On 6th September 1893, Claire Lee Chennault, an American military aviator and famous fighter pilot, was born in Commerce, Texas.
Nevertheless, both date and place Chennault was born are just current (and official) version because there is no official document proving any of them. During his early years, Chennault changed the birthdate a few times, depending on the needs. Later, he usually indicated 1890 as the year he was born but, after his death, that date was finally changed by Chennault family to 1893.
Certain is that Chennault spent his childhood in Louisiana and, after death of his mother, was raised by his aunt. Around 1910, Chennault enrolled into Louisiana State University, making a trick with his birth date to meet the age requirements. At the university, the future fighter pilot attended trainings organised by the Reserve Officers´ Training Corps.
At the outbreak of the Great War, Chennault joined the Aviation Division of the Army Signal Corps. He consequently climbed the ranks to become the Chief of Pursuit Section at Army Air Corps (AAC) Tactical School in the early 1930s.
Then, as a pilot of the 1st Pursuit Group, he joined the AAC aerobatic team, known as the ´Three Musketeers´. Chennault made some significant changes to the team and turned it into ´Three Men on the Flying Trapeze´.
However, some serious health issues forced Chennault to leave the air force. He retired the AAC on 30th April 1937, in the rank of major. Shortly after, Chennault moved to China where he was part of civilian aviation team providing training service for the country´s military pilots.
In China, the Chennault´s career gained new momentum. With the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, he became the aviation advisor of Chiang Kai-shek, took part in creating the Chinese Air Force and, finally, was assigned the mission of creating the squadron of international, mercenary pilots. The so-called ´International Squadron´ included pilots from France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.
After the war, Chennault was transferred to the air force academy. He implemented several changes to the pilot training process and made it more effective by following the AAC procedures.
In 1939 and 1940, Chennault participated in two Chinese military missions to the United States. Their objective was to organise support for the Chinese Air Force which was in desperate need of trained pilots, modern aircraft and other equipment. During the second mission, the idea of American Volunteer Group (AVG) was born.
In December of 1940, the US authorities agreed for delivery of one hundred P-40B Tomahawk fighter aircraft to China. They were shortly followed by the newer variants, P-40C and E, as well as some financial aid to the Chinese government.
About three hundred American pilots and ground personnel joined the AVG and were sent to China disguised as tourists. There, they created one of the most-famous fighter units of the World War II, commonly known as the ´Flying Tigers´.
In August of 1941, training of the AVG crews in China officially began. Shortly after, the P-40s started to operate against the Japanese forces over the Burma Road, Rangoon and western China. The Flying Tigers, led by Chennault, incorporated the ´defensive pursuit´ tactics that allowed them to fight with lighter and more manoeuvrable Japanese fighter aircraft. It soon became the ´trademark´ of the AVG and brought large popularity to the unit and Chennault himself.
In 1942, the Flying Tigers were officially incorporated into the US Army Air Forces and Chennault re-joined the military service and was firstly promoted to colonel, then – within about two weeks – to brigadier general.
Chennault stayed in China until the end of the war. He retired the air force in October of 1945, in the rank of major general. Within the next few years, he promoted the idea of international support to Chiang Kai-shek, against the Chinese Communists.
In 1946, together with Whiting Willauer, the former leader of the Flying Tigers acquired some surplus C-47 Dakota and C-46 Commando aircraft to create Chinese National Relief and Rehabilitation Administration Air Transport service. The company was widely known as Civil Air Transport (CAT), and later was re-named Air America and taken over by the Central Intelligence Agency (for more details on the CIA covert operations check our article – ´Huey´ versus ´Colt´ – the story of unusual aerial combat).
Chennault advocated the Chiang Kai-shek government and its affairs even after the fall of the Nationalist China. In the 1950s, he was still defending the nationalists´ interests in the US Senate and the US Congress.
In January of 1958, Chennault went to Taiwan to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the CAT. It was his last trip there, as he was already diagnosed with cancer. Claire Lee Chennault died on 27th July 1958, aged 64.
Just nine days before his death, Chennault was promoted to the honorary rank of lieutenant general of the US Air Force.
Cover photo: A rare photograph of laughing Chennault (left), while looking at a visual chart presented by Col. John O. Neal and showing the combat achievements of the 14th Air Force, September 1944 (National Archives, 204832065)
