Here are the 15 Flying Tiger pilots who were credited with five or more
air-to-air victories--the usual definition of an "ace". (Click here for victories
attributed to AVG pilots, in the air and on the ground.) Where
scores are tied, I list the names alphabetically. If you have
additional information about any of these men, please send email.
Thanks to Skip Guidry, Tom Pearson, and Rick Siciliano for helping update this file.
1. Robert Neale
A Seattle resident, Bob Neale was a dive-bomber pilot on
Saratoga when he joined the AVG. He took over the 1st
Squadron Adam & Eves after Sandy Sandell was killed, and
was decorated by the British government (Distinguished
Service Order) for his exploits in Burma. Neale was one of
the AVG pilots who volunteered two weeks' additional service
in China after the group was disbanded; during that interim, he
commanded the U.S. Army's 23rd Fighter Group--as a civilian!--pending
the arrival of the designated commander, Colonel Robert Scott.
After returning to the States, he served as a civilian
transport or ferry pilot for Pan American World Airways. The AVG records credit him with 13 air-to-air
victories:
23 Jan 1942: 1 Ki-27 Nate fighter
24 Jan 1942: 2 Ki-21 Sally bombers
26 Jan 1942: 1 Ki-27 Nate fighter
6 Feb 1942: 1 Ki-27 Nate fighter
25 Feb 1942: 4 Ki-27 Nate fighters
26 Feb 1942: 3 Ki-27 Nate fighters
3 May 1942: 1 Ki-15? observation plane
2. David Lee Hill
Born in Korea to a missionary father who later became chaplain
to the Texas Rangers, Tex Hill was also a Navy dive-bomber pilot
when recruited for the AVG, serving on Ranger on the
east coast. The British awarded him the Distiguished Flying
Cross for his service in Burma. He replaced Jack Newkirk as commander
of the 2nd Squadron Panda Bears in March 1942. Devoted to Chennault, he
was one of only five Flying Tigers who accepted induction into the
U.S. Army in July 1942. He was given the rank of major and the
command of the 75th Fighter Squadron. On his second combat tour
in China, he served as commander of the 23rd Fighter Group, and
after the war earned general's rank in the Texas Air National Guard.
Not long before he died, he published his memoirs as
Tex Hill: Flying Tiger. The AVG record credits him with 10.25 air-to-air victories:
A native of Pennsylvania, George Burgard was born August 12, 1915.
He attended Bucknell and spent six years as a newspaperman before
joining the Army. Trained in B-17s, he was serving as a Ferry Command
pilot when he joined the AVG. Following his AVG
service, he flew for American Export Lines. He has his
own webpage; see the links. The record
shows him in a three-way tie as a double ace:
21 Feb 1942: 2 Ki-27 Nate fighters
25 Feb 1942: 1 bomber + 2 fighters
26 Feb 1942: 3 Ki-27 Nate fighters
12 Jun 1942: 1 Ki-45 Toryu fighter + 1 Ki-27 Nate fighter (the
Toryu was piloted by Sgt. Jiro Ieiri, commander of "Nagano Force"
of five or more Ki-45s based at Canton; Ieiri was killed in the
crash, but the radioman-gunner survived to have his picture taken
with Burgard and other Flying Tigers)
(3) Robert Little
Bob Little is shown as a native of Spokane. Likewise recruited from
the Army Air Corps (probably from the 8th Pursuit Group at Mitchel
Field), and likewise a double ace, he was killed in action
while bombing Japanese positions on the Salween River, 22 May 1942.
29 Jan 1942: 1 Ki-27 Nate fighter
6 Feb 1942: 2 Ki-27 Nate fighters
25 Feb 1942: 3 Ki-27 Nate fighters
26 Feb 1942: 3 Ki-27 Nate fighters
8 Apr 1942: 1 Ki-43 Hayabusa fighter
(3) Charles Older
A graduate of UCLA, Chuck Older joined the marines as a breather
before law school. Following the AVG, he joined the Army and
ended the war as a lieutenant colonel before resuming his
interrupted study of the law, perhaps the only double ace to
become a judge. (Most famously, he presided over the Charles
Manson trial.) Meantime, he was recalled to active duty and
flew a Douglas B-26 Invader during the Korean War--probably the
only Flying Tiger to be a combat pilot in another war.
10 Apr 1942: shared 1 Ki-43 Hayabusa fighter (flown by Sgt.
Yoshito Yasuda of the 64th Sentai, who not only managed to
fly back to Chiang Mai but survived the war, later writing about
this combat in terms that make it impossible that he was not
the pilot claimed by Older and Hedman)
28 Apr 1942: 2 Ki-43 Hayabusa fighters
6. Robert T. Smith
A native of Red Cloud, Nebraska, R. T. Smith was serving as an Army flight
instructor at Randolph Field when he joined the AVG, and he
rejoined the Air Corps when his tour was finished. He served with
the 1st Air Commando in India and Burma, ending the war as a
colonel. His facsimile diary, Tale of a
Tiger, is one of the best of the AVG memoirs.
The record shows him with 8.90 air-to-air victories:
8 Apr 1942: 2 Ki-43 Hayabusa fighters (the first was flown by
Lt. Yohei Hinoki of the 64th Sentai, who was badly shot up but
managed to fly home to Chiang Mai; the second belonged to Sgt.
Chikara Goto, credited with two victories at Singapore, who crashed
30 or 40 miles south of Loiwing)
10 Apr 1942: 1 Ki-43 Hayabusa fighter
25 Apr 1942: shared 2 Ki-15 Sonia observation planes (the
loss of these planes is confirmed in Japanese records)
28 Apr 1942: 1 Ki-43 Hayabusa fighter
7. William McGarry
One of the few AVG recruits who'd actually flown fighter
planes--Curtiss P-40s for the 1st Pursuit Group at Selfridge
Field--Mac McGarry was shot down over Chiang Mai, Thailand,
on 24 March 1942. (Portions of his Tomahawk are now on display
at the Chiang Mai museum operated
by the Thai air f. It
was the discovery of those relicts that prompted me to write
my novel Remains.) After a rough
interrogation by the Japanese, he was handed over to the local
authorities and spent the war in the comparative comfort of a
Thai jail. The record shows him with 8 air-to-air victories:
Flying Tigers: the history
The Smithsonian Institution Press edition went through seven printings
from 1991 to 2001. Now Flying Tigers is available again, revised
and updated, from HarperCollins. Find it at Amazon websites in the
United States -
Britain
-
France -
Germany -
Japan
-
and Canada
Or I'll send an autographed copy for list price plus shipping:
A Seattle resident, Bob Neale was a dive-bomber pilot on
Saratoga when he joined the AVG. He took over the 1st
Squadron Adam & Eves after Sandy Sandell was killed, and
was decorated by the British government (Distinguished
Service Order) for his exploits in Burma. Neale was one of
the AVG pilots who volunteered two weeks' additional service
in China after the group was disbanded; during that interim, he
commanded the U.S. Army's 23rd Fighter Group--as a civilian!--pending
the arrival of the designated commander, Colonel Robert Scott.
After returning to the States, he served as a civilian
transport or ferry pilot for Pan American World Airways. The AVG records credit him with 13 air-to-air
victories:
Born in Korea to a missionary father who later became chaplain
to the Texas Rangers, Tex Hill was also a Navy dive-bomber pilot
when recruited for the AVG, serving on Ranger on the
east coast. The British awarded him the Distiguished Flying
Cross for his service in Burma. He replaced Jack Newkirk as commander
of the 2nd Squadron Panda Bears in March 1942. Devoted to Chennault, he
was one of only five Flying Tigers who accepted induction into the
U.S. Army in July 1942. He was given the rank of major and the
command of the 75th Fighter Squadron. On his second combat tour
in China, he served as commander of the 23rd Fighter Group, and
after the war earned general's rank in the Texas Air National Guard.
Not long before he died, he published his memoirs as
Tex Hill: Flying Tiger. The AVG record credits him with 10.25 air-to-air victories:
A native of Pennsylvania, George Burgard was born August 12, 1915.
He attended Bucknell and spent six years as a newspaperman before
joining the Army. Trained in B-17s, he was serving as a Ferry Command
pilot when he joined the AVG. Following his AVG
service, he flew for American Export Lines. He has his
own webpage; see the links. The record
shows him in a three-way tie as a double ace:
Bob Little is shown as a native of Spokane. Likewise recruited from
the Army Air Corps (probably from the 8th Pursuit Group at Mitchel
Field), and likewise a double ace, he was killed in action
while bombing Japanese positions on the Salween River, 22 May 1942.
A graduate of UCLA, Chuck Older joined the marines as a breather
before law school. Following the AVG, he joined the Army and
ended the war as a lieutenant colonel before resuming his
interrupted study of the law, perhaps the only double ace to
become a judge. (Most famously, he presided over the Charles
Manson trial.) Meantime, he was recalled to active duty and
flew a Douglas B-26 Invader during the Korean War--probably the
only Flying Tiger to be a combat pilot in another war.
A native of Red Cloud, Nebraska, R. T. Smith was serving as an Army flight
instructor at Randolph Field when he joined the AVG, and he
rejoined the Air Corps when his tour was finished. He served with
the 1st Air Commando in India and Burma, ending the war as a
colonel. His facsimile diary, Tale of a
Tiger, is one of the best of the AVG memoirs.
The record shows him with 8.90 air-to-air victories:
One of the few AVG recruits who'd actually flown fighter
planes--Curtiss P-40s for the 1st Pursuit Group at Selfridge
Field--Mac McGarry was shot down over Chiang Mai, Thailand,
on 24 March 1942. (Portions of his Tomahawk are now on display
at the Chiang Mai museum operated
by the Thai air f. It
was the discovery of those relicts that prompted me to write
my novel Remains.) After a rough
interrogation by the Japanese, he was handed over to the local
authorities and spent the war in the comparative comfort of a
Thai jail. The record shows him with 8 air-to-air victories:
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