Best known in the West as the Freedom Fighter or Tiger II in later models, the Northrop F-5 in Taiwan, the Republic of China, will always be remembered as the Tiger, a 60-year love affair that ended last week.
The first seven F-5As and two F-5Bs, shipped to Taipei under the U.S. Military Assistance Program in 1965, entered service with the RoCAF in 1965, serving as frontline air defense fighters.
This ultimately led to a force of 83 F-5A/Bs by the early 1970s (of which half were loaned to the South Vietnam Air Force and never returned, backfilled by aircraft from the USAF).
Local assembly of E and F-models began under the “Tiger Peace” Project in 1973, with Taiwan’s Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) eventually assembling 308 aircraft domestically, making the country the world’s largest F‑5 operator with over 336 operational aircraft in 1986 when the AIDC assembly line closed.
It was the stuff of recruiting posters.
Relegated to secondary tasks after the mid-1990s as the RoCAF obtained F-16s, Mirage 2000s, and domestic AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-kuo fighters, the F-5 E/F endured as a trainer and reserve fighter while some were converted to RF-5E Tigergazer recon aircraft.
In late 2024, the training aircraft mission was taken over by the AIDC T-BE5A Brave Eagle (an updated Ching-kuo) while Tigergazers were replaced by dedicated AN/VDS-5 (later Phoenix Eye and MS-110) recon-pod carrying “Leo Gazer” RF-16As as the last 46 F-5/RF-5 frames were cued up to withdraw from service. This capped 40 straight years of F-5E/F service with the RoCAF alone.
To commemorate the occasion of the type’s retirement, last week on 4 July, five Tigers (F-5F: 5398 and 5413, RF-5E: 5504, 5505, and 5507) took to the skies from Hualien Air Base for a last flyby over and along Taiwan’s east coast, the end of an era.
As noted eloquently by the RocAF last week:
Some voices fade away with the curtain.
Some spirits live on through the years.
The F-5E/F and RF-5E are not just the names of aircraft models,
but also the epitome of a period of the Air Force.
They have accompanied us through the forefront of combat readiness and have also entered the deepest part of the memories of the Chinese people, and are deeply rooted in the hearts of every comrade who has driven, maintained, and guided them.
Pilots guard the nation. Iron wings defend the skies.
This haunting polyptych, courtesy of the Australian War Memorial, depicts the final moments of RAF 7 Squadron Pathfinder Force Avro Lancaster JA853 MG-L, bound for Berlin, but instead was downed over Holland by night fighter pilot Oberleutnant Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer in a Messerschmitt Bf 110 G-4 (G9+DZ) of 12./NJG 1. JA853 took all seven of her crew with her.
As described by the AWM:
A memorial dedicated to five Australian and two British airmen was unveiled at Follega, in the Netherlands, last weekend. The seven men were amongst more than 55,000 lives lost in Bomber Command during the Second World War and were tragically shot down in Avro Lancaster JA853 MG-L in December 1943.
The establishment of this memorial, more than six years in the making, was an initiative undertaken by Diana Bentley, the niece of pilot Wallace Watson RAAF, and Melvin Chambers, who works to preserve the memory of Australian Dambuster pilot, Les Knight, DSO.
JA853 is also featured in a short film that depicts the incident in which these young men were killed, which was enabled through communication between Memorial staff and 7 Squadron (PFF) RAF Association in the UK.
These four still images from the short film sequence, which will soon be displayed in the Bomber Command gallery of Anzac Hall, accurately portray the event in which top German night-fighter ace, Heinz Schnaufer, shot down the Australian-British flown Lancaster bomber, using vertically firing ‘jazz music’ cannons.
Six of the seven crew members of Lancaster JA853 MG-L had previously flown the Memorial’s own ‘G for George’ when they were serving with 460 Squadron (RAAF). For their skill, they were chosen to join the elite Pathfinders with 7 Squadron RAF, marking targets for the main Bomber Command force.
While Schnaufer survived the war, with the record of the most successful night fighter pilot in the history of air warfare with 121 victories, the RAAF captured his plane in 1945, and one of its rear stabilizers hangs in the AWM.
Two Lovat Scouts pictured in sniper camouflage, Bisley, Surrey, 9 July 1940. Note that the first man is clad in what looks like a soccer net while his buddy wears a tarp or poncho that has been painted, while both sport the Great War classic Mk III* SMLE rifle.
Official period caption: “Two effective types of camouflage. The British Army have the Scouts trained to hunt down snipers. Here are Lovat Scouts camouflaged, demonstrating during Army maneuvers. (Censored: For Records Only, Not Release).”
Photo by Captain Len A. Puttnam, War Office official photographer. IWM H 2145
Originally recruited from the gamekeepers on Lord Lovat’s estates, these men were already very capable individuals able to hike, climb, hunt, and make themselves at home in sub-zero temperatures while soaking wet, with all of them being expert shots. Men who mastered field craft at a young age and are often credited as “militarizing” the ghillie suit, a simple Scottish hunting scrim that has since then gone well Gucci.
The Scouts proved adept in training the “Stay Behind” units of the Home Guard, which would serve in an insurgent role should the Germans come post-Dunkirk.
Of note, the British Army introduced a 70×30-inch hank of camouflage scrim net to individuals, commonly known as a face veil or scrim scarf, in 1942, and it was a favorite piece of kit for more than half a century.
William Ewart Fairbairn shown with the issue face veil scarf, Denison smock, Fairbairn-Sykes dagger, toggle rope, and other late-war essential commando kit
The 940-page One Big Beautiful Bill Act, H.R.1, has something in it for everyone to like, and everyone to hate, making it a universal adapter of sorts.
What may be missed by others is that it also has a record $25 billion windfall for the USCG (“the largest single commitment of funding in Service history”), a welcome sight for one of the most shoestring of uniformed services. Keep in mind that the Coast Guard’s annual FY26 budget is just $14.5 billion.
As noted by the service, “this funding will allow the Coast Guard to procure an estimated 17 new icebreakers, 21 new cutters, over 40 helicopters, and six C-130J aircraft while modernizing shore infrastructure and maritime surveillance systems.”
Investment highlights include:
$4.4 billion for shore infrastructure, training facilities, and homeports
$4.3 billion for Polar Security Cutters, extending U.S. reach in the Arctic
$4.3 billion for nine new Offshore Patrol Cutters
$3.5 billion for three Arctic Security Cutters
$2.3 billion for more than 40 MH-60 helicopters
$2.2 billion for depot-level maintenance to sustain readiness
$1.1 billion for six new HC-130J aircraft and simulators
$1 billion for Fast Response Cutters
$816 million for light and medium Icebreaking Cutters
$266 million for long-range unmanned aircraft systems
$170 million for maritime domain awareness, including next-generation sensors
$162 million for three Waterways Commerce Cutters
The future 360-foot Offshore Patrol Cutter Argus in launch position. Nine sisterships are funded under the OBBB, at about $478 million a pop. Photo: Eastern Shipbuilding Group.
When you think of Colt revolvers, the Python immediately comes to mind, and we hit the road to get the behind-the-scenes access to see just how these iconic American wheel guns are made.
Launched in 1955, the .357 Magnum six-shooter stood out with its advanced features, which surpassed many standard models of the time. Featuring a full underlug with a shrouded ejector rod, ventilated rib barrel, and adjustable sights, Pythons are distinctive and quickly identified at even a glance.
We’ve seen hundreds of Pythons over the years and have loved every last one of them. (All photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
There is just something electric about seeing the iconic “PYTHON” on the barrel.
Over its original half-century run, the “I-frame” Python saw several variants with barrel lengths of 2.5, 3, 4, 6, and 8 inches, a few caliber experiments, and some specialty guns. The revolvers were produced in a range of finishes, including electroless nickel, referred to as “Colt Guard” by the company, stainless, polished nickel, Royal Colt Guard, an “Ultimate Bright” stainless, blued, and Colt Royal Blue, among others.
No matter the finish or barrel length, they are always appealing. A work of art crafted in steel.
We were there at the SHOT Show in 2020 when the new Python was introduced. The event marked the debut of the updated generation of these premium revolvers for the 21st century.
The modern Python carries with it the legacy of the aristocratic revolver, whose name has become a household word.
Now, with the new model in production for half a decade, we had to take a trip to New England to see how today’s Python is born.
A touching image, some 80 years ago today, with an almost unfathomable background.
Official period caption: “Lecco, Italy. PFC George Morihiro, Co I, 442nd Inf. Regt., adopted a little orphan, one of the group from the St. Joseph’s orphanage, which attended the 4th of July party at the Red Cross given by the members of the 442nd Regt., for the evening, and made sure that she had plenty of sweets to eat.”
U.S. Army Signal Corps Photo 111-SC-340940 by Menikheim, 3131st Signal Photo Platoon. National Archives Identifier 404791224
Just in case you didn’t immediately grasp it, the famed 442nd “Go for Broke” Regimental Combat Team was made up of Japanese American troops during WWII. One of the most decorated units in U.S. military history– including five Presidential Unit Citations, 21 MoHs, and 18,000 other individual decorations– the second-generation “Nisei” men who filled its ranks often hailed from families shamefully interned by the federal government under armed guard during the war.
Born in September 1924, in Tacoma, Washington, to Gunjiro and Tsuru Morihiro, George graduated from high school in Fife, Washington, and was eager to volunteer for the Army prior to Pearl Harbor. Following the start of the Pacific War, his family was removed to the Puyallup Assembly Center and the Minidoka Concentration Camp, Idaho, where 13,000 Americans were detained in the high desert.
Nonetheless, he joined the Army in late 1943, was sent to Camp Shelby, and, in what he thought was punishment for talking smack to a sergeant there, was promptly designated as a BAR man, toting the 21-pound M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle. As anyone can tell you, it sucks to carry a BAR to the range and back, I can’t imagine having to tote one through the gumbo mud of Mississippi or up a mountain in Italy, but George did it.
Earning a Purple Heart in action against the Gothic Line, Staff Sgt. Morihiro returned to Fife after the war. Attending photography school, he worked 20 years for Tall’s Camera Supply and 24 years as owner of GEM Photo Distributors. He was also active in the Nisei Veterans Association, speaking to school groups and community organizations about his wartime experiences, going on to leave a nine-part oral history in 1998.
George passed in 2009, aged 85, and left behind a son and grandchildren. Because, of course, he did.
Official period caption: Independence Day celebration at a 10th Air Force Base “somewhere in India,” 4 July 1945. Lockheed P-38 Lightnings fire their 50 cal. machine guns and 20mm cannon.
These are possibly the “Twin Dragons” of the 80th FG’s 459th Fighter Squadron (459th FS), which at the time were based at Dudhkundi, supporting operations over Burma.
(U.S. Air Force Number 62693AC. National Archives Identifier 204961221)
Stay safe out there in your own little part of America this weekend, gents.
Only produced for a single year by the Army’s Rock Island Arsenal, the RIA-marked National Match “GI Custom” 1911 .45 is a rare gun.
Why National Match?
So-called “National Match” 1911s date back to custom-fit target guns made to compete in the U.S. National Matches held annually, first in New Jersey and Florida and then at Camp Perry, Ohio. Modifications made by military armorers and famous Colt rep Henry “Fitz” FitzGerald to GI guns led Colt to introduce a specific National Match 1911 model in 1933, with lessons learned from the event guns. Except for the gap between 1941 and 1957, Colt National Match 1911s continue to be produced, in small numbers.
Early Colt National Matches, such as this circa 1932 model in the Guns.com Vault, were little more than standard 1911s with a tuned trigger and better barrel. Only about 3,000 Colt NM pistols were made before World War II (Photo: Guns.com)
An M1911-equipped Marine Gunnery Sergeant Henry M. Bailey, winner of the Custer Trophy at the National Rifle Matches, Camp Perry, Ohio, summer 1930. First awarded in 1927, the Custer is still presented to the winner of the National Trophy Individual Pistol Match. (Photo: National Archives)
After World War II ended, with the Colt NM gun at the time out of production, the Army looked into making its own. The program, run out of the Army’s old Springfield Armory complex in Massachusetts, took existing GI M1911s already in inventory and re-worked them into more match-friendly guns. A National Match specification was established, and the conversion process included not only hand fitting and tuning but a new “hard” slide, either from Colt or Drake Manufacturing, while triggers, springs, bushings, and sights became an evolutionary process tweaked every season.
The 1962 standard GI Springfield Armory produced NM 1911 pistol. Note the sights. (Photo: Rock Island Arsenal Museum)
The 1962 standard GI Springfield Armory produced NM 1911 pistol. (Photo: Rock Island Arsenal Museum)
The 1963 standard GI Springfield Armory produced NM 1911 pistol. Note the adjustable rear sights. (Photo: Rock Island Arsenal Museum)
Between 1955 and 1967, Springfield Armory produced 24,055 NM M1911s, an average of about 1,850 guns per year. Of these, most were sent to assorted military marksmanship teams while just 3,876 were sold to the public through the Army-run Director of Civilian Marksmanship program, an organization that became the non-profit federally chartered Civilian Marksmanship Program in 1996.
Lieutenant Colonel Walter Walsh, Team Captain, Marine Corps Rifle and Pistol Team, 1955 National Matches. Note his NM 1911 complete with target sights and a Colt commercial slide. A competitive shooter on the FBI pistol team during the 1930s bank robbery era, he was on the teams that tracked down criminal Arthur Barker, son of gangster Ma Barker, as well as “Public Enemy Number One” Al Brady. Serving in the Marines in WWII, he reportedly made a 90-yard shot with an M1911 on a Japanese sniper on Okinawa. He went on to compete in 50M Pistol at the 1948 Summer Olympics and won the gold medal with the United States team in the 25 m Center-Fire Pistol event at the 1952 ISSF World Championships. (Photo: National Archives.)
However, with the Pentagon’s decision in the 1960s to close Springfield Armory as a money-saving measure (it would reopen in 1978 as a National Historic Site), it was decided that the Army’s in-house National Match program would shift its home to Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois.
The Short RIA NM 1911 Run
According to the FY1967 Rock Island Annual Historical Report, due to the planned phase out of Springfield Armory by the Army in February 1966, Rock Island sent two mechanical engineers and three armorers to Massachusetts to be trained specifically to support the National Matches.
Following five weeks of OTJ at Springfield, the Rock Island contingent worked side by side with Springfield Armory personnel at Camp Perry in the summer of 1966 while the tooling for the NM 1911 program shuffled from Massachusetts to Illinois. By September of that year, Rock Island officially received the Work Authorizations for the NM program, and the following month, the Army released the funds to proceed.
The program was authorized to complete overhauls on 1,533 caliber .45 M1911 National Match pistols, convert another 848 M1911 pistols to National Match standard, and overhaul 2,462 NM M14 rifles. However, the guns didn’t arrive at RIA until the end of 1966, while the technical data package was not received from Springfield until late January 1967. This put the program behind, and it wasn’t until March 1967 that a team of about 45 military and civilian armorers – many from marksmanship units from across the Army – had begun training, spread out in three, four-week classes, at RIA by the NM cadre instructors. It was only then that assembly began at the armory’s Building 61.
These original color photos were taken of the RIA NM 1911 line in Building 61 in June 1967, with armorers fitting pistols to precise National Match standards.
The production process included careful hand-fitting of the slide and parts. (Photo: Rock Island Arsenal Museum)
As well as detailed work, making sure the trigger and action were smooth as glass. (Photo: Rock Island Arsenal Museum)
Checkering the pistol’s front strap. (Photo: Rock Island Arsenal Museum)
Testing of finished pistols included firing proof rounds, left, and minimum accuracy tests, right, from fixtures.
Finished NM 1911s at RIA, 1967. (Photo: Rock Island Arsenal Museum)
The RIA NM 1911 standard. (Photo: Rock Island Arsenal Museum)
By July 6, 1967, 1,820 National Match M14 rifles and 1,764 NM M1911 pistols had been delivered to Camp Perry, notes the report. That August, nine RIA NM armorers went to the matches at Camp Perry to support the month-long effort there.
Then came the thunderbolt news that, with almost 500,000 U.S. troops stationed in Vietnam, the 1968 National Matches were canceled. It was the first time since 1950, when the matches were canceled during the Korean War, that Camp Perry would be shuttered for the summer. Further, the Gun Control Act of 1968 put a serious crimp on how guns were sold on the commercial market, one that is still felt today.
This brought about the end of the NM custom shop guns, with much more limited production shifted to the Army Marksmanship Unit’s Custom Firearms Shop, which continues to operate today.
Meet RIA NM 1911 #4784
The author was recently lucky enough to pick up a 4th Round Range Grade military surplus M1911 from the CMP.
A Military Model M1911A1 frame, serial number 824784, the pistol had been manufactured in 1942 at Colt. According to the CMP Forums, using the old Springfield Research Service books, it was accepted by the Army and shipped to Springfield Armory between September 18 and October 22, 1942. It likely went from there to an Army unit in Europe, as pistols in its serial number range soon after left for the New York Port of Embarkation.
Then, surely in the 1967 time frame, it was subsequently selected for upgrade to a National Match competition-grade pistol at Rock Island Arsenal, as it has both “RIA” and “NM” marked on the right side of the frame. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
It has a Colt NM 7791435 marked slide including a 1/8” .358 high front sight. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
The right side is marked: “Colts PT. F.A. Mfg. Co. Hartford, Conn. U.S.A.” Lightly scratched into the rear of the right slide is “WC” likely denoting it is for use with wadcutter ammo only. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
The gun carries a Colt NM 7791414 marked barrel, with the last four serial numbers (4784) electro-penciled to the hood. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
The NM7267718 barrel bushing also carries a 4784. The bushing was an extremely tight fit to the barrel and slide. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
It carries a large U.S.-marked Kensight adjustable rear sight. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
Note the aluminum trigger, which breaks at an amazingly crisp 3 pounds. Also note the “dummy mark” from some past incorrect reassembly at some point in the past 50+ years. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
The milled front strap is standard for an RIA NM 1911. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
Continued use?
Following likely use by a division, post, regional, Army, state, or other-level Marksmanship Training Unit, some signs point to #4784 being converted a second time since leaving RIA in 1967-68.
A look at the internals. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
Compared to a standard GI Colt military model from 1944. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
The uncheckered straight mainspring housing is different from the NM standards, likely installed in later years. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
It carries late model (Ergo XT Rigid intro’d in 2007) tapered black checkered plastic grips. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
It has a UID label on the bottom of the dust cover. The Army only started putting these on guns starting around 2004. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
Doing the archival work, a FOIA request to the Army pulled the inventory records for the gun going back to 1975. It spent a lot of time at Fort Lewis, Washington, with “unknown” unit owners back when the 9th Infantry Division and 2nd Ranger Battalion were there. Sent to Anniston Army Depot in January 1989, it was soon turned around and sent to the Concept Evaluation Support Agency in Lexington (Bluegrass Army Depot) in October 1990, where it stayed for a few months before being sent to the 1st Cavalry at Fort Hood, then back to CESA in April 1992. Of note, CESA is the main supply depot for Army Special Forces and SOCOM units.
The FOIA puts the gun everywhere from Washington state to Kentucky, Alabama, and Texas over a 48-year timeline. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
The pistol remained at CESA for almost 30 years, including the entire Global War on Terror. As the Program Executive Office for Special Operations Forces Support Activity (PEO-SOFSA) was at Bluegrass, the pistol may have been a loaner. Issued as needed and returned after a requirement, especially during the high-tempo SOCOM operations in the early 2000s, it may have never been “officially” transferred on paper. This could account for the OIF-era UIC sticker, Ergo Rigid grips, and straight main spring housing. Barring an email from some operator who remembers the gun and its serial, we may never know. Some GI NM 1911s have been documented as former Delta Force guns, and SF widely used accurized .45s for years post 9/11.
Sent to Anniston Army Depot storage in June 2020, #4784 was transferred to the CMP in July 2023. From there, it has just been in the Eger family collection and will stay there until its next chapter.
Special thanks to the Rock Island Arsenal Museum for their assistance with this article. If you are ever in the area, please stop in and visit the facility while you still can. It is slated, along with 20 other base museums, to close in the next few years.
Serving and former members of the Royal Marines, a couple of weeks ago, staged a re-enactment, Exercise Itchy Blanket, of Operation Frankton – and the men who became known as the Cockleshell Heroes. They came complete with WWII kit, kayaks, and (inert) limpet mines down the Thames to place them on HMS Belfast before a crowd.
Over 80 years ago, ten marines set out on a mission to paddle right up to Nazi ships undetected and blow them up in port, and just two of them were able to exilftrate back home.
To mark the extraordinary operation, today’s marines paddled their folding ‘yaks down the Thames to the side of HMS Belfast in the heart of London and placed mock limpet mines to her side. The expedition was not only to remember the heroics of the operation, but also to raise money for a plaque to David Moffatt, one of the men involved in the original Op Frankton.
Original caption: “Early in the morning, the pilot of the North American P-51D Mustang ‘Tamra,’ heads for his plane. He carries approximately 85 pounds of personal equipment including a parachute, lifebelt, life raft, seat, survival vest, helmet, and goggles. Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands. July 1945.”
USAAF Photo 68067AC, National Archives Identifier 204982187
And from the back:
USAAF Photo 67959AC, National Archives Identifier 204982142
The pilot is identified as LT Ceil A. “Denny” Dennis of the 45th Fighter Squadron, 7th Fighter Command, 20th Air Force.
The above images were likely taken at Iwo’s South Field, where the 45th called home from March through November 1945, with most of that escorting B-29s over Japan on very long-range missions, a task that earned the squadron a Distinguished Unit Citation. These 7-8 hour flights were grueling in the cramped cockpit of the P-51, and so hard on the planes that ground crews had to change the engine’s spark plugs after every VLR to avoid fouling, as prolonged low-RPM cruising with giant drop tanks burned them out.
The history of the unit goes back to 22 November 1940, when the War Department authorized the 45th Pursuit Squadron (fighter), and it was stood up a week later as part of the new 15th Pursuit Group, Wheeler Field, Hawaii Territory.
Shuttered for six years post-war, they stood back up for Korea where they flew F-86 Sabres, then moved on to the F-100, F-84F, and F-4– which they flew in Vietnam– before downshifting to the COIN role in the A-37 Dragonfly and finally transitioned to the A-10 Warthog in 1981– which they still operate out of Davis–Monthan, at least for now.
As for Denny, born in September 1923, in Blackfoot, Idaho, he joined the Army Air Corps, aged 20, in early 1944. Completing flight training at Luke Field in Arizona, he was sent to the Pacific immediately upon graduation and joined the 45th for the duration. He survived the war, retired from the Air Force as a Lt. Colonel in 1983, and spent much time as a volunteer at the Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa, Idaho. Lt. Col. Dennis passed in 2013, age 89, leaving several children and grandchildren.
