A courageous few of you have flown the hump. Most of the rest have heard the story. Here's your chance to revisit those years or to gain a real appreciation of this critical WWII action. Dramatic footage in this 39 minute B & W DVD brings to life the unparalleled role of the daring band of civilian American pilots making up the original Flying Tigers and the later 14th Army Air Force in cracking open a vital back door through western China to the Japanese enemy.
The story begins in April, 1937 when Captain Claire L Chennault retired from the the U.S. Army Air Corp and became a special adviser to the Chinese Air Force. It unfolded further with the recruitment in late 1941 and early 1942 of civilian volunteers who formed the nucleus of the original American Volunteer Group in China, becoming better known in a short time as the legendary Flying Tigers.
While this extraordinary group of flyers made critical contributions to the early struggle in the South Asian theater this film focuses on their role in solving the problem of the slow and strangled supply route through the mountains from India to western China. Here they take to the skies with P-40B's and B-25's to move necessary supplies to Kunming in China. They faced enormous obstacles of mountains, icing, turbulence, and enemy planes to build a rapid supply line for the action in western China. All of this and more is portrayed in this film. With the supply line established the film moves on to non-stop action to defeat the Japanese forces on the ground and in the air culminating in securing a China back door route to the Far East. Helped and supported by the sacrifice and hard work of thousands upon thousands of Chinese peasants and troops on the ground this daring band of flyboys made history in helping to assure the eventual WWII allied victory.
All of this and more is depicted in exciting and action-based footage you don’t want to miss.
Some special and memorable scenes to look for include:
- breathtaking footage of sustained aerial combat and fiery crashes
- scenes of challenging and dangerous mountain flying
- pictures of the building of needed air fields by hordes of Chinese working by hand
- wrenching footage of retreating Chinese refugees
