WAY OF A FIGHTER: The Memoirs Of Claire Lee Chennault. [The RARE First Edition 1

CHENNAULT, Claire L. [Edited By: Robert B. Hotz]

About this Item

New York 1949, Putnam. Green cloth, 375p., end paper maps, b.w. frontis of Chennault, 18 b.w.photos, 14 x 22 cm.,a very bright, clean & solid copy, excellent bit worn dust jacket, in Mylar protector, clipped. * RARE FIRST ORIGINAL EDITION * . *** **** *** . . THIS IS THE R A R E ORIGINAL FIRST EDITION 1949 . . . WRITTEN BY CHENNAULT, EDITED BY ROBERT HOTZ . . . IT CONTAINS CHENNAULT'S FIVE PAGE FOREWORD . . . LAVISHLY ILLUSTRATED WITH 18 ORIGINAL WAR PHOTOGRAPHS . . . & THREE COMBAT ZONE AREA MAPS . * This superb book covers the thoughts, plans and tactics Chennault employed against the Japanese air forces. His tactics were taught to his pilots, and were ultimately a major part of American success over the larger and stronger Japanese air force. . Chennault wrote a stunning five page "Foreword" to this book in January, 1949, Shanghai, just after the defeat of the Japanese. His warnings about allowing the Communists to take over China were far ahead of 'his times' and not heeded by the U.S. Government, in the end, America 'lost China' a staunch old ally after World War II. . *** GENERAL CLARE LEE CHENNAULT [1893-1958]: Chennault was known as the "father" of the "A.V.G." ["American Volunteer Group"], later commonly called the "FLYING TIGERS." . *** INVITED TO VISIT CHINA AND ASSESS THE CHINESE AIR FORCE BY MME. CHIANG: . Major General Claire Lee Chennault was an advisor to Chiang Kai-shek's Chinese Air Force in 1937. Mme. Chiang asked Chennault to create a new air force composed of American fliers, inviting them to come to China and oppose the overwhelming Japanese air force. . Chennault agreed and established the "A.V.G." consisting of some 100 all American volunteer pilots & support members in 1941. Later after their success against the superior and overwhelming Japanese air forces, they we called the "Flying Tigers" by the Chinese. . In 1942 they turned back elite Japanese air forces invading China in the "CBI" ["China Burma & India"] Theaters of war, the first defeat of Japanese solely by American air power. . *** CHENNAULT'S MILITARY CAREER: Chennault attended Louisiana State University between 1909 and 1910 and received ROTC training (Claire). He learned to fly in the Air Service during World War I, remained in the service after it became the Air Corps in 1926, and became Chief of Pursuit Section at Air Corps Tactical School in the 1930s. Poor health and disputes with superiors led Chennault to resign from the service in 1937. He then joined a small group of American civilians training Chinese airmen and served as "air adviser" to Kuomintang (KMT) Nationalist Government leader Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and his wife, Soong May-ling, during the Sino-Japanese War [1937-1945]. Chennault participated in planning operations and observed the Chinese Air Force in combat from a Curtiss Hawk 75. In this period, he would organize the International Squadron. . *** "FLYING TIGERS" Chennault's "A.V.G." ["American Volunteer Group."] later and much better known as the "FLYING TIGERS" began training in Kunming, S.W. China in August 1941 and fought the Japanese for six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor in Burma. . Chennault's three squadrons used P-40s and his tactics of "defensive pursuit" to guard the Burma Road, Rangoon and other strategic locations in Southeast Asia and western China against Japanese forces. Chennault made a great contribution by training the first-generation Chinese fighter pilots. . *** "FLYING TIGERS" were formally incorporated into the United States Army Air Forces in 1942. Prior to that, Chennault had rejoined the Army with the rank of colonel. He was later promoted to brigadier and then major general, commanding the Fourteenth Air Force. . *** CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER [CBI]: The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. (December 2007) Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. . * Throughout the war Chennault was engaged in a bitter disput. Seller Inventory # 98115003

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Title: WAY OF A FIGHTER: The Memoirs Of Claire Lee ...