Posted on 10/26/2009 7:57:40 AM PDT by 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'."
(Excerpt) Read more at bangkokpost.com ...
yeah, CAT when in country
*smiles*
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
ping
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.
“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.
..pretty sure I flew World Airlines ..out
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.
Thanks for the ping.
I was surprised that so many people thought this thread was about the Flying Tiger Airline.
Awesome! Thank you!
Yes. However, I believe that Flying Tiger Airline was formed by several veterans of the AVG.
True, but this thread was about Charlie Bond. May he rest in peace.
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