201st Fighter Squadron

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201st Fighter Squadron
Escuadrón 201
58th Fighter Group
Garrison/HQ	Cozumel, Quintana Roo
Nickname(s)	Aztec Eagles
Colors	Purple, yellow
Mascot(s)	Pancho Pistolas
Engagements	World War II Philippines campaign[disambiguation needed] Battle of Luzon Nicaraguan Revolution Chiapas conflict

The 201st Fighter Squadron (Spanish: Escuadrón Aéreo de Pelea 201) is a fighter squadron of the Mexican Air Force, part of the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force that aided the Allied war effort during World War II. The squadron was known by the nickname Águilas Aztecas or "Aztec Eagles", apparently coined by members of the squadron during training.^[1]

The squadron was attached to the

single-seat fighter aircraft carrying out tactical air support missions.

The

.

Formation and training

The Escuadrón Aéreo de Pelea 201 (201st Air Fighter Squadron) was composed of more than 300 volunteers; roughly 30 were experienced pilots and the rest were groundcrew. The ground crewmen were electricians, mechanics, and radiomen. Its formation was prompted by the attack by

as the only two Latin American countries to actually send military forces overseas.

The squadron left Mexico for training in the United States on July 24, 1944, arrived at

Pocatello Army Air Base

. The pilots received extensive training in armament, communications and tactics.

The squadron arrived at

was named squadron commander.

Before leaving for the Philippines, the men received further instructions and physical examinations in Camp Stoneman in

.

Combat operations

Escuadrón 201[3]
Combat missions	96[4]
Offensive sorties	785
Defensive sorties	6
Flying hours in combat	1,966:15
Flying hours in combat zone	591:00
Pre-combat flying hours	281:00
Flying hours per pilot	82
Total flying hours	2,842:00
Bombs dropped	1,000 lb.: 957 500 lb.: 500
Ammunition used (cal. 0.50")	166,922 rounds
Aircraft lost in combat	1
Aircraft damaged in combat	5
Pilots lost in combat	3
Pilots lost in accidents	Crash-landing 1 Fuel exhaustion 2

Beginning in June 1945, the squadron initially flew missions with the 310th Fighter Squadron, often twice a day, using borrowed U.S. aircraft. It received 25 new P-47D-30-RA aircraft in July, marked with the insignia of both the USAAF and Mexican Air Force. The squadron flew more than 90 combat missions, totaling more than 1,900 hours of flight time. It participated in the Allied effort to bomb Luzon and Formosa to push the Japanese out of those islands. During its fighting in the Philippines, five squadron pilots died (one was shot down, one crashed, and three ran out of fuel and died at sea) and three others died in accidents during training.

Among the missions flown by the squadron were 53 ground support missions flown in support of the

, Formosa, on 8 August.

When the 201st deployed, no provision for replacement pilots had been made and the pilot losses incurred in the Philippines hampered its effectiveness. Mexican replacement pilots were rushed through familiarization training in the United States, and two more pilots died in flight accidents in Florida. When the 58th Fighter Group left the Philippines for

on July 10, the Mexicans stayed behind. They flew their last combat mission as a full squadron on August 26, escorting a convoy north of the Philippines. Not only did the pilots get into combat, but also the ground personnel encountered Japanese troops, having some fire-fights and capturing a number of enemy troops as well. The 201st Mexican Squadron was given credit for putting out of action about 30,000 Japanese troops ^[5] and the destruction of enemy held-buildings, vehicles, tanks, anti-aircraft guns, machine guns emplacements and ammunition depots.^[6]

The work of the 201st was recognized by General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific Area.

The 201st returned to Mexico City on 18 November 1945. In a military parade in the Constitution Square the Fighter Squadron delivered the Mexican flag to President Manuel Ávila Camacho. The FAEM was disbanded after returning from the Philippines.

The Escuadrón Aéreo de Pelea 201 is still an active duty squadron, flying the

Squadron pilots

P-47D

with his maintenance team after he returned from a combat mission

Name list on the Chapultepec memorial plaque:^[7]

Carlos Garduño Núñez	Radamés Gaxiola Andrade	Julio Cal y Mayor Sauz
Graco Ramírez Garrido	Amador Sámano Piña	David Cerón Bedolla	Jesús Tapia Estrada
Fernando Hernández Vega	José Luis Pratt Ramos	Audberto Gutierrez Ramires
Carlos Varela Landini	Joaquín Ramírez Vilchis	Justino Reyes Retana
Ángel Sánchez Rebollo	Carlos Rodríguez Corona	Manuel Farías Rodríguez
Miguel Moreno Arreola	Roberto Legorreta Sicilia	Reynaldo Pérez Gallardo
Praxedis López Ramos	Jacobo Estrada Luna	José Barbosa Cerda
Raúl García Mercado	Pedro Martinez Pérez	Roberto Urías Aveleyra	Guillermo García Ramos
Miguel Uriarte Aguilar	Jaime Zenizo Rojas	Crisóforo Salido Grijalva**
Héctor Espinoza Galván*	José Espinoza Fuentes*	Fausto Vega Santander*
Mario López Portillo*	Mamerto Albarrán Nágera*	Javier Martínez Valle***	José Gutiérrez Gallegos	Florentino Mejía Gómez	Carlos José Cárdenas

Pilots marked with an asterisk (*) were killed during flying operations in the Philippines. Pilot marked by two asterisks (**) died in January 1945 during training exercises at the

in Texas.

Current location of aircraft

One of the P-47 Thunderbolt is on display at The Mexican Air Force Museum (Spanish: Museo Militar de Aviación "Teniente Piloto Aviador José Espinoza Fuentes")^[8]

References

External links

• "The Saga of the Aztec Eagles", Los Angeles Times, July 25, 2004. Numerous generalization inaccuracies, but a detailed account of the 201st's formation.
• Leyte Gulf: The Mexican Air Force
• "Escuadron 201 Pilot Recalls Mexico's Role in WWII", John Philip Wyllie, La Prensa San Diego, May 9, 2003. Interview with Pilot Reynaldo Gallardo.
• "Liberation of the Philippines" by Santiago A. Flores
• Francisco Puente wrote a screenplay about the squadron.
• 201st Fighter Squadron at
  IMDb