Today’s film dates from August 1943, capturing an inspection visit to a US Army airfield, probably in Kunming, China. Two American generals toured the airfield: Lt. General Joseph Stillwell, President Roosevelt’s envoy to the Republic of China (“ROC”), and Major General Claire Chennault, commander of the 14th Army Air Force in China. The two generals didn’t see eye-to-eye with regard to the war effort in China. Stillwell was increasingly concerned by rampant corruption within the Republic of China’s army and air forces. He wanted to pursue the land war to re-establish a ground supply route from India through Burma. Chennault wanted to emphasize the air war and was an advocate for “pursuit” (fighter) aircraft.
Chennault was an admirer of Chinese Premier Chiang Kai-shek, and married a Chinese woman after the war. He became a member of what became known as the “China Lobby”: a group of politicians, businessmen and protestant missionaries that advocated for support of Chiang’s government in Washington, DC. The two men’s disagreements boiled over and led to Stillwell’s recall and replacement. The ROC famously lost the Chinese Civil War in 1948, resulting in the ROC government fleeing to Taiwan.
Films like this are available at the National Archives, crucially without copyright restrictions. Unfortunately, most of these films aren’t digitized, and descriptions in the Archives’ on-line catalog are sometimes misleading, missing, or wrong! Add impact to your production by using material not otherwise accessible on the web. A professional media researcher adds value!
Historicity Research Services 