Strana 47
P-40N, Lt. Fred F. Burgett, 25
th
FS, 51
st
FG, Yunnanyi, China, 1944
P-40N-15, Capt. Raymond L. Callaway, 8
th
FS, 3
rd
FG, Liangshan, China, August 1944
Fred F. Burgett was born on May 1, 1919, in
Pennsylvania. At the start of the war, he joined
the USAAF and successfully completed pilot
training on fighter aircraft. He was subsequently
assigned to the 25
th
FS, which was activated in
California and moved to India in 1942. In 1944,
Burgett and his unit operated directly from
forward Chinese bases, primarily from the
strategic Yunnanyi airfield (Yunnan Province).
As a Warhawk pilot, he flew extremely dangerous
missions over the Himalayas (The Hump). During
these missions, he escorted transport planes,
attacked ground targets and supply routes,
and protected Allied bases from Japanese air
attacks. His Warhawk bore the unit’s distinctive
emblem: the snout of a saber-toothed tiger.
The inscription “Sing Pao” translates roughly
as “Star News.” The context is that Chinese
communities, professional associations, and the
editorial offices of major newspapers in China
and overseas organized fundraisers to purchase
fighter planes for the Chinese Air Force (CAF).
The “Sing Pao” inscription on Burgett’s aircraft
paid tribute to them. After the war, Burgett
settled in the Decatur, Illinois, area and devoted
himself to farming, among other things. He died
on June 9, 2001.
Raymond Leonard Callaway was born on April
12, 1916, in the town of Granite Falls, Minnesota,
and had already decided to pursue a career as
a military pilot before the United States entered
the war. He enrolled in the Air Cadet training
program on April 25, 1941, and five days after
the attack on Pearl Harbor, he successfully
completed his training at Foster Field in Texas.
He was subsequently assigned to duty, initially
within the United States. From December 1941
to August 1942, he served with the 56
th
FG at
Mitchell Field in New York State. Flying P-36
Hawks and P-38 Lightnings, he patrolled the U.S.
East Coast. He then served until June 1943 as
an instructor with the 326
th
FG at Westover Field,
Massachusetts, where he trained new pilots
on the new P-47Ds. In the second half of 1943,
he was deployed to the CBI Theater. In India,
he initially trained Chinese pilots under the 8
th
FS as part of the 3
rd
FG of the Sino-American
Composite Wing (CACW). From January 1944,
he began flying combat missions directly over
Chinese territory. By December 1944, he had
scored six confirmed kills, with another credited
as probable, and had also two damaged aircraft
to his credit. His aircraft bore his wife’s name
and was the second he had named in this way.
Nothing is known about the fate of the original
“Shirley” aircraft. After returning to the United
States, he served until September 1945 as
commander of the 399
th
FS at Stuttgart AAF
in Arkansas. Shortly after Japan‘s surrender,
he left active duty but served in the U.S. Air
Force Reserve throughout the Cold War.
He retired from military service on February 1,
1967, with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He died
on February 19, 2005, at the age of 88.
KITS 09/2026
INFO Eduard
47
September 2026