Chinese Air force during WW2 Request

[maxs75]

Thanks very much Larry!

Max

[sjchan]

Just curious as to whether there is new information during the past two years. Seems like H嶡ans Aviation page at

http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/sino-japanese.htm

is the best on-line resource available in English but there for some reason the aerial combat section stops in 1942.

[asiaticus]

I think he needs some help. The site has had a lot of contributors.

Note the credits on his home page.
http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/index.html

Interested parties could contact him and see about helping finish the rest. A lot of the Chinese part will be USAAF data.

I would bet the Japanese side might be the hold up.

[Jerry Asher]

Richard Dunn had done considerable work on P-43 Lancers and P-66 Vanguards. A book on the Chinese American Composite Air Wing is available in English--I think author is Carlson--will check if you want. Can anyone share data on P-51's and A-29's Hudsons in Chinese Service. Though P-51 would be easy but a look last week came up empty. Hth

[Jerry Asher]

The book on the Chinese-American Composite Air Wing is called Wing to Wing and is by Carl Molesworth. Incidentally, Molesworth's new book (2008) is just out by Osprey publications and is called P -40 Warhawk vs Ki -43 Oscar, China 1944-45. Richard Dunn is again one of the people being credited. HTH-Jerry Asher

[sjchan]

I think he needs some help. The site has had a lot of contributors.

Note the credits on his home page.
http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/index.html

Interested parties could contact him and see about helping finish the rest. A lot of the Chinese part will be USAAF data.

I would bet the Japanese side might be the hold up.

The Web site seems to be devoted primarily to biplanes; perhaps that the reason why it stops in 1942?

[Håkan Gustavsson]

Hello,

After not having writing very actively about the Sino-Japanese Air War for a couple of years due to a couple of book projects, I've finally added 1943 to my site (http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/sino-japanese-1943.htm).
I have a lot of additional material (on both 1942 and 1943), which I'll add in due time. I also will (slowly) start to work on 1944-45 but this will take some time since I have some new book projects in the pipeline.
Any additions or corrections to my info on my site is as usual most welcome.

Best wishes/Håkan Gustavsson

WWII Biplane Fighter Aces
http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se

[sjchan]

This is great stuff!

Based on various Chinese sources, I have listed a number of additional entries below:

Jan 10

My sources indicated that there wasno air battle, and only two P-40s were shot down by ground fire, both pilots Mo T’ung-che [Mo Tong-zhe] and Huang K’ung-jun [Huang Guang-run] killed when the planes crashed before they could bail out. The other two P-40s had mechanical failures which forced them to land at the Enshi airfield. The raid was a failure, as the Japanese had dispersed their planes one day before the attack.

Jan 11

Two P-43s from the 21 PS of the 4th PG on a recce flight encountered two Japanese Ki-43s near Ichang and Kao Yau-Hsin claimed one of the Japanese planes shot down.

June 6

The Chinese actually lost fifteen P-40Ns at Liangshan airfield to the surprise Japanese attack. Chow Che-Kai, squadron leader of the 23rd PS (4th PG), took off amid the falling bombs without his parachute and claimed to have shot down two Japanese light bombers and damaging another.

June 18

Six P-40s attacked Nanchang area, including two separate trains in the vicinity.

July 11

One of two P-40s from Kunming in a reconnaissance mission near Haiphong was damaged by ground fire and the pilot had to bail out.

July 24

Sixteen P-40s intercepted over 40 Japanese planes near Lingling, claiming three fighters and four bombers shot down for the loss of a single P-40 and its pilot.
Eight Japanese fighters were intercepted over Kweilin and 7 were claimed to be shot down for the loss of a P-38 (pilot unharmed)

Nov 11

One P-40 of the 4rh PG lost its way on the way back after failing to find ground targets; the pilot bailed out safely when the plane crashed.

Nov 13

Four sorties totaling 9 P-40s of the 4th PG against ground targets in the Western Hubei.

Nov 21

Enshi airfield attacked by two waves of Japanese planes. Three P-40s, one P-43 of the 4th PG and four P-66 of the 11th PG rose to meet the attackers. Two P-66s were shot down, both pilots Yen Tse-kuang [Yan Ze-guang] Chou Fu-hsin [Zhou Fu-xin] killed. Another P-66 was so heavily damaged that it crashed, killing the pilot Chuang Chuan-wei [Zhang Zhuan-wei]. One Japanese fighter was claimed shot down (bounced by Liu Tsun [Liu Zun]) with three probables. The airfield itself was hit by some 36 bombs but damage was not serious.

Nov 22

Nine A-29s from the 2nd BG and nine escorting P-40s and P-43s from the 4th PG bombed supply dumps at Chinshih [Jinshi]

Nov 23

Seven A-29s from the 2nd BG and 7 escorting P-40s and P-43s from the 4th PG bombed targets near Kungan [Gongan], including a pontoon bridge which was set ablaze.

Nov 29

Four P-43s escorted one P-40 in delivering ammunition for rifles and machine guns to the besieged garrison of Chengde.

The P-43s ran into 4 groups of a total of 21 Japanese planes east of Chengde. One bomber and one fighter were claimed and three bombers and two fighters listed as probable. One P-43 was damaged and had to crash land.

Finally a snapshot of Chinese strength in June 1943:

CAF Effective strength on June 5, 1943

1st BG SB-3 3
2nd BG A-29 4
3rd PG P-66 15
4th PG P-40E 4 P-43 6 P-40E 5 P-40M 5
5th PG P-66 7
8th BG SB-3 1
11th PG P-66 16

Total 66 (58 fighters, 8 bombers)

14AF Effective strength on June 5, 1934

P-40 1
P-43 3
P-40E 64
P-38 1
B-25 13
B-24 27

Total 109 (69 fighters, 40 bombers)

[sjchan]

Thought I might as well post similar supplementary entries for 1938. These are based on primary sources i.e. after action reports titled "Brief Reports and Correspondence on Chinese Air Force's Fighting (Aug. 1937 to July 1938)" in Kangri Zhanzheng Zhengmain Zhanchang (vol. 3) In most cases they describe relatively minor operations not covered in http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se, although in a few cases (e.g. entry for June 26) where the an alternative account is provided. I am not an expert and have not cross checked the information with other sources exhaustively, but they seem reasonably reliable to me.

Jan 4

Thirty-two Japanese planes attacked the Hankou airfield. Besides two Chinese fighters shot down, two Northrop Gamma and one Vought V-65 Corsair were destroyed on the ground along with another plane under repair.

Jan 5

16 Chinese bombers from Hankou bombed the Wuhu airfield as well as ships in the vicinity. Five Japanese planes were claimed to be burnt on the ground

Feb 17

Eight SBs bombed the Anyang airport. The bombers tangled first with 6 Japanese fighters and later with three more fighters escorting four bombers; no loss on either side. No planes were sighted at Anyang and the bombers hit a train station and a train instead.

Four SBs attacked Pengpu [Bengbu], and four made on Japanese vehicles near Linhuaikuan [Linhuaiguan]. The later encountered two Japanese fighters and two of the SBs were slighted damaged; with one aircrew wounded.

Feb 19

Six SBs attacked Japanese shipping near Anking [Anqing].

Feb 21

Six SBs from Hankou attacked targets near Fenyang.
Fifteen bombers from Nanchang attacked the Hangchou airfield.
Eight Japanese bombers hit Hengyang, hitting both the field hospital (causing heavy casualties) and destroying one airplane under repair while damaging three others. Three Hawks took off to challenge the attackers, with one plane on each side damaged.

Feb 25

The Nanchang airfield was hit hard with one SB (no. 1532) destroyed. Furthermore the following Russian piloted planes were shot down (I-15 no. 5807, I-15 no. 5812 pilot killed, I-15 no. 5813 pilot killed, I-15 no. 5850 pilot wounded, I-15 no. 5858, I-16 no. 5339 damaged, I-16 no. 5365 pilot killed).

Feb 28

Wong Sun-shui attacked the four floatplanes, dispersing them and then hitting one of them hard enough to see it fell out of formation (plane was claimed as shot down).

Nine Japanese bombers hit the Hsiangyang [Xiangyang] airfield and slightly damaged two planes on the ground; thirteen 3rd PG fighters scrambled but there were no losses on either side.

March 8

Only 5 planes were able to take off to intercept the Japanese raid on Sian airfield; none of which was shot down. However, one SB and one I-15 under repair and another I-15 were hit on the ground. Twelve I-15s returning form a sortie against Japanese positions near Siyang ran into the departing Japanese fighters, which ended up with four I-15s shot down (Junh Kuang-cheng [Rong Guang-cheng] and Lo Chun-Tun) killed.

March 10

Two Chinese planes from Hankou attacked the Japanese airfield at Nanking and claimed to destroy a number of planes on the ground.

June 9

Four Hawk-IIIs of the 25th PS from Hankou each carrying four 120 lbs bombs attacked Japanese shipping nearTatung [Datong].

June 10

Five SBs from Hankou attacked seven Japanese shipping near Tungling [Tongling], claiming to hit one of them.

June 19

Eight SBs in two groups attacked shipping near Anking claiming to hit several vehicles. They were attacked by a dozen Japanese fighters but there were no losses on either side.

June 21

Five SBs from Hankou ran into two Japanese bombers and fighters respectively near Pengtse [Pengze] and claimed one fighter shot down.

June 23

Three SBs from Nanchang attacked Japanese vessels near Tungliu [Dongliu] and claimed two hits.

June 24

Three sorties totaling nine SBs from Nanchang plus another sortie of three SBs from Hankou attacked Japanese vessels near Tungliu [Dongliu].

June 25

At 0630 three SBs from Hankou attacked Japanese shipping near Anking, claiming three hits. Six Japanese fighters and one float plane attacked the SBs which escaped to Nanchang without loss.

At 0650 ten SBs from Nanchang struck the Wuhu airfield and escaped when pursued by Japanese interceptors.

At 1545 three SBs from Nanchang struck the Anking airfield with its 15 parked airplanes, and then eluded the three patrolling Japanese planes.

At 1500 seven SBs escorted by seven I-15s departed from Nanchang to attack shipping near Tungliu [Dongliu]. Several SBs were slightly damaged after being attacked by twenty one Japanese fighters.

June 26

At 0930 Nanchang First Route Command received report that 37 Japanese planes were approaching. At 1025, two flights of three patrol fighters were scrambled. All SBs and Hawk IIIs were dispersed to Chian [Jian]. At 1050 one flight of patrol made contact with the intruders and at that point ten Russian piloted I-16s, eighteen I-15s and five I-16s of the (Chinese) 4th PG scrambled. Two Japanese planes were shot down (one by Gubenko) At 1140 the six fighters in the first patrol came in for refueling, leaving the others on aler. At 1200 three Japanese bombers with six escorts emerged from the low cloude and dropped twelve bombs on the airfield, slightly damaging three SBs and one Hawk-III under repair. Three Japanese fighters and one bomber were claimed in this second encounter. Two Russian piloted I-15s were shot down (no. 5904 and no. 5379 piloted by Gubenko), with one pilot killed.

[sjchan]

Hello,

After not having writing very actively about the Sino-Japanese Air War for a couple of years due to a couple of book projects, I've finally added 1943 to my site (http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/sino-japanese-1943.htm).
I have a lot of additional material (on both 1942 and 1943), which I'll add in due time. I also will (slowly) start to work on 1944-45 but this will take some time since I have some new book projects in the pipeline.
Any additions or corrections to my info on my site is as usual most welcome.

Best wishes/Håkan Gustavsson

WWII Biplane Fighter Aces
http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se

Supplementary entries for Oct and Nov 1937

Oct 5

Wang Chang-li 王常立of the 5th PG crash landed in a paddy field after dueling with the Japanese and was wounded.

Yu Ping-hsiang [Yu Ping-xiang] 余平想of the 15th RS was wounded when his plane was shot down near Chianghsintsou [Jiangxingzou].

Oct 6

There were two attacks on Nanking [Nanjing] during the day. The first encounter at 1030 between four Japanese bombers escorted by eleven fighters and twelve Chinese Hawks ended without any loss on either side.

At 1500 three bombers with five escorting fighters were met by twelve Chinese Hawks again in two groups, and the Chinese lost two planes.

Oct 7

At 1200 twelve Japanese planes attacked Shaoguan and eight Chinese planes rose to meet the intruders. Hawk I no. 2807 (piloted by Huang Yuan-po黃元波) was shot and the pilot killed, and Hawk III no. 2909 (piloted by 陳順南Chan Shun-nan [Chen Shun-nan]) suffered the same fate.

Oct 8

Six Corsairs attempted to bomb the Hsinle [Xinle] Bridge. The bombs were too small to destroy the bridge, and one plane did not return.

Oct 9

Twenty eight Japanese bombers in three groups attacked Shaoguan.. Three Hawks from the 29th PS scrambled but did not offer battle due to numerical superiority of the Japanese. The airfield was hit hard and two planes under repair were damaged.

Oct 14

The air battle occurred over Nanking. The Chinese scrambled six fighters when the nine Japanese planes approached, but they originally did not intend to offer battle since they were under orders to preserve the remaining planes; nonetheless the weather was perfect and the two Chinese Hawks from the 24th PS were unable to escape and were shot down.

At 1600 eighteen planes (three Martin 139WCs, two Heinkel He111s, five Douglas O-2MCs, three Hawk IIIs and five Northrop Gammas) took off from Nanking to attack Shanghai airfields and warehouses. They were barely able to escape attacks by five Japanese bombers escorted by five fighters which arrived about five minutes after the planes took off. The Japanese planes bombed the vacant airfield without inflicting much damage.

Starting at 2100, one plane was sent every hour to bomb targets in Shanghai until 0300 on Oct 15.

Oct 15

At 0350 two Martin 139WCs of the 30th BS took off. Within two minutes, the first Martin (no. 3003) lost altitude and exploded when it hit the ground, killing all four crew. The second Martin (no. 3004) also went into a slow descent and crashed, killing three of the crew while the other was able to parachute to safety. The Martins were grounded while investigation was underway to determine the cause of the crashes.

Two De Havillands escorted by three Hawks took off to bomb bridges at Kuohsien [Guoxian] . The bombers arrived first and returned safety. The three Hawks arrived later, attacked the same target. On return, they ran into four Japanese fighters over Yuanping and only one returned. One of the missing pilots is 蘇英祥Su Yin-hsiang [Su Yin-xiang] of the 28th PS and 廖兆瓊Liao Chao-chiung [Liao Zhao-qiong] of the 31st PS.

One Corsair crashed after take-off, killing the crew Yen Wen-chuang [Yan Wen-zhuang] 晏文庄 and 惲逸安 Yun I-an [Yun Yi-an].

Oct 19

One Heinkel of the 19th BS was destroyed on the ground at Hankow.

Two A-12s attacked targets near Ping-yuan.

Oct 20

At 1330 five Northrop Gammas took off and evaded four Japanese planes. At 1430 these sighted Japanese vehicle near Ping-yuan station and attacked and destroyed both the station and the vehicles.

Five Douglas O-2MCs bombed targets in Shanghai in single plane night sorties. All planes returned safety though one of the plane was attacked by Japanese fighters.

Oct 22


Five Douglas bombers from Hangchou attacked Baoshan airfield around 1745 after avoiding Japanese fighters on the way. One of the Douglas (no. 401) piloted by 陳蔚文 Chen Yu-wen crash landed on its return, injuring two crewman (including Chen) slightly. Other planes scheduled to join in the attack was delayed by Japanese raid on the Nanking airport, and did not get under way until 2230. A Martin of the 8th BS in the attacking force had just arrived from Hankou but had problems which was fixed. On returning from the raid the Martin crashed during landing killing three of the crewman (Yang Chi-hao [Yang Ji-hao]楊季豪, Yuan Ju-cheng [Yuan Ru-cheng]袁汝成 and Wu Fan吳范).


Two A-12s and two De Havillands attacked targets in northern Shansi.

Oct 24

At 0320 twelve Japanese planes bombed the Hankou airfield, destroying one Douglas O-2MC (no. 408) belonging to the 8th BS on the ground and damaged two other planes.

At 1130 one Northrop Gamma (no. 902) of the 2nd BS was trying to land at Nanking but was caught by five Japanese planes as it tried to escape to Anking [Anqing]. The plane went down in flames killing the two crewmen ([Quan Zheng-xi]全正熹 Yu Yun-chang [You Yun-zhang] 游云章) on board.

At 1940 one Hawk attacked the Baoshan airfield with ten incendiary bombs, followed by another attack conducted by two Hawks around midnight. Several one plane bombing raids by the Douglas O-2MC were conducted at night

Oct 25

Of the three Vought Corsairs of the 7th RG sent on a recce mission to Anyang, only one returned at 1800. The other two (no. 602 and no. 1205 piloted) were lost together with the four crew (Wang Kan [Wang Gan]王幹 Han Shih-yu [Han Shi-yu] 韓師愈 Ting Chia-hsien [Ding Jia-xian]丁嘉賢 Wang Wen-hsiu [Wang Wen-xiu]王文秀)

Nightly single plane sorties against target in Shanghai continued, this time carried out by three Douglas O-2MCs of the 6th RG.

Oct 26

A bit more about the debacle in which Liu Chui-kang was killed. He was leading a flight of four Hawks to Taiyuan. At 0700 the four planes took off from Nanking, arriving at Hankow at 0930. Leaving Hankou at 1130, they arrived at 1325 at Loyang. They departed Loyang at 1615; by 1800 they still had not reached Loyang but it was getting dark, and the planes got dispersed while getting through some clouds. Only one of the planes were able to get back to Loyang safely at 2045. Liu was killed when his plane crashed, and two other planes also crashed – fortunately the two pilots (Tsou Keng-hsu [Zou Geng-xu]鄒賡續 and Hsu Pao-yun [Xu Bao-yun]徐葆昀) were able to bail out safely.

Oct 30

Six Vought Corsairs of the 7th RG were sent to bomb Yuanping. They ran into four Japanese fighters; two attacked no. 3106 and two converged on no. 1204. The former had its tank punctured and had to crash land when it ran out of fuel; the other was also damaged. Another plane (no. 1602) had to crash land when in bad weather; but all planes were repairable.

Nov 4

Seven Vought Corsairs of the 12th RS attacked Anyang and all planes returned safely.

Nov 11

At 0925, three Northrop Gammas attacked the Kaga through the cluds but were chased by two Japanese fighters. One escaped by diving into the clouds, the other two were not so lucky: plane no. 1405 (pilots Sung I-ching [Song Yi-jing]宋以敬 [Li Xi-yong]李錫永 ) and no. 1402 (pilots Peng Te-ming [Peng De-ming]彭德明 Li Huan-chieh [Li Huan-jie]李桓杰 ) were both shot down.

At 1200 the Loyang airfield was bombed. The Vought Corsair (no. 605) piloted by 張益民Cheung I-min [Zhang Yi-min] was shot down when it was attempting to take off and Cheung killed. The airfield was cratered but otherwise there was no loss.

At 1400 six heavy bombers with nine escorts bombed the Nanking airfield, destroying one Northrop completely and damaging three others. Two Hawk IIIs (no. 2307 and no. 2309) of the 4th PG were also damaged.

At the end of this day, only 31 operational combat planes were left (some 27 others were used for training purposes).

[Håkan Gustavsson]

Hello sjchan,

Thanks for your very interesting additions!

Best wishes/Håkan

[sjchan]

Hello sjchan,

Thanks for your very interesting additions!

Best wishes/Håkan

I have similar stuff for the first half of 1940 here. Major Chinese victories or even battles are far and few in between, the daily grind of the continuous combat vs the Japanese plus a few debacles took a heavy toll of the Chinese air force. I have tried to include names of the Chinese aviators as much as possible; many of the aces were long gone but the names of the lesser known (and inexperienced) pilots should be remembered, if not for their success, at least for their courage.

Jan 1

Six I-15s of the 5th PG intercepted and three (馬國廉 Ma Kuo-lien [Ma Guo-lian] 陳夢鯤 Chen Meng-kun [Chen Meng-kun]張祖騫 Chang Tsu-chien [Zhang Zu-qian]) claimed to have combined to shot down one Japanese reconnaissance plane.

Jan 2

Three SBs flown by Soviet volunteers attempted to bomb Japanese positions but had to return due to heavy fog.

Jan 3

Three I-15s flown by Soviet aviators intercepted a Japanese reconnaissance plane which managed to escape.

Jan 4

Four SBs attempted to bomb the Nanning airfield but fair to hit the target.

At the Mengtze airfield, large Japanese formations were sighted and ten I-15s were scrambled. They made several passes at the twenty-seven Japanese bombers without much success. The airfield was hit by over one hundred and sixty bombs, which however only managed to hit and destroy a Douglas (no. 0329) under repair. However, the I-15 flown by 李侃 Li Kan came in too low, hit a tree and was killed. Another I-15 flown by 譚漢男Tan Han-nan was forced to land at a satellite field, damaging the plane slightly.

Jan 7

Five SBs flown by the Soviet aviators and four SBs of the 19th BS bombed Nanning.

Jan 8

Six SBs raided the northern part of Nanning, though three were not able to identify targets and returned with their bombs.

Jan 10

Six SBs flown by the Soviet aviators and three SBs of the 19th BS bombed Nanning airfield, claiming to have destroyed three Japanese planes on the ground.

Fourteen I-15s and seven I-16s flown by the Soviets intercepted twenty-seven Japanese fighters. Two pilots were wounded and five planes lost in the dogfights.

Feb 1

Three Hawks of the 18th PS took off from Kunming to intercept 27 Japanese planes headed towards Mengtze, intercepting them at 1505. There was no loss on either side despite dogfights lasting for more than an hour. One of the Hawks (no. 5024, which was shot up in the dogfight) was damaged and the pilot Yang Tzu-fan [Yang Ci-fan]楊次蕃 injured on landing.

Feb 3

Two Hawks of the 18th PS and three I-15s of the 22nd PS from Kunming once again intercepted 25 Japanese planes which were trying to knock out the bridge near Siulungtam [Xiaolongtan]. After a confused dogfight the Japanese formation was disrupted sufficiently that the bridge was not hit.

Feb 13

Three Hawks of the 18th PS intercepted 27 bombers which were making another attempt to destroy the bridge near Siulungtam [Xiaolongtan]. One of the bombers was hit, and three more I-15s which arrived slightly later concentrated on the damaged. After making many passes at the bomber and killing the upper gunner, the Chinese claimed to have finally shot down the hapless plane. Several of the Chinese planes were slightly damaged and one pilot Tseng Pei-fu [Zeng Pei-fu]曾培复injured.

April 3

Six DB-3s from the 8th BG and nine DB-3s piloted by the Soviet volunteers made a combined raid on shipping, railway yards and various targets near Yoyang [Yueyang]. Several had to return due to mechanical failures; no Japanese fighters were encountered and the raid was completed without loss.

Seven DB-3s from the Wenchiang [Wenjiang] airfield each carrying 400 kg bomb-loads raided the Yuncheng airfield after refueling at Hanchung [Hanzhong] . They were met by intense anti-aircraft fire and nine Japanese fighters, but were able to escape safely due to their faster speed.

April 12

At 0756 five DB-3s of the 8th BG and ten DB-3s piloted by Soviet volunteers raided Yoyang [Yueyang] again, hitting shipping and the railway stations without loss to the planes.

April 25

At 0632 two I-16s of the 24th PS piloted by Li Wen-hsiang [Li Wen-xiang]李文庠 Chen Shao-cheng [Chen Shao-cheng] 陳少成encountered a Japanese reconnaissance flying in the opposite direction at a distance of 1 km. After two rounds of futile attack, the Japanese plane escaped.

Two I-15s from the 24th PS (piloted by Han Tsan [Han Can] 韓參 Wu Kuo-pei [Wu Guo-Pei] 吳國培)were scrambled to intercept a Japanese reconnaissance plane near Changshou長壽. One of the planes was probably damaged but the I-15s had to break off the attack due to fuel shortage.

All four pilots were officially reprimanded for their failure to bring down the lone Japanese intruder.

April 29

Sixteen DB-3s including seven from the 8th BG and seven from the Soviet volunteers attempted to bomb Nanking and ended up dumping their bombs on Hsinyang [Xinyang] on the way back due to poor visibility en route.

April 30

Several attempts were made to intercept Japanese night raids directed against Chinese airfields. These were not particularly successful, and at least two I-15s (no. 7315 and no. 7226) were damaged and the pilot of the former injured after forced landing in the dark. At 0527, an I-15 (no. 7506) piloted by Yang Yuan-chen 楊元臣 encountered Japanese bombers over Liangshan airfield and dove in to attack. His plane was hit hard by return fire with oil splashed all over the windscreen, but Yang continued to make two more passes without success. Finally he had to return when his machine gun jammed.

May 2

Five DB-3s piloted by Soviet volunteers bombed the Chunghsiang [Zhongxiang] 鐘祥 airfield but were attacked by several Japanese fighters; all planes returned safely to the Wenchiang [Wenjiang] airfield.

Eight SBs piloted by Soviet aviators attempted to bomb the Yuncheng airfield but dumped their bombs at the train station and warehouses near Yuhsiang [Yuxiang] instead due to bad weather.

May 19

Three DB-3s from the 8th BG and nine SBs from the 1st BG attacked Japanese transportation near Suihsien [Suixian].

May 20

Twenty four Japanese bombers headed for Chungking [Chongqing] were intercepted by eight I-16s of the 24th PS. In the ensuing fight the Chinese claimed to have shot down three bombers and a reconnaissance plane. The remnants of plane no. 258 claimed by 陳少成was found with its three dead crew members, while the wreakage of another heavy bomber no. 4528 claimed by 伍國培 was found with six dead crew members. I-16 (no. 7518) force landed due to a defective engine and was damaged; the pilot Li Wen-hsiang [Li Wen-xiang]李文庠was slightly injured. I-16 (no.7530) also crash landed due to lack of fuel and the pilot Han Tsan [Han Can] 韓參 was wounded. Other planes were hit but not significantly damaged.

May 22

Details of the successful Japanese raid on Baishiyi Airfield.
At 0639 and 0725 two groups of Japanese raiders each numbering 27 planes were sighted. The two groups of planes which kept a distance of about 10 km apart moved around without carrying any attack in order to confuse the 21 Chinese fighters that were scrambled and to deplete their fuel. Meanwhile a reconnaissance plane stayed well above the fray, undiscovered, to coordinate all attackes. At 0900 six I-16s had to land at the airfield for emergency refuel; while those I-15s without extra fuel tanks had to force land at other locations. At 0915 some of the I-15s also landed against orders. At 0926 three I-16s had finished refueling and took off, at this point the Japanese bombers arrived and broke through the defence of the remaining patrol fighters to inflict heavy losses to the landed planes as follows. The airfield was hit by over 400 bombs and effectively put out of service, with more than 40 casualties among the ground crew. One I-16 (no. 7560) and four I-15s of the 29th PS (no. 7150, no. 7118, no. 7101, no. 7135) were destroyed. In addition two I-16s (no. 7502 and 7505) as well as five I-15s (no. 7182, 7178, 7127, 7187, 7201) were damaged. The pilots were severely reprimanded for landing without permission. One I-16 (no. 7504) piloted by Chang Kuang-yun [Zhang Guang-yun] 張光蘊 and one I-15 (no. 7205) piloted by Yu Ping-yu [Yu Bing-yu] 余炳蔚 were damaged when they tried to attack the bombers and had to land at satellite fields.

May 27

Three waves of Japanese bombers hit various targets near Chungking. Chinese interceptors mostly failed to make contact, except for an unsuccessful attack on the third flight of 36 planes. One of the I-15s (no. 7226) was damaged during emergency landing as it ran out of fuel.

May 28

Six DB-3s from the 8th BG raided the crossroads near Anlu. One of the planes (no. 1927) developed engine failure and its crew bailed out safely but the plane was lost.

Several waves of Japanese bombers hit Chungking again but Chinese fighters were unable to make much impression on the attackers. Five Chinese fighters (mainly I-15s) were slightly damaged by Japanese return fire, and one pilot Hu Tso-lung [Hu Zuo-long]胡佐龍 wounded, though no plane was lost.

May 29

Once again Chinese fighters attacked several waves of Japanese intruders without much success. An I-16 (no. 5325) piloted by developed mechanical problems and had to crash land, destroying the plane and injuring the pilot. Two other Chinese fighters were slightly damaged in combat

[sjchan]

Second installment for 1939

July 4

Three waves of Japanese bombers attacked Chungking continuously during the day. One intercepting I-15 (no. 2803) flown by Lei Yen-pei [Lei Yan-pei] 雷炎培 developed engine failure and had to bail out, injuring himself slightly and destroying the plane. Another I-15 (no. 3205) flown by Li Chung-yen [Li Zong-yan] 黎宗彥 crash landed at Tahsien [Daxian], killing the pilot with the plane a total loss.

July 5

Fifteen I-15s and I-16s and eight Hawk IIIs rose to meet three waves of Japanese bombers, but once again had nothing to show for the effort. All planes returned safely to base.

July 8

Sixteen I-15s and I-16s and eight Hawk IIIs rose to meet three waves of Japanese bombers (36, 27 and 27 respectively in each wave), claiming to disperse them and disrupting the bombing but failing to shoot any of them down. One I-15 (no. 2325) had to crash land injuring the pilot and damaging the plane.

July 16

Fifty-four Japanese bombers from Wuhan attacked Chungking in two waves. The Chinese sent up an assortment of thirty-one I-15s, Hawk IIIs and I-16s, claiming to damage several bombers. One of intercepting I-15s (no. 2112) was badly damaged and crashed, killing the pilot Deng Shou-Kang丁壽康.

July 22

More than ninety bombers from Wuhan were met by thirty-two Chinese fighters, without any Japanese or Chinese planes shot down.

July 24

Thirty-three Japanese bombers approached Chengdu and were met by an assortment of twenty-nine I-15s, I-16s, Hawk IIIs and Gladiators from Taipingsi. One Japanese heavy bomber crashed; six Chinese fighters were damaged.

July 28

More than 100 planes attacked Chungking in five waves. Sixteen fighters from the 4th PG and 5th PG rose to intercept, claiming one Japanese bomber shot down. I-15 (no. 2904) of the 29th PS flown by Kao Chun-tao [Gao Chun-tao] 高春濤 was hit hard and crash landed, killing the pilot. Three other planes (no. 2306, 1702 and 2702) also had to force-land, damaging the plane and injuring the pilots. Two other planes (no. 2101 and 2901) were also damaged in the battle.

July 31

Thirty-six Japanese army bombers from Yuncheng and three flights of navy bombers totaling eighty-one planes from Wuhan raided Chungking around noon time. Thirty-eight I-15s, I-16s and Hawk IIIs attempted to intercept the bombers. In the heavy battle that followed, two I-16s (no. 2402 and 2418) were shot down and four I-15s were damaged; while a number of Japanese bombers were claimed to be damaged.

Aug 2

Thirty-six Japanese army bombers from Yuncheng and two groups of eighty-six navy bombers from Wuhan attacked Chungking before noon. Thirty Chinese fighters met the attack but were unable to make any impression on the Japanese bombers. One I-16 (no. 2414) was damaged when it landed for refueling.

Aug 9

Ninety bombers from Wuhan bombed Chungking around 1130. Twenty-nine Chinese fighters intercepted without success. One I-15 (no. 2111) had to force land due to mechanical problems; plane was damaged but pilot unharmed.

Aug 11

Ninety bombers form Wuhan raided Chungking again just after noon. Sixteen I-15s, six I-16s and seven Hawk IIIs launched a series of furious attacks on the bombers, claiming to shoot down two (including one near Shihchuhsien [Shizhuxian]by Wen Yen [Wen Yan] 溫炎 who continued to press home his attacks despite damages to his plane). A total of eight Chinese fighters sustained various degrees of damage, and one pilot Lan Shih-fang [Lan Xi-fang] 藍錫芳) was wounded. Subsequently the wreckage of a heavy Japanese bomber was found at Shihchuhsien [Shizhuxian] three of the seven men crew survived (杉野一助 / 西池次男 / 大野敏夫) and were taken prisoner.

Aug 12

Another ninety-bomber raid in two waves launched from Wuhan; twenty-nine Chinese fighters attempted to intercept without much success.


Aug 17

Two waves of fifty-four naval bombers attacked Chungking. Twenty-nine Chinese fighters scrambled but largely fail to intercept the intruders. One I-15 developed problems and crash landed at the Baishiyi airfield, destroying the plane (no. 2116) and injuring the pilot Wang Ching-li [Wang Qing-li]王慶利.

Aug 18

Three SBs of the 1st BG and six SBs of the 19th BS left Liangshan airfield at 0730 to attack the Ichang airfield at 0900 at an altitude of 4500m. There were no Japanese planes on the ground, and the returning bombers were attacked by a total of six planes. At least two of the bomber were shot down.

Aug 19

Twenty-nine Chinese fighters rose to meet the usual large formation of Japanese bombers. However, they were able to detect in time that there were escorting fighters. Since all the Chinese fighters were equipped specially to deal with Japanese bombers, any combat with Japanese fighters will be disastrous for the Chinese. Request to avoid combat was raised and accepted, and within 3 minutes all Chinese fighters vacated the area.

Aug 20

Large formations of over 100 Japanese bombers with small groups of escorting fighters once again roamed the sky over Chungking. Chinese fighters once again had to avoid combat, leaving the defence of the city to anti-aircraft guns which claimed to have shot down two Japanese planes (two crewman were captured).

Sep 13

List of Chinese casualties and plane losses in the one sided battle against the Japanese Zeros:

鄭少愚Cheng Hsiao-Yu [Zheng Shao-yu] (I-15 no. 2101) wounded
陳盛馨 Chen Sheng-hsin [Chen Sheng-xin] (I-15 no. 2301) wounded; plane damaged
王特謙 Wang Te-chien [Wang Te-qian] (I-15 no. 2108) wounded; plane damaged
武振華 Wu Chen-hua [Wu Zhen-hua] (I-15 no. 2116) wounded; plane destroyed
司徒堅 Szeto Chien [Situ Jian] (I-15 no. 2123) killed, plane destroyed
黃楝權 Huang Lien-chuan [Huang Lian-quan] (I-15 no. 2104) killed, plane destroyed
余拔峰 Yu Pa-feng [Yu Ba-feng] (I-15 no. 2115) killed, plane destroyed
高又新 Kao Yu-hsin [Gao You-xin] (I-15 no.2107) plane damaged
龔業悌 Kung I-ti [Gong Ye-ti] (I-16 no. 7533) wounded, plane damaged
曾培复Chen Pei-fu [Zeng Pei-fu] (I-15 no. 2327) wounded, plane damaged
溫炎 Wan Yen [Wen Yan] (I-15 no. 7127) plane damaged
劉英役 Liu Ying-I [Liu Ying-yi] (I-15 no. 2309) killed, plane destroyed
徐吉驤 Hsu chi-hsiang [Xu Ji-xiang] (I-15 no. 2310) slightly wounded, plane damaged
王廣英 Wang Kwong-ying [Wang Guang-ying] (I-15 no. 2308) wounded, plane destroyed
康保忠 Kang Pao-chung [Kang Bao-zhong] (I-15 no. 2306) killed, plane destroyed
楊夢青 Yang Meng-ching [Yang Meng-qing] (I-16 no. 2415) killed, plane destroyed
蔡名永 Tsai Ming-yung [Cai Ming-yong] (I-16 no 713) plane damaged
周廷熊 Chou Ting-hsiung [Zhou Ting-xiong] (I-16 no. 703) plane damaged
雷炎均 Lei Yan-chun [Lei Yan-jun] (I-15 no. 3208) wounded, plane damaged
張鴻藻 Chang Hung-tsao [Zhang Hong-zao] (I-15 no. 2201) killed, plane destroyed
曹飛 Tsao Fei [Cao Fei] (I-15 no. 2208) killed, plane destroyed
雷廷枝Lei Ting-chih [Lei Ting-zhi] (I-15 no. 2113) killed, plane destroyed
何覺民 Ho Chueh-min [He Jue-min] (I-15 no.3206) killed, plane destroyed


Oct 4

More details on the disastrous day for the CAF.

Having been warned about 54 Japanese planes (bombers + fighters), all planes were dispersed.

Japanese repeated strafed the Taipingsi airfield, destroying 12 planes under plane on the ground (I-16 no. 5355, I-16, no. 564, Dewoitine no. 5914, SB3 no. 6535, Hawk 75 no. 5021, I-15 no. 7170, I-15 no. 7780, Hawk III no. 5616, Hawk III no. 5615, three other trainers).

At 1240, one of the DB3 used for training purpose had to return to the airfield due to mechanical failure and was promptly shot down, killing the crew of three. Another I-15 returning too early to the airfield was badly damaged by two pursuing Japanese planes as it attempted to land, seriously damaged the plane and wounding the pilot 金偉 Chin Wei [Jin Wei]. Another Gladiator attempting to do the same managed to escape to another airfield. Another I-15 (no. 7160) crashed due to engine failure, the pilot 梁鎮生Liang Chen-sheng [Liang Zhen-sheng] was able to bail out but was wounded.

Regarding the six Hawk 75s of the 18th PS which were caught by Japanese fighters, no. 5026 piloted by 陳桂林 Chen Kuei-lin [Chen Gui-lin] and no. 5033 piloted by 吳國楝 Wu Kuo-lien [Wu-Guo-lian] were surrounded by five planes and hit hard but managed to escape. Similar no. 5043 was holed but managed to land in another airfield. Another Hawk, no. 5044 piloted by 石幹貞 Shih Kan-chen [Shi Gan-zhen] was not as luckly and was shot down, with the pilot killed.

After all the Japanese intruders had left, an I-15 (no. 7218) crashed while landing, destroying the plane and seriously injuring the pilot 邢肇熙 Hsing-chao-shi [Xing Zhao-xi].

Oct 13

At 1220 eight Japanese planes strafed the Fenghuangshan aerodrome for some 20 minutes, destroying four (two SBs, one bomber and a transport) and damaging five planes on the ground. One of the dispersed Chinese fighters ran out of gas and had to land at a nearby airfield, hitting the ground awkwardly and damaging the plane and a Dewoitine on the ground slightly.

[sjchan]

Final installment: a few entries for Dec 1939 on the air battle to support the Chinese forces struggling to recapture Kunlun Pass:



25 December 1939

Three SBs piloted by Soviet volunteers tried to bomb Japanese positions near Jiutong in the morning but bombed Nanning instead since they were unable to see markers laid out by Chinese ground forces. Three more SBs together with a Gladiator successfully bombed several Japanese strongpoints in the afternoon, helping Chinese ground forces to capture a number of positions.

Ten I-15s of the 4th PG, ten I-15s of the 5th PG and five Hawk-75s of the 18th PS took off from Chihkiang during late afternoon to intercept Japanese planes; one Japanese plane was claimed to be damaged but one Chinese plane was lost and at least 6 more were damaged.

30 December

Thirty-three I-15s and nine I-16s tangled with Japanese fighters, claiming to shoot down three. The Chinese lost a Soviet volunteer killed, and a total of twelve planes were shot down or damaged in the fight.

31 December

Three SBs attacked the Nanning airfield with eighteen 100 kg bombs and claimed to have destroyed eight planes on the ground.

[maxs75]

Thanks for the posts, very interesting
Max