Biplane fighter aces

China

Major 'Arthur' 'Art' Chin Shui-Tin


Chin Shui-Tin's name in Chinese.

23 October 1913 - 3 September 1997

Art Chin was born on 23 October 1913 in Portland, Oregon. His father was from Toyshan county, Guangdong (Kwangtung) province, China and his mother was from Peru.

He was one of a group of 15 Americans of Chinese descent who were able to start flying in the US in the early 1930s, at Al Greenwood's flying school in Portland. After finishing primary training in the US, they offered themselves to the Cantonese Air Force, and on 1 December 1932 he was accepted as a Warrant Probationary Pilot.

He was promoted to Second Lieutenant on 23 February 1933.

He completed his flight training in Germany in 1936 receiving air-to-air gunnery training from the Luftwaffe at Laager Lechtfeld. On 1 September 1936, he was promoted to First Lieutenant, as a flight leader in the 6th Squadron.

He served as a flight instructor from February to June 1937, and joined the 28th Pursuit Squadron, 5th Pursuit Group on 10 June 1937, as Vice Commander.

On 15 August 1937 the 28th PS of the 5th PG under the command of Captain Chan Kee-Wong was deployed to the Chuyung Airfield near Nanking.

Early in the morning on 16 August 1937 the Kanoya Ku of the JNAF launched two raids against Chuyung, which was an important airfield for the defence of the capital Nanking. Lieutenant Commander Nitta led the first raid of six G3Ms. Lieutenant Commander Nitta was leading the first Shotai (flight) of three G3Ms and Lieutenant Osugi was acting as Buntaicho (flight leader) for the second Shotai. They took off from Matsuyama Airfield in Taipei at 07.40 for its target, the Chuyung Airfield near Nanking. Lieutenant Ishii led a second group of seven G3Ms in the second raid and their target was the Yangchow Airfield.
Nitta's group arrived over Chuyung at 10.55. Because of low clouds, the Chinese Air Raid Warning Net was only able to give a short warning. The mechanics of both the 17th PS and 28th PS, which both were based at Chuyung Airfield, worked frantically to get their aircraft started. John Wong, commander of the 17th PS of the 3rd PG, was the first to get off the ground in Boeing 281 #1701, followed by Buffalo Wong, Lieutenant Wong Tse-Tsim (another Chinese American pilot) and Lieutenant Teng Cheng-Hsi. Captain Chan Kee-Wong’s 28th PS managed to get two Hawk IIs in the air, one of them flown by Lieutenant Art Chin (Hawk II #2802).
John Wong barely had time to turn towards the G3M's when the first bombs started bursting into the airfield compound. The 17th PS mechanics, which had stayed and worked so bravely to start up the Boeings, scrambled for cover. Luckily, only one was slightly injured by fragments. This experience taught them to dig slit trenches next to the runway in the future.
Wong caught up with the six G3Ms flying at 900 metres and attacked the lead flight. Attacking the aircraft of Ensign Umebyashi from the port quarter, Wong took advantage of the blind spot created by the twin tail of the G3M where the Japanese gunners could not hit him. Wong shot up the G3M, causing it to fall in flames north east of the airfield. Pulling up into a loop, Wong came down to attack another G3M from above and behind, again from the port quarter. Hitting this G3M, Wong saw it descend with fuel streaming from its tanks. Turning back towards Chuyung, Wong saw Wong Tse-Tsim attacking another G3M without success. Joining in the fray, Wong dived below the G3M, which turned out to be the lead plane flown by Lieutenant Commander Nitta. Pulling up sharply, Wong fired a long burst at the belly of the G3M. It caught fire immediately and crashed south of Chuyung where its bomb load went off. Both crews of the crashed G3Ms perished in their aircraft.
Meanwhile, Buffalo Wong had caught up with another G3M and scored some hits. But, unfortunately, his guns malfunctioned at the critical moment, depriving him of a kill.
Art Chin also managed to catch up with a G3M, likely to be the lead plane of the 2nd Shotai commanded by Lieutenant Osugi. Lieutenant Teng Cheng-Hsi of the 17th PS attacked it without success and soon broke off. The G3M had dropped its bombs and was picking up speed trying to escape towards the mouth of the Yangtse. Chin, in his antiquated Hawk II, could barely keep up. Firing steadily, Chin was able to score many hits on the G3M, puncturing its fuel tanks and wounding a crewmember. However, the lack of speed advantage meant that the Hawk II was also an easy target for the Japanese gunners as it hung there at zero degree deflection behind the G3M. Chin later recalled that his Hawk II was hit many times, the Cyclone engine stopping 2 bullets. Finally, Chin had to turn back at the mouth of the Yangtse with Osugi's G3M descending, streaming smoke and fuel. Chin managed to nurse the battered Hawk II to an airfield at Chia Hsing where he made a forced landing (the Hawk II ended up on its nose as the brakes failed). Osugi's G3M, which had been hit 58 times and with a gunner injured, lost fuel at an alarming rate and Osugi considered turning back to force land at the Japanese legation in Shanghai. Finally, lightening the plane by dumping equipment and anything that can be pried loose, Osugi managed keep the G3M in the air long enough to divert to Cheju-do off the southern coast of Korea. Japanese records say the Osugi made an "unscheduled landing" at Cheju-do just as his fuel ran out, meaning anything from just an "unscheduled landing" to a crash. Based on his report alone, the ROCAF awarded Chin a "kill" even though he never claimed to have seen it crash.

The 28th PS was tasked with defending Nanking but with pressing demands for air defense in both Northern China and Southern China, the 28th PS was split into two. One group of four 28th PS Curtiss Hawk IIs, reinforced by three others from the Air Force Academy, went sent north to Tai Yuan under the command of Captain Chan Kee-Wong. The remaining four Hawk IIs, led by Captain Chin, were sent south to protect the Shaokwan Aircraft Factory in Canton Province.

On 27 September 1937, three JNAF G3Ms from the Kanoya Ku attacked the Hankou-Canton Railway in the Kwangtung Province. Lieutenant Chen Shun-Nan led three Hawk IIIs of the 29th PS from Tien-ho Airfield in Canton and Art Chin led four Hawk IIs of the 28th PS from Shao-kuan Airfield to intercept.
Both groups attacked the G3M's over Lok Cheung (Le Chang in Pin-yin) and the 29th PS claimed to have downed one G3M and damaged another. Chin only claimed to have shot up a JNAF plane and "drove it away".
JNAF records indicate that none of the G3M's went down immediately but the No.2 aircraft commanded by a Lieutenant Yoshida was badly shot up. On the initial attack, one Hawk III hit and wounded one of the Japanese gunners and put two holes in the fuel tank. This was followed by an attack described by the Japanese as being by "another fighter aircraft" (probably referring to Hawk IIs as distinguished from Hawk IIIs with retractable landing gears). This attack was much more devastating, shooting up the fuselage, fuel tanks and wounding the two remaining gunners as well as Lieutenant Yoshida. The G3M managed to fly out to sea before running out of fuel and ditching off the coast of Swatow. A British freighter rescued the Japanese crew but one of the gunners died of his wounds. Credit for this kill should be given to both squadrons involved and was most probably the aircraft attacked by Chin.

In October 1937 the Kuomintang government had purchased 36 Gloster Gladiator Mk. Is, which were shipped to China an assembled. The first batch of 20 Gladiators were ready in January 1938. After retraining of the new fighter these were pressed into service with the 17th, 28th and 29th Squadrons of the 5th PG. A second batch of 16 aircraft was received in January 1938 and after assembly these were also assigned to the 28th and 29th Squadrons as a measure to replace attrition. By February the Gladiators were ready for action.

In the early hours of the 9 February, the commander of the 5th PG, Wong Pan-Yang took off from Heng Yang in a Vought V-92C Corsair in order to guide 11 Gladiators from the 28th PS up from Nanchang. When the group ran into a snowstorm Wong’s engine started to play up and he was forced to turn back to Heng Yang. The Gladiators continued on to Nanchang but only eight aircraft made it. Chin Shui-Tin (Gladiator no. 2801) flew low to see if he could find a landmark but ended up crashing into a hill, writing off the aircraft and suffering injuries to the orbit of his right eye. Chou Geng-Hsu (alternatively Flight Leader Chou Yung-Shu) (no. 2805) also got lost during this flight and he had to bail out. Chou Ling-Hsu (no. 2810) became lost and put down at Gaon.

At 13:00 on 31 May 1938, nine IJNAF Type 95 (E8N) aircraft were spotted and phoned into the Chinese Air Raid Warning Net by ground observers. The IJNAF floatplanes were flying towards Hukou from Shu Sung in the Anhuei Province. Chin and four pilots of 28th PS took off from Nanchang to engage the raiders. They sighted nine E8Ns in a 'V' formation at 6000 feet near Hukou. The Gladiators had a height advantage of 1500 feet and Chin immediately signalled to attack. Immediately he rolled his Gladiator and dived to attack the E8N formation with his wingmen in hot pursuit. Since the E8Ns were less manoeuvrable they resorted to abrupt rolling and banking to try to shake off the attacking Gladiators. After 30 minutes of attacks, Chin shot down an E8N. Its wreckage and two dead Japanese crewmembers were later found approximately 20km north of Chen Chia-Ying (Chen Jia-Ying in Pin-yin). This aircraft was from the seaplane carrier Kamikawa Maru and the crew of PO3c Sato (pilot) and PO3c Nakayam (observer) were KIA.
Chou Ling-Hsu also shot down an E8N. This aircraft crashed near Anqing and the survivors were rescued by a Japanese vessel. Chin’s other wingmen, Kwan Yen-Sun, Teng Chung-Kai and Fan Hsin-Min also inflicted damage to other E8Ns. The Gladiators withdrew from their attacks when they began to run low on fuel and all of them landed safely at 14:30.

On 1 June 1938, he was promoted to Captain, and became Commander of the 28th Squadron.

On 16 June 1938, reports indicated that nine enemy fighters were sighted near Nan Hsiung. John Wong, commander of the 5th Air Group, and eight Gladiators were dispatched from Xiaoquan airbase to search for enemy planes. As they reached 13000 feet above Xixin, Teng Chung-Kai saw what they identified as six Ki-21 heavy bombers in two 'V' formations flying 2000 feet below him.
In fact the Japanese aircraft were six JNAF Type 96 G3M's from the Takao Ku. Lieutenant Yoneda led one flight of three while the second was led by Lieutenant (jg) Fumio Iwaya (author of "Chukoh").
Teng swirled his Gladiator #2809 slightly to notify Wong who then gave the signal to attack. Wong in Gladiator #2909, Art Chin in Gladiator #2802 and Teng took the lead to dive into the second enemy bomber 3-plane formation (Yoneda's flight).
Wong attacked Yoneda in the lead bomber with his favorite approach of diving from above and pulling up to shoot at the belly of the bombers. He hit the bomber's externally slung bomb-load (8 x 60kg bombs) under the belly and detonated one of the bombs, destroying the Japanese aircraft. The explosion possibly also damaged the other two bombers in the formation.
Chin shot down the aircraft flying to the left of the lead bomber and it went down in flames. Wong also claimed three additional shared destroyed in this combat. The Japanese Lieutenant (jg) Iwaya reported that he saw all three G3M's from Yoneda's flight descend into the cloud cover, one of them wrapped in flames from the explosion, a second aircraft streamed fuel from its right wing tank while a third was in a 90 degree bank. ROCAF records indicate that two wrecks were found in rice fields between Lok-Cheung (Le Chang) and Yun Fa (Ren Hua), almost certainly that of Yoneda and his No.2 wingman.
Other Gladiators followed and attacked the remaining bombers. After an hour of fierce combat, three more Japanese bombers were claimed shot down and the only surviving bomber sought refuge in thick clouds, escaping with a leaking wing tank trailing white smoke. The Chinese Air Force claimed five victories in this combat, which had taken place between 10.30 and 11.30 but in fact none of the G3M's in Iwaya's flight was lost although all of them were damaged and streaming fuel from punctured wing tanks. One of the gunners from the No.2 in this flight was badly injured. The Chinese however lost two Gladiators in this combat. Kwan Yensun in Gladiator #2811 was hit by enemy fire and he was forced to bail out with minor facial burns. The other Gladiator lost was #2814, piloted by Shen Mu-Hsiu, which force-landed near Chennam due to damaged sustained from enemy fire. Louie Yim-Qun, who claimed a shared destroyed in this combat, landed with a punctured wing tank and Wong's Gladiator sported many holes caused by the explosion of the enemy bomber he hit.
The No.3 aircraft of Yoneda's flight also failed to return from this action, but it didn't go done at the same place as the other two. The Chinese found it farther away by Tong-Tse Wan (Tong-Tse Bay) at the Wu Shui River near Lok Cheung. Indications are that it was Chin who finished this G3M off since when he landed a mechanic ran to his aircraft and told him that the Air Raid Warning Net phoned in a report that there was a lone G3M flying along the coast. He took off once again and caught up with this G3M over the bank of the Wu Shui River that runs past the city of Lok Cheung (Le Chang). He fired his remaining ammunition into this bomber and sent it away smoking heavily. This is almost certainly the No.3 from the Yoneda flight. Perhaps it was damaged in the initial encounter with John Wong's flight and was searching for its bearings after descending through the cloud layer. In any event, Chin's description of the lone aircraft and the crash site supports this theory. Chin only claimed this as a damaged at 12.00.

On the night of 2 August 1938, Kwangsi mechanics from the 32nd PS installed a piece of armour to the seat back of Chin's Gladiator No. 2809. This armour was salvaged from a Russian fighter, which has been written off.

At 07:40 on 3 August 1938, 18 G3Ms were seen flying over Guangde. Later at 09:00, more than 70 Japanese fighters were reported heading for Hankou. In response to this treat, the Chinese Air Force scrambled 52 fighters consisting of 20 I-15bis, 13 I-16s, 11 Gladiators and 7 Hawk IIIs in four groups from Hankou to intercept the Japanese intruders. The 11 Gladiators were assigned to the 4th PG, which was divided into two subgroups. Subgroup A was led by Captain Wu Yu-Liu, Commander of the 3rd PG, who was flying an I-15bis and with four Gladiators under his leadership. Subgroup B was led by 28th PS leader Chin Shui-Tin, who was flying Gladiator no. 2809 and with six Gladiators under his leadership.
Subgroup A took off from Hankou at 09:55. Because Wu Yu-Liu's I-15bis not could match the speed of the Gladiators, he was forced to fly astern of the Gladiators and he therefore passed the command to Zhu Jia-Xun, Squadron Leader of 32nd Squadron. As Zhu led the Gladiators to move into the forward position, Wu's I-15bis was attacked by A5Ms. Since the I-15bis was obsolete in comparison to the more nimble Japanese fighters, Wu's situation was most critical but luckily Zhu and his Gladiators returned and attacked the A5Ms. Zhu and He Jermin took charge of the attack while the other Gladiators provided them with cover at a higher altitude. Zhu attacked the two A5Ms chasing Wu's I-15 and one of them abruptly turned and fled while the other was hit by Zhu, who punctured the A5Ms wing tank causing it to lose altitude rapidly. Zhu's wingman, He Jermin, shot down another A5M, which ditched into Lake Chaoping. Totally, Subgroup A was in combat with the A5Ms for more than 10 minutes and they landed at Hankou airbase at 11:30.
Subgroup B was airborne just a few minutes after Subgroup A departed. Chin led the seven Gladiators in a wide orbit in the south-west corner of Hankou climbing to 12000 feet. The height made the Chinese pilots groggy from hypoxia when they suddenly became aware that the sky to their left was speckled with A5Ms. Chin signalled the Gladiators to climb to 21000 feet but the Japanese fighters detected them. Over 30 A5Ms diving from 2000 feet above engaged the seven Gladiators. There were three I-16s from the 1st Air Group (probably from the 26th PS) attached to Subgroup B and these were lagging behind the Gladiators. The attacking A5Ms immediately cut these off. Squadron vice-commander Louie Yim-Qun in Gladiator no. 5732 was flying in the tail end Charlie position and he was attacked simultaneously from different directions but he was relieved by Chin and Shen Mushiu in Gladiator no. 2804. Louie Yim-Qun claimed a shared enemy aircraft destroyed in this combat.
An I-16 under attack from several A5Ms was helped by Chin’s wingman, Fan Hsin-Min in Gladiator no. 2805, who dived to his rescue but he was soon himself under attack from other A5Ms. Chin went to his wingman's aid and managed to shoot the A5M off his tail. Before Chin could deliver the coup de grace to his victim, he came under attack himself. The first indication he got of the attack was bullets bouncing off the newly installed armour plate, which probably saved his life. Chin turned tightly to evade the attack but his Gladiator was already damaged. Three A5M's lined up to making firing passes, diving from above, firing and then zooming back up for altitude, taking full advantage of the A5M's better performance in the vertical plane. After a few passes, Chin’s aircraft was badly shot up, with a number of wing-bracing wires shot away. His aircraft was almost uncontrollable and he decided to take one of the A5M's with him. As one of them completed his firing pass and began his zoom climb, Chin reversed his turn and rammed the A5M. His right wings and nose hit the tail of the A5M and tore it off. Chin’s head was slapped against the side of the canopy of the wildly spinning Gladiator before he was able to bail out. Landing in a field, Chin was presented with a machine gun salvaged from his crashed Gladiator. Hitching a ride back to Hankou in a Douglas O-2MC, Chin was sent to the infirmary when Chennault came to visit him. Chin joked about the machine gun by asking Chennault if he could swap it for a new plane to fight the Japanese. Chennault later embellished the story in "The Way of a Fighter" saying that Chin found the gun, carried it back to the airfield and asked to swap it for a plane. More dramatic but not quite the truth!
A fourth A5M was claimed by Liu Ling-Yang of 28th PS. His own aircraft was however damaged and he bailed out into the Yangtze River and swam to safety.
Subgroup B lost another Gladiator in this combat. This loss was attributed to an engine failure when the engine on Gladiator no. 5723 stopped in the middle of the combat. The Gladiator started to spin and with many difficulties was the pilot, Chou Ling-Hsu, able to get out of the cockpit in time since when he was hanging in his parachute, the Gladiator exploded in mid-air, sending debris flying several thousand feet in all directions.
In this combat claimed the commander of the 26th PS, Captain Wang Han-Hsun, an enemy aircraft before his I-16 was badly hit; in his cabin were more than 60 bullet hits. Liu Ling-Chi (no. 5922) also shot down a Japanese aircraft. When his I-16 was set afire the pilot baled out. I-16 no.5921 was shot down and no. 5920 made a forced landing.
The Japanese escort seems to have been 21 A5Ms, which returned claiming 27 enemy aircraft and 5 probables for the loss of three fighters from the 15th Kokutai (Lieutenant (junior grade) Naohisa Shinjo (Class 62) and PO2c Hitoshi Fukusawa (Pilot 27) were killed while PO3c Namitaro Matsushima (Pilot 30) was taken prisoner but later returned) after having been intercepted by a reported 50 Chinese aircraft.

On 1 October 1938, the 28th PS was re-assigned to the 3rd PG and sent to Lanchou to train on I-15bis. Chin, as Squadron Leader went with them. The remaining Gladiators from the 28th and 32nd PS were sent to Liu-Chow in Kwangsi for overhaul.


Chin Shui-Tin (to the right) in front of a Polikarpov I-15bis.

On 1 December 1938 he was promoted to Major.

On 20 December 1938 he became deputy Commander of the 3rd Group.

He and two other pilots went down to Liu-chow in August 1939 to pick up three Gladiators to fly back to Lanchou when the Japanese invaded Kwangsi. Thus began the "guerrilla campaign" waged by Art and his small band, which ended in December 1939.

On 2 November 1939 Chin Shui-Tin damaged a "Type 97" reconnaissance aircraft over Wuming Airfield, Kwangsi together with Tang Hsin-Kwang. After the combat Chin was frustrated as he had silenced the Japanese rear gunner and was expecting his wingman Tang Hsin-Kwang to finish off the kill - which he failed to do.
The aircraft was actually a JNAF Type 98 (C5M). The observer Sub Lieutenant Yonetarou Ueda was "badly injured by Chinese fighter attack", consistent with Chin’s description. Chin had also mentioned that according to Chinese intelligence Japanese reconnaissance aircraft was based in Hainan Island and this was indeed the case with Ueda and his C5M.

A few days before Christmas 1939, he claimed a lone twin-engine bomber over Kwangsi. He recalled downing it by diving and then pulling up to hit its belly.
This claim has not been possible to verify with Japanese records.

On 27 December 1939 Chin Shui-Tin flew his final action over Kwangsi. Chin was leading two Gladiators and one I-15bis from the 32nd PS on an escort mission for three Soviet Volunteer BG SB bombers. During the mission they became involved in combat with Japanese fighters. All three Chinese fighters were shot down. One pilot, Wei Yi-Ging (Commander of the 32nd PS) was killed and the I-15bis pilot, Chen Ye-Hsin, force-landed on the battlefield after being wounded in the back. Chin, after being hit while shooting an A5M off Chen's tail, was hit from behind by another A5M. His Gladiator caught fire but he managed to nurse it back over Chinese lines near Naning before bailing out, suffering terrible burns to his face and hands. The Japanese fighters were probably A5Ms from the 14th Kokutai led by Ensign Kazu-o Muranaka. Muranaka who had arrived to Nanning during the day flew a combat air patrol in the afternoon together with Sea1c Nojima. They engaged single-engine aircraft they jointly claimed 2 victories and one probable. These were the 14th Kokutai’s first victories.
However the Soviet Volunteers got through and bombed their targets unmolested, contributing to the successful Chinese Army counter-attack at the Kunlun Pass.
Chinese sources also claimed that ground troops found three enemy wrecks (two with serial numbers recorded) in the area after the action, which could match with Chin’s claim for 2 destroyed and 1 probable during this combat. However, these claims have not been possible to verify with Japanese records.

Chin lay wounded in a rice paddy for several days until he was found and rescued by Chinese soldiers.

ROCAF records indicate that the 32nd PS flight of three Gladiators and one I-15bis under Art Chin fought 2 air-to-air engagements in September 1939 and 5 in November and December 1939, claiming 4 confirmed kills (3 on 27 December 1939) and 3 damaged.

Chin spent a long time in various hospitals. He was in Hong Kong when it was captured by the Japanese, but managed to escape with his wife and two children, and eventually returned for treatment to the US.

He was discharged from the Chinese Air Force on 1 March 1945.

During the war he had been decorated with the following awards: Five Star Medal, Six Star Medal, 2 Orders of Renaissance and Honour 3rd Class, Order of Resplendent Banner with Special Rosette, Medal of Victorious Garrison 2nd Class, Awe-Inspiring Medal 3rd Grade.


Medals awarded to Chin Shui-Tin including Five Star Medal and Six Star Medal (far right).
The second medal on the left is the Order of Resplendent Banner with Special Rosette.

Chin Shui-Tin ended the war with 8 victories, all of them scored while flying biplanes.

After years of surgeries, he returned to duty as a U.S. Army Air Forces officer, flying supplies over the dangerous “Hump” route through the Himalayas into China.


Chin Shui-Tin (in the middle) in front of a CNAC C-46.

For his service with the CNAC from 26 March 1945 to 14 August 1945 he was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal on 24 February 1995.


The Air Medal (left) and the Distinguished Flying Cross (right) awarded to Chin Shui-Tin (Arthur T. Chin).

He retired from the CNAC in 1950.

Unable to find work with the airlines after the war, he returned to Portland and raised a family.

Before retirement he worked at a local post office in Beaverton, Oregon.

He passed away on 3 September 1997, in Portland, Oregon.

In a posthumously ceremony on 4 October 1997 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the American Airpower Heritage Museum in Midland, Texas. More than 3,000 people, including Vivian, Arthur’s wife, attended this ceremony

Chin’s memory lives on in the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation’s Arthur Chin Aviation Achievement Award.

His name also appears as Chen Jui-Tien or Chin Suey-Tin in other sources.

Claims:
Kill no. Date Time Number Type Result Plane type Serial no. Locality Unit
  1937                
1 16/08/37   1 G3M (a) Destroyed Curtiss Hawk II #2802 Lake Tai 28th PS
2 27/09/37   1 G3M (b) Destroyed Curtiss Hawk II   Lok Cheung area 28th PS
  1938                
3 31/05/38 13:00-14:30 1 E8N (c) Destroyed Gladiator   Hukou, Kwangsi 28th PS
4 16/06/38   1 Ki-21 (d) Destroyed Gladiator #2802 Shaokuan, Canton 28th PS
  16/06/38   1 TE bomber (e) Damaged Gladiator #2802 Shaokuan, Canton 28th PS
  03/08/38   1 A5M Damaged Gladiator #2809 Liang Chia-tien, Hupei 28th PS
5 03/08/38   1 A5M (f) Destroyed Gladiator #2809 Liang Chia-tien, Hupei 28th PS
  1939                
  02/11/39   ½ type 97 (g) Shared Damaged (h) Gladiator   Wuming, Kwangsi 32nd PS
6 ??/12/39   1 Enemy aircraft (i) Destroyed Gladiator   Kwangsi 32nd PS
7 27/12/39 (j)   1 A5M (k) Destroyed Gladiator   Yungping, Kwangsi 32nd PS
8 27/12/39 (j)   1 A5M (k) Destroyed Gladiator   Yungping, Kwangsi 32nd PS
  27/12/39 (j)   1 A5M (k) Shared Destroyed Gladiator   Yungping, Kwangsi 32nd PS

Biplane victories: 8 and 1 shared destroyed, 2 and 1 shared damaged.
TOTAL: 8 and 1 shared destroyed, 2 and 1 shared damaged.
(a) Claimed in combat with G3Ms of the Kanoya Ku, JNAF, and only claimed as a damaged by Chin. Probably the aircraft of Lieutenant Osugi, who returned with one gunner injured and with 58 hits in the aircraft.
(b) Not credited to him in official ROCAF records. Most probably a G3M from the Kanoya Ku, JNAF flown by Lieutenant Yoshida, who ditched his aircraft in the sea off Swatow. A British freighter rescued the Japanese crew but one of the gunners died of his wounds.
(c) E8N from the seaplane carrier Kamikawa Maru and the crew of PO3c Sato (pilot) and PO3c Nakayam (observer) were KIA.
(d) Five Japanese aircraft were claimed in combat with a formation of six Type 96 G3M's from the Takao Kokutai but only three were in fact lost.
(e) Most probably a Type 96 G3M's from the Takao Kokutai shot down, but only claimed by Chin as a damaged.
(f) Destroyed by ramming.
(g) Actually a JNAF Type 98 (C5M) with the observer Sub Lieutenant Yonetarou Ueda badly injured.
(h) Some sources claim this as a probable, but Art Chin only claims it as a damaged.
(i) This claim has not been possible to verify with Japanese records.
(j) Some sources give the date for this combat to 27 December 1940 but ROCAF records indicate that this action occurred in 1939 during the Battle for Kunlun Pass.
(k) Claimed in combat with A5Ms from the 14th Ku. Chinese sources claims that ground troops found three enemy wrecks (two with serial numbers recorded) in the area after the action, but this has not been possible to verify with Japanese records.

Sources:
Bloody Shambles Volume Two - Christopher Shores and Brian Cull with Yasuho Izawa, 1993 Grub Street, London, ISBN 0-948817-67-4
Chinese Air Force Gladiators in Action - D. Y. Louie, 1998 Small Air Forces Observer vol. 22 no. 4 (88) December 1998 kindly provided by Santiago Flores.
Chukoh - Fumio Iwaya kindly provided by Raymond Cheung.
Soviet Fighters in the sky of China, Part III - Anatolii Demin, 2000 Aviatsiia Kosmonavtika 11 (translated by George M. Mellinger)
Stars & Bars - Frank Olynyk, 1995 Grub Street, London, ISBN 1-898697-17-5
Much additional information kindly provided by Raymond Cheung, Tom Chan, Jack Cook, John Gong, Michael Little and Frank Olynyk.




Last modified 04 July 2007