Noel Bacon

In the spring of 1942, Noel Bacon returned from China, one of Claire Chennault's "Flying Tigers" who had won fame as the defenders of Burma. He had been credited with three air-to-air victories over Rangoon, and shared the credit for another Japanese fighter destroyed on the ground during a raid into Thailand. Recruited from "Fighting Four" on USS Ranger, Bacon had been an outstanding U.S. Navy aviator before he signed up for the American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force. The Navy and the Marine Corps were desperate to hear firsthand what Japanese pilots and planes were like, and on April 22, 1942, they sat down with Noel Bacon at the Bureau of Aeronautics in Washington. Here is that interview, with an introduction, notes, photographs, and a postscript by Daniel Ford, who wrote the definitive history of the Flying Tigers. (About 13,000 words; with photographs)