Aces high - the last of the Flying Tiger raiders

The Bangkok Post ^ | October 25, 2009 | Jack Eisner

[where's_the_Outrage?]

Charlie Bond, one of the last pilots of a covert World War Two fighter squadron, died recently, but the heroics of the US servicemen who took on the might of the Japanese air force in Burma will never be forgotten

Published: 25/10/2009 at 12:00 AM Newspaper section: Spectrum

Charlie Bond, one of the last surviving pilots of the legendary World War Two 1st American Volunteer Group (AVG), dubbed the "Flying Tigers", died in Dallas, Texas, on Aug 18, at the age of 94. Major General Charles R Bond, Jr, served 30 years in the US Air Force, retiring in 1968.

His life was intertwined with Thailand for a period spanning more than 60 years.

In the early days of World War Two, when the Japanese were invading Burma from bases in Thailand, Bond was part of a force of 10 Flying Tigers that made a surprise dawn attack, on March 24, 1942, against the Japanese 64th Hayabusa Sentai (Falcon Group) based at Chiang Mai airfield.

Although the squadron commander was Robert Neale, Bond led the attack because he was the only pilot who knew the target, having flown over the airfield as part of a reconnaissance. Ed Rector, one of the 1st squadron pilots, in the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, said: "Visibility was just terrible and with the sun coming up and with all that haze, it wasn't possible to identify anything. And Bob Neal is weaving back and forth. I think Bob was just about to turn around and go back, and with that, Charlie Bond flew by him, rocked his wings and in effect said 'follow me'."

[Doogle]

yeah, CAT when in country

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I was on a Northwest plane from Mpls landing in Chicago with a dozen Japanese tourists on board. As we taxied to the terminal, a Flying Tigers 747 Freighter with the tiger teeth paint job went past on the next runway. I thought the Japanese guys were going to blow a gasket...

[Doogle]

*smiles*

[Doogle]

[HiramQuick]

Seems Like World Airlines was another ... I was flying one of the carriers from Naha,Okinawa to Seoul ... one of the flight attendants (a she I thnk) had more facial hair than I did as a 20 year young sailor. Cutey? .. NOT. And, her demeanor was akin to a PMS’ng Drill Instructor. I had one of those at flight school Pensacola as well.

Good times ...lol

[GreyFriar]

ping

[Ready4Freddy]

I missed the original FR thread on Gen Bond, but attended the funeral. Gen Bond’s son has been a friend of mine since early college, and it was great being able to talk w/ the General over the years.

I was your typical arrogant, snot-nosed early-70s college kid back then, but I had so much respect for my uncle & his friends who fought in the Battle of Normandy that I was able to get along OK w/ Gen Bond and learn from him.

[papasmurf]

“My dad flew C-46 cargo planes over the Hump in the China-Burma-India Campaign after the fall of the Burma Road.”

My Dad was a flight mechanic on some of those flights.

BTW, I hadn’t heard that tern, “over the Hump”, used in that context since he last said it, he passed in ‘87.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The first C-46s were painted green and carried Nationalist Chinese stars. Later, he flew the silver C-46s with Army stars.
The CBI was such a hellhole that they would take just about anyone for duty including my dad who was about 38 years old. He had been a pilot for CNAC, owned by American Airlines at the time (later owned by PAA.)
He was among more than a dozen civilian pilots who wore military uniforms with the CBI patch but no rank insignia. He was referred to as "captain."
25 back and forth flights into China from India and on the last flight, a crash landing that left him with burns on his back and neck. He was flown back to the Army burn center at San Antonio and received some of the first skin grafts. He never received veterans' recognition because he had officially been a civilian.
There have been dozens of civilian pilots in war zones, up through the current day. CAT and Air America come to mind...

[Doogle]

..pretty sure I flew World Airlines ..out

[Tallguy]

Also the AVG’s initial mission was to defend the Burma Road and it’s terminal in Rangoon, most of coastal China having fallen into Japanese hands. When Rangoon fell to the Japanese, the AVG pulled back northward toward Kunming as a by-pass was constructed from India across Northern Burma (the Lido Road).

A little known alliance called ABDA (Australia, Britain, Dutch, America) was formed to defend the Dutch East Indies and the Dutch oil fields in Batavia. After Pearl Harbor the Japanese Navy just blew away the multi-national cruiser force that was the chief military asset of the alliance.

A lot of effort was expended to keep Nationalist China in the war.

[where's_the_Outrage?]

Here’s a link to the museum:

http://thaiaviation.com/gallery2/v/tigers/

[zot]

Thanks for the ping.

I was surprised that so many people thought this thread was about the Flying Tiger Airline.

[TaxPayer2000]

Awesome! Thank you!

[GreyFriar]

Yes. However, I believe that Flying Tiger Airline was formed by several veterans of the AVG.

[zot]

True, but this thread was about Charlie Bond. May he rest in peace.