The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1945-02-23
CHAPTER XIV

4uGS6 were leu ny i've VI Tic pCos
men of the AVG, and there was one
great ace-in-the-hole that only the
General and the AVG could have
arranged: Two squadrons Of these
Flying Tigers had agreed to stay
behind for a two weeks period to
help the newly formed 23rd Fighter
Group. think this gesture by those
men such as Bob Neal, Charley
Bond, George T. Burgard, Frank
Lawlor, John E. Petack, Jim How
ard, and others who were suffering
from combat fatigue and i'll health,
was one of the bravest and most
self-sacriicing incidents of this war.
In the two weeks that they remained,
two of them gave their lives, and
their sacrifice was beyond the call
of mere duty. These men, with those
five who stayed with us to lead our
squadrons = Hill, Rector, Schiel,
Bright and Sawyer-and the AVG
radio, engineering, armament, and
ground personnel, were our back
bone and our inspiration. We OF
the 23rd Fighter Group salute you.
That Fourth of July, as the over
confident enemy ships came in over
Kweilin, they brought new twin
engine fighter that was supposed to
murder us. They came in doing
arrogant acrobatics, expecting to
strafe the Chinese civilians in the
rity without opposition. General
Chennault watched them with field
glasses from outside the cave and
called directions to Bob Neal, Ed
Rector, and Tex Hill, who were sit
ting with their ships Gin the sun"
high overhead, at twenty-one thou
sand. At his radio order of ''Take
'em," the newly formed 23rd with
the AVG attached dropped down and
massacred the Japs. There were
soon thirteen wrecked Zeros and new
twin-engined LASS around the field
for the Chinese to celebrate over.
Thus was the 23rd Fighter Group
organized, initiated, and activated
in combat. When took over things
at Running there were three fighter
squadrons and one headquarters
squadron. Major Tex Hill had one
squadron at Hengyang, China, and
with him were such deputy leaders
as Maj. Gil Bright, Maj. Johnny
Alison, and Capt. Ajax Baumler.
Maj. Ed Rector had another squad
ron at Kweilin with Capt. Charlie
Sawyer for his assistant in leader
ship. These outlying stations are
about five hundred miles in the di-
rection of Japan from our head
quarters on the plateau of Yunnan
at Kunrning. The third unit was
the squadron under Maj. Frank
Schiel, who was very busy training
the most junior members of this
new fighter group in the way of
fighter aviation. I got the Group
headquarters to running and stood
by for orders to begin leading the
fighter forces in action to the East.
On July 10, Tex Hill led a small
flight, including Baumler, Alison,
Lieut.. Lee Minor, and Lieut..
Elias, up on the Yangtse. Their
prime job was to escort few BIS
medium bombers against the docks
of Hankow. This objective of mis-
sion with our China force was new
er all we considered to be the duty
of our fighters, for if any other tar
get presented itself after the bomb
ers were on the way home, we'd
have some fun. Tex Hill led his
fight along with the bombers, who
were led by Col. C. v. Haynes. After
the bombs had been released and
the B-25's were heading back for
base with their bombay doors
closed, Tex called for an attack by
the fighters on the enemy shipping
in the river.
One of the bomber pilots said that
Tex rolled his ship over from six
teen thousand feet and streaked
down for the Jap gunboats below.
The little gunboats were shooting
everything they had at the Ameri-
can fighters-but that, I've learned
since, was what Hill liked. Tex
Hills guns were firing even as he
pulled out right on the water, and
they swept the decks of the enemy
gunboats. The bomber pilot said
that as the fighter ships would turn
low to the water and come in, each
concentrating on one Of the little
Jap warships, he could see the six
lines of fifty-calibre tracers cutting
across the water. At long range
they seemed to meet out in front of
the fighter and then fan out and COW
er the deck of the target. Then, as
the speed of the fighter narrowed
the range, the point where the fire
crossed-the zero or conveyance
point of the guns-was right at the
waterline of the Jap boat, and it
Nust have knocked in hole that
crippled the boat right away. On
NE second attack one of these gum
coats was sinking and on fire. Hills
four fighters sank all four of the lit
tie metal gunboats.
Next day. on another fight such
as this one, Hill led eight fighters,
four with wing bombs, for dive