Fourteenth Air Force
The Fourteenth Air Force ( German 14th US Air Fleet ) was an air fleet of the US Air Force . It was founded in 1943 and used in the fighting in Burma , Indochina and China . In practice, they and their predecessor units represented the replacement for the nonexistent or hardly existing Chinese air force in World War II , whose roots can be found in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Japanese conquests in Indochina and are inextricably linked with the name Claire Lee Chennaults .
history
Flying Tigers
The history of the 14th Air Force goes back to the American Volunteer Group (AVG), better known as "Flying Tigers". This volunteer group, led by Claire Chennault, embarked for China in June 1941 and set up there. The Flying Tigers' first combat mission took place on December 20, 1941. The ATC (Air Transport Command) was responsible for the supply, which was also originally not a military organization. With the attack on Pearl Harbor and the associated entry into the war by the USA, the American military endeavored to place the air forces in the East Indies, Burma, Thailand and China under a uniform command structure. For this purpose, the existing associations of the 10th Air Force under Clayton Lawrence Bissell were initially affiliated, whose main tasks continued to be the maintenance of the Over the Hump airlift (headed by William H. Tunner ) to China. After the Japanese took Burma in May 1942, the AVT and Chinese troops were dependent on air supplies. Of course, the unmilitary structure of the volunteer mercenary troops was a thorn in the side of the military. So it was decided to dissolve and the members were given the option to join regular units of the US armed forces. At first Chennault resisted the dissolution efforts and was able to obtain a delay. However, Generals Joseph Stilwell and Bissell assured him that the operations in China would continue under his leadership. He was appointed commander of the China Air Task Force (CATF) and reassigned to the Army Air Force as a major general.
China Air Task Force
The AVG was dissolved on July 4, 1942. At the same time, the 23rd Fighter Group was officially established, but only five AVG pilots joined it. The CATF had a low level of aircraft clearness which deteriorated further due to a lack of support. On March 19, 1943, the CATF was dissolved and replaced by the newly formed 14th Air Force. In the nine months of its existence, the CATF achieved 149 aerial victories and carried out 65 air strikes on Japanese facilities with the few B-25 bombers. Sixteen P-40s and one B-25 were lost during this period.
Fourteenth Air Force
Claire Chennault has been named commander of the newly formed 14th Air Force. The members of the 23rd Fighter Group adopted the name Flying Tigers . Since the 14th Air Force had become an official unit, the supply situation improved and numerous units of the Tenth Air Force were taken over. As before, the self-sufficiency remained a unique selling point of the unit. The maintenance of the airlift and the air defense of China remained an important part of the missions, but now there has been a switch to strategic air strikes. The first long-range bombers of the type B-24 arrived for this purpose on September 6, 1943 . In addition, so-called CACWs (Chinese American Combat Wings) were founded, in which Chinese pilots trained by the USA in India flew side by side with their American allies. Some of these units still exist today as part of the Taiwanese air force. At the end of 1944 the veteran P-40s were gradually replaced by P-51s . In addition, P-61 night fighters also joined the 14th Air Force. In the end, the units of the 14th Air Force had achieved absolute air control over the areas occupied by Japan.
Towards the end of the war, the 14th Air Force recorded 2,315 destroyed Japanese aircraft, 365 bridges, 1,225 locomotives and 712 freight cars.
Aircraft types
Initially: P-40, Republic P-43 C-47 , B-25. Later: P-38 , P-51, C-46 , C-54 , B-24.
post war period
After the end of the war, the 14th Air Force was no longer part of the operational units of the USAF. It has been reactivated on several occasions to perform a wide variety of tasks, e.g. B. the activation of units of the ANG during the Korean War .
literature
- Mason - Air Force Combat Units Of World War II . Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. ISBN 0-89201-092-4
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