How This Mexican Squadron Helped Liberate the Philippines During WWII
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The prevailing history of World War II in the Philippines is unsurprisingly focused on the defeat and the return of the American forces. Whether this angle is out of genuine affection or is just another example of victors writing the history that people should remember, we can only guess. The lapses of such a focus tend to gloss over the contributions of others, be it the courage of the Hukbahalap guerrillas, the contributions of our Moro brothers and sisters, and countless narratives of bravery from ordinary Filipinos, across all walks of life.
One such case is the 201st Fighter Squadron, known as the Aztec Eagles. While still relatively unknown in general commemorations, I argue that their importance to the war effort has been underrated and overlooked. Let's revisit their sacrifices and hardships.
The Contemporary Mexican History That Produced the Aztec Eagles
Like the Philippines, the land that is known today as Mexico, endured the Spanish occupation. Known as New Spain for three centuries, Mexico was the entrepot of goods from all corners of its empire. In fact, our economic lifeline that was significant, prior to the opening of the Philippines to global trade in 1831, was heavily dependent on the galleon, which passed from Acapulco to Manila, carrying with them spices, people, precious metals, soldiers, crooks, vagabonds, and social outcasts.
Mexico, likewise, is one of the first nations in the New World, more colloquially known as the Americas, to agitate for independence. As the 18th century ended, the Age of Revolutions finally reached the South of the United States. The nascent Mexican separatists had in their agitations, ideas, and materials from their neighbor to the North and the fervor of the French Revolution. The French invasion of Spain in 1808 by Napoleon would become quite the catalyst.
The first founding figure of Mexico, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, took advantage of this crisis as opportunity. Initially rallying the peasants under the banner of the Virgin Mary and the slogan “Long Live the King, and death to bad government”, his insurgency easily acquired a nationalist flavor. While Hidalgo later dithered and was crushed by 1811, after winning a costly victory in the Battle of Monte de la Cruces in 1810, his successors carried on the struggle, until the combined forces of Vicente Guerrero and Agustin Iturbide finally triumphed over the Spaniards in 1821. Independence had been won but the struggle for its existence had just begun.
Post-independence Mexico was a land torn by internal struggles amongst its generals, wide disparities between the city and the countryside, and the struggle between tradition and modernity. For more than a century, these convulsions were demarcated by a war with America in 1848 to which Mexico lost half of its territories, a brutal autocracy under General Diaz, and the resultant Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920, of which the names Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata, became famous.
The last would serve as the social revolution of which Mexico found its destiny to a degree, as the Institutional Revolutionary Party, would preside over the significant industrialization of the country. With that came the implementation of the Constitution of 1917, considered to be innovative for its time. It included the right to strike and state recognition of labor unions, thus paving the way for the premises of national unity and its eventual regeneration.
This background of Mexico after the Revolution is crucial, since Mexico is cited by observers from 1920 to 1990, as a quasi-socialist regime. As the bastion of anti-fascism and anti-imperialism, Mexico harbored the revolutionary Leon Trotsky, refused to recognize the regime of Francisco Franco, harbored the exiles of the Second Spanish Republic, and under General Cardenas, embarked on a program of genuine land reform and oil exploration, thus raising significant revenue for the government.
When WWII broke out in 1939, Mexico attempted to be neutral, albeit partial to the Allies since the beginning. It was the incident over its ships being sunk by German U-boats that Mexico entered the war on the side of the United Nations, the formal term for the Allied cause. As a member, it had been required to contribute its resources to the cause, of which the Aztec Eagles would be among its major undertakings.
The Exploits of Squadron 201
Composed of a total of 330 personnel (30 were pilots and 25 P-47 fighter planes), the 201st, had a legacy that compensated for its paltry numbers. Immediately upon its arrival in April 1945, over a year of training in America, the 201st became renowned for its aerial combat skills. Despite their short tenure, the 201st became indispensable for patrolling and guarding the Philippine skies from Japanese aircraft.
From April to August of 1945, the 201st is recorded to have inflicted major damage to the Japanese war effort. Over 30,000 Japanese soldiers were put out of action. Additionally, the 201st destroyed countless ships, tanks, supply lines, and convoys that would pose a threat to the Allied advance.
Among the sorties performed by the squadron were 53 ground support missions flown in support of the U.S. 25th Infantry. They were banded together with the Philippine Commonwealth troops and recognized guerrillas, in the break-out into the Cagayan Valley on the island of Luzon between June 4 and July 4 of 1945. Their help was invaluable for the Allies to further disrupt Japanese defenses, then concentrated around the Cordilleras.
Akin to the Smoking Snakes, its Brazilian counterpart in Europe, albeit more as an infantry force, the 201st Squadron is recognized for its feats by none other than General Douglas Macarthur himself. With a loss of only one plane in combat, the 201st proved its merit as an exceptional unit, and a testament to Mexico’s commitment to a cause they deemed to be righteous and with merit.
The Aztec Eagles' Place in Present-Day Mexico and the Philippines
The 201st returned on November 18, 1945 to Mexico. In a military parade in the Constitution Square, the Fighter Squadron delivered the Mexican flag to President Manuel Camacho. The rest of the expeditionary forces were disbanded after returning from home, save for the 201st, which continues to be a component of today’s Mexican Air Force in 2024.
In 2004, the Philippines finally recognized their valorous exploits. The country granted them a rank as a Legionnaire, within the Philippine Legion of Honor, the nation’s highest decoration. The 201st were among the unsung heroes of WWII, and must be recognized as such, if the values of freedom are to still endure, regardless of the odds.
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