The Brits tried it in WW2...The
Eagle Squadrons in the
Royal Air Force,
World War II
The
Eagle Squadrons were three fighter
squadrons of the
Royal Air Force (RAF) formed with volunteer pilots from the
United States during the early days of
World War II (circa 1940), prior to America's entry into the war in December 1941.
With the United States still neutral, many Americans simply crossed the border and joined the
Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) to learn to fly and fight. Many early recruits had originally gone to Europe to fight for Finland against the Soviet Union in the
Winter War. Some had been rejected by the
United States Army Air Corps as "lacking in intrinsic flying ability".
Charles Sweeny, a wealthy businessman living in London, began recruiting American citizens to fight as a US volunteer detachment in the French Air Force, echoing the
Lafayette Escadrille of
World War I. Following the
Fall of France in 1940, a dozen of these recruits joined the RAF. Sweeny's efforts were also coordinated in Canada by the World War I
air ace Billy Bishop and the artist
Clayton Knight, who formed the
Clayton Knight Committee, which by the time the United States entered the war, had processed and approved 6,700 applications from Americans to join the RCAF or RAF. Sweeny and his rich society contacts bore the cost (over $100,000) of processing and sending the men to the
United Kingdom for training.
The first Eagle Squadron,
No. 71 Squadron, was formed in September 1940 as part of the RAF's buildup during the
Battle of Britain,
[
The second Eagle Squadron,
No. 121 Squadron, was formed at
RAF Kirton-in-Lindsey in May 1941,
[1] flying Hurricanes on coastal convoy escort duties.
The third and final Eagle Squadron,
No. 133 Squadron, was formed at
RAF Coltishall in July 1941, flying the Hurricane Mk IIb.
The secret war in China but then Pearl Harbor happened... The
Flying Tigers in the
Chinese Air Force, World War II
The
First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the
Chinese Air Force in 1941–1942, nicknamed the
Flying Tigers, was composed of pilots from the
United States Army Air Corps (USAAC),
Navy (USN), and
Marine Corps (USMC), recruited under President Franklin Roosevelt's authority before
Pearl Harbor and commanded by
Claire Lee Chennault. Their P-40B aircraft, marked with Chinese colors, flew under American control. Their mission was to bomb Japan and defend China but many delays meant the AVG flew in combat after the US and Japan declared war.
The group consisted of three
fighter squadrons of around 30 aircraft each that trained in
Burma before the American entry into World War II to defend China against
Japanese forces. The AVG were officially members of the Chinese Air Force. The group had contracts with salaries ranging from $250 a month for a mechanic to $750 for a squadron commander, roughly three times what they had been making in the
U.S. forces. While it accepted some civilian volunteers for its headquarters and ground crew, the AVG recruited most of its staff from the U.S. military.
The group first saw combat on 20 December 1941, 12 days after
Pearl Harbor (local time). It demonstrated innovative tactical victories when the news in the U.S. was filled with little more than stories of defeat at the hands of the Japanese forces and achieved such notable success during the lowest period of the war for both the U.S. and the
Allied Forces as to give hope to America that it might eventually defeat Japan. AVG pilots earned official credit and received combat bonuses for destroying 296 enemy aircraft, while losing only 14 pilots in combat.
[1] The combat records of the AVG still exist and researchers have found them credible.
[2] On 4 July 1942 the AVG was disbanded and replaced by the
23rd Fighter Group of the
United States Army Air Forces, which was later absorbed into the U.S.
Fourteenth Air Force with General Chennault as commander. The 23rd FG went on to achieve similar combat success, while retaining the
nose art on the left-over
P-40s.