Contributed by Kathie Kloss Marynik, Granite Bay, CA
Attached is a photograph of my great-uncle, James Corlett Simkins (1896-1969), who was a veteran of World War I.
Click on the image to enlarge it.
Contributed by Kevin Riley
My grandfather, Leo Donohue, was a lieutenant in the Signal Corps and served with the 14th AAF as a radio operator. He obviously had a flair for the dramatic as this photo from China demonstrates.
Was Mr. Donohue a member of the Flying Tigers? The plane in the photo seems to indicate it may be from that unit.
Looks more like a shark to me!
To answer Brady’s question and elaborate a bit:
The aircraft in the photo is a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk assigned to the 23rd Fighter Group. The 23rd was originally a part of the CATF (China Air Task Force) and then the Fourteenth Air Force in the CBI. (China-Burma-India theater of war)
When the AVG (American Volunteer Group – better known as the original ‘Flying Tigers’) was disbanded its personnel were given the choice of staying on as members of the USAAF or going home to face the draft board. Only a small number elected to stay on, but these few men formed the nucleus of what would become the 23rd FG.
Anyhoo, when the Fourteenth AF came into being it adopted the nickname ‘Flying Tigers’. So, in that sense, Lt. Donohue was a ‘Flying Tiger’. But he was not a part of the original group named the Flying Tigers.
Mr. Riley, I have a website devoted to the P-40 Warhawk (http://hawksnest.1hwy.com/) and will be adding a section dealing with the 23rd FG very soon. May I please use this photo on the site, and also may I ask if you have any other photos?
Either way, thanks much for sharing this shot with us!
Steve-O
Fade to Black…