The CAF College Network

If dauntless bravery were the foundation of CAF’s path to VJ Day, the systematic education was the scaffolding that guided its process.  The CAF Air Defence School was founded in January 1934, it included classes of antiaircraft gun, fast gun, officer, NCO, driving, civilian air defense, military air defense, air defense information, and search light.  Later the vast spotter network which served as the early warning system for the Flying Tigers, was also organized by ADA.  1936, the CAF Mechanics School emerged.  Before it was retreated from Nanchang to Chendu in 1939, 2,418 mechanics of 32 classes had graduated, and numerous more classes followed.

In 1938 the CAF NCO School was established for flying NCO training, until 1944 there were four classes got their wing.  But from the class 5^th all were switched to officer cadets who better fitted in the CAF system.  In order to fulfill the urgent requirements, the old communication class started in 1936 was expanded to the school level in January 1944.  Like the above-mentioned CAF institutes, the CAF Communication School and Staff School were also founded in Chendu, then retreated to Taiwan in 1949.    1957 it became the CAF Communication Electronics School in Taiwan.

Introduced the RAF staff system, in 1940 the Staff School was founded for intermediate rank officer’s advanced training.  1959, it was upgraded as the Staff Command University in Taiwan.  The only CAF college site out of Chendu was the Youth School.  Started in 1941as a six grade high school, its military graduates then enter other colleges as officer cadets.  For all the new blood, there would be no grace period to ease into their assignments, the real-world war was forcing them to learn on the fly.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Undertaken at the request of Britain, the Chinese Expeditionary Force crossed into British ruled Burma to clear the way to retake the Japanese occupied Burma Road in February 1942.  Soon it won the Battle of Tungu in March 19-30, as its first step to rescue the once-arrogant British Army.  April 15, two CEF regiments launched an assault leading to the encircled Yenangyaung oil field, liberated 7,000 demoralized British troops.  Just 10 days later, CEF took Taunggyi.  Meanwhile, the British forces kept escaping from Rongoon to India, left all the CEF’s flanks exposed to enemy attack.  May 1942, the depleted CEF retreated, its 5^th Army mistakenly chose the endless Kachin Jungle evacuated to China.  Of the 5^th ‘s 35,000 men had gone into the 114 days-long jungle ordeal, fewer than 4,000 returned.  With all the edible roots and leaves finished off by the 5^th, the following 5,000 of the 28^th Division were even more debilitated, only hundreds survived.

Chinese had been forced to leave many of their comrades behind, dead of starvation, exhaustion, disease, giant leach, and anaconda.  Tens of thousands of bodies lay scattered in the rain forest, many sufferers simply sit against a tree next to their dead and dying brothers-in-arms, waiting for the final moment.  Under the monsoon, casualties became skeletons by ants and rats in hours.  Though left to hunger in the unspeakable ordeal, the idea for cannibalism had never been bashed about in their mind.  For centuries, Stoicism has been the highest Chinese military virtue, and that is the cultural contrast between Chinese and Japanese.

In 1987, a Japanese documentary Yuki Yuki te Shingun described dialogue with WWII Japanese soldiers who admitted to practice regular cannibalism in the New Guinea Campaign in 1942-43, first on the Allied soldiers, then murdered their own weak comrades used for rations.  January 2, 1943, in the enemy positions the Allied located the bodies of captured Australians and found evidence of cannibalism.  During the prior Japanese attempt to capture Port Moresby over the Kokoda Track, and during their Buna-Gona defensive, none of the Allied captives were allowed to live, and all of them had been tortured, used for bayonet practice, or eaten.  Though after the Japanese retreat, the Allied uncovered significant amounts of can food and rice dumps.

Enemy at the Gates

Since late 1930s, most top engineering students from the best Chinese universities, i.e. Tongji, Tsinghua, and Zhejian joined the defense industry.  While the vast military academy graduates were commissioned 2^nd lieutenant, these technical minority under the Ordnance Ministry were straight commissioned lieutenant.  Their importance was considered unreplaceable, as Japan started shrewd devastating China.  One of the young 2^nd Lt. was my dad, he was mechanical engineering major in Tongji  and joined the OM's Metallurgy Laboratory in Nanking.  When the devil was at doorstep of the capital in 1937, he was still focus on forming mortar shells by using rotating casting.  After his lab withdrawn to Chongqing, he became a mechanical and metallurgical engineer in the Electrical Refinery Factory, which provided the brass of 99.9% purity for ammo cartridge production.  Lacking of sufficient raw material, my dad's team had to purchased tons of ancient coins from countryside to fulfill the huge demand of brass.

During the Sino-Japanese War, in total 23 Ordnance Factories scattered around the home front.  To prevent enemy's air raid, the factories were hidden in the mountainous area in Sichuan, nine of them were nearby Chongqing and vicinity.  Among the 200,000 OM's workers, nearly 10,000 were with the OF 21, which was the most versatile and largest factory.  Located on the northern bank of Gialing River, 21's workforce of three shifts operated round-the-clock to maximize production.  In average the OFs monthly produced 5,675 rifles, 444 light machine guns, 195 heavy machine guns and 144 mortars, etc. to partially replace the battle losses of 8,368 rifles, 515 light machine guns, 119 heavy machine guns, etc. per month in 1937-45.  The victory was never cheap, my dad was one of the numerous unsung hero who fixed a calamity that’s proved unfixable without extraordinary devotion.  In his later years in Taiwan, 1946-98, he still enjoy the time tested friendship from ordnance buddy.  Sometimes the 60's machine gun chief visited my dad for manufacturing advise, their OF 60 and 26's villages were adjacent to our Talco (Taiwan Aluminum Corp.) complex, at Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan.

Based on the OF numbering system, 20-40 block stand for southwestern provinces, 60 block stands for Jiangsu province, i.e. OF 60 in Nanking and OF 61 in Shanghai. 70 block stands for Northern China, only OF 70 in Beijing. 80 block stands for southern China, only 80 OF in Guangdong. 90 block stands for Northeast province (Manchuria), only OF 90 in Shenyang (Mukden).  After 1949 the Red China gained a permanent foothold in mainland, the OFs captured by the Reds diverted to make Russian models, while the four moved to Taiwan switched to the U.S. spec.  In my childhood, I always heard remote machine gun burst from 60's arsenal test range.

This is a Magnum, Punk

When Japan hung a black cloud over whole China, Chinese under-resourced industry was too weak to build sophisticated warplanes, but still strong enough to mass produce basic equipment, e.g. the magnificent ZB-26 light machine gun.  China was the major user of this universal automatic weapon, more than 100,000 ZB-26s were imported or licensed-built in China.  According to the records by its Czech originator, Brno, a total of 30,249 ZB-26s were delivered to China between 1927-39.  During the Sino-Japanese War, 39,744 "Czech machine guns" were locally made.  Formally adopted in 1937, i.e. Republic Year 26, Type-26 (7.92×57mm caliber) became the standard light MG in the Chinese Army.  Better known as Czech MG, over 10,000 of them were manufactured by Ordnance Factory 21 along, the largest among all 23 OFs.  Unlike the others, 21's housing piece of Czech MG was pre-forged instead of entire milling to save material.  The 21 located near Chongqing started this project in 1939, with successive interchangeability improvement until its QC protocol was accomplished in 1942, 9,813 modified units were completed before the VJ Day. 

Without sufficient heavy equipment to resist Japan, the light machine gun provided perfect closed fire support for the poorly equipped Chinese army.  In an attempt to standardize the Czech MG production, the Ordnance Ministry requested Brno for its blueprint with the initial purchase of 5,000 ZB-26s in 1934.  Brno only promised a calibration jig for this mediocre batch, after they were phased out from the Czech Army.  However, Chinese created the drawings from the jig and the know how collected by Chinese technicians from their on-site overhaul inspection/audit in Brno.  Amid the technical transfer dialogue, Brno downsized its assistance right after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937.  Desperate times called for desperate measures, eventually more than 30 manufactures and repair stations joined the Czech MG project.

Following the Dagu OF successfully copied ZB-26 in 1927,  the Czech MG was soon adopted by all provincial armies and Nationalist Centre.  Before the OM standardized the manufacturing drawings, individual OFs began their Czech MG ventures via reverse engineering.   Inevitably, parts interchangeability and metallurgical issues existed among various suppliers.  Since 1935, the Northwest Foundry in Shanxi province also began churning out the Czech MG.  In 1941 its production was restored in Sichuan after Japanese advanced to Shanxi.  The Czech MG project of the Guangdong OF 1 started in 1935, it was re-designated as OF 41 during the war.  Henan and Zhejiang provinces participated in the Czech MG production in 1937 and 1938, respectively.  During the WWII, China received the modified 7.7mm caliber Czech MG from UK-Bren gun.  This ammo supply nightmare persisted until 40,000 Canadian made 7.92 mm Bren guns arrived under the Lend-Lease Act in 1944.

The most quantitative Czech MG producer was the OF 53, which delivered 14,920 units between its establishment in January 1942 and the VJ Day.  Though the top Czech MG manufacturer, the 53's quality was least stable due to tungsten steel, quench, and manufacturing tolerance difficulties.   The 53 came from the merged OFs 22 and 51 in 1942, the latter was found in Yunnan, 1941, as a Madsen machine gun maker.  Soon the 51 switched to the Czech MG, since all its Danish supplied drawings and tooling were destroyed in enemy air raids on the Burma Road in June 1940.  During the post-WWII years, the whole ordnance system began to diminish.  In 1949 the Chinese Reds took over the entire mainland, only OFs 26, 44, 60 and 61 withdrawn to Taiwan with the Nationalist Centre.  In 1952 the Type-41 MG manufactured by OF 60 was still a derivative of Czech MG.

They Fell With Faces To The Foe

FIn the early 1930s under the condition of the next Japanese aggression, the China gave great attention to the development of a modern air force.  At the beginning of the second Sino-Japanese War in July 1937, the actual results fell far short of those desired.  Among the 305 serviceable fighters, the Chinese Air force’s 28^th and 34^th FSs had 49 obsolete Curtiss Hawk IIs, resulted from a chaotic purchase of a mixed roster of aircraft, many of which by that time were more or less outdated.  Hawk II variant was an export version of the US Navy F11C-2 carrier-based fighter bomber, China was the major operator of this fabric-covered, metal-framed biplane.

In the first week of the air battle, the Japanese were outfought by the enthusiastic Chinese.  Stood firm in the face of enemy’s relentless advances, the CAF committed the bulk of its Hawks into stiff resistance, until the crushing Mitsubishi Type-96 fighter swept Chinese fading air flotilla from Shanghai area.  Though inflicted heavy losses, the remaining 28^th FS further split into two detachments headed for Shanxi and Guangdong provinces, in response to the assaults from northern and southern fronts, respectively.  Nevertheless in performance and firepower it was no match for the foe, the 28^th’s CO Chen Qi-Guang, fought valiantly and managed to shot down the top IJA ace, “King of Pursuer” Miwa Hiroshi over Taiyuang, Shanxi, on September 21.  In mid-October, only three Hawk IIs remained operational, with another two under repaired.  Thus the depleted north detachment retreated to Luoyang.

The CAF pilots, well trained and disciplined, had made up for what they lacked in aircraft performance with raw courage and battlefield adaptability.  In Guangdong the south detachment fought to diminution as well.  In their last combat on October 7, four Hawk IIs were ambushed by four Type-96 fighters as intercepting six Type-96 bombers which first appeared in China; only one Hawk survived after this 20 minutes one-side-duel.  By the end of 1940 the CAF had practically no combat worthy Hawk II remaining and the survivors were soon relegated second line duties in Ichang, Chengdu, and Kunming.  This was the Great Resistance War, it names itself, and Chinese stoicism was telling.

Keep Flying without Limitation

In 1937 the superiority of Japanese aircraft in both quantity and quality, swept the Chinese Air Force from the skies in the early phase of Sino-Japanese War.  The defenders then shifted to a focus of saving the remnants, in hope that the surviving aircraft served as trainers for a future fleet.  While continuing to intermittently interdict the enemy bombers, the few pursuers avoided engagement with their invading counterparts per CAF tactical doctrine.  One of the crewmen who got through the incessant assault is my friend Guan (關世華).  He was a young aeromechanic by then, and I would be his future colleague with the Far Eastern Air Transportation at Taipei in 1983-85.  Unlikely his complex autobiographical false memory, here is his first-hand story I learned in our engine parts inspection shop, about what he witnessed under the murderous hail of enemy fire decades ago.

One day in 1938-39, a badly hit pursuer returned to Guam's airfield.  Guan was one of the anxious ground crewmen who watched the sputtering war bird as it descended, literally, on the edge of a crash landing.  Eventually, it touched down and taxied to a stop.  When the rescuers rushed to the bullet riddled aircraft, they were astonished to see a dead pilot with a gaping head wound in the cockpit.  His head was shot through by an enemy machine gun bullet, but body remained lukewarm.  Keeping all these contradictions in mind, the undeniable fact was an irreplaceable pursuer nursed home in an extraordinary way.  Surely few witnesses could interpret it subject to the critical mechanism of adrenalin or pituitary gland, but many of them believed this quasi-miracle was a wonder work caused by ultimate will power.

In the 14 years grinding struggle with the enemy styling itself as a Bushido superpower, Chinese casualties counted over 20 millions.  In 1942-45, air cadets started receiving their wings on the U.S. trainer types, including 150 PT-17 Kaydet, 127 PT-19 Cornell, 70 PT-20/22 Recruit, 30 Vultee BT-13 Valiant, 20 AT-6 Texan, 8 AT-7 Navigator, and 15 AT-17 Bobcat, eventually the air superiority over China was resumed after Japanese had initially seized it.  Overall, Japan lost the war, but China didn't win the war.  After the Communists victory over Nationalists, in 1949 chief mechanic Sgt. Guan retreated with CAF to Taiwan, where I was born.  He is one of my CAF predecessors, who passed some CAF anecdotes to me.

Commemoration of 918

Before the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, a Kwantung Army (KA, spear head of the Imperial Japanese Army) agent in Beijing reported that if China united, its potent Northeastern Army (NA) in Manchuria could have withstood the KA of only 11,000 men, and jeopardized the Japanese aggressive intentions farther south from Manchuria.  The NA of nearly a quarter million was the best-trained and equipped troop of China, including 25 infantry brigades, 6 cavalry brigades and 10 artillery regiments.  Being exposed to accumulated Japanese havoc with their homeland, NA’s fur-hatted soldiers demanded putting up a fight with their modern arsenal of 200 warplanes, 20 tanks and 4,000 machine guns.

But the Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek showed no intention of resisting invasions; he manipulated it.  Under his “nonresistance policy” to the Japanese, Chiang turned on his political rivals and blocked the NA from gaining any opposition or voice within Manchuria.  To remain in line with Chiang’s controversial stance, the NA commander Zhang Xue-Liang (張學良, son of NA’s founder) urged his men not to defy and to store away any weapons for self-defense.  On September 18, 1931, 600 KA men proceeded to crush 8,000 disarmed garrisons in the North Barrack near Mukden, with minimal difficulty.  In five months the KA had overrun all major northeastern Chinese cities.

To all Chinese 918 (09/18/1931) became the final goad to their wounded pride.  Expanding from Manchuria, the Japanese easily captured extensive Chinese resources to obliterate China; the NA's 42 grand prize aircraft re-painted with Hinomaru was the lead.  Chinese public opinion was highly critical of Zhang for his cowardice in his handling of the Japanese assault, while Chiang still focused his effort on eradicating the Chinese Communist guerrilla.  Though China became a shameful mess, there had been no shortage of ruler's VIP transports, which used the line of the Ford Tri-motor, Boeing Model-247, Sikorsky S-43, Douglas BT-32 Condor, C-54 Skymaster, and C-118 Liftmaster.  Amid the civil war, the Commies forced Chiang fled Mainland in a C-54 (BuNo 42-72424) to Taiwan, December 10, 1949, where he reinstated and reformed an autocratic rule.

The Forgotten Pioneers

Uncontrollable regional then outside hostilities, and political dilemma that followed them, were casting doubt on Chinese aircraft acquisition in the 1930s.  So together, they came up with a pack of orphan warbirds facing the Japanese invasion.  In the early stage of the Sino-Japanese War, the international miscellaneous types of Italian Brenda, French Dewoitine, and U.S. Hawk, etc. were no longer supported tactical demands in air combat escalation.  Considered inadequate against modern enemy types, Curtis Hawk fleet was replaced by the Russian Polikarpov in 1938.  Again, it was proved to be another marginal successor.

Before Pearl Harbor which started the Lend Lease for China, the CAF launched several indigenous fighter projects.  After the massive air bombings against civilians of Shanghai and Chongqing, it would be astonishing if there were not more massacre; modernized interceptors were badly needed.  Besides the pre-war types, there were licensed assembled Polikarpov I-15, I-16, Bellanca 28-90B, Curtiss CW-21, Vultee V-12, and local designed Chu-X-Po , but all the efforts failed due to lack of logistic supports.  In May 1939, a U.S. deal was signed, with China receiving three Curtiss-built prototypes, plus 27 knock-down kits.  The Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company (CAMCO) at Loiwing, near the China-Burma border, would undertake the assembly.

Though an orphan design , three initial production Demons were shipped to China in May 1940 and eventually passed onto the Flying Tiger, i.e. 1st American Volunteer Group; the trio were planned to tackle high-flying Japanese recon.  On their ferry flight from Rangoon to Kunming, 23 December 1941, all three crashed due to poor visibility.  Facing the advancing Japanese forces, none of the 27 CKD kits were completed before CAMCO was forced to evacuate to India in 1942.  It’s important to us to keep the origin story of forgotten pioneers alive.  Our identity comes from our knowing our story, and being able to tell it so well.