bigpigeon.us webpage WW II - Japan > China-Burma-India > China - 1941-45, updated by RAC 3 Sep 2020.     Not yet complete.
WW II in China - Overview:

China in 1941 was already the most populous nation on Earth, but unlike today it was economically backward and far from unified. Since 1928, Chiang Kai-shek led both the major political party, the Koumintang, and the Republic of China government.

WW II in China was a continuation of the Second Sino-Japanese War, which began in 1937 and pitted the Republic of China against the Japanese Empire.  By the end of 1938, Chiang Kai-shek's government had feld the central China capital of Nanking and retreated to Chongqing in mountainous southwestern China, where it remained until World War II ended.

Throughout WW II, Chinese forces continued to tie up the majority of the IJA (Imperial Japanese Army) without launching a major offensive on their own. However, in 1944, the IJA mounted an offensive to open a rail route south through China.
China in 1941
China in 1941
​In addition to the Japanese occupation of key portions of his country, Chiang faced a Civil War resumption from Mao Zedong's Communist party. Moreover, traditional Chinese warlords often possessed regional power and military iinfluence.

​Even before Pearl Harbor, Russia, Great Britain and the United States supported Chiang's government by providing shipments of supplies. Shipment by sea through Chinese ports was not feasible due to Japanese control of Chinese seaports. Thus three avenues were used:
  • From Russia through the north (closed after the Soviet-Japanese Non-agression Pact of 13 Apr 1941).
  • From Haiphong and Hanoi in northern French Indo China by rail to Kumning, China. (closed 16 Jul 1940 by the Vichy France government after Japanese pressure.)
  • North through Burma by rail, and then by truck over the Burma Road to Kumning and on to Chunking. (closed Apr 1942 by the Japanese conquest of Burma.)
Picture
WW II in China
The AVG - The Flying Tigers

By 1941, the Japanese had increased their ability to interdict traffic on the Burma Road, the sole remaining avenue into China. The United States sanctioned and supported the creation of the AVG, the American Volunteer Group, whose core consisted of about 100 American fighter pilots, organized to fly under the Chinese flag. The AVG was preparing for combat when the War with Japan began in December 1941. They helped protect the Burma Road area as the Japanese progressed north in Burma in the first half of 1942.

Claire Chennault, the AVG commander, taught his pilots a different style of aerial combat. Rather then engaging in dogfights, they would make an initial surprise attack, and then break off combat.

Although their numbers were not sufficient to stem the  Japanese advance, AVG tactics were overwhelmingly successful. The AVG is credited with 297 Japanese planes destroyed, with only 14 AVG pilots lost in combat.

With the loss of Burma, the AVG withdrew into the Kumning area in southwestern China, where they were transferred to the American flag, becoming the nucleus of the 23rd Fighter Group, which later became part of the new 14th Air Force, based in China and headed by Claire Chennault.
P-40 Flying Tiger Aircraft on the Flight Line
P-40 Flying Tiger Aircraft on the Flight Line
Sources for the WW II - China - 1941-45 webpage:
  • The China in 1941 map is courtesy of Emerson Kent.
  • The WW II in China map is courtesy  of The Map Archive.
  • The P-40 Flying Tiger Aircraft on the Flight Line photo is courtesy of MilitaryHistoryNow.com.

Pottawattamie County, Iowa area WW II Dead - China - 1941-4511-03 - China-Burma-India Theater > China 1941-45: (four dead, updated 19 Oct 2021)
  • The Japan Overpowered > Strategic Air War - Japan webpage has deaths from the B-29 raids from China.
† Berringer, Merroll Jackson, SN O-735025, USAAF, Pott. & Page Cos.
  • Flight H, 35th Photo Recon. Sqdn., 14th AF; Lockheed F-5E Photo Lightning #44-23237 pilot; KIA 21 Nov 1944 over South China Sea; disappeared on triangular flight Suichuan-Nimrod Sound-Batanes Is.-Suichuan; China-Burma-India Theater > China; BNR.​
† Chancellor, Elmer Lee, SN O-711946, USAAF, Pott. Co.
  • 118 Tactical Recon. Sqdn., 14th AF; based at Chengkung, China w/ advance base at Suichwan, China; North American P-51C Mustang #43-24938 pilot; KIA 28 Dec 1944, over Yangtze River, Anking, southern China; China-Burma-India Theater > China; BNR.​
† Cox, Kenneth A., SN 17-078-406, USAAF, Douglas Co., NE
  • 16th Combat Camera Unit, based at Kumning, China; on this mission flying with 11th Bomb. Sqdn., 341st Bomb. Gp., 14th AF, based at Yangkai 33 miles NE of  Kumning, China; North American B- 25 Mitchell #_____ w/ pilot John J. Wise, co-pilot Buster P. Meadows; KIA 18 Jan 1945 Chihkiang, Hunan Province, China; after bombing Puchi railroad bridge NW of Chungking, plane overshot runway when landing at staging base at Chihkiang ~ 300 M SE of Chungking; three dead, four survivors; China-Burma-India Theater > China.
† Holm, Darcy Lee, SN 39-836-855, USAAF, Pott. Co. & San Francisco Co., CA
  • 373rd Bomb Sqdn., 408th Bomb. Gp., 14th AF, based at Yangkai, 33 miles NE of Kumning, Yunan, China; Consolidated B-24J Liberator #42-73252 flight engineer, KIA 15 Jan 1944 E of Kweilin & N of Hong Kong, China; crash after departing Kweilin on a search and rescue mission; all ten crew members died; China-Burma-India Theater > China.