<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (December 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (December 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> The port of Rangoon in Burma and the Burma Road leading from there to China were of crucial importance . Eastern China was under Japanese occupation, so all military supplies for China arrived via the Burma route . By November 1941, when the pilots were trained and most of the P - 40s had arrived in Asia, the Flying Tigers were divided into three squadrons: 1st Squadron ("Adam & Eves"); 2nd Squadron ("Panda Bears") and 3rd Squadron ("Hell's Angels"). They were assigned to opposite ends of the Burma Road to protect this vital line of communications . Two squadrons were based at Kunming in China, and a third at Mingaladon Airport near Rangoon . When the United States officially entered the war, the AVG had 82 pilots and 79 aircraft, although not all were combat - ready . Tiger Erik Shilling, part of the third squadron commented: . "This was the beginning of the greatest adventure I would ever hope to experience . It wasn't until years later that I fully realized the magnitude and significance of this first step, to be a lifelong adventure in the mystic Far East ." </P> <P> The AVG's first combat mission was on 20 December 1941, when aircraft of the 1st and 2nd squadrons intercepted 10 unescorted Kawasaki Ki - 48 "Lily" bombers of the 21st Hikōtai attacking Kunming . The bombers jettisoned their loads before reaching Kunming . Three of the Japanese bombers were shot down near Kunming and a fourth was damaged so severely that it crashed before returning to its airfield at Hanoi . Later, Chinese intelligence intercepted Japanese communications indicating that only 1 out of the 10 bombers ultimately returned to base . Furthermore, the Japanese discontinued their raids on Kunming while the AVG was based there . One P - 40 crash - landed; it was salvaged for parts . This mission was one of the earliest American aerial victories in the Pacific War . </P>

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