Many Chinese are familiar with the American “Flying Tigers.” Its official name was the “American Volunteer Group of the Republic of China Air Force,” an air force unit composed mainly of American pilots that aided China in its war of resistance against Japan during World War II, primarily fighting in mainland China and Burma. The volunteer group was led by retired American flight captain Claire Chennault. In 1941, with President Roosevelt’s support, he obtained 100 aircraft from the United States under the Lend-Lease Act and recruited 100 pilots.
Initially, some members of the volunteer group suggested painting a shark’s head on the nose of their fighter planes as a psychological warfare tactic to intimidate the Japanese forces. In December 1941, the air corps achieved its first combat victory in the skies over Kunming. Residents in interior China mistakenly called the planes “Flying Tigers” because they had never seen a shark. ”
The following day, a Kunming newspaper used the term “Flying Tigers” to describe the volunteer squadron’s aircraft. The Chinese translator in the air force, upon seeing this, translated it as “Flying Tigers” and told Chennault about the name. The squadron members thought it was good, and so the air force was officially named the “Flying Tigers.” The story of a father and son, officers of the “Flying Tigers,” is recorded in the book Prison Notes written by the late Wang Xuetai, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
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