In December 1941, the Japanese Imperial Army came ashore on the British colony of Malaya. In support of that invasion, its air arm soon began to raid neighboring Burma and especially its seaport and capital city of Rangoon, protected by a weak squadron of Royal Air Force Brewster Buffaloes and an untested squadron of P-40s flown by the American Volunteer Group of mercenary pilots in the employ of China. The battle of Rangoon would soon make them famous as the "Flying Tigers." Beginning in 1942 and at regular intervals thereafter, the Tigers' exploits in Burma would be hailed in the west as a triumph of outnumbered men and obsolete machine against overwhelming odds-"like rowboats against the Spanish Armada," in the words of one historian. But what was the truth of these air battles? In the course of writing his definitive history of the American Volunteer Group, journalist and historian Daniel Ford spent a year translating Japanese documents, histories, and popular memoirs of the air war in Southeast Asia. Here for the first time is the Japanese side of that great battle, as it is remembered in Japan to this day. Essential reading for every fan of the Flying Tigers. (About 20,000 words. Revised and updated 2022.)
