Yue Yiqin

Yue was buried at the Aviation Martyrs Cemetery, Nanjing, in the spring of 1946.

Yue claimed his first aerial victories on 15 August 1937 during the Battle of Shanghai, when the 22nd PS/4th PG encountered a group of Mitsubishi B2Ms of the Imperial Japanese Navy fleet aircraft carrier Kaga; Yue reportedly participated in the destruction of four B2Ms with his Hawk III fighter no. 2204.

In 1937, the artist Ye Qianyu created a large propaganda poster based on a photograph of Yue Yiqin and used it for an exhibition in Nanjing. Yue visited the exhibition and had a photograph taken with the artist. Ye Qianyu received the photograph fifty years later from a family member of Yue's.

Due to his successes, Yue was awarded the Five Star Medal and promoted to deputy commander of the 21st PS/4th PG, though by the fall of Shanghai in late November the whole unit was reduced to two operational Hawk IIIs. These were flown by Yue and his superior, Captain Tung Ming-teh, to Nanking on 3 December. Just after arriving at their new airfield, an air raid warning was sounded as a large IJNAS formation approached. Yue and Tung again took off, and went on to engage the whole bomber squadron escorted by 11 A5Ms by themselves. Yue's machine was eventually hit and he bailed out, but his parachute failed to open and he fell to his death. Tung survived and confirmed Yue's death.

Yue Yiqin (or Yue Yi-chin, Chinese: 樂以琴; pinyin: Yuè Yǐqín; Wade–Giles: Yüeh I-ch'in; November 11, 1914 – December 3, 1937) was a flying ace of the Republic of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. He achieved five confirmed aerial victories until his death in combat during the Battle of Nanking. Notably, his family claimed to descend from Yue Fei, a Chinese general and folk hero who had lived during the Song dynasty.

Yue was born 1914 in Lushan County, Sichuan as Yue Yizhong (Chinese: 樂以忠; pinyin: Yuè Yǐzhōng; Wade–Giles: Yüeh I-chung). Both academically as well as athletically gifted, he competed for the Sichuan Province track team as a sprinter in the National Games while he was in high school. After graduation, Yue wanted to study medicine at the Cheeloo University in Jinan, but for unknown reasons had no academic certificate from his high school. As result, he borrowed the name of his elder brother, "Yue Yiqin", to enroll at the university and from then on lived under that name. Yue dropped his medical studies when Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931, and instead joined the Central Aviation Academy. After graduation, Yue first served with the 8th PS (Pursuit Squadron), then became an instructor at the Academy, and finally joined 22nd PS/4th PG (Pursuit Group) as flight leader and Lieutenant.