World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseLeng Peishu was born in Linyi, Shandong Province, China in 1922. He received flight training in the United States. Stereotypical of a reckless flight cadet, he routinely got in trouble for flying stunts, notably for flying under a bridge once at the urging of his American classmates. Upon graduation, he returned to China and joined the 29th Fighter Squadron of the 5th Fighter Group of the Chinese-American Composite Wing (Provisional). He scored his first victory on 11 Jul 1944. He would be shot down for a total of four times during WW2, all of which by ground-based anti-aircraft fire, and the first two took place during Jul 1944. In 1949, he relocated to Taiwan. In Jan 1955, he was made the deputy commanding officer of the 5th Fighter Group, which was undergoing transition to the F-86F Sabre jet fighters. In Jul and Sep 1956, Colonel Leng engaged Chinese Communist MiG jet fighters, scoring a 1/3 victory in the first engagement and one victory (a MiG-17 fighter) in the second engagement. The second engagement, which had taken place on 24 Sep 1956, was historic in that his fellow pilots, armed with AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles, scored the Republic of China Air Force's first victories with that weapon, downing four MiG-15bis fighters, while being covered by Leng and others.

Photographs

Leng Peishu Timeline