The Turning Point of the Air War in China (1943)
The year 1943 marked a turning point in the anti-Japanese war in China, mirroring shifts on other fronts of World War II. From May 19 to June 6, 1943, active hostilities unfolded in the western regions of Hubei province. In these aerial skirmishes, the number of both Chinese and Japanese aircraft often reached 40 on each side.
The 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 11th Chinese air groups, alongside the US Army’s 14th Air Wing (totaling 165 aircraft), fought side by side. During the battles for Hubei, Chinese air groups flew 53 combat missions, with fighters completing 336 sorties and bombers 88. According to Chinese data, they shot down 31 aircraft, destroyed 6 on the ground, and sank or damaged 23 Japanese ships.
A far more important outcome of the Hubei battle was that for the first time in many years, the Chinese attempted to seize the initiative in the air war. According to one Chinese historian, their “Air Force began to shift from strategic defense to counter-offensive (…) They showed high activity in raids, identified the directions of the main Japanese air force strikes, and actively countered them. They carried out large-scale bombings of enemy airfields and troop positions, conducted long-range raids, and cut off enemy rear transport communications.”
By mid-1943, the Chinese Air Force had acquired a sufficient number of American combat aircraft and pilots trained to fly them. Having observed the low effectiveness, and indeed the complete helplessness, of the Kuomintang air units for several years, Claire Chennault concluded that it was expedient to unify all air units fighting in China. Chiang Kai-shek’s government positively embraced this idea, and on November 5, 1943, in Guilin, the mixed Sino-American 16th Air Force Unit was created “for better organization of interaction between Chinese and American air forces.”
Initially, it included the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Chinese air groups, as well as some flight personnel from the US 14th Air Wing. Chennault, who had by then attained the rank of General in the US Air Force, became the commander of this “air international brigade.” All command was joint, on a parity basis, with two commanders at each management level, one from each side. Flight and ground personnel were two-thirds Chinese, and the air unit was under the operational command of the Chinese Air Force.
Operations and Sacrifices with American Aircraft
In mid-1943, the Chinese government sent the 1st, 3rd, and 5th air groups to a training center in India to master American aviation technology and air warfare tactics. Around the same time, a new modification of the “Kittyhawk” with a more powerful engine, designated P-40N, began to arrive in China. It would later become the most numerous Chinese aircraft of World War II.
The 14th Air Wing was the first to rearm with the new “Hawks,” followed by the “purely Chinese” units. In August 1943, the 28th and 32nd Squadrons of the 3rd Air Group went to India for P-40Ns. “Traditional” non-combat losses immediately followed: on September 14 and 30, the commander of the 28th Squadron, Zeng Peifu, and a flight leader, Dai Dejin, died during training flights. A C-47 crashed into a mountain during a transfer flight, burying five pilots from the 28th Squadron in its wreckage. Despite these difficulties and sacrifices, both squadrons returned to China on October 15 with their new aircraft, tasked with strengthening the air defense of Guilin (Guangxi).
By the end of the year, pilots from the 7th and 8th Squadrons completed their retraining. They joined the Sino-American air unit but still fought “in the Chinese way.” For example, on December 23, a five-plane formation of P-40Ns took off from Guilin to attack Tianhe airfield. An aerial battle occurred somewhere near the target, and these “Kittyhawks” were never seen again. On February 11, 1944, a group of fighters from the 32nd Squadron escorted B-25 bombers targeting an airfield in Hong Kong. In a clash with Japanese interceptors, the Chinese reportedly shot down two aircraft, but the cost was too high: not a single “Kittyhawk” returned from the battle.
The 3rd Air Group suffered very serious damage in June 1944. On June 2, in the midst of battles on the Central Plain, seven P-40Ns from the 7th Squadron raided an airfield where a Japanese transport air unit was based. An aerial battle took place over Zhengzhou (Henan), in which a flight leader was killed. Two days later, a P-40N from the 32nd Squadron was shot down during a ground attack on a tank column in Daine (Shanxi). On June 10, another pilot from the same squadron was shot down and killed by anti-aircraft guns. Finally, on June 28, while receiving new aircraft in India, the commander of the 8th Squadron, Liu Mengjin, died during a test flight of a P-40N.
Despite these losses, the air group also achieved its most significant success. On June 9, 1944, eight P-40Ns from the 28th Squadron, led by squadron commander Zheng Sunting, shot down six Japanese aircraft in an aerial battle. Their own losses were two aircraft and one pilot. Zhang Yongzhang parachuted from a burning “Kittyhawk,” but the canopy did not open, and the pilot died. The other pilot, Zhao Yuankun, made a forced landing in his damaged aircraft and survived.
On August 29, the 28th Squadron’s fighters repeated their record. Six P-40Ns flew to bomb Japanese warehouses in Shaoyang. Another battle broke out on approach to the target, in which the Chinese shot down six aircraft. The group leader, Meng Zhaoyi, was killed, two other pilots were wounded, and the successful Zhao Yuankun’s cockpit was hit by over 60 bullets again, but he managed to return to base. (Note that all battle results are given according to Chinese sources).
In March 1944, the 26th and 29th Squadrons returned to China, having received 24 “Kittyhawks” in India. A month later, they were joined by the 17th and 27th Squadrons. All these units were combined into the 5th Air Group, fighting in the Changsha, Hengyang, and Guilin areas. During 1944, the group’s pilots made 2194 sorties, participated in 336 aerial battles, shot down 18 Japanese aircraft, and destroyed another 160 on the ground. Their own losses were 20 P-40Ns and 9 fatalities. The 17th Squadron proved most effective, making 467 sorties between August 8 and the end of 1944, shooting down seven aircraft while losing six “Kittyhawks.”
The 4th Air Group began rearming with P-40Ns around 1943-1944. The 22nd and 24th Squadrons were the first to go to India in late 1943, joined by the 21st in January, and then the 23rd a little later. Chinese aces likely received new aircraft “out of turn,” as the commander of the 23rd Squadron, Zhou Zhikai, was already conducting frontline reconnaissance in a new P-40N on December 14 but died in an aerial battle on his return. On January 20, the deputy commander of the 23rd Squadron, Cheng Yishun, crashed while test-flying an aircraft after repairs.
Fierce ground and air battles began in late spring. On May 12, five P-40Ns, led by the commander of the 23rd Squadron, Cen Luokun, attacked a Japanese motor convoy on the transcontinental highway in Luoyang. Over the target, the “Kittyhawks” came under heavy anti-aircraft fire. One pilot was severely wounded and made a forced landing, while four others went missing. Ultimately, none returned to base. The same day, seven aircraft raided Luoyang and Yichuan, attacking a Japanese armored column. According to Chinese data, they managed to burn over 30 armored vehicles. A flight leader was shot down over the target, and two more damaged aircraft made forced landings.
Losses continued: on May 21, a Japanese anti-aircraft gun shot down a P-40N from the 22nd Squadron conducting reconnaissance near Hancheng. On May 23, the deputy commander of the 22nd Squadron, Ji Chentao, went missing. On June 6, a pilot from the 21st Squadron died attacking a Japanese motor convoy. On July 28, Yi Minghui of the 22nd Squadron was shot down and killed by Japanese anti-aircraft fire in the Hengyang area. By the end of June, when the entire 4th Air Group was transferred to Zhijiang, only 21 fighters remained. Meanwhile, the fighting continued; on June 29, the flight leader of the 21st Squadron, Tao Yuhuai, crashed on takeoff.
Chinese bombers fought slightly more effectively. A combined group of the most experienced pilots from the 1st Bomber Air Group was assembled in August 1943 and sent in two batches to India for retraining on B-25 “Mitchells.” Training flights began on August 9. By the end of the year, crews had mastered the new aircraft and joined the Sino-American unit, participating in battles in Changde.
Crews from the 2nd Squadron, stationed in Guilin, were the first in the “air international brigade” to fight with “Mitchells.” On November 4, squadron commander Tang De led two aircraft on a “clearance” mission along the coasts of Guangdong and Fujian provinces. According to Chinese data, they destroyed two Japanese warships and four aircraft, but the commander’s bomber was hit and crashed during a forced landing, with the entire crew killed.
The 2nd and 4th bomber squadrons were most active. On February 29, two “Mitchells” from the 4th Squadron bombed Japanese ships in the lower Yangtze River; one aircraft was shot down, and the crew died. On March 10, two crews from the 2nd Squadron again raided ships in the lower Yangtze. On the return flight, one ran out of fuel; the forced landing ended in disaster, killing the pilot and navigator. On May 12, another “Mitchell” was shot down by Japanese naval anti-aircraft guns while patrolling the sea east of Hong Kong.
However, the heaviest loss for Chinese bombers occurred without any Japanese involvement. On June 7, four B-25s from the 2nd Squadron, returning from Chongqing to Liangshan, crashed into a mountain, with no survivors. Despite this, the Chinese still had many “Mitchells,” and raids continued. On August 3, a trio of B-25s bombed a railway bridge over the Yellow River at low altitude for the first time at night. One aircraft did not return from the battle and was considered missing.
In August-September, the entire air group, including the 3rd Squadron returning from India, was concentrated at Baishi airbase. From there, Chinese pilots began flying in support of ground troops in Zhijiang. By the end of the year, the air group had completed 194 combat sorties, losing 25 aircraft.
Towards Victory and the Legacy of Lend-Lease
On March 1, 1945, the headquarters of the 8th “Heavy Bomber” Air Group was re-established and located in Pengshan (Sichuan). It included the newly formed 33rd, 34th, and 35th Squadrons, which were to operate four-engine “Liberator” bombers. The core of the headquarters consisted of specialists already trained in the USA to fly B-24s, with Hong Yangfu becoming the group commander. However, the main body of the group completed its “Liberator” training only in September 1945, i.e., after the cessation of hostilities.
Meanwhile, the air power of the Sino-American air unit, dubbed “Chennault’s Air Army,” steadily increased. By November 1944, it comprised 535 fighters and 156 bombers, with personnel reaching 17,437. By the end of 1944, the “Sino-American Air Force” finally gained air superiority and forced the weakened Japanese aviation to adopt a defensive posture. However, the Japanese themselves claimed that this was not due to any outstanding successes of American, let alone Chinese, pilots, but rather a severe shortage of gasoline, which compelled Japanese aircraft to “sit out” on the ground.
In early 1945, thanks to the successful Allied counter-offensive in Burma, the ground transport route, cut by the Japanese for almost three years, was restored. From India to China, huge convoys of trucks carrying weapons and all other necessities for successful warfare moved in a continuous stream. The combat power of the air force significantly increased due to additional deliveries of aircraft, spare parts, ammunition, and fuel. The Chinese Air Force now comprised seven air groups, one independent squadron, and an air transport detachment. Simultaneously, the staff of American air forces in the Republic of China significantly increased. The total strength of Kuomintang and American air forces in China exceeded 800 aircraft.
In the final phase of the war, from January to July 1945, Chinese pilots actively participated in battles, supporting ground troops on all fronts in central, southern, and eastern China. According to Chinese data, by May 1945, the pilots of the “air international brigade” had shot down and damaged 2054 Japanese aircraft, while losing about 500 of their own. (The first figure is very difficult to believe, knowing that the Japanese, between 1942 and 1944, maintained only three incomplete fighter and three incomplete bomber regiments in central and southern China, totaling no more than 300 aircraft).
In early 1945, it was the Chinese’s “turn” to receive one of the best fighters of World War II from the USA – the P-51D “Mustang.” Some pilots mastered them in the USA, others retrained in India, receiving machines from the US Army’s 51st Air Wing. Pilots from the 8th and 32nd Squadrons of the 3rd Fighter Air Group were the first to enter combat with “Mustangs.” On January 5, 1945, a combined group of 28 P-40Ns and P-51s took off from Laohekou (Hubei) to attack the Japanese airfield in Wuhan. An aerial battle occurred over the target, in which one Chinese pilot died. Japanese losses were not reported.
On February 4, Li Zongtang of the 7th Squadron, credited with three downed aircraft, crashed in a “Mustang.” A week later, another Chinese pilot returning from a combat sortie to Hankou crashed in a “Mustang” in fog. Curiously, neither Chinese nor Taiwanese sources report virtually anything about the details of aerial battles, but they readily write about aircraft shot down by anti-aircraft gunners and pilots who died due to equipment malfunctions. Thus, the combat chronicle of Kuomintang aviation for 1945 indicates only two “Mustangs” shot down in aerial combat. At the same time, four fighters were shot down by ground fire, three were lost due to weather conditions (all crashed into mountains), and six more crashed due to technical failure. Impressive statistics, though far from complete!
It is worth noting that on March 1, 1945, the Chinese created Specialized Reconnaissance Squadron No. 12 (the SB-flying air unit with this number had been disbanded in late 1943), which received 14 F-5E reconnaissance aircraft (a reconnaissance variant of the P-38 “Lightning” fighter) from the Americans. The squadron arrived at the front in July and managed to perform only a few combat sorties before the end of the anti-Japanese war.
On August 15, Japan’s unconditional surrender was announced, but three days later, on August 18, when deputy squadron commander Guo Fengu of the 24th Squadron flew to Guisui to drop leaflets with Emperor Hirohito’s surrender decree, Japanese anti-aircraft gunners still shot him down. He became the last casualty of Chinese aviation in the 8-year anti-Japanese war.
Starting in 1941, the Chinese Air Force received through Lend-Lease from the USA 679 fighters (377 P-40s of various modifications, 129 P-66s, 108 P-43s, 50 P-51D-Ks, and 15 P-38s in the F-5E reconnaissance variant), 159 bombers (131 B-25s and 28 A-29s), 100 transport aircraft (77 C-47s and 23 C-46s), and over 400 training aircraft. Eight Chinese pilots became aces flying American fighters: Liu Cui-gang with 11 victories, Liu Zhesheng with 11, Wang Guangfu, Yuan Baokang, and Gao Yuxin with 8 each, as well as Zhou Zhikai and Zhou Tingfang with 6 each.
The history of the air war in China would be incomplete without an account of the aviation of the puppet “Empire of Manchukuo,” formed in the territory of Japanese-occupied Manchuria in 1931. On August 30, 1940, an “Aviation Department” was created under the Manchukuo government. It was headed by Chen Changzu, who also opened and became the head of the “Central Air Force School” at Chenuqiao airfield.
Fighter and bomber squadrons were formed from pilots who had completed the flight school course, but this process was extremely slow, mainly due to a chronic shortage of gasoline, which was primarily supplied to Japanese combat air units. Nevertheless, by mid-1944, a Manchukuo Air Corps was formed with headquarters in Mukden, though it largely existed only on paper. The level of training and morale of the pilots were extremely low, and this air corps took no part in combat operations. Even when the Red Army entered Manchuria in August 1945, most Manchukuo pilots simply dispersed, and all aircraft were seized at airfields by Soviet troops.