Ben Crum Foshee: A Flying Tiger from South Alabama

Cadet Ben Crum Foshee, Aviation Officer Candidate School, NAS Pensacola, Florida. [Photo: The Flight Log 1940 published by the Aviation Cadet Battalion, NAS Pensacola]

After completing flight training at Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, Ensign Ben Crum Foshee had to complete a fixed number of “arrested landings” aboard an aircraft carrier. The carrier was the USS Lexington [CV-2], located just off the port of Miami, Florida. After successfully becoming “carrier qualified, Foshee had a chance meeting with Col. Claire Chennault at the Officer’s Club in Miami. That meeting resulted in Ensign Foshee resigning his Naval commission and joining a volunteer group of pilots that Col. Chennault was taking to China.

Ben Crum Foshee was born in the small community of Cohassett, Conecuh County, Alabama, on December 21, 1915. His parents were George Washington and Ella Lavonia Foshee. Ben Crum was the youngest of six children.

Young Foshee attended the tiny Cohassett School for the first six grades. After that, he attended Red Level High School where he graduated in 1934. Foshee enrolled at Alabama Polytechnic Institute [now Auburn University] where he studied Aeronautical Engineering. Ben was a member of Sigma Pi social fraternity and was a member of the Auburn Rifle Team. Foshee earned his B. S. in Aeronautical Engineering in 1938.

After graduation, Foshee was accepted for the Aviation Officer Candidate Program at Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida. He was commissioned an Ensign in the Navy at the end of the 12-week program, on May 31, 1940. Ben was designated a Naval Aviator on June 25, 1940. The yearbook for Ben’s Aviation Cadet Battalion showed that he was assigned to the Naval Reserve Air Base at Opa Locka, Florida. While there, Foshee continued his flight training and became “carrier qualified” aboard USS Lexington [CV-2] near the port of Miami, Florida. With a fixed number of arrested landings aboard the carrier, Foshee was a fully qualified naval aviator. The chance meeting with Col. Claire Chennault happened when the Colonel was on a recruiting trip, hiring pilots for the American Volunteer Group [AVG].

Col. Claire Lee Chennault had worked in China since August 1937, working for Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Check as his aviation advisor during the Japanese invasion of China. He later directed the Chinese Air Force flight school at Kunming. By January 1941, China was in danger of losing Chungking as well as the Burma Road, which had been the source of much of their supplies.

Col. Chennault wanted to form a volunteer group of American pilots to help fight the superior Japanese air forces which had wreaked havoc on China’s weak air forces. To do this, he needed planes and men, not just pilots but the support staff to keep the planes flying. With Chiang Kai-check’s blessing and the influence of T. V. Soong, Chiang’s brother-in-law in Washington, D.C., Chennault was able to purchase 100 Curtiss P-40 fighters. President Roosevelt gave his blessing to the operation.

With the promise of the planes, Chennault set about finding the pilots, ground support and administrative personnel that would form the American Volunteer Group. Ben Crum Foshee was among the 100 pilots that formed the 1^st American Volunteer Group. The men resigned from the Army and Navy and were hired by a private military contractor for the Republic of China, the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company. The pilots were typically paid $600/ month, with flight leaders earning $675/month and squadron leaders $750/month. Pilots were promised an additional $500 for each enemy plane shot down as well as those destroyed on the ground.

After resigning his commission in the Navy, Foshee drove his green Pontiac all the way to the port of San Francisco where he had his car shipped home. When the car arrived at Evergreen, Alabama, the family had it unloaded and drove it home.

Foshee departed for the far east aboard the Dutch ship, Bloemfontain. Also onboard the ship was George B. McMillan who became flight leader of the Hell’s Angels and a close friend of Foshee. After a stop in Singapore, they boarded the Penang Trader and arrived in Rangoon, Burma, on September 15, 1941. After arriving at Kunming, Foshee was assigned as a wingman in the 3^rd pursuit squadron called the Hell’s Angels. The other two pursuit squadrons were called Adam and Eve and Panda Bears.

Ben Crum Foshee beside his P-40 Warhawk #97 at Kunming airfield in China. [Photo: FLICKR and The San Diego Air and Space Museum]

The construction of the base at Kunming still had not been finished by October 31, 1941. Col. Chennault had finally received a personal plane that aided him in flying around the country to speed up the completion of the base. The plane was a twin-engine Beechcraft that required lots of work by the mechanics at Toungoo. Spare parts were so hard to get that the plane was flown with one prop five inches shorter than the other. Ben Foshee was one of Chennault’s personal pilots.

With permission from Col. Chennault, the Curtiss P-40 Warhawks were painted with a “shark’s teeth” motif. The original idea came from a RAF squadron of P-40s in the Libyan desert of N. Africa. Someone had seen the color illustration in the India Illustrated Weekly. Chennault himself admitted that he had no idea how the name, “Flying Tigers” began. Once the term had been widely used in the international press, Walt Disney studio artists Hank Porter and Roy Williams furnished the AVG with the image that came to symbolize the Flying Tigers. It was the first of nealy 1,200 noseart images Disney would produce during the war.

Walt DisneyStudio artists designed the "Flying Tiger" image for the AVG.

[Photo: Pinterest]

Foshee’s first combat with the Hell’s Angels took place on December 23, when the Japanese attacked the airfield at Mingaladon. Some 48 bombers were able to plaster the Rangoon docks before the AVG pilots and a group of Royal Air Force Brewster Buffalo fighters were able to get airborne. As the second wave of Japanese bombers approached the Mingaladon Airfield, the 12 Hell’s Angels’ P-40s and RAF Buffaloes attacked from above.

The Hell’s Angels shot down six bombers on their first pass. By the time the Japanese had turned for home, they had lost at least 12 aircraft along with several “probable kills.” The AVG lost three planes and two pilots while the RAF lost four planes and four pilots.

Blood Chit issued to the American Volunteer Group pilots. Its reads [in Chinese], "This foreign person has come to China to help in the war effort. Soldiers and civilians, one and all, should rescue, protect, and provide him medical care." [Photo: R. E. Baldwin Collection]

The legend of the Flying Tigers was born over the skies of Rangoon on Christmas Day, 1941. The Allies had little reason for optimism up to that time. The Axis powers, now fortified with the addition of Japan, were on the march everywhere and Allied morale was at a low ebb. Leave it to an anonymous group of young flyers called the Flying Tigers to bring a little cheer to the world that Christmas.

For the first time on December 25, the AVG was given an early warning of a Japanese attack and were able to get their fighters airborne before the bombers reached their target. The AVG, along with the RAF fighters, pounced on the Japanese force of more than 71 bombers and 30-40 fighters. The AVG’s 3^rd pursuit squadron was led by Arvid E. Olson, Jr. and attacked with 12 P-40s while the RAF attacked with an additional 16 Buffaloes. Foshee flew with his squadron, but we have no record of his combat from that time.

After the battle, the news quickly spread around the world. The Japanese had lost 35 planes, seven to the RAF and 28 to the AVG. The RAF lost nine planes but the AVG only lost only two. Journalists’ headlines back home were about the Flying Tigers, a colorful group of men flying “shark toothed” fighters who were now challenging the Japanese. Their headlines gave America its heroes and raised the country’s sagging morale.

From their first battle against the Japanese on December 20, 1941, members of the American Volunteer Group were only in combat for seven months. The Japanese had the advantage of numbers and in most cases with superior aircraft. Just how did such a small force make such an impact on the Japanese war machine?

The man behind the success of the Flying Tigers didn’t believe in luck. Col. Claire Chennault had been a skilled fighter pilot. He had studied the capabilities and methods used by the Japanese. He taught his pilots the limitations of the P-40. The AVG used a two-aircraft formation against the Japanese, attacking from above using the P-40’s superior diving speed. They used hit-and-run tactics and never fought the Japanese on even terms.

Even with Chennault’s training and tactics, the AVG lost planes. They were constantly salvaging parts from crashed aircraft. Occasionally, they were able to obtain new P-40s. In March 1942, Col. Chennault was notified that the AVG had four new planes to be picked up in Accra, Ghana, on the west coast of Africa. He dispatched the Hell’s Angels Flight Leader, George McMillan, Ben Foshee, and two other pilots to Ghana, to pick up four brand new P-40E aircraft.

Hells Angels, 3rd pursuit squadron, American Volunteer Group  in flight over China in 1942.  Photo taken by Robert Taylor, AVG pilot]

The roundtrip to Ghana was some 14,000 miles. They returned to China by way of Nigeria, Sudan, Egypt, Bahrain and Pakistan. Foshee wrote his mother from Cairo on March 9, 1942, on stationery from the Grand Hotel, Cairo, “Everything has been fine in China and the fellows have done a wonderful job in Burma. Enclosed is a clipping from a Cairo paper. This dinner was given after I left but I got to meet Madam before. We hope to get back to China soon. We are flying some fighting planes back.” Foshee was referring to Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, the wife of the Generalissimo. He had met her before while flying as Col. Chennault’s personal pilot.

His letter continued, “The trip over was real nice. Got to see all the old cities here around the Holy Grounds. I’m also sending a few snaps I took around the pyramids and sphinx, and also a picture of me with my Chinese uniform on. The star on my cap is the Chines insignia and the other is the insignia for the American Volunteer Group. Also, the wings are Chinese…Hope everyone is well. Have you been getting my radiograms? My address is Box 104; Kunming, Younnan, China…Love to all, Ben.”

The four pilots returned to their base at Kunming in late March. On April 29, Bob Neale, Ben Foshee and two other pilots flew four planes from Kunming to Paoshaun field. The city of Paoshaun was crowded with refugees fleeing the Japanese advance. The AVG anticipated an attack on the city of Paoshaun and hoped to intercept the bombers.

On May 4, 50 Japanese bombers managed to slip through the Chinese early warning net and bombed Paoshaun. When the bombs began to fall, all four AVG pilots raced for their aircraft. Only Charley Bond managed to get off the ground. Ben Foshee suffered severe leg wounds from bomb fragments as he rushed to his plane. He bled to death before “Doc” Richards [one of the AVG doctors] could reach him. Foshee died less than two months after returning to China, and only two months before the AVG was disbanded on July 4, 1942. Ben Crum Foshee was buried at the Chinese Cemetery for Military Aviators, located about five miles east of Kunming.

Plot of Ben Crum Foshee's grave within the Chinese Cemetery for Military Aviators near Kunming, China. [Photo: Paul Frillmann, 1st Lt. A.C., AAFAIS, Harrisburg, Pa.]

The late Wheeler Foshee Sr. was a nephew of Ben Crum Foshee. In a 2008 interview with Michele Gerlach, editor of the Andalusia Star-News, he recalled, “In the summer of 1942, I was spending the night with my grandmother and Aunt Mary Ella. Early that morning my grandmother looked out her front bedroom window and saw Terry Thames, a cotton broker friend of ours, drive up. My grandmother screamed, ‘It’s Ben!’ Mr. Thames had seen the account of [Uncle] Ben’s death on the front page of The Montgomery Advertiser that morning.”

The family received official notification in correspondence dated May 18, 1942. It was from Richard Aldworth of the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company in China. It read, “It was with deep regret that I had to send the formal telegram required of me…We do not have any details as yet in this office other than those already known to you. However, we do know that Ben did his duty to the last and if one has to go in the first flush of manhood, surely there is no better way. His comrades and his country may indeed be very proud of him.

He continued, “He was a splendid example of fine American manhood and exemplified the spirit of the AVG, to give of his best to the limit. The spirit of these boys, who have given their lives in such a worthy cause, will live forever.”

The May 14, 1942 edition of The Evergreen Courant printed an article titled, “Ben Foshee Loses Life in China.” The article stated that “Ben Crum Foshee, son of Mrs. Ella Foshee of Cohassett, was killed in action on the Burma Road in China on May 4. This news was announced to Mrs. Foshee through a cablegram from young Foshee’s commander, Col. Chennault, which was received last Saturday [May 9]. He had been in China since last July attached to the American Volunteer Group under the command of Col. Chennault.”

After giving a brief background of Foshee’s life, the article continued, “Foshee was 27 years of age. His family last heard from him three weeks ago…Young Foshee’s life will be memorialized over the CBS radio Program, ‘They Live Forever,’ at 9:30 Sunday night, according to a CBS representative who contacted the family this week.”

The family held a funeral for Ben at the Long Branch Baptist Church in Cohassett. However, It was not until 1946 that Ben Crum Foshee’s body was returned home for burial. In the 2008 interview, Wheeler Foshee Sr. recalled, “My grandmother completely lost her mind after Ben’s death. She buried him in the Fairmount Cemetery facing the wrong direction.”

Foshee family members stated that Ben’s mother had his body buried facing north and south so that she could see the marker from the road without getting out of the car.

The family paid a retired Navy commander to travel to China and have Ben Foshee’s body returned to the States. When the body was returned for the funeral, it was escorted by Sgt. Charles Brown of Fort Benning, Georgia. The funeral was held Nov. 1, 1946, at the Fairmount Baptist Church of Red Level. Burial was in the church cemetery with full military honors provided by the Red Level American Legion Post. Survivors included his mother, Ella Parker Foshee; three brothers, Luman Julian, Wheeler George and Horace Greely Foshee; and two sisters, Mary Ella “Dot” Foshee and Annie Lee Foshee Gantt.

Monument for Ben Crum Foshee in the Fairmount Baptist Church Cemetery, Red. Level, Alabama. It was placed to face north and south so that his mother could see it from the road.  [Photo: Sue Wilson]

The author would like to thank Sue Bass Wilson for the use of her extensive files on Ben Crum Foshee. Sue, Richard Daniel and others were responsible for getting the firehouse at the South Alabama Regional Airport named for Ben Crum Foshee in 2010.

Author’s note: Most military experts in the States thought the American Volunteer Group might last a few weeks in combat. In fact, they fought the Japanese in the skies of China, Burma, Thailand and Indochina for about seven months. They were credited with destroying 229 aircraft in the air and another 62 on the ground. They probably shot down another 100 that could not be confirmed. The AVG lost four pilots killed in combat, six by anti-aircraft fire, three by enemy bombs on the ground and three were taken prisoner. Their remarkable success came at a time of low morale in the United States and the world. The Flying Tigers’ reputation for daring and courage was memorialized for all time in a number of movies and a great number of books.

[Sources: Wikipedia; “The Flying Tiger – The True Story of General Claire Chennault and the U.S. 14^th Air Force in China,” by Jack Samson; “Ding Hao – America’s Air War in China, 1937-1945,” by Wanda Cornelius and Thayne Short; May 24, 2008 article in the Andalusia Star-News, “Flying Tiger Hero Foshee Remembered,” by Michele Gerlach; May 14, 1942 article in The Evergreen Courant, “Ben Foshee Loses Life in China”]