End of an Era

Major General Claire Lee Chennault, 54, genius of U.S. air power in China, quit his job last week. In Kunming he announced that he had resigned as commander of the Fourteenth U.S. Army Air Force. He said he planned to retire from the Army and return to the U.S.

To the Chinese people (who called him "Old Leatherface") and to American airmen in his command, the news marked the end of a great era. Closer to Chiang Kai-shek than any U.S. military man, Chennault had, said one Chinese, "endeared himself to China more than any other foreigner since Marco Polo." Said one U.S. pilot: "We would rather fight with Chennault than any other man in the world."

Retired from the Army in 1937 because of ill health, Chennault went forthwith to China, at Madame Chiang's request, plunged immediately into building up Chinese air power from a handful of outdated planes. His first big success came in 1941, when he formed the famed, spectacular American Volunteer Group ("Flying Tigers"), which shot down 297 Jap planes at a cost of 14 pilots.

In 1942, Chennault, whose tactical genius had already set a mark for other air commanders to shoot at, was recalled to active duty with the U.S. Army, given command of the Fourteenth Air Force, with permission to continue his activities as an adviser to the Chinese Government.

By last week the Fourteenth had grown so powerful that Chennault was able to declare that "the Japanese are now beaten in the air in China," that the Fourteenth's only remaining job was to support Chinese ground troops.

Chennault's resignation came on the heels of a China air force shakeup. Two days before, Lieut. General George E. Stratemeyer, former chief of the Eastern Air Command in India, had been named commanding general of all U.S. air forces in China. Under him would be both the Fourteenth and the Tenth Airmen suspected that that was the real reason for Claire Chennault's resignation: he could conclude that his superiors regarded him as good enough to build up the China air force and to fight in it in the lean days but not good enough to command it when victory was in sight. Or perhaps it was just that hard-bitten Claire Chennault was not diplomatic enough to fit in any more.

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