 The above photo was included in photo groupings of all AVG at the Flying Tiger reunion May 2001. Harry Bolster is one of those that I'm having trouble determining whether or not he flew for CNAC. I am pretty sure he flew the Hump, but don't know if it was with CNAC or the military. Any clues will be appreciated. Thanks. 2006(?)--From an anonymous source we received the following: Harry Bolster was Wing Man in the 2nd Squardon with the American Volunteer Group (AVG) From a list of the 67 Flying Tigers who received bonus payments from CAMCO, followed by each man's victories as customarily shown, then by his air-to-air victories as calculated by Dr. Olynyk from the AVG files in the Chennault Papers at Stanford. For Harry: two from CAMCO and one from Olynyk. Harry was killed flying an experimental Fisher P-75A while stationed at Eglin Field, Florida, October 10, 1944. (NOTE: In the above link to the crash, Harry has the rank of Major.) July 19, 2009 Harry Bolster was born in Baytown, Texas on August 6th, 1918. He received the Cloud and Banner and Winged Star Chinese medals for his AVG CAMCO victories. He is buried in the Baytown Cemetery. I have his AVG jacket. Best, Charles Adams Here's another clue about Harry Bolster: December 31, 2009 Interesting. He wasn't among those shown as having joined CNAC in China following the disbandment of the AVG in July 1942. However, I know absolutely nothing about his military service after he returned to the US Army. Given the specialization of the USAAF, would he have been a transport pilot earlier and a fighter pilot / test pilot in 1944? Blue skies! -- Dan Ford Received this message May 26, 2020. Thank you Rob. Harry R. Bolster was my first cousin. He was my father's oldest sister's son. Harry flew with the American Volunteer Group (AVG), also known as The Flying Tigers, in 1942 in China. He has one confirmed air-to-air kill as a Flying Tiger fighter pilot. He received bonus payments for two destroyed enemy aircraft but one was destroyed while parked on the ground. He was a pilot in the US Army Air Force when he joined the Flying Tigers to be a flight instructor. He was probably a 1st Lieutenant and Captain with the AVG. When the Chinese Air Force Flight School at Yunnan-yi, China was closed in the spring of 1942, Harry and the other remaining instructor pilots joined the AVG combat squadrons as Fighter Pilots. Of the 106 pilots hired by CAMCO (Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company) to become the AVG 'Flying Tigers,' only 42 received the Chinese Wing Star Medal, Harry was one of them. Harry was a recipient of the Chinese Sixth Order of the Cloud and Banner (medal # 123) for his air-to-air victory. Major Harry R. Bolster became a US Army Air Force test pilot and was killed flying an experimental Fisher XP-75A while stationed at Eglin Field, Florida, October 10, 1944. He is buried in the Hill of Rest Cemetery in Baytown, Texas. Major Rob Robinette US Air Force and Army Retired  or would like to be added to the CNAC e-mail distribution list, please let the CNAC Web Editor, Tom Moore, know. Thanks! |