World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseGao Youxin (Wade-Giles: Kao You-hsin) was born in Jin County, Liaoning Province, China in 1916. His family moved to Tianjin, China in late 1931 or early 1932 after the arrival of the Japanese in northeastern China. In 1935, he graduated from high school in Tianjin and took the examination for military aviation service; in the following year, he entered the Central Aviation Academy. In 1939, he graduated from the academy at the top of his class and was assigned to the 21st Pursuit Squadron of the 4th Pursuit Group of the Chinese Air Force. In 1940, he saw combat over Chongqing, China against Japanese bombers and their escorts. In Sep 1940, he flew against the new A6M Zero fighters, damaging one (he had claimed a victory but no A6M fighters were lost in that action). On 22 Sep 1941, he achieved a rare victory for the Chinese Air Force as he led a group of six I-16III fighters disrupting an attack run on Chung Chuan Chun Airfield north of Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China, earning credit for downing the G3M bomber flown by Lieutenant Shintaro Hashimoto. In 1942, he was made the commanding officer of Chiense 21st Pursuit Squadron flying US-built P-43A Lancer fighters. While the upgrade from Soviet-built fighters to US-built P-40N and P-43A fighters was a difficult process for many Chinese pilots (in fact many died in accidents due to unfamiliarity), Gao was able to achieve success by downing several Japanese aircraft. In Nov 1944, over Jianjiang County, Hubei Province, ground fire damaged the radiator of his P-40 fighter. He made a brief attempt to return to base, but his aircraft caught on fire shortly after, forcing him to bail out over Japanese-held territory. he landed on the bank of a small river near a cluster of tied-up fishing boats. One of the fisherman waived him in, and his daughter put her coat over him. Within minutes, a Japanese patrol on a boat arrived, but did not think the fishermen would be daring enough to hide an airman, thus sparing Gao. The fisherman then put him on the opposite side of the bank, gave him some spare change, and sent him on his way back to friendly lines, which took about 40 days. On 30 May 1945, he led a total of 16 P-51 Mustang fighters on a fighter sweep over Nanjing, China. His group destroyed a transport aircraft on the ground before being engaged by about 30 Ki-30-II fighters; his pilots claimed 10 victories, including one that was credited to Gao. In Aug 1945, in a building in Shenyang, China, he stepped into an open elevator door, mistakenly believing that the elevator was at the same floor. He fell three floors, surviving the fall but suffered a severe concussion. In 1947, he received treatment in the United States for six months. He continued to suffer bouts of vertigo after returning to China, and he was admitted into the Central Army Hospital in Nanjing. In Feb 1948, while on a stroll outside the hospital, another bout of vertigo caused him to fall onto train tracks, and was killed by the oncoming train.

Gao Youxin Timeline