shaoguan airfields. Eventually the 1st to 9th squadrons (6 from Guangdong and 3 from Guangxi) were reformed as the CAF 16th, 17th, 18th , 19th , 20th , 28th , 29th , 30th , and 31st Squadrons, respectively. In aeronautical equipment the CAF reflected foreign influences of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United States, and later the USSR.

Outfitted with mixed roster of international aircraft, "Prepared for all things" was the CAF force-fed mandate. With this extraordinary survivability, by the time all its groups were completely re-equipped with the U.S. front-line models, the conversion trainings for both operational and maintenance veterans were efficiently achieved.

Hope my image-enhanced drawings bring to life some less well-known CAF antique pursuit planes, including Boeing Model-281 (export version of P-26A), Nakajima Type 91, Fiat C.R.32, Gloster Gladiator Mk.1, and Vultee P-66 Vanguard - that no camera could have captured, very few living people could have witnessed.

The Dawn of Indigenous Aircraft Production

150 Northrop Gamma-2E single-engine light bombers were ordered by China in 1934, the first batch of them arrived in Shanghai in February of this year, including the various versions of 2 2Es, 7 3ECs, and 15 2EDs. In 1935 25 more kits were received by the Chinese Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company (中央飛機製造廠). Initially laid out at Jianqao, the China-US joint-adventure CAMCO was founded by an agent of Curtiss-Wright in China, William D. Pauley. After 5 years operation with the loan paid off, China would be the full-owner of CAMCO per contract. Most Gamma-2ECs in service with the 1st and 2nd Bombardment Groups were assembled here.

For graduating training the Chinese workers, these 25 kits were evenly divided into 5 batches. The final assembly training was done on the first 5 aircraft, which were directly built from fuselage, empennage, wings, and landing gears sub-assemblies. On the next 5 machines the workers learned from components to sub-assemblies fabrication. The 3rd batch was a shop practice for manufacturing process for basic components and parts, including welding and riveting, followed by the 4th batch which familiarizing parts machining and heat treatment. On the last 5 units, the workers performed the overall procedure from parts acquisition to final assembly.

Outside of the primary endeavor CAMCO, there was a secondary effort on indigenous aviation growth. Around 1932 an Italian contingent, under Gen. Roberto Lordi arrived in China to assist aircrew training and aircraft production. In 1935-37, the CAF Nanchang Aviation School in Jiangxi Province was run under the sponsorship of Italian. Beside the assistance in training, a Fiat-subsidized aircraft assembly plant began production at Nanchang in 1936. Instead of the original planed 6 Savoia-Marchetti S.M.81B bombers, only half were completed due to Benito Mussolini cut the official ties with China.

Military historians and enthusiasts will find the informative captions in my drawings useful for reference purposes: Chinese copies of Douglas O-2MC, Northrop Gamma-2EC, Polikarpove I-16-UTI(忠-28甲), I-15bis(忠-28乙), and Boeing/Stearman PT-17.

Curtiss Hawks in the Chinese Great Resistance War

Japanese had held the Chinese in low esteem ever since the 1st Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95. Among the few Chinese respected by the Japanese, military theorist Jang Bai-Li (蔣百里 1882-1938) was one of them. It was General Jang originated the strategic directorial, which eventually defeated the overpowering enemy in the 2nd Sino-Japanese War. In October 1936, this strategy was formalized in the Luoyang Conference in two folds, 1) Switching the expected Japanese invading spearhead from southbound to westbound, at Shanghai, 2) Protracting the war to deplete Japan, at all cost.

As the Chinese strategists had foreseen, their tactics of delay ensnared the invaders in a prolonged and costly battle of attrition on Shanghai. Ever since the Japanese front was diverted into inland, facing huge obstacles and a nearly insuperable supply shortage. Under this steep strategy, even the capital was replaceable if necessary, but the Chinese would not give up Nanking without a good fight.

Though the Chinese efforts to defense Nanking were fragmented and under-resourced, but both their army and air force inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese infantry and unescorted bombers. Before the improved Japanese fighters swept Chinese mixed air flotilla from the skies, the CAF committed the bulk of its Curtiss Hawk II and Hawk III squadrons into stiff resistance:

Do-or-Die of the Chinese Polikarpov

Thought the Japanese tactical sturdiness was admirable, but the question marks in their warfare strategy were many. In retrospect, their fanatic narrow-mindedness untreatably prevented a wise policy-making. Known as the Demon of Manchuria, in his 1950s’ memoir Violence of Showa, the class-A war criminal and Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke pointed out Imperial Japan never had a greater strategic objective in the Sino-Japanese War. It was the Chinese always held the initiative, and the IJA was totally in passive status.

In 1937-38 China desperately needed Wu-Han as her only transit port for urgent evacuating the industrial equipments from coastal area to inland, and achieved this strategic goal by tieing down 370,000 IJA troops in the Battle of Shanghai. Over 90 poorly supplied Chinese divisions were sacrificed in Shanghai, but it sidetracked the enemy spearhead to a disguised dead end. During these valuable 13 months, numerous factories and personnel moved into the home front Sichuan via Wu-Han, for the future counter-offensive. When the invader approached Wu-Han in late 1938, the tri-cities was defended by still light equipped Chinese army, but supported by the regrouped and rearmed Polikarpov fighter squadrons.

Polikarpov were the most numerous fighters in China prior to Pearl Harbor and open American intervention. Since Stalin was anxious to help China to divert Japanese attention away from Siberia, two trade agreements were signed between China and Russia. China agreed to exchange strategic minerals and raw material for Soviet combat planes, artillery and tanks, valued at 50 million dollars. Soon the Soviet equipment poured into China after the Japanese attacks since 1937, three years before the Flying Tigers arrived in China.

This mini series graphically charts Polikarpov I-15bis "Chato", I-15ter "Chika", I-16 Type 10, and Type 17 sub-versions:

Warhawk in Action - Operation Alpha

The Warhawk was not the most suitable fighter for use in China, but it was the among the few available combat aircraft assigned to this theatre. In 1943-44 the P-40 equipped Chinese American Composite Wing was proceeding at a solid pace, especially after the then supply-guzzling and inefficient B-29 withdrawn from China. Though proved to have disappointing high-altitude performance, but P-40 had proper maneuverability and fire power against Japanese aircraft in middle-altitudes, and good capabilities as a ground attack aircraft. Only a small portion of the production of Warhawk was allocated under Lend-Lease to the CBI theatre, but they will be remembered for as long as men record and discuss the history of air war over China.

The Qijiang attack was the last Japanese offensive in China. Initially they forced back the Chinese army but, reinforced by newly built “Alpha Force” divisions and the CACW’s B-25s and P-40s (5th FG), the defender halted the Japanese by early May. Soon they had driven the Japanese back to their start line in June.

CACW offensives on Nanking, Hankou, and Hong Kong started in December 1944 had been aimed at destroying the Japanese supply routs and depots. With the full strength of eight Warhawk squadrons (3rd and 5th FGs, ), plus the shifted supply from the original B-29 quota of the “Hump” airlift, allowed the CACW to push ahead without much opposition. Thereafter under the Operation Ketsu-Go, the Japanese began to withdraw troops to defend their homeland, and the Chinese moved to the offensive.

"All for One - One for All" was the comradeship between the Chinese and American personnel of the CACW, which leaves nothing to be desired. The crewmen from two countries worked together like two fingers on the same hand, for they were fighting the same battles in the same planes and to help their “brothers” meant helping themselves.

The last of the Curtiss Hawks in China, the P-40 has always been something of a legend. My CAF Warhawk, Tomahawk, and Kittyhawk works:

The Massacre in China after the Doolittle's Raid on Tokyo

After the Doolittle’s raid on Tokyo in April 1942, Chinese civilians and resistance guerrillas, rescued the surviving B-25 crewmembers and risked their own lives to bring them to safety. The disgraced Japanese mounted a furious search by sending 53 infantry battalions, torturing and slaughtering 250,000 Chinese, obliterating villages, and destroying crops in an effort to force the Chinese to give up the Americans. Besides the two months massacre in Zhejiang and Jiansu provinces of the bomber landings as a punishment, the enraged IJA plowed up every airfield in an area of 52,000 square kilometers.

Despite the worst attempts of the Japanese, for more than a month after the raid the Chinese helped 64 crewmen to evade capture, eventually return to US forces via inland airfields and the war time capital Chongqing. Nevertheless the Japanese killed numerous Chinese, their pride was severely wounded, removing at one stroke Japanese confidence in Yamato superiority, unparalleled might, and predictability of their cause. Ended in August 1945, the Samurai advance in China was reversed in a long series of land and air battles with the final crushing defeat of their empire. As for the Chinese, who endured not-so-short term (15 years) pain in pursuit of long term gains, unfortunately that gains turned out to be a hollow one.

China failed to be transferred the 16 desperately needed B-25Bs from Doolittle’s one-way raid, which all crash landed. Nonetheless the earliest Mitchell bombers fought in China were the seven B-25Cs of the AVG, better known as the Flying Tigers, 1942. The CAF Mitchells remained in service throughout the postwar struggle which led to the Communist overthrow of the Generalissimo. Small numbers of captured aircraft were used by the PLAAF while most of them withdrew to Taiwan, the island newly liberated from the Japanese occupation for half a century. During the counter-offensive, the CAF struck the Communist coastal positions on Sept 1954, wherein B-25Js and F-84Gs had been in action. These vintage B-25Js remained active with the 34th Bomber Squadron until 1958.

Please note the B-25H armorers maintained the Browning M2 .50s and T13E1 75mm nose canon at the Nanking airfield. Other Mitchells in my drawings are the early model B-25C, major production model B-25J, and photo-recon model F-10.

Big Beechcraft vs. Little Beechcraft (大比機 vs. 小比機)

In 1940 the Chinese government bought 10 Beech D17S Staggerwing utility transports as air ambulance. After these light biplanes were assembled in Hong Kong, they were directly flown to inland and received by the Central Aviation Committee (中央航空委員會), then passed on to the CAC transport unit and front-line army HQs.

However, in their “Seisen”, the Japan’s so-called Holy War in 1931-45, there’s no shortage of examples those days as to how Japanese attacked armless air ambulance. Though with salient red crosses on the overall white color scheme, the Chinese mercy birds still repeatedly inhumane strafed by the modern Samurais, soon the olive drab camouflage was over painted for better protection of the Beech D17S and DeHavilland D.H.89A. The sad fact about the Yamato race is that their immorality was not really an anomaly at all, instead it’s part of their standard operational procedure per Bushido.

Under the 15-years long marauding, Chinese were coping with unprecedented assault of areas of their country with dignity and sacrifice, that people can’t imagine those in the West would demonstrate in similar circumstances. Though the Japanese tried fighting for an impractical just end, their malicious means of achieving it created more catastrophes. It’s our duty to make sure history gets the story right, otherwise it is getting wrong from the aggressor's respective.

Hope my Chinese Beechcraft portrayls will be fascinating to the knowledgeable aviation buff: Beech D17S, UC-43, C-45 Expediter, AT-18R, and AT-11 Kansan.