Flying Tiger Ace

The story of Bill Reed, China’s Shining Mark

Flying Tiger Ace cover

Flying Tiger Ace

The story of Bill Reed, China’s Shining Mark

Description

The moving biography of Lt. Col. William Norman Reed, a World War II fighter ace who fought with the Flying Tigers and died in defense of the nation he loved.

Bill Reed had it all--brains, looks, athleticism, courage, and a talent for leadership. After a challenging childhood in Depression-era Iowa, Reed joined the US Army Air Corps, but the outbreak of World War II saw him give up his commission. Instead, he traveled to China to fly for the American Volunteer Group--the legendary Flying Tigers. After a brief return to America, he resumed the fight as a senior pilot and later squadron commander in the Chinese-American Composite Wing. Soon afterwards, Reed tragically lost his life in a desperate parachute jump late in the war, by which point he was a fighter ace with nine confirmed aerial victories. His obituary was front-page news throughout the state of Iowa.

This book is a biography of his extraordinary life, focusing on his time spent flying with some of the famous aerial groups of World War II. It draws heavily on Reed's own words, along with the author's deep knowledge of the China air war, and years of research into Reed's life, to tell his compelling story.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction

Part One: The Making of a Man
1 “Everything anyone would ever want to be”
2 “Justifiable homicide”
3 “Three of us passed out of 47”

Part Two: A Grand Experiment – the AVG
4 “Day after day passed by uneventfully”
5 “Don't be too much concerned, will you?”
6 “I dove and attacked them head-on”
7 “This is no time to take a runout”
8 “A pretty good day's work”
9 “I might have stayed over there”

Part Three: Back to China
10 “I felt a hit in my engine”
11 “Some scheme afoot in Washington”
12 “Time we stopped fooling around”
13 “Stay in there and try a little harder”
14 “Just one of those Goddamned nights”
15 “The most staggering blow”

Appendix: Chinese place names
Endnotes
Bibliography
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Index

Product details

Published Feb 18 2020
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 336
ISBN 9781472840035
Imprint Osprey Publishing
Illustrations Two 16-page photo sections, one colour and one mono, and two mono maps in the body text.
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series General Aviation
Short code GNA
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Carl Molesworth

Carl Molesworth is a former newspaper and magazine…

Resources

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