Strana 12
The longest service of the P-40E was far
north in the Aleutian Islands, where P-40s
flew in combat from the attack on Dutch
Harbor in June 1942 through the capture of
Kiska in August 1943. After that, the three
squadrons of P-40s, including the 344th with
P-40Es, continued to provide air defense for
bomber bases in the Aleutians through the end
of the war.
China
On March 22, 1942, the first P-40Es that
would see action in the China-Burma-India
Theater touched down at Kunming, China, after
a long ferry flight from Africa. Ground crews
of the 1st American Volunteer Group, which
had been in action against the Japanese in
Burma and China since the previous December
with Hawk 81s, set to work on the P-40Es,
replacing their USAAF markings with Chinese
sun roundels, painting the AVG's distinctive
sharkmouth design on their noses, and
repairing various minor problems. Eventually,
the AVG would receive 33 P-40Es.
The first combat for AVG P-40Es came on
April 8, 1942, when three of them at Loiwing,
China, scrambled alongside Tomahawks
to intercept a Japanese air raid on the
field. Flight Leader Robert L. Little of the
1st Pursuit Squadron, flying one of the P-40Es,
was credited with shooting down a Ki-43
Oscar among the 12 victories claimed that day,
the first claim in a P-40E by the AVG.
The AVG P-40Es were heavily engaged during
the final three months of the unit’s existence.
Their most notable actions were a series of
raids against Japanese army forces in the
Salween Gorge on the China-Burma border in
May 1942, when AVG pilots used the P-40E’s
dive-bombing capability to devastating effect
to halt the enemy advance. Sadly, Bob Little
was killed flying one of those missions.
When the AVG disbanded on July 4, 1942,
its P-40Es and Tomahawks were turned
over to the 23rd Fighter Group of the USAAF,
which was activated in Kunming that day to
carry on the fight in China under legendary
commander Claire Lee Chennault. Meanwhile,
a second USAAF P-40 group, the 51st,
had arrived in India and was taking up positions
in Assam. These two groups, flying from their
bases at either end of the air route from India
into China, would have the responsibility for
protecting transport planes flying “The Hump”
from interception by Japanese fighters. By the
summer of 1943, most P-40Es in the 23rd and
51st groups had been replaced by later model
P-40s.
P-40E No. 127 was one of 33 P-40Es sent to China in the spring of 1942 to replace Tomahawks lost in combat
by the American Volunteer Group. The plane displays the blue tail band of the 2nd Pursuit Squadron.
(photo: author’s collection)
Pilots of the 72nd PS/15th PG pose with “Squirt,” the P-40E that squadron c.o. Jim Beckwith named for his child,
in Hawaii during early 1942. In 1945, Beckwith, by then a colonel, commanded the 15th FG flying Very Long-Range
missions over Tokyo. (photo: NARA)
P-40E
WARHAWK 1/48
Royal Class
Available from
retailers and
distributors
worldwide.
Cat. No. R0023
HISTORY
INFO Eduard12
February 2025