A group of P-40s of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) take to the skies alongside RAF Brewster “Buffalos’ from 67 Squadron during an early morning mission in early 1942. 

In late December 1941, as Japanese forces aggressively advanced through Southeast Asia, Rangoon, Burma became a critical target due to its strategic importance for Allied supply routes into China.  During these beginning months, the AVG operated out of several bases in Burma, sharing airfields with their British and Commonwealth allies, but faced with overwhelming enemy numbers and operating in extremely harsh conditions with limited resources and constant danger. By March 1942 they evacuated Burma and relocated to bases in China, but not before achieving worldwide acclaim for their aerial combat record which earned them the familiar nickname "Flying Tigers”.