Historical Figures Codexery

Claire Lee Chennault

American military aviator and leader of the Flying Tigers

Claire Lee Chennault

Unknown military photographer · via Wikipedia: Claire Lee Chennault · Public domain

Claire Lee Chennault was an American military aviator who led the "Flying Tigers" and the Chinese Nationalist Air Force during World War II.[1] He died on July 27, 1958, nine days after receiving an honorary promotion to lieutenant general.[2] The commonly accepted date and location for Chennault's birth are September 6, 1893, in Commerce, Texas, but no birth certificate or other documentary evidence confirms either the date or the place.[3]

Quick Facts

Nickname
"Old Leatherface"
Died
27 July 1958
Burial place
Arlington National Cemetery
Birthplace
Commerce, Texas, U.S.
Place of death
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Allegiance
United States; Republic of China
Service years
1917–1945
Rank
Lieutenant General (US); General (ROC)

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

He attended Louisiana State University between 1909 and 1910, giving his birth month as June to meet the age requirement.[4] Poor health and disputes with superiors led him to resign from the military on April 30, 1937, at the rank of major.[5] He was recruited as a civilian to go to China and train Chinese airmen, arriving in June 1937.[5][6] The 1st American Volunteer Group began training in August 1941 and was primarily based out of Rangoon, Burma, and Kunming, Yunnan.[7]

During World War I, Chennault received flight instruction in the Army Air Service, and after the war, on April 23, 1922, he completed pursuit pilot training at Ellington Field, Texas.[8] Approximately 300 American pilots and ground crew, who traveled to China under the guise of tourists, were recruited by Chennault; these men became the Flying Tigers.[9]

What the cited sources add

The U.S. Army history "Stilwell's Mission to China" describes Chennault as an articulate and forceful advocate of fighter aviation who had won the confidence of the Chinese after his 1937 retirement.[10] The same source notes he devised a plan to defeat Japan with a small air force exploiting the relative strengths and weaknesses of American and Japanese aircraft.[10] British Field Marshal Alan Brooke wrote that Chennault was "a very gallant airman with a limited brain"[11] The journalist Jonathan Fenby described the clash between Stilwell and Chennault as a conflict between a New England Puritan and a Southern gentleman who accepted human foibles.[12]

Chennault opened a brothel in Guilin for his pilots, arguing his men needed sex and it was better to have a regularly inspected establishment.[12]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Claire Lee Chennault" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Birthdate: Encyclopedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite 2010 and www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/107526/major-general-claire-lee-chennault/ (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Claire Lee Chennault" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Major General Claire Lee Chennault", Air Force (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Claire Lee Chennault" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ford 2016, p. 1; Ford 2016, p. 1; "The Flying Tigers and Shenawlt" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Claire Lee Chennault" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ford 2016, p. 1 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Claire Lee Chennault" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Byrd 1987, Chapter 6. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Claire Lee Chennault" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Byrd 1987, Chapter 7. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Claire Lee Chennault" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Burma Road Air Defense Scores." Associated Press, Chongqing, December 20, 1941.; "'Crazy' Maneuver Used by Colonel," Associated Press, New Orleans, December 20, 1941.; "Domei Says Japs Downed Five Ships," Associated Press, Tokyo, December 20, 1941.; "American Fliers Engage Japanese," Associated Press, Chungking, December 20, 1941. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Claire Lee Chennault" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Allen, p. 64; "Claire Lee Chennault and the Flying Tigers", vac.gov.tw; retrieved November 28, 2009.; Fogerty, "Biographical Data on Air Force General Officers, 1917–1952, Volume 1 – A thru L", Air Force Historical Research Agency, 1953, p. 354–356; Byrd 1987, Chapter 3.; "Official Army and Air Force Register", U.S. Government Printing Office, January 1, 1948, p. 2122; Byrd 1987, Chapter 3. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Claire Lee Chennault" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sehnert, Walt. "McCook's Glen Beneda and the Flying Tigers." mccookgazette.com, January 5, 2009. Retrieved: May 22, 2009.; Byrd 1987, Chapter 8. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Romanus, Charles F. and Riley Sunderland. "China-Burma-India Theater: Stilwell's Mission to China". U.S. Army in World War II, 1953, p. 23. Retrieved: September. facts only, no text reused. ibiblio.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Claire Lee Chennault" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fenby, Jonathan Chiang Kai-Shek China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost, New York: Carrol & Graf, 2004 p. 383.; Fenby, Jonathan Chiang Kai-Shek China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost, New York: Carrol & Graf, 2004 p. 383. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Claire Lee Chennault" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fenby, Jonathan Chiang Kai-Shek China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost, New York: Carrol & Graf, 2004 p. 383. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Claire Lee Chennault (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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