One of the little-known stories of World War II is that of Mexico’s 201st Fighter Squadron, a group of Mexican aviators who helped liberate the Philippines from Japan in 1945 and made bombing runs over present-day Taiwan in the later stages of the war. The subject of a book by Gustavo Vazquez and a movie starring Pedro Armendariz, this hardy group, called the Aztec Eagles, was known for its agility, risk-taking and courage.

Flying over military targets in the Philippines, the aviators would circle, ignoring ground fire, to make sure of the precise location of the target, then descend in a stomach-churning and ear-shattering dive, hit the target and quickly ascend, barely avoiding the shrapnel and debris on the updraft.

“The Americans looked down on us at least a little bit,” Lt. Reynaldo Gallardo, one of the more daring pilots, told a San Diego newspaper in 2003, as recounted in the book, “The Tango War.” “We made up our minds that we wouldn’t say anything, but instead would show these people what we had.”

When someone asked about that crazy Mexican circling over the target, Gallardo replied, “It’s Pancho Pistolas!” Although veteran American pilots were skeptical at first, the Mexicans quickly gained their respect with their sense of humor and their professionalism.

To Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the commander of the allied forces, the air cover the Mexicans provided to his infantry was even more important. In late May 1945, the squadron was given its first independent mission: to attack a cluster of Japanese troops near the coast of Luzon. The planes took off at 8 a.m., flying at low altitude over the rainforest, where American and Japanese troops engaged in intense combat. Their objective was to support the ground troops invading Philippine territory by bombing enemy vehicles, artillery and troops. The squadron was not only successful but enabled MacArthur’s infantry to defeat the Japanese contingent with only minor casualties.

How the squadron was formed

Mexico had been neutral for the first year of the war, but in May 1942 a German U-boat sank a Mexican oil tanker transporting crude oil to the United States. A week later, following a second attack on a Mexican tanker, President Avila Camacho decided he had no choice. He made an agreement with the United States to send 300 men north to work as pilots, mechanics and crew members of an exclusively Mexican squadron fighting alongside the United States.

Through competitive exams, the top guns were assembled. Pulled from both the reserves and civilian ranks, the men considered it a great honor to be chosen. Most were from the middle and upper classes, but there were a few exceptions. Miguel Moreno Arreola, an orphan raised by a priest, was admitted to the exclusive military academy. Once there, he did outstanding work and attracted the attention of his superiors. He scored high in the competitive exam for pilots and was chosen to join the squadron.

Barracked first at Randolph Field in San Antonio, Texas, and later at Majors Field in Greenville, Texas, they were subject to rigorous flight training in the unwieldy P-47. Faced with an aircraft inferior to the newer P-51, flown by most U.S. pilots, they nevertheless mastered the bulky plane, which they affectionately named “El Jarro.” Their training complete, they went to the Philippines, where they served with distinction and were cited for bravery. They were then assigned their most dangerous mission.

Final mission

In early July 1945, the squadron was ordered to precede the U.S. Navy and sweep the stretch of sea between Manila and Okinawa, passing over the island of Formosa, known today as Taiwan. They were subject to intense anticraft fire from the entrenched Japanese forces at this location, as well as fire from Japanese naval vessels in the area. Due to casualties suffered by the Mexican pilots, the squadron did not participate in the final invasion of Okinawa. Replacements were being trained to build the squadron back up to fighting force, but the atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in August 1945 put an end to that necessity.

The surviving members of the squadron returned to a hero’s welcome in Mexico City. Funds were even raised for a monument to their bravery in Chapultepec Park. But, soon, the applause died down. When President Camacho left office the following year, his replacement disparaged his predecessor’s decisions during the war, and spoke with derision of the U.S.-Mexican alliance. The United States was then deporting Mexicans who worked in U.S. agriculture during the war, even though some were U.S. citizens. Many years would pass before the squadron would be recognized again and before this great partnership between our countries could be retold in the unpredictable annals of history.

AZTEC EAGLES (Photo credit) Siglo Viente, November 1945, public domain.