Previous   Next
Home » CPA0015373

China / USA: Lieutenant General Claire Chennault, Commander of the Flying Tigers, Yunnan, China, May 1942

China / USA: Lieutenant General Claire Chennault, Commander of the Flying Tigers, Yunnan, China, May 1942

Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault (September 6, 1893 – July 27, 1958), was an American military aviator. A contentious officer, he was a fierce advocate of fight-interceptor aircraft during the 1930s when the U.S. Army Air Corps was focused primarily on high-altitude bombardment. Chennault retired in 1937, went to work as an aviation trainer and adviser in China, and commanded the 'Flying Tigers' during World War II, both the volunteer group and the uniformed units that replaced it in 1942.