Shi Bangfan

In this Chinese name, the family name is Shi.

Shi Bangfan
Shi c. 1947
Native name
石邦藩
Born(1901-08-12)12 August 1901
Zhaiyang Township, Hunan, Qing China[1]
Died1984 (aged 82–83)
United States
AllegianceRepublic of China
BranchRepublic of China Air Force
Years of service1921–1949
RankColonel
Battles / wars

Shi Bangfan (Chinese: 石邦藩; 12 August 1901 – 1984) was a Chinese fighter pilot in the Republic of China Air Force.

Early life

Of Miao ethnicity, Shi Bangfan was born in 1901 in Zhaiyang Township, Hunan, China. He attended Qiancheng Higher Primary School.[2] He graduated from the Military Officer Training Corps in 1921 and was appointed to the Army Infantry School in February 1924.[3] Around April 1924, he entered the Baoding Aviation School, which was under the control of the Zhili clique. On March 1925, the personnel and equipment of the aviation school were moved to Luoyang.[4]

Military career

After graduating in the fall of 1925, he was attached to the 3rd Army Air Corps. Shi remained in Luoyang as the adjutant general.[4] In March 1926, when Feng Yuxiang resigned and Sun Yue fell ill, the Zhili clique regained power and the 3rd Army Air Corps was taken over by Wu Peifu.[5] In June of the same year, when the Anti-Bandit Alliance Air Command was established in Baoding, he became a company commander of the 1st Air Corps.[6] After the air force of Wu Peifu's army was annihilated during the Northern Expedition, he took refuge in Zhang Zongchang's army and served as a pilot in the Flying Leopard Unit off the Zhili Alliance Air Command. On 24 March 1927, when the National Revolutionary Army unit commanded by Cheng Qian seized control of Nanjing, Shi defected to the Kuomintang and became deputy commander of Cheng's army's air corps.[5]

In February 1928, with the establishment of the Military Commission's Aviation Command, he was assigned to the Second Aviation Corps of the National Revolutionary Army.[5] In November of the following year, he was promoted to deputy commander of the Second Corps. On 20 October 1930, he became a lieutenant colonel.[7] After the end of the Central Plains War, he led part of the Second Corps to advance to Nanchang in preparation for battle against Chinese Communists.[8] He later was assigned to the Second Central Air Force in Nanjing and Hangzhou.[9]

Second Sino-Japanese war

On 26 February 1932, following the flare-up of the January 28 Incident in Shanghai, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched aircraft from the carriers Hōshō and Kaga. A sudden assault by a 15-plane Japanese formation, consisting of Nakajima Type 3 fighters and Mitsubishi Type 13 attack-bombers, targeted Qiaosi Airbase in Hangzhou, targeting the Central Aviation School and 32 Chinese aircraft stationed there. Shi, alongside his rear-seat gunner Shen Yanshi, barely managed to get their Junkers K 47 airborne as the raid began. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Shi disrupted the Japanese formation and shot down one Japanese plane, causing the formation to retreat. This made Shi the first Chinese pilot to down a Japanese plane.[10] Another formation of nine Japanese fighter planes attacked and despite Shen's gun jamming, Shi engaged the Japanese in a dogfight, continuing until he was wounded and the aircraft's engine was hit, forcing him to make an emergency landing. During the battle, Shi's aircraft sustained 68 bullet hits, and he was severely wounded in the left arm by an expanding bullet from the Japanese plane, resulting in a shattered elbow. He managed to damage two more Japanese aircraft during the dogfight, thwarting the Japanese attempt to destroy the airfield and aviation school.[10] The Chinese lost six planes and five pilots killed while Japanese lost four planes and four pilots killed.[11]

Shi Bangfan in 1937

Due to the severity of his injury, Shi's left arm was amputated at the elbow.[12] After recovery, he was personally commended by the Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek.[13] In recognition of his valor, a Shanghai tobacco company produced "Bangfan" brand cigarettes, which became popular at the time.[12]

Following the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, Shi was appointed station chief of the Air Force General Station under the Air Force Frontline Command. In August 1937, he became Chief of Staff for the First Military District Air Force Command, overseeing nine squadrons, five independent provisional squadrons, and one provisional instructor squadron.[10] In 1940, he was appointed Director of the Transportation Department of the Aviation Committee.[10]

Later life

Following the end of World War II, in December 1945, he was elected acting district chief of the Shanghai Tenth District Office and the following year, he was elected a Shanghai municipal councillor.[14]

In 1949, Shi relocated to Taiwan with the Nationalist government and left military service.[10] After moving to Taiwan, he served as Director and Deputy Director of the Taichung Office of the Taiwan Provincial Materiel Administration.[15][16] In 1962, General Chen Jia-shang, Commander-in-Chief of the Republic of China Air Force, awarded Shi a Honor Star Medal and an Injury Honor Medal in recognition of his combat achievements.[17] After retiring from civilian service in March 1968,[18] he immigrated to the United States with his family, where he died in 1984.[2]

Personal life

Shi's youngest son Shi Dong is a Chinese American talk show host.[19] His other son, Shi Jiaxiao, serves as the head of the Republic of China Veterans Association in Boston.[20]

References

  1. ^ "陸海空軍軍官佐任官名簿" [List of Officers of the Army, Navy and Air Force]. Taiwan e-Book. Archived from the original on 24 June 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  2. ^ a b "淞沪空战 第一个击落敌机的是咱湘西人" [The first person to shoot down an enemy plane in the Songhu Air Battle was a person from Xiangxi]. rednet.cn. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  3. ^ "政府広報命令No.2850 十三年二月二十六日" [Government Gazette Order No.2850] (PDF). Republic of China Government Official Database (in Chinese). Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  4. ^ a b Li 1973, p. 74-77.
  5. ^ a b c "抗战前中国航空队史略(上)" [A Brief History of China's Air Force before the Anti-Japanese War (Part 1)] (PDF). Military History Research, Issue 3, 2003 (in Chinese). Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  6. ^ Ma 1994, p. 183.
  7. ^ "国民政府広報第605号（民国19年10月24日）" [National Government Gazette No. 605]. Government Gazette Information Network (in Chinese). Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  8. ^ Li 1973, p. 365.
  9. ^ "石邦藩" [Shi Bangfan]. krzzjn.com (in Chinese). 1 March 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  10. ^ a b c d e "第一个击落日机的（湘西苗族飞行员）石邦藩" [The first person to shoot down a Japanese plane (a pilot from the Miao ethnic group in western Hunan) Shi Bangfan]. krzzjn.com. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  11. ^ "首创击落日机纪录的抗日英雄" [The anti-Japanese hero who first set the record of shooting down a Japanese plane]. Sina. 7 June 2005. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  12. ^ a b "那些年，湘西人的《无问西东》" [In those years, the people of Xiangxi wrote "No Questions West and East"]. Hunan Today. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  13. ^ Nakayama 2007, p. 86.
  14. ^ "静安区志 >> 大事记" [Jing'an District Chronicle >> Major Events]. shtong.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  15. ^ "総統府広報第463号" [Government Gazette No. 463] (PDF). Republic of China Government Official Database (in Chinese). Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  16. ^ "総統府広報第1298号" [Government Gazette No. 1298] (PDF). Republic of China Government Official Database (in Chinese). Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  17. ^ "空軍老英雄石邦藩受獎" [Air Force veteran hero Shi Bangfan receives award]. Taiwan Film & Audiovisual Institute. 1962. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  18. ^ "総統府広報第1948号" [Government Gazette No. 1948] (PDF). Republic of China Government Official Database (in Chinese). Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  19. ^ "飛將軍空戰斷臂，上海香菸曾以石邦藩命名" [The flying general lost his arm in an air battle, and Shanghai cigarettes were once named after Shi Bangfan]. Insight News Network. 31 July 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  20. ^ "石家孝接任榮光聯誼會新理事長" [Shi Jiaxiao takes over as the new chairman of the ROC Veterans Association]. News Chinatown (in Chinese). 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2025.

Bibliography

  • Li, Tianmin (1973). Zhōngguó hángkōng zhǎnggù 中華民國史大事記 [Chinese Aviation Stories] (in Chinese). Zhōngguó de kōngjūn chūbǎn shè.
  • Ma, Yufu (1994). 1908-1949 Zhōngguó jūnshì hángkōng 1908-1949中国军事航空 [1908-1949 Chinese Military Aviation]. Hángkōng gōngyè chūbǎn shè.
  • Nakayama, Masahiro (2007). "Chūgoku-teki tenkū (ue) chinmoku no kōkū senshi" ["China's Sky (Part 1) A Silent History of Air Warfare"] (in Japanese). Dai Nippon Kaiga. ISBN 9784499229449.
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