Squad 201
The Escuadrón Aéreo de Pelea 201 or Escuadrón 201 is a Mexican air combat unit that participated in the squad within the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force (FAEM). The squadron flew as an annex to the 58th Group. combat of the 5th United States Air Force (USAAF), in the liberation of the mother island of Luzon, Philippines, during the summer of 1945. 201 Squadron served with distinction in observations, bombing and strafing of Japanese positions, vehicles in convoy and artillery emplacements in the Philippines and Formosa.
War provocation
Although at the beginning of World War II Mexico maintained its position of neutrality, in May 1942, Mexican vessels that supplied oil to the United States were attacked in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico by German submarines that torpedoed and sank the vessels oil tankers Potrero del Llano on May 13, 1942 off the coast of Florida, and the Faja de Oro, perpetrated on May 20.
Due to these acts of aggression, on May 22, 1942, the President of the Republic, General Manuel Ávila Camacho, asked Congress to declare a state of war against the Axis powers (Germany, Japan and Italy), naming Paul Meléndez Trufis as captain of the squadron. The Mexican government, after evaluating the economic and military situation of the country, determined to contribute to the allied war effort by sending a contingent whose performance was significant, without representing a high human and economic cost.
In the following days, other Mexican oil tankers seized from Italy were attacked by German submarines. El Túxpam was attacked on June 26, 1942; Las Choapas, on June 27; Oaxaca, on July 27; and Amatlán, on September 4.
Meanwhile, bombing drills were held in Mexican cities, there were prolonged blackouts, compulsory National Military Service was instituted, and an agreement was made with the United States to send Mexican workers to agricultural fields and factories to compensate for the lack of manpower due to corresponding US conscription. A poll by Times magazine after the sinking of the ships revealed that 80% of Mexicans agreed that their country should declare war. This was a drastic change of opinion: before the incident, 60% had expressed themselves against entering into conflict with the Axis. Many young Mexicans began to volunteer to go to the front in Europe.
Training
A constitutional reform created the Mexican Air Force (FAM) on February 10, 1944, which was integrated by the Arma de Aviación Militar of the Mexican Army. In 1944, the president announced his intention to send troops to the war front and during the month of July the formation of the Aeronautical Improvement Group was arranged, made up of 299 elements from various units and dependencies of the military, including civilians from the Department of War Materials, to be sent for training in the United States. It was a small unit, with great firepower and almost self-sufficient. Naturally, the best Air Force pilots were selected to form the flight echelon of this group. The unit received training in various locations in the United States, mainly at Greenville (Texas) and Pocatello airfields. (Idaho).
During the training, two pilots died in accidents and 6 pilots were also excluded as a result of medical examinations, so the fight squadron was made up of 30 pilots.
On December 29, 1944, the Senate authorized the President of the Republic to send troops to fight abroad and it was decided that the forces in training in the United States would become the Expeditionary Air Force Mexicana (FAEM), with which the Aeronautical Improvement Group then became the FAEM Fighting Squadron 201. The squadron was assigned to the Pacific Front and was framed as one more unit within the USAAF, although with its own command and flag (the main emblem of the Mexican Air Force is a logo made up of three inverted, concentric equilateral triangles, with the colors red, white and green, from the outside to the center), but the official emblems of the USAAF were also used on the Mexican fighters, to avoid confusion and the attack of friendly fire. The nom de guerre for Squadron 201 was Aguilas Aztecas.
The characteristic logo carried by the combat planes included the initials of the FAEM (Mexican Expeditionary Air Force) next to them was an image of a cartoon character named Pancho Pistolas.
Combat Operations
Beginning in June 1945 during the Battle of Luzon, 201 Squadron initially flew missions alongside the USAAF 310th Fighter Squadron often twice a day, using USAAF-loaned aircraft. 25 new P-47D-30-RA Thunderbolt aircraft were finally received in July, marked with both USAAF and FAEM insignia. Its base was established at Porac, Pampanga, in the Clark Field complex on the island of Luzon. The unit flew more than 95 combat missions, a total of more than 1,900 flight hours. He participated in the Allied effort to bombard Luzon and Formosa to drive the Japanese off those islands. During their fight in the Philippines, five of the squadron's pilots were killed (one was shot down, another crashed in combat, and three ran out of fuel during missions and died at sea), and another three died in accidents during training.
Among the missions flown by the Mexican unit there were 53 ground support missions flown in support of the 25th. United States Army Infantry Division, along with the Commonwealth Philippine Army, police units, as well as Filipino guerrillas in the Cagayan Valley between June 4 and July 4, 1945; 37 training missions flown 14–21 July 1945 (including ferry support missions off Biak Island, New Guinea); four combat sweeps over Formosa from 6 to 9 July 1945, and a dive bombing mission against the port of Karenko, Formosa, on 8 August.
When the 201st Squadron was stationed in the Philippines, it had no replacement pilots available. When the USAAF 58th Fighter Group left the Philippines for Okinawa on 10 July, the Mexicans were left behind.
August 6, 1945 was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and on August 9 in Nagasaki. A day earlier, on August 8, the Soviet Union invaded Manchuria to drive out the Japanese. Given all this, on August 15, 1945, the Empire of Japan finally accepted its unconditional surrender, which was formalized with a solemn signature on September 2. In between these two dates, 201 Squadron flew its last combat mission in full formation on August 26 on a convoy escort mission to the northern Philippines.
World War II had ended.
| Squad 201 | |
|---|---|
| Combat missions | 96 |
| Offensive actions | 785 |
| Defensive actions | 6 |
| Flight hours in combat | 1.966:15 |
| Flight hours in combat zone | 591:00 |
| Pre-flight flight hours | 281:00 |
| Average flight time per pilot | 82 |
| Total flight hours | 2,842:00 |
| Bombs dropped | 1,000 lb.: 957 500 lb.: 500 |
| Munitions used (cal. 0.50") | 166,922 rounds |
| Lost aircraft in combat | 1 |
| Aircraft damaged in combat | 5 |
| Pilots lost in combat | 3 |
| Pilots lost in accidents | Landing 1 Fuel 2 |
Return to Mexico
Before returning to Mexico, on September 25, FAEM members unveiled a monument to their fallen comrades; the monument was designed by the pilot Miguel Moreno Arreola and was built with the help of 10 elements of the squadron. The eagle that tops the monument was made by the Filipino sculptor Tolentino.
On October 12, the Squadron handed over its aircraft to the "Grupo de Servicios Aéreos 45" and preparations for the return to Mexico began. The members of the FAEM boarded the ship Sea Marlin on October 23, arriving on November 13 in San Pedro, California, although the first to arrive in America were Colonel Antonio Cárdenas, Lieutenant Amadeo Castro Almanza, Second Lieutenant Guillermo García Ramos and Second Lieutenant José Luis Pratt Ramos, who traveled by air after meeting in Tokyo with General Douglas MacArthur, in order to thank them for their cooperation with the FAEM, receiving their praise for the Mexican participation.
The 201st Squadron returned to Mexico City on November 18, 1945 in a military parade in the Plaza de la Constitución and the subsequent delivery of the flag to President Manuel Ávila Camacho. The FAEM was dissolved upon his return from the Philippines.
Economically, Mexico's actions in World War II cost the country approximately three million dollars. Being part of the allied block made Mexico appear among the victorious nations of World War II.
Honors
Members of the 'Mexican Expeditionary Air Force' They were promoted to the next higher grade and were awarded the Service in the Far East medal, the Mexico Legion of Honor, the Medal for the Liberation of the Republic Filipina with Presidential Commendation badge, as well as US awards Army Efficiency, Air Force Efficiency, American Campaign, Asia-Pacific Campaign and World War II Victory. The pilots also received the Air Medal and Colonel Cárdenas Rodríguez and Captain Gaxiola Andrade the Legion of Merit.
On November 22, 2004, Squadron 201 was awarded the Philippine Legion of Honor with the rank of Legionnaire by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Many of the members have successfully gone on to other careers in life, some as leaders of civil aviation or the Mexican Army, others as businessmen, educators and engineers; five of the pilots became generals of the Mexican Air Force.
In Mexico, monuments have been erected and streets, neighborhoods, neighborhoods, and schools have been named in honor of Squadron 201; even a subway station on line 8 in Mexico City bears his name.
Also, in the Chapultepec Forest in Mexico City, is the commemorative Mausoleum of Squadron 201, where the mortal bodies of Second Lieutenant P.A. Mario López Portillo and Lieutenant P.A. José Espinoza Fuentes, after being transferred from the Panteón Dolores, near the monument to the 'Niños Héroes'. It also exists in the neighborhood "Escuadrón 201" in the Iztapalapa delegation, where there is a commemorative monument.
Information section of the monument dedicated to the Squadron 201 and the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force
View of the monumental Tribune dedicated to the 201 Squadron and the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force
In Tuxpan, Veracruz, there is a street named after Second Lieutenant Fausto Vega Santander, a hero of the air squadron who died in combat on June 1, 1945.
Before the advanced age of the veterans of Squadron 201 prevented it, every November 18 an in-person tribute was made to the survivors in the central park of the neighborhood that bears their name, in which various schools from the area participated in a commemorative parade. Various associations of veterans of different wars from the United States and other parts of the world were invited to this tribute.
List of drivers
Command of the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force and pilots of the Squadron 201. An asterisk (*) indicates the pilots who died in the Philippines:
F.A.E.M. Command
Col. PA Antonio Cardenas Rodriguez
Command or Staff
Lt. Cor. E. M. Alfonso Gurza Falfán
Major M.C. Ricardo Blanco Cancino
Major Inf. Guillermo Linaje O.
Major E.M. Enrique Sandoval Castarica
Ch. 1st PA Roberto Salido Beltran
Commander of Squadron 201
Ch. 1st PA Radames Gaxiola Andrade
Ch. 1st PA Manuel Varela Caballero
201 Squadron Operations
Ch. 2nd PA Pablo L. Rivas Martinez*
Lt. PA Jose Espinosa Fuentes*
Squadron Commander "A"
Ch. 2nd PA Roberto Legorreta Sicily
Pilots of the Squadron "A"
Lt. PA Fernando Hernandez Vega
Lt. PA Carlos Varela Landini
Medium. PA David Ceron Bedolla
Medium. PA Jose Luis Pratt Ramos
Medium. PA Miguel Uriarte Aguilar
Subtte P.A. Bernardo Vara Rangel
Squadron Commander "B"
Lt. PA Carlos Garduno Nunez
Pilots of the Squadron "B"
Lt. PA Julio Cal y Mayor Sauz
Lt. PA Reynaldo Perez Gallardo
Medium. PA Praxedis Lopez Ramos
Medium. PA Miguel Moreno Arreola
Medium. PA Angel Sanchez Rebollo
Medium. PA Ernesto Guzman Medina
Medium. PA Fausto Vega Santander*
Squadron Commander "C"
Lt. PA Hector Espinosa Galvan*
Pilots of the Squadron "C"
Lt. PA Joaquin Ramirez Vilchis
Lt. PA Carlos Rodriguez Corona
Lt. PA Amador Samano Pineapple
Medium. PA Manuel Farias Rodriguez
Medium. PA Raul Garcia Mercado
Medium. PA Guillermo Garcia Ramos
Squadron Commander "D"
Lt. PA Amadeo Castro Almanza
Pilots of the "D" Squadron
Lt. PA Jose Luis Barbosa Cerda
Lt. PA Jacob Estrada Luna
Medium. PA Jaime Zenizo Rojas
Medium. PA Mario Lopez Portillo*
Medium. PA Justino Reyes
Medium. PA Roberto Urías Abelleyra
"Replacement Group"
179 elements of all weapons in training in the US.
News
The Mexican Expeditionary Air Force was disbanded on December 1, 1945, reincorporating its elements into the Mexican Air Force and reorganizing Squadron 201 as an independent unit under the direct orders of the Air Force commander. Once in Mexico, Squadron 201 established itself at the base of Las Bajadas, in Veracruz; because the Balbuena airport runway did not have the necessary dimensions for the operation of P-47 aircraft. As air units were changed over time and the new Mexico City airport was built, Squadron 201 returned to the capital.
During January 1994, Squadron 201 participated in military operations to contain the armed uprising of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.
The Squadron is made up of 8 or 10 Pilatus PC-7 aircraft stationed at the Cozumel Military Air Base No.4. IN 2012 some Pilatus PC-7s were replaced by new T-6 Texan II aircraft in different stages.
201 Squad Icon
Pancho Pistolas, a character created by Walt Disney was adopted by Mexican pilots as an icon of Squadron 201, which was a rooster dressed in a variation of the charro suit, a very large hat that said Mexico on the front , a large scarf tied around his neck, a jean vest, work pants, and his revolver hanging from his waist.
Movie
The film based on true events is currently in production by Spectrum Films and filmmaker Francisco Puente.
In 1945, shortly after the arrival of Squadron 201 on Mexican soil, screenwriter Luis G. Manjarrez wrote a fictional story entitled: Squadron 201, about the military unit that participated in the military campaigns in the Philippines and Formosa during World War II, directed by Jaime Salvador and starring Domingo Soler, Ángel Garasa and Mrs. Sara García.
Contenido relacionado
Rancagua
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Claudius Ptolemy