Secret squadron that spied on the mainland is finally honoured by Taiwan’s government
Mark O’Neill 24 January 2010
Its members called it the “Black Bats Squadron” - and others the “Black Widows Squadron”. It was one of the most secret operations of the war between Taiwan and mainland China - sophisticated planes provided by the CIA and flown by Taiwanese pilots in nighttime surveillance of military installations on the mainland. Between 1952 and 1972, the squadron flew over 800 missions and lost 15 planes and 148 pilots, two-thirds of the total.
“Each time, the planes flew into a corridor of flame,” General Ko Kuang-yue, former vice-chief of the Air Force of Taiwan, said. “Each mission was targeted by more than 10 missiles, more than 10 attacks by fighter planes and more than 10 attacks of artillery fire.
“They came home and then flew another mission,” Ko, who retired in 2007, said. “They sacrificed themselves for this country. We must remember them forever.” His elder brother was shot down by the People’s Liberation Army on a mission over the Liaodong peninsula on November 6, 1961.
For decades, both sides kept the operation secret. Taiwan’s government told the bereaved families that their loved ones were missing in action; many maintained the hope of seeing them again.
Finally, in November, the squadron received public recognition - a museum dedicated to them opened on an airbase in the northern city of Hsinchu. At the opening were Defence Minister General Kao Hua-chu, top military officers, the squadron’s former commander General Lu De-chi, General Ko, surviving members and family members of those who died.
The squadron was the result of an agreement between the government of Chiang Kai-shek and the Western Company, a subsidiary of the CIA.
Initially, the administration of US president Harry S. Truman decided to abandon the Kuomintang government after its retreat to Taiwan. But it changed its mind after the outbreak of the Korean war and the split of the world into American-backed and Soviet-backed camps. For his part, Chiang was eager to co-operate with the US side and enlist its help in re-conquering the mainland.
Under the agreement, the CIA supplied advanced aircraft equipped with the latest electronic equipment, and Taiwan the pilots to fly them. They conducted surveillance of the mainland during the night - hence the name “Black Bats”.
This enabled the CIA to collect valuable military intelligence about the mainland, especially facilities like bases, missile installations, air-defence systems and development of a nuclear bomb.
It cost the US no servicemen, only the price of the planes. It preferred to use Taiwanese pilots. If they were shot down, it would be a “China incident”; if American pilots were shot down, it would be an international one.
Initially based in Taoyuan, the squadron moved in 1953 to an airbase in Hsinchu, and in May 1956 began its aerial surveillance of the mainland. Over the next 16 years, it conducted 838 missions, flying as far west as Qinghai and Gansu, and as far north as Heilongjiang . Its planes also flew over north Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and North Korea. Each had between nine and 14 people, including pilots, mechanics, and electronic and radar specialists.
“We were at the front line of the cold war,” said General Ko. “The intelligence we obtained told us about the signals and other systems of the Soviet bloc, which all the free world could use. It was harder to obtain this in Eastern Europe, where defences were better equipped. The US gave us a great deal of help, in the military, economic and other fields. Our airmen did so much to help other people in Taiwan.”
At first, the missions were successful. This we know from the most authoritative public history of the squadron from the mainland side - Feimingdi (Whistling Arrows) by Chen Huiting, a squad commander in the PLA’s Second Missile Division. Chen said that in those early years it was difficult for the mainland air force to shoot down Taiwan’s planes because they flew too high, above the range of PLA planes, or as low as 100 to 200 metres, below the range of radar.
“By 1959, the Taiwan B-17s had flown more than 50 to 60 times over the mainland, covering as many as nine cities and provinces and flying for up to 10 hours. They were packed with electronic surveillance equipment, called the ‘airborne electronic experiment room’, with at least 15 people watching the frequencies of our telecommunications and radar defence,” Chen said. “The planes, painted black, left Taiwan around four in the afternoon and entered our airspace at dusk or at night, and so earned the name ‘Black Bats’. Their surveillance seriously threatened the security of the airspace of New China.”
On November 20, 1957, a B-17 flew over nine provinces including Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan and Shanxi, dropping anti-Communist leaflets. The next day, a P2V flew 3,000 kilometres over nine hours above the mainland. The PLA scrambled 18 planes to shoot it down, but they could not fly high enough.
On June 14, 1959, an RB-57D flew over the mainland for 10-1/2 hours at altitudes of 19,000 to 21,000 metres. The PLA scrambled 32 planes; nine found the intruder and came within 10 minutes of it, but could not fly high enough to shoot it down.
In the first four years, the squadron lost five planes, with 41 airmen killed and three captured, in Fujian in November 1957.
This access provoked alarm at the top of the government in Beijing. Its most important project was development of a nuclear bomb; in October 1959, it established its Lop Nor nuclear weapons test base in the remote area of Malan, Xinjiang province, covering 100,000 square kilometres, with 2,000 kilometres of highways. Mao Zedong feared the surveillance would enable the US and Taiwan to locate the base and possibly bomb it. Searching for the base was one reason the planes flew so far west.
So Mao turned to his then ally, the Soviet Union. On September 10, 1957, vice-premier Nie Rongzhen led a major military delegation to Moscow and, after five weeks of intense negotiations, secured an agreement to buy five surface-to-air missile (SAM) launchers and 36 missiles. In 1958, the PLA Air Force formed missile divisions to learn how to use the missiles and fire them. Chen joined one of the divisions.
Their first success came on October 7, 1959, just a week after celebrations to mark the 10th anniversary of the new state, when three SAMs shot down an RB-57D high-altitude plane over Beijing. When Mao and Zhou heard the news, they were delighted. Zhu De and five of the other 10 PLA marshals rushed to the scene to see the remains of the plane.
On September 9, 1962, a missile battalion in Nanchang, Jiangxi, shot down a U-2 high-altitude plane. It made headline news around the world. Mao summoned the missile battalion commander to the Zhongnanhai to thank him in person.
The SAMs and improved radar systems given by the Russians made the battle more even. On June 19, 1963, PLA MiGs shot down an RB-69A, killing 14 airmen, over Jiangxi. On June 11, 1964, 13 died when another aircraft was shot down by MiGs.
With the Sino-American rapprochement, the US began losing interest in the squadron. During his visit in 1972, president Richard Nixon promised to end reconnaissance missions over China; by then, he had advanced satellites to provide images without the risk. The squadron ceased operating the same year. Its losses and casualty rate were the highest of any of Taiwan’s special forces, and the operation remained top secret.
As travel between the two sides became possible, members of the families of the dead airmen went to the mainland to look for them.
In 1998, Yang Chao-son, widow of Yin Jin-ding, one of 13 airmen killed by a missile close to Dalian in November 1961, went to the site. A resident gave her a wash basin made from the wreckage of the plane. In November, she presented it to the Hsinchu museum.
At the opening ceremony, Kao said the remains of some of those who died were still on the mainland.
“I guarantee that the ministry will do whatever it takes to help the families have the remains of the deceased brought back to Taiwan, wherever they are or however long it will take,” he said, the first such promise by a defence minister.
He said students of military academies would be taken to the museum to learn from the spirit and sacrifice of the airmen.
Those familiar with the squadron say that, despite the enormous risk, the officers were willing to fly the missions.
“They were all from the mainland,” said one woman whose father was in the air force. “They wanted to go home. They wanted to fly. It was the mission of Chiang Kai-shek to recover the mainland.”
One former pilot, Li Chong-shan, said at the opening ceremony that, as soldiers, they could not fear. “Taiwan was in a difficult situation. We had no money and no international status. We had to show this attitude and this courage of the soldiers and the government to earn the respect of our allies.”
3 comments:
Taipei puts ‘Black Bats’ on the radar
Secret squadron that spied on the mainland is finally honoured by Taiwan’s government
Mark O’Neill
24 January 2010
Its members called it the “Black Bats Squadron” - and others the “Black Widows Squadron”. It was one of the most secret operations of the war between Taiwan and mainland China - sophisticated planes provided by the CIA and flown by Taiwanese pilots in nighttime surveillance of military installations on the mainland. Between 1952 and 1972, the squadron flew over 800 missions and lost 15 planes and 148 pilots, two-thirds of the total.
“Each time, the planes flew into a corridor of flame,” General Ko Kuang-yue, former vice-chief of the Air Force of Taiwan, said. “Each mission was targeted by more than 10 missiles, more than 10 attacks by fighter planes and more than 10 attacks of artillery fire.
“They came home and then flew another mission,” Ko, who retired in 2007, said. “They sacrificed themselves for this country. We must remember them forever.” His elder brother was shot down by the People’s Liberation Army on a mission over the Liaodong peninsula on November 6, 1961.
For decades, both sides kept the operation secret. Taiwan’s government told the bereaved families that their loved ones were missing in action; many maintained the hope of seeing them again.
Finally, in November, the squadron received public recognition - a museum dedicated to them opened on an airbase in the northern city of Hsinchu. At the opening were Defence Minister General Kao Hua-chu, top military officers, the squadron’s former commander General Lu De-chi, General Ko, surviving members and family members of those who died.
The squadron was the result of an agreement between the government of Chiang Kai-shek and the Western Company, a subsidiary of the CIA.
Initially, the administration of US president Harry S. Truman decided to abandon the Kuomintang government after its retreat to Taiwan. But it changed its mind after the outbreak of the Korean war and the split of the world into American-backed and Soviet-backed camps. For his part, Chiang was eager to co-operate with the US side and enlist its help in re-conquering the mainland.
Under the agreement, the CIA supplied advanced aircraft equipped with the latest electronic equipment, and Taiwan the pilots to fly them. They conducted surveillance of the mainland during the night - hence the name “Black Bats”.
This enabled the CIA to collect valuable military intelligence about the mainland, especially facilities like bases, missile installations, air-defence systems and development of a nuclear bomb.
It cost the US no servicemen, only the price of the planes. It preferred to use Taiwanese pilots. If they were shot down, it would be a “China incident”; if American pilots were shot down, it would be an international one.
Initially based in Taoyuan, the squadron moved in 1953 to an airbase in Hsinchu, and in May 1956 began its aerial surveillance of the mainland. Over the next 16 years, it conducted 838 missions, flying as far west as Qinghai and Gansu, and as far north as Heilongjiang . Its planes also flew over north Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and North Korea. Each had between nine and 14 people, including pilots, mechanics, and electronic and radar specialists.
“We were at the front line of the cold war,” said General Ko. “The intelligence we obtained told us about the signals and other systems of the Soviet bloc, which all the free world could use. It was harder to obtain this in Eastern Europe, where defences were better equipped. The US gave us a great deal of help, in the military, economic and other fields. Our airmen did so much to help other people in Taiwan.”
At first, the missions were successful. This we know from the most authoritative public history of the squadron from the mainland side - Feimingdi (Whistling Arrows) by Chen Huiting, a squad commander in the PLA’s Second Missile Division. Chen said that in those early years it was difficult for the mainland air force to shoot down Taiwan’s planes because they flew too high, above the range of PLA planes, or as low as 100 to 200 metres, below the range of radar.
“By 1959, the Taiwan B-17s had flown more than 50 to 60 times over the mainland, covering as many as nine cities and provinces and flying for up to 10 hours. They were packed with electronic surveillance equipment, called the ‘airborne electronic experiment room’, with at least 15 people watching the frequencies of our telecommunications and radar defence,” Chen said. “The planes, painted black, left Taiwan around four in the afternoon and entered our airspace at dusk or at night, and so earned the name ‘Black Bats’. Their surveillance seriously threatened the security of the airspace of New China.”
On November 20, 1957, a B-17 flew over nine provinces including Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan and Shanxi, dropping anti-Communist leaflets. The next day, a P2V flew 3,000 kilometres over nine hours above the mainland. The PLA scrambled 18 planes to shoot it down, but they could not fly high enough.
On June 14, 1959, an RB-57D flew over the mainland for 10-1/2 hours at altitudes of 19,000 to 21,000 metres. The PLA scrambled 32 planes; nine found the intruder and came within 10 minutes of it, but could not fly high enough to shoot it down.
In the first four years, the squadron lost five planes, with 41 airmen killed and three captured, in Fujian in November 1957.
This access provoked alarm at the top of the government in Beijing. Its most important project was development of a nuclear bomb; in October 1959, it established its Lop Nor nuclear weapons test base in the remote area of Malan, Xinjiang province, covering 100,000 square kilometres, with 2,000 kilometres of highways. Mao Zedong feared the surveillance would enable the US and Taiwan to locate the base and possibly bomb it. Searching for the base was one reason the planes flew so far west.
So Mao turned to his then ally, the Soviet Union. On September 10, 1957, vice-premier Nie Rongzhen led a major military delegation to Moscow and, after five weeks of intense negotiations, secured an agreement to buy five surface-to-air missile (SAM) launchers and 36 missiles. In 1958, the PLA Air Force formed missile divisions to learn how to use the missiles and fire them. Chen joined one of the divisions.
Their first success came on October 7, 1959, just a week after celebrations to mark the 10th anniversary of the new state, when three SAMs shot down an RB-57D high-altitude plane over Beijing. When Mao and Zhou heard the news, they were delighted. Zhu De and five of the other 10 PLA marshals rushed to the scene to see the remains of the plane.
On September 9, 1962, a missile battalion in Nanchang, Jiangxi, shot down a U-2 high-altitude plane. It made headline news around the world. Mao summoned the missile battalion commander to the Zhongnanhai to thank him in person.
The SAMs and improved radar systems given by the Russians made the battle more even. On June 19, 1963, PLA MiGs shot down an RB-69A, killing 14 airmen, over Jiangxi. On June 11, 1964, 13 died when another aircraft was shot down by MiGs.
With the Sino-American rapprochement, the US began losing interest in the squadron. During his visit in 1972, president Richard Nixon promised to end reconnaissance missions over China; by then, he had advanced satellites to provide images without the risk. The squadron ceased operating the same year. Its losses and casualty rate were the highest of any of Taiwan’s special forces, and the operation remained top secret.
As travel between the two sides became possible, members of the families of the dead airmen went to the mainland to look for them.
In 1998, Yang Chao-son, widow of Yin Jin-ding, one of 13 airmen killed by a missile close to Dalian in November 1961, went to the site. A resident gave her a wash basin made from the wreckage of the plane. In November, she presented it to the Hsinchu museum.
At the opening ceremony, Kao said the remains of some of those who died were still on the mainland.
“I guarantee that the ministry will do whatever it takes to help the families have the remains of the deceased brought back to Taiwan, wherever they are or however long it will take,” he said, the first such promise by a defence minister.
He said students of military academies would be taken to the museum to learn from the spirit and sacrifice of the airmen.
Those familiar with the squadron say that, despite the enormous risk, the officers were willing to fly the missions.
“They were all from the mainland,” said one woman whose father was in the air force. “They wanted to go home. They wanted to fly. It was the mission of Chiang Kai-shek to recover the mainland.”
One former pilot, Li Chong-shan, said at the opening ceremony that, as soldiers, they could not fear. “Taiwan was in a difficult situation. We had no money and no international status. We had to show this attitude and this courage of the soldiers and the government to earn the respect of our allies.”
Post a Comment