Lin Hu (general)

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Not to be confused with Lin Hu (warlord).

In this Chinese name, the family name is Lin.
Lin Hu
林虎
Lin Hu in 1949, before the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China
Deputy Commander of the PLA Air Force
In office
1985–1994
Serving with Li Yongtai, Liu Zhitian [zh]
CommandersWang Hai, Cao Shuangming
Personal details
Born(1927-12-26)26 December 1927
Harbin, Heilongjiang, Republic of China
Died3 March 2018(2018-03-03) (aged 90)
Beijing, China
Political partyCommunist Party of China
Alma materNortheast China Democratic United Army Aviation School
Military service
Allegiance People's Republic of China
Branch/serviceRepublic of China (1912–1949) Eighth Route Army
 People's Liberation Army Air Force
Years of service1938–1994
Rank Lieutenant General
Battles/warsSecond Sino-Japanese War,
Korean War,
Second Taiwan Strait Crisis

Lin Hu (Chinese: 林虎; pinyin: Lín Hǔ; 26 December 1927 – 3 March 2018) was a Chinese aviator, fighter pilot and lieutenant general of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). Born to a Russian mother and a Chinese father, he was orphaned at a young age. Lin joined the Eighth Route Army to fight in the Second Sino-Japanese War before he turned 11. After the Second World War, he was trained as a fighter pilot and fought in the Korean War and the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. He served as deputy commander of the PLA Air Force from 1985 to 1994 and attained the rank of lieutenant general in 1988.

Early life[edit]

Lin Hu was born on 26 December 1927 in Harbin, Heilongjiang province.[1] His father, originally from Zhaoyuan, Shandong province, moved to Harbin. There he met Lin's mother, a Russian woman, who gave birth to three children.[2] Lin was the middle child, with an older sister and a younger brother. When Lin Hu was just a few years old, his father froze to death in a winter night after falling asleep on a coal train. Soon afterward, his mother and brother both fell ill and died. Orphaned at a young age, he was adopted by a family surnamed Lin and was given the name Lin Gensheng (林根生). His sister was adopted by a different family.[2]

Wartime career[edit]

Lin Hu directing flights at Shantou Waisha Airport (1956)

After the Japanese invasion of China, Lin joined the Eighth Route Army in October 1938 and fought in the Communist guerrilla base in the Yimeng Mountains of Shandong province, before he turned 11; he was renamed as Lin Hu ("forest tiger") by his superiors.[2][3]

In 1945, Lin became a member of the Communist Party of China. After the surrender of Japan at the end of the Second World War, the Communist Northeast Army took over a number of Japanese warplanes, pilots, and mechanics in the former Japanese puppet state Manchukuo, and established its first aviation school, the Northeast China Democratic United Army Aviation School (a predecessor of the PLA Air Force Aviation University). Lin was selected to receive pilot training at the school, from which he graduated in 1949.[2][3] At the Founding Ceremony of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949, Lin piloted a P-51 Mustang fighter and flew across the sky over the Tiananmen in Beijing.[2][3][4]

During the Korean War, Lin was a deputy regiment commander of the People's Volunteer Army Air Force. He was credited with shooting down one and damaging another F-86 Sabre, the best jet fighter of the United States Air Force. After the end of the war, Lin was promoted to deputy commander of the 18th Division of the PLA Air Force based at the Shadi Air Base in Foshan, Guangdong. During the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1958, he shot down two Taiwanese warplanes and damaged a third.[2][3]

Later career[edit]

Lin later successively served as deputy corps commander, deputy commander of a PLAAF command post, deputy commander of a military region air force, and deputy commandant of the PLAAF Command Academy. In 1985, he was promoted to deputy commander of the PLA Air Force,[2][3] serving under Commander Wang Hai, and alongside Li Yongtai and Liu Zhitian, all Korean War veterans.[5] He was awarded the rank of lieutenant general in 1988.[2][3] He was also a deputy to the 7th and the 8th National People's Congress.[2][3] He retired from active service in October 1994.[2][3]

In August 1997, Lin made his last flight with a Sukhoi Su-30 at the MAKS Air Show. He executed a series of aerobatic maneuvers including the Pugachev's Cobra, in cooperation with Anatoly Kvochur.[6][7]

In January 2002, Lin published the book Fight to Protect the Motherland's Airspace—A Retrospective of the Air Battles in the First Twenty Years of New China (保卫祖国领空的战斗—新中国二十年国土防空作战回顾),[2][3] describing the PLAAF's defense operations between 1949 and 1969.[8]

Death[edit]

Lin died in the evening of 3 March 2018, at the age of 90 (91 by East Asian age reckoning).[2][3] He died on the same day as his friend and colleague, fellow Korean War veteran and PLAAF lieutenant general Yao Xian. They were born in the same year and graduated from the same aviation school.[9]

Personal life[edit]

Lin Hu had a daughter named Lin Li (林莉).[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Lin, Li (5 March 2018). 深切悼念父亲林虎将军. Crt.com.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 空军原副司令林虎中将逝世 曾驾机越开国大典上空. Phoenix News (in Chinese (China)). 4 March 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 空军原副司令林虎中将昨晚去世，享年91岁. The Paper (in Chinese (China)). 4 March 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  4. ^ Gao Peng (13 March 2014). 战鹰挟弹受阅开先例——访空军原副司令员林虎将军 (in Chinese (China)). Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  5. ^ Allen, Kenneth W.; Krumel, Glenn; Pollack, Jonathan D. (1995). China's Air Force Enters the 21st Century. Rand Corporation. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-8330-1648-5.
  6. ^ 戎马一生为蓝天——访原空军副司令员林虎中将. 现代军事 [Modern Military] (in Simplified Chinese). 6: 28–29. 1999.
  7. ^ 一次难忘的飞行. 中国航空报 [China Aviation News] (in Chinese (China)). Archived from the original on 10 March 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  8. ^ Kenneth W. Allen (2003). "The PLA Air Force: 1949–2002". In Laurie Burkitt; Andrew Scobell; Larry Wortzel (eds.). The Lessons of History: The Chinese People's Liberation Army at 75 (PDF). Strategic Studies Institute. p. 116. ISBN 1-58487-126-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  9. ^ Wang, Ruiwen (4 March 2018). 91岁空军中将耀先与空军原副司令员林虎同日离世. The Paper (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 5 March 2018.
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