CLAIRE L. CHENNAULT

CLAIRE L. CHENNAULT
CLAIRE L. CHENNAULT
(1890 - 1958) American Army aviator who established the volunteer-staffed Flying Tigers to fight the Japanese invasion of China. He has also been (unofficially) credited with over 40 'kills'. Superb content war-date T.L.S. as Major General on Headquarters Fourteenth Air Force letterhead, 1p. 4to., New York, Jan. 23, 1945, marked 'SECRET' on top and bottom, arguing with a Major General Gilbert X. Cheves, Commanding General of the China Theatre's Services of Supply, about the chain of command for SOS troops at Chengtu Airbase. In part: 'While in CHENGTU, I learned from the Commanding Officer of Sector II, China Air Service Command, that there appeared to be some departures from our agreement relative to the SOS detachment at CHENGTU...We had agreed, as I understood it, that the Commanding Officer...and the officers and men under him were to be attached to the Headquarters...This has not yet been done. Furthermore, I understand that the Commanding Officer...has received a number of directives, asserting his responsibility for the defense of CHENGTU asserting his responsibility for discipline of troops...I had understood that since there are none but Air Force troops in the CHENGTU area (except the seven members of the SOS detachment), these matters would be regarded as the responsibility of Sector II, China Air Service Command...' Chennault signs at the conclusion in black ink. Matted and framed with a b/w photograph of Chennault, a bullion 'Flying Tigers' patch, and an unidentified 'C.D.S.' badge, all within a black frame to a total size of 20.5 x 17.5 in. Chengdu Airfield was a major command and control base for the USAAF Tenth Air Force and hosted elements of 312th Fighter Wing between 1943 and the end of the war in 1945; this wing's fighters provided support for local Chinese ground troops, escorted B-29 Superfortress bombers based nearby on their bombing missions over the Japanese Home Islands and flew air superiority missions over the region. File holes at top, else very good to fine.