飞虎队的历史真相.doc

飞虎队的历史真相 1931年10月5日，11架日本战斗机和轰炸机陆续从沈阳机场起飞，下午1点40分炸弹从1300米的高空呼啸而下，这一天锦州成为第一个遭受外国飞机空袭的城市。 1937年事关中华民族存亡的抗日战争在7月7日的夜间爆发了。8月13日，在一阵阵掠过江面的晨风中，日本左士堡第二舰队的舰炮向岸上的中国守军射出了重磅炮弹。日军在强大的舰炮火力和轰炸机的配合下，计划在24小时内占领上海。但他们没有料到第二天拂晓一群中国空军的轰炸机飞临日本巡洋舰的上空。在黄浦江岸中国百姓的欢呼声中，中国空军击中了日军这艘7千吨的巡洋舰。第二天中午12：00左右，日本海军的（陆武）航空队3096式轰炸机群，由台湾海峡飞临杭州湾上空，中国空军以（高治杭）为首，驾驶（霍克）三型驱逐机紧急升空应战，这场空战以中国空军击落日机6架，自己无一损失的战绩，使当时的国民政府将8月14日定为“中国空军节”。 清楚的。1937年日本已经有作战飞机2000架，而中国空军记录在案的400架飞机中只有91架可以升空作战。两个月后，拼光了老本的中国空军已无制空权可讲，中国的天空从此成为日本飞机的游乐场。 在那段日子里升空执行作战任务的日本飞行员，就像出游一样轻松，那些刚刚补充到飞行队的新飞行员每天的训练科目是向城市投掷炸弹。身上和心里流着血的人们在问：我们的飞机在哪里？抗日战争爆发后，国民政府将首都由南京迁到了重庆。作为战时中国政治文化的中心，重庆很快就遭到了来自空中的蹂躏。从来只见过天上掉下雨点的人们，现在看到的是带着死亡奸笑声的炸弹。早在1937年11月，日本人就在航空部队使用法中明确规定，至关重要的是直接空袭居民，给敌国民造成极大的恐怖，挫败其意志。 在后来的重庆抗战纪事一书中，对1939年5月3日至4日，仅两天的大空袭中的伤亡数字作了如下记录：两天伤约3100人，死亡5400人。此时在重庆长江的南岸上，有一名美国人目睹了因大轰炸燃起的熊熊烈火，也目睹了中国空军寡不敌众的现实。他在日后的文章中写到：房屋毁于烈焰，民众死伤，我自觉以消灭敌空军为我们快乐的源泉，他的名字叫克耐尔李陈纳德，当时的身份是中国空军的飞行顾问。 陈纳德，1893年出生在美国得克萨斯州的考麦斯。在第一次世界大战中，25岁的陈纳德已经是一名出色的战斗机飞行员了。陈纳德的飞行绝技和后来被证实确有远见卓识的空中战术理论，使他刚被军队处理退役，就先后得到了当时苏联和中国两国政府各自发出的邀请，而他选择了中国。鉴于当时美国采取的中立政策，1937年5月8日，被中国聘为军事顾问的陈纳德，出国护照填写了得克萨斯州农场主，1940年11月带着空中复仇心理陈纳德，从中国战场回到美国，他此行的目的，不仅要为中国购买战斗机和轰炸机。还要说服当时都认为无法参与中国战争的美国政府和军队，同意他在美国招募志愿人员去中国参战。两个多月后一支300多人包括飞行员、机械师、医生护士，文书和牧师的航空队被组织起来，它就是后来闻名于世的飞虎队。1941年7月10日，一批美国青年在美国的旧金山。登上了一艘荷兰客轮，他们作为第一批支援人员将跨上前往中国作战的征程，一位老飞虎队员后来回忆到：当时我的叔叔到码头上来送我，他转回身对我妈妈说，我们可能再也见不到这小子了。 经过近4个月的海上航行，这支美国志愿队伍缅甸仰光北边的冬瓜。陈纳德决定在去中国正式作战之前，在这里做必要的飞行训练。他时常引用中国一句老话：平时多流汗，战时少流血。8月1日在闷热潮湿的冬瓜，陈纳德的美国志愿航空队正式成立。 “陈纳德试图尽可能以接近平民生活的方式来管理这支队伍，他从不要求部下向他敬礼，他的志愿队员可以穿他们想穿的任何衣服。当着他的面我们称陈纳德将军为上校。而私下里呢，都叫他老头。这里并没有其它的任何意思。主要是我们喜欢这个老头。给他一个爱称而已。每次我们路过陈纳德将军的办公室。都会进去和他打招呼，甚至在他升任少将后也如此，而他无论多忙对会放下手中的活和我们寒暄几句。他非常的平易近人，甚至能叫出每一个飞行员的名字。” 2006-2-6 07:56 回复 202.132.212.*2楼这种画着虎鲨头的飞机头部艺术当时在二战美军航空队中非常流行，起因是他们不知从哪听说迷信的日本人怕鲨鱼。 这种画着虎鲨头的P40型战斗机拥有六挺机枪，并携有一枚227公斤的炸弹，最高时速为每小时550公里。而日军的零式飞机却比P40多了两门机关炮和两枚232磅的炸弹，是当时世界上性能最优越的歼击机。陈纳德为队员们总结出与性能优良的日本军作战的原则，就是爬高、俯冲、打了就跑。而他在六年前就发明的双机编队及长机僚机战术，已在每一位飞行员心里变为永不单独飞行，始终成双成对的格言。战前训练时时也充满着危险。P40飞机在从没有飞过他的飞行员手中。有时并不是很听话， 1941年12月7日4点30分，日本海军航空母舰机动部队对美国太平洋舰队基地实施了近两个小时的战略突袭。在珍珠港烈火浓烟还未散尽时，罗斯福在国会正式向日军宣战。被太平洋战争的巨浪终于卷到的美国，也把陈纳德的志愿航空队从缅甸卷到了中国。 陈纳德的两个飞行中队抵到昆明时，欢迎他们的是几个小时前刚刚被日本飞机轰炸后的废墟。许多没有经历过战争的美国飞行员惊呆了。飞虎队员的说，我们来晚了，没能和日军作战，否则我们会把他们打成碎片。3天后他们的机会来了。珍珠港事件后的13天，12月20日，从越南老街机场起飞的日本轰炸机群，万万没有想到，在已让那些漆着通红旭日旗的飞机自由自在了四年的中国天空上，会突然杀出一帮画着刀状牙齿鲨鱼大口的对手，美国志愿航空队上场了。在昆明山洞指挥所中的陈纳德，命令24架飞机立即升空迎战。这组轰炸镜头是安装在飞机上机枪开关同步的摄影机拍摄的，用来证实击落击伤敌目标的证据。 10架日机被当场击落了6架，另有3架被击伤的，最后也没返回机场。而志愿航空队只有一架飞机损伤。全中国的报纸都在头版刊登了这次空战的战斗过程。不知是谁想出了飞虎这个名字，从此飞虎这个名称从那一天响彻了中国。有人回忆到，当时陈纳德悄悄离开了举杯狂欢的飞行员们，独自一人来到停机坪上，背靠P40飞机仰望天空，眼眶里充满了热泪。为了这一天他已等待了四年。 后来好莱坞的沃尔特迪斯尼协会的罗伊威廉斯为飞虎队设置了队徽：那是一支插翅的猛虎，正在飞跃象征胜利的字母v。飞虎队的全称是中国空军美国志愿队，英文缩写为“AVG”。飞虎队分为3个分队，第一中队叫亚当和夏娃，第二中队叫熊猫队，第三中队叫地狱天使。 陈纳德早年在美国无人问津的轰炸理论如今在中国的飞行空中得到了充分的论证。飞虎队那种爬高、俯冲、打了就跑的战术，不仅让日本人吃惊和恼火，同时也令盟军英国飞行员目瞪口呆。 1942年3月8日缅甸战役中的日本地面部队长驱直入，高唱着军歌，占领了与中国毗邻的缅甸首府仰光，逼近中缅边境。4月30日，日军第56团奉命向中国境内进攻。驻缅英军和中国远征军的防线并没有抵挡住势如破竹的强大的日军装甲师。两天后，日军快速部队3000人越过国境，攻陷中国境内的畹町，紧接着，遮放、芒市相继失守。中国守军把最后的希望寄托在怒江上面。然而面对被中国工兵炸毁的吊桥，从开战以来从未被阻挡住的日军军队开始熟练地架设浮桥，日军渡江似乎只是时间问题。这条数百公里的怒江峡谷，是一道分割缅甸边境和云南腹地的天险。当时怒江上的惠通桥是滇缅公路通向内地的咽喉要道，如果日军夺取此桥就可直取昆明。中国当时的首都重庆就会腹背受敌。美国人比谁都清楚地知道一直在抗战问题上动摇不定的中国战区总司令蒋介石，就可能为投降找到一个最合适的借口。 陈纳德十万火急地向上级报告了军情，请求派轰炸机支援。由于轰炸机不够用，他下令让机械师在战斗机的机腹下安装了可带570磅炸弹的弹架，从云南飞机起飞阻止日军渡过怒江。 经历过那场战役的人们，至今还能回忆起当年在长达30多公里的山间公路上，整个日军装甲部队被炸得飞上了天，日军精心设计入侵的进攻西南直逼重庆的战略计划就这样化为泡影。罗斯福总统就中国战局，对他儿子说过这样的话，如果中国屈服，你知道这意味着发生什么，这意味着日本人可以从中国腾出一百万到一百五十万军队，这些大军会像蝗虫，哦不，像虱子一样扑向澳洲、扑向印度和俄国，占领埃及，然后和德国人在中东会师。值得庆幸的是，那些空老虎让罗斯福总统担心的局面化险为夷,惠通桥一战从此被军事专家们称为以空中突袭的战役阻止了地面进攻,居有重要的战略意义。 2006-2-6 07:56 回复 202.132.212.*3楼怒江之战虽然把日军挡在了西岸,然而中国惟一接受外援的陆路通道滇缅公路早已被切断了，这对于正处在抗战最困难的中国居民来说更是雪上加霜，1942年夏季因作战消耗和飞机零部件得不到补充，飞虎队51架飞机中只有29架能起飞。缺乏保养的引擎会在飞行中，突然熄火。好几名飞行员不得不在战斗中迫降。在那段岁月里，陈纳德不得不要求他的飞行员进行低飞轰炸训练，以保证命中精度和节约炸弹。美国在中印缅战区的物资是由美国本土通过两万三千多公里的海运抵达印度克拉其港口，再转运到各个战区，战争对物质的特殊消费是巨大，美国在中国的轰炸机每投下一吨炸弹必须有不少于18吨的物资来保障。前线每消费一加仑汽油必须付出六加仑汽油的代价。这就是说从印度将燃料运到中国基地全部费用是实际油价的六倍，滇缅公路中断之后，囤积在印度的物资只有通过空中运抵中国，最佳航线只有南线进入中国，但日本在密之那的战斗机经常拦截那么没有自卫能力运输机，摆在盟军空运人员面前的只有最后一条路，那就是穿越平均海拔两万英尺的喜马拉雅山脉。因为这条航线上的崇山峻岭起伏连绵，被称为驼峰航线。由于当时的飞机受高度性能所限，只能在山峰间串行，恶劣的天气，变幻无常的气流和撞山的危险，使飞行员们把这条航线称为死亡航线。 在持续了3年零5个月的驼峰空运中。中美飞行员一共向中国运给各类战争物资近70万吨，而超越这些物资空运预算之外的代价，是在整个圆滑空运中美国空军在驼峰航线上损失飞机468架平均每月达12架。伴随他们的还有中航的46架运输机。共计1579名中美机组人员在那个只有野兽出没的群山中，以身殉职。 几十年后一位当年在这条航线上飞行的美国老兵在所著的书中这样写到，由于这条航线上坠毁的飞机太多，以至于在天空晴朗时，你可以不用任何导航，而寻着山谷中飞机残骸铝片的反光而直达目的地。他把这本书起名为铝的踪迹。美国飞虎队员在7个月50多次空战中。有四人在空中阵亡，6人被防空炮打死，3人在地面被炸死，另有10人在飞行事故中丧失。这个镜头记录的就是当时飞机降落时起火的场面。这支志愿航天队与正规军不同，他们在战斗中往往没有预备队增援。他们必须在每一次轰战中，以一当十，战至最后一分钟。平均每一架飞虎飞机的损失，要换掉敌军30架。每一个飞虎成员的死亡，要抵92个日本飞行员的生命。许多美国飞行人员阵亡之后就安葬他为之战斗过的城市或乡村附近的山上。飞虎队在中国上空的不同凡响，不仅使陈纳德本人从一个鲜为人知的退役上尉，而一跃成为世界各地的新闻人物。美国军方也开始对这支穿便衣的空中力量刮目相看。尽管他是美军二战期间最小的也是最遥远的一支航空队。1942年4月8日经过美国参议院批准，罗斯福总统授予陈纳德准将军衔。3个月后在中国存在了7个月的美国志愿航空队，宣布解散正式改编为美国驻华空军特遣队。在统计飞虎队战况的时候，人们惊讶地发现，在200多天的时间里，这些空中野小子共击落日本飞机297架，而它自己在所有的空战中，只损失了12架P40，这是整个二战期间最辉煌的二战记录。飞虎队大部分老队员离队回国，他们中的大多数人，挂着当时中国政府的奖章或美国英国的十字勋章，当他们回到美国之后，受到了明星般的礼遇。 仍被中国百姓习惯地称为飞虎队的美国驻华空中特遣队。8个月后，又被扩编为美国陆军第十四航空队，陈纳德任司令并晋升为陆军少将。 陈纳德的防空监视哨遍及中国，今天的人们把它称作早期空中预警。这位美国人看来也学会了中国人民战争，他自己也无法说清有多少中国人在为他提供情报。有时日本军队机场上飞机螺旋桨刚刚开始转动，几分钟后远在桂林的美军机场指挥所就开始部署作战方案了。 被捕的日本士兵几乎都在述说同样的经历，他们至少一个星期粒米未进，因为美国飞机封锁了日本补给线，便不断攻击行军的队伍。尽管陈纳德的十四航空队在中国空军的配合下，已经逐渐将制空权从日本的手中夺了回来，但是日军地面部队。已攻占湖南衡阳，逼近桂林了。 2006-2-6 07:56 回复 202.132.212.*4楼撤退这两个字对飞虎队已不在陌生。鉴于眼前的紧急情况，陈纳德被迫下令，炸毁桂林机场。 从美国志愿航空队到后来的十四航空队，在中国拥有100多个机场。美国在太平洋战场上作战的飞机。许多都是从这些飞机场上起飞的。这是当年成都为修建第29重型轰炸机的机场而招募的近35万民工。日后陈纳德在回忆录中写到：我们在中国100个机场，都是千千万万个中国男人们和女人和小孩流动着汗血辛苦的徒手铸成的。这该感谢他们。日军毁了一个机场，既有两个新的机场产生。 1943年年底，世界反法西斯战争已经好转，盟国军队在太平洋战场上开始反攻。陈纳德的第十四航空队从一支空中游击队逐渐变成专门主动袭击日本飞机舰船的空中力量。随着中国战区制空权的到手。飞虎队队员们开始抱怨空中几乎找不到正在飞行的日本飞机。这使得他们十分感慨“英雄无用武之地”。 在中国抗日军民和盟军空军的8年联合抗战下，东方已显露出胜利的曙光。1945年7月8日，传出陈纳德将军将辞职回国的消息，在美国就被称作那个激进的陈纳德。一向个性鲜明又总和上次搞不好关系。与他8年前一样，又一次离开他心爱的空军。重庆的百姓曾亲热地称陈纳德为老皮脸。今天他们在市中心搭起了一座高台并为他特制了一鼎过去只有送给皇帝的万民伞。成千上万的市民拥上街头为这位与中国人们共同抗战8年的飞虎将军送行，据说当时陈纳德的汽车根本无法行驶，是被人们推到飞机场的。经历了那个场面的人们至今还在说，他们看见陈纳德流泪了 在中国的天空中，飞虎队和十四航空队以损失500架飞机的代价而击落了2600架敌机。击沉和击毁日本223万吨的商船44艘海军舰船，击毙66700敌军官兵，摧毁敌战区573座桥梁。这是一个让所有佩戴飞虎臂章的军人，都引以为自豪的记录。 年8月15日日本天皇裕仁向一亿日本臣民宣读了向盟国无条件投降的诏书。走过8年的抗日战争，在这一天结束。那么在中国天空中浴血战斗了近3000个日夜飞虎队员们。此时流动着与中国居民共同的情感。9月2日在日本东京湾的美国战列舰密苏里号上举行了日本帝国向同盟国无条件投降的签字仪式，在宽阔的前甲板上。云集着曾战斗太平洋和中国战区的各同盟国赫赫有名的将领们。受降签字的墨迹未干，主持仪式的美国麦克阿瑟上将左右环顾，突然向副官问到：陈纳德在哪里。现场没有人知道，1个月前被解职的陈纳德这时正在回美国的途中，正在飞跃尼罗河的上空。 Flying Tiger LineFlying Tiger Line, also known as Flying Tigers, was the first scheduled cargo airline in the United States and a major military charter operator during the Cold War era for both cargo and personnel (the latter with leased aircraft). The company was started by Robert William Prescott. It was headquartered in Los Angeles, California.1The airline was named after the Flying Tigers fighter unit of World War II, officially the 1st American Volunteer Group. Ten former AVG pilots formed the Flying Tiger Line (originally called National Skyway Freight) after returning to the United States in 1945, using a small fleet of Budd Company C-93 Conestoga freighters purchased as war surplus from the United States Navy. For the next four years, Flying Tiger Line carried air freight on contract.Over the years, Flying Tigers carried a number of unique cargoes, including the famed orca Shamu and the torch of the Statue of LibertyIn 1949, the Civil Aeronautics Board awarded Flying Tiger Line the first commercial air cargo route in the U.S., a transcontinental route from Los Angeles and San Francisco, California to Boston, Massachusetts. Shortly afterward, the company began chartering passenger aircraft for group travel as well; its Lockheed Super Constellation, Douglas DC-4 and DC-6 fleet comprised the largest trans-Atlantic charter operation through the 1950s.During the Korean War, Flying Tiger aircraft were chartered to transport troops and supplies from the United States to Asia; Flying Tigers later received a cargo route award to Japan, China, and Southeast Asia. The airline also played a major role in the construction of the Distant Early Warning Line, flying equipment to remote outposts in northern Canada and Alaska.Flying Tiger Line Douglas DC-4 Skymaster at Manchester England in May 1955Flying Tiger Line adopted the Canadair CL-44 swing-tail aircraft in 1961, becoming one of the first carriers in the world to offer aerial pallet shipping service. In 1965, Flying Tiger Line began operating jet aircraft (the Boeing 707); in 1974, the airline took delivery of its first Boeing 747.The Flying Tiger Line then put in orders for brand new B-747-200F freighters designated the B747-249F, which at the time were among the heaviest commercial airplanes flying, weighing in at 823,000 pounds. These aircraft had the powerful Q P&W JT9D engines and heavy landing gear and could simultaneously carry both 250,000 pounds of fuel and 250,000 pounds of cargo loaded through both the nose door and the side door at the same time. Aircraft loaders had earlier refused to work at the extreme 30 foot height necessary for putting freight on the upper deck, so the supernumerary area or hump was configured with 19 first class seats instead which were used to transport livestock handlers, charter agents and mechanics as well as dead-heading pilots and flight attendants. Tigers Ad Hock Charter livestock flights provided airlift for exotic animals. Two examples were thoroughbred racehorses and show animals from Stansted, England to the Melbourne Cup, as well as breeding stock cattle (milk supply) to nations such as Japan and Thailand. Covert flights for DOD were not uncommon throughout the airlines history, since its roots were from Civil Air Transport (CAT), just as was its sister airline Air America (airline) which was owned by General Claire Lee Chennault commander of the Flying Tigers fighter squadron in Southeast Asia.By the mid-1980s, Flying Tigers operated scheduled cargo service to six continents and served 58 countries. It surpassed Pan American World Airways in 1980 as the worlds largest air cargo carrier after acquiring its rival cargo airline Seaboard World Airlines on 1 October, 1980.It also operated military contract services, most notably Douglas DC-8 routes between Travis Air Force Base, California and Japan in the 1970s, followed by weekly Boeing 747 passenger service between Clark Air Base, Philippines, and St. Louis, Missouri via Japan, Alaska, and Los Angeles during the 1980s. Tigers employed approximately 251 flight attendants and carried up to a record 594 passengers and crew on its MAC all coach passenger flights. Approximately 998 pilots worked for the airline based throughout the country. Large crew bases were primarily Los Angeles, New York and Lockborn, Ohio. Headquartered at LAX, Tigers was a large employer at the airport with its own engine shop and jet maintenance business.Federal Express purchased Flying Tigers in December 1988. On August 7, 1989 Federal Express merged Flying Tigers into its operations.Flying Tigers operated a recording company subsidiary, Happy Tiger Records, from 1969 to 1971.23 Flying Tigers also made livestock carriers for airplanes. They often made animal carriers that were comparable in external size and shape to the standard AMJ container used in the FedEx flight operations.22Air Transport CommandFor the Air Transport Command which existed prior to 1 July 1942, see I Troop Carrier Command Air Transport Command (ATC) is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its mission was to meet the urgent demand for the speedy reinforcement of the United States military bases worldwide during World War II, using an air supply system to supplement surface transport. ATC also operated a worldwide air transportation system for military personnel. Air Transport Command was the precursor to what became the Military Air Transport Service in 1948, re-named the Military Airlift Command in 1966 and todays Air Mobility Command失去的地平线Lost HorizonFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, searchLost Horizon Dust jacket from the first editionAuthorJames HiltonCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglishGenre(s)Fantasy/Non Fiction novel, Adventure NovelPublisherMacmillanPublication date1933Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)ISBNNAFor other uses, see Lost Horizon (disambiguation).Lost Horizon is a 1933 novel by English writer James Hilton. It is best remembered as the origin of Shangri-La, a fictional utopian lamasery high in the mountains of TibetPlot summaryedit OverviewRobert Conway, a veteran member of the British diplomatic service, finds inner peace, love, and a sense of purpose in Shangri-La, whose inhabitants enjoy unheard-of longevity. Among the books themes is an allusion to the possibility of another cataclysmic world war brewing, as indeed it was at the time. It is said to have been inspired at least in part by accounts of travels in Tibetan borderlands, published in the National Geographic by the explorer and botanist Joseph Rock. The remote communities he visited, such as Muli, show many similarities to the fictional Shangri-La. One such town, Zhongdian, has now officially renamed itself as Shangri La (Chinese: Xianggelila) because of its claim to be the inspiration for the novel.edit StoryThe origin of the eleven numbered chapters of the novel is explained in a prologue and epilogue, whose narrator is a neurologist.This neurologist and a novelist friend, Rutherford, are given dinner at Tempelhof, Berlin, by their old school-friend Wyland, a secretary at the British embassy. A chance remark by a passing airman brings up the topic of Hugh Conway, a British consul in Afghanistan, who disappeared under odd circumstances. Later in the evening, Rutherford reveals to the narrator that, after the disappearance, he discovered Conway in a French mission hospital in Chung-Kiang (probably Chongqing), China, suffering from amnesia. Conway recovered his memory and told Rutherford his story, then slipped away again.Rutherford wrote down Conways story; he gives the manuscript to the neurologist, and that manuscript becomes the heart of the novel.In May, 1931, during the British Raj in India, owing to a revolution, the 90 white residents of Baskul are being evacuated to Peshawar. In the airplane of the Maharajah of Chandrapore are Conway, the British consul, age 37; Mallinson, his young vice-consul; an American, Barnard; and a British missionary, Miss Brinklow. The plane is flown instead over the mountains to Tibet. After a crash landing, the pilot dies, but not before telling the four (in Chinese, which Conway knows) to seek shelter at the nearby lamasery of Shangri-La. The location is unclear, but Conway believes the plane has progressed far beyond the western range of the Himalayas towards the less known heights of the Kuen-Lun (i.e. Kunlun).The four are taken there by a party directed by Chang, a postulant at the lamasery who speaks English. The lamasery has modern conveniences, like central heating, bathtubs from Akron, Ohio; a large library, a grand piano,a harpsichord,and food from the fertile valley below. Towering above is Karakal, literally translated Blue Moon, a mountain more than 28,000feet (8,500m) high.Mallinson is keen to hire porters and leave, but Chang politely puts him off. The others eventually decide they are content to stay: Miss Brinklow, to teach the people a sense of sin; Barnard, because he is really Chalmers Bryant, wanted by the police for stock fraud, and because he is keen to develop the gold-mines in the valley; Conway, because the contemplative scholarly life suits him.Conway is given an audience with the High Lama, an unheard-of honor. He learns that the lamasery was constructed in its present form by a Catholic monk named Perrault from Luxembourg, in the early eighteenth century. The lamasery has since then been joined by others who have found their way into the valley. Once they have done so, their aging slows; if they then leave the valley, they will age quickly, and die. The High Lama reveals that he is Perrault.A seemingly young Manchu woman, Lo-Tsen, is another postulant at the lamasery; she does not speak English but plays the harpsichord. Conway and Mallinson fall in love with her.In a later audience, the High Lama says that he is finally dying, and that he wants Conway to lead the lamasery. Meanwhile, Mallinson has arranged to leave the valley with porters and Lo-Tsen. They are waiting for him five miles (8 km) outside the valley, and he cannot travel the dangerous five miles (8 km) by himself. Conway agrees to go along.The last time Rutherford saw Conway, he was preparing to make his way back to Shangri-La, the elusive monastery under Blue Moon. Rutherford completes his account by telling the neurologist that Conway had returned to civilization at a Chung-Kiang hospital. Rutherford had tracked down the doctor who had treated him. He said Conway had been brought in by a Chinese woman who was ill and died soon herself. She was old, the doctor had told Rutherford, Most old of anyone I have ever seen.edit Literary significanceThe book, published in 1933, caught the notice of the public only after Hiltons Goodbye, Mr. Chips was published in 1934. Lost Horizon subsequently became a huge success and in 1939 was published in paperback form, as Pocket Book #1.U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt named the Presidential hideaway in Maryland after Shangri-La. (It has since been renamed Camp David.)The book has been made into two films: Lost Horizon (1937), directed by Frank Capra Lost Horizon (1973), directed by Charles Jarrott (musical version) The book served as the basis for the unsuccessful 1956 Broadway musical Shangri-La.Hiltons novel was adapted for BBC Radio 4 in three hour-long episodes under its Classic Serial banner. Broadcast 20 September to 4 October 1981, it was dramatised by Barry Campbell and starred D