The Flying Tigers were American airmen who fought the Japanese in the skies over Burma and China during World War II under Claire Lee Chennault. Chennault, a U.S. Army Air Corps captain, went to China in 1937 as air advisor to the Chinese Air Force and was instrumental in forming the American Volunteer Group in April 1941. These experienced American airmen helped defend China, and when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the AVG was the only effective U.S. fighting air unit in the Far East. After Chinese observers saw the AVG shoot enemy aircraft from the sky, they gave the pilots the name Fei-hu, or Flying Tigers, in tribute to their daring and skill. Flying P-40 Warhawks, the AVG achieved air combat records unequaled for any unit of its size. After the AVG was disbanded in July 1942, it became the nucleus of the U.S. Army 10th Air Force's China Task Force under Brigadier General Claire Lee Chennault. Fighting a larger Japanese force for almost nine months, the China Air Task Force established air superiority, and in March 1943 it became the 14th Air Force, with Chennault promoted to lieutenant general in command. In the later years of the war, the 14th Air Force replaced its P-40 fighters with aircraft including the P-51 Mustang, P-38 Lightning, P-47 Thunderbolt, and P-61 Black Widow, while adding B-25 Mitchell and B-24 Liberator bombers. Though small in size, the Flying Tigers of the 14th Air Force, using Chennault's innovative tactics, drove the enemy from the skies over China and played a significant role in victory in the Pacific theater.
