Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum - The Aztec Eagles: The Forgotten Allies of the Second World War

There has been a mini-publishing boom in 2019 with three English language books on the 201st Fighter Squadron as well as a grade school photo book published in 2016.

The book by Santiago Flores seems to have the most research - though only the last three of the ten chapters cover the 201st Sqdn in World War II (along with 4 appendices on their combat missions and aircraft).

The publisher's description for Zapotoczny's book seems to have been written by an overzealous and misinformed member of their publicity department. Compare this to the sober and well measured summary for Lozano's 201st Squadron. However the preview of Zapotoczny's The Aztec Eagles available at google books reveals some interesting material. I have ordered copies of Flores' and Zapotoczny's books and will report back in a month.

Mexicans at War: Mexican Military Aviation in the Second World War 1941-1945
Book 9 in the "Latin America at War" series
(Helion and Company - January 18, 2019)
by Santiago A. Flores
232 pages - paperback

201st Squadron: The Aztec Eagles: The History of the Mexican Pilots Who Fought in World War II
(Libros de Mexico - April 20, 2019)
by Gustavo Vázquez Lozano
110 pages - paperback

The Aztec Eagles: The Forgotten Allies of the Second World War
(Fonthill Media Ltd - 12 December 2019)
by Walter S. Zapotoczny Jr.
240 pages - hardcover

The School the Aztec Eagles Built
[Ages 9-12 years]
(Lee & Low Books – December 23, 2016
by Dorinda Makanaonalani Nicholson (Author)
48 pages - hardback
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Mexicans at War: Mexican Military Aviation in the Second World War 1941-1945
Book 9 in the "Latin America at War" series
(Helion and Company - January 18, 2019)
by Santiago A. Flores
232 pages - paperback

"This book introduces the reader to an unknown Ally of the Second World War. Few people remember that Mexico, like Brazil, took an active part in that conflict. This volume covers Mexican participation in the Second World War for the first time using photos, documents and testimony from official and personal archives. Mexican nationals or those of Mexican descent were already volunteering for the Allied air forces of the British Commonwealth and the Free French naval and air forces While the Mexican Republic first had to defend both its coasts and its shipping from enemy submarines, using its obsolete general purpose biplanes, following the sinking of Mexican ships by German u-boats the first North American Texan armed trainers entered service in the Gulf of Mexico, earning the title of the ‘Mexican Dive Bomber’. Due to the necessities of the war, the service had to reorganize its aviation assets to be able to receive a larger number of American-built lease aircraft, which started the modernization and reorganization process that is felt even today. The war affected all aspect of Mexican military aviation from tactical units, to training, to logistics and military doctrine. This also led to the establishment of Mexican Naval Aviation which led, in turn, to the creation of its first naval squadron to patrol the Gulf of Mexico. One aspect that the war affected was the training of the new generation of military personnel, some of whom would later see action before the end of the war. As Mexico was securing its coasts and sending aviation personnel to train in the USA, it would later field its fighter squadron to participate in the liberation of the Philippine islands. By the end of the war the Mexican Air Force had experienced its most rapid growth since it was officially established back in February 1915. The text is fully supported by numerous previously unpublished photographs and color profiles showing camouflage and markings."

About the Author
Santiago A. Flores was born in San Diego, California. He was raised and educated in the border town of Tijuana Baja California, Norte Mexico. He started to research Mexican Military Aviation in 1972, after he discovered how little information was available on the subject. He has published over 220 articles on Mexican aviation and other aviation subjects in aviation magazines, internet and facebook in Mexico and overseas and has given conferences on the subject in Mexico and in the United States. He served in the US Army completing three overseas tours to include Desert Storm 1991 and the later in Afghanistan in support of Coalition forces after 9/11. He has been recognized for his efforts to expand general knowledge of Mexican aviation history in 1999 with the Francisco Sarabia Conquistador del Cielo Medal during Aeroexpo 1999 at Acapulco, Mexico and in 2015 during the centennial of Military aviation by the Commander of the Mexican Air Force. He is currently living in San Diego California with his wife Gaby and his daughters Alison and Lorena.

https://www.helion.co.uk/military-hi...85262a947e512c
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201st Squadron: The Aztec Eagles: The History of the Mexican Pilots Who Fought in World War II
(Libros de Mexico - April 20, 2019)
by Gustavo Vázquez Lozano
110 pages - paperback

"In April of 1945, just before the end of the Second World War, Mexico sent an air contingent to fight shoulder-to-shoulder with the Allied Forces: the 201st Fighter Squadron. The six-year war that had wrought so much havoc would be over in just three months: the group of Mexican pilots flew through the last, rapidly-closing gap in order to finish on the side of the victors. The thirty pilots who made up the air squadron did not fight Nazi Germany or Italian fascism, but Japanese imperialism in Luzon and Formosa. The mission dripped with symbolism: during colonial times, the Philippines had been administrated from New Spain (modern-day Mexico), and there were multiple cultural and social links between the two peoples. The best of the Mexican Air Force arrived in the Far East to form part of the end of the biggest naval battle in history, under the command of the legendary General Douglas MacArthur.

The great adventure of the 201st Squadron was a hastily-added footnote; a small Mexican coda on a worldwide conflagration that was already coming to an end. Back home, the exploits of the thirty pilots in charge of those Republic P-47 Thunderbolts had society in a state of excitement, and the faraway location lent any news of them a heroic, legendary air. Upon their return from the front, they were greeted triumphantly in Mexico City. But once the frenzy had passed, the young pilots were forgotten. Their triumph lay not in the bombs they dropped on Luzon and Formosa, nor in the homages paid to them at home, nor in the kisses planted on them by young Filipina women, immortalized in iconic black-and-white photographs. Their greatest achievement was somewhat less ostentatious, but more enduring: the 201st Squadron enabled Mexico to join the ranks of nations who lost sons on the battlefield.

The sacrifice of those who fought against the Japanese empire earned Mexico the respect of conquering powers and bought the country a one-way ticket to modernity, a voice in global post-war negotiations and, above all, an improvement to its hitherto hostile relationship with the US. This is the story, told for the first time, of the 201st Squadron, and the thirty pilots who won their place to fight in the skies and contribute, albeit modestly, to the fall of the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis. Using unedited sources, declassified reports, old military files, and the testimonies of pilots and other contemporary witnesses, this book revives important characters, the missions, heroic facts, and tragedies, and analyzes the legacy of the 201st Squadron like never before."
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The Aztec Eagles: The Forgotten Allies of the Second World War
(Fonthill Media Ltd - 12 December 2019)
by Walter S. Zapotoczny Jr.
240 pages - hardcover

- "Previously unclassified analysis of why/how the Mexicans fought
- Little-known story of the Mexican 201st Fighter Squadron’s bravery whose aviators created national pride throughout their homeland
- The Mexican 201st Fighter Squadron’s mission was to support the US 25th Infantry Division: their road to war was not an easy one
- Profusely illustrated with many rare and unpublished images

Few would list Mexico as an ally of the US during the Second World War. Sadly, Mexico’s aid to the US has been largely ignored by historians and is mostly absent from American history books. When Mexican aviators had the opportunity to show their courage in battle, they did so with valour.

General Douglas MacArthur commended the pilots and 150 support personnel. The thirty-one pilots of Mexican Expeditionary Force 201st Fighter Squadron flew missions supporting troops in the Philippines and sorties over Formosa.

The Aztec Eagles helped the Allies defeat Japan, end the isolationism of Mexico and paved the way for important agreements between the United States and Mexico. They helped modernise the Mexican Air Force and demonstrated that Mexico could mount a successful expeditionary force.

Significant as these achievements were, perhaps the unit’s most important legacy is that the Aztec Eagles fought for dignity, creating pride throughout their homeland.

That pride endures and is evident today as the story of the Aztec Eagles can be heard across the nation."

The Author
Walter S. Zapotoczny Jr. is an award-winning writer/editor with over 25 years’ experience and is the author of over 150 published articles and three books. Zapotoczny Jr. is a contributing writer and reviewer for several international publications and is a former historian with the US Army, specialising in military history and Holocaust studies. A native of Pennsylvania, he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with honours in world military history and a Master of Arts with honours in global history from the American Public University.

https://www.fonthill.media/products/...fa40f5b1&_ss=r
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The School the Aztec Eagles Built
(Lee & Low Books – December 23, 2016
by Dorinda Makanaonalani Nicholson
48 pages - hardback

"A photo-illustrated book about the Aztec Eagles, Mexico's World War II Air Force squadron interwoven with the story of Sergeant Angel Bocanegra, whose service was rewarded with the building of a school in his village. Includes glossary, author's note, and author's sources."

Review - School Library Journal
Grades 4–6—A tribute to Air Fighter Squadron 201 (the Aztec Eagles) and Sgt. Ángel Bocanegra del Castillo, whose actions ensured the building of a school in the village of Tepoztlán, Mexico. The work begins with a quick refresher on relations between the United States and Mexico from 1830 to World War II, leading up to the creation of the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force. Readers follow as the pilots train and eventually join the Pacific theater in the Philippines. Running parallel to this historical narrative is the account of Bocanegra del Castillo and his journey from schoolteacher to military pilot. When the president of Mexico, Ávila Camacho, asked the soon-to-deploy Aztec Eagles if they had any requests, Bocanegra del Castillo asked for a proper school to be built in his village of Tepoztlán. By the time the squadron returned to Mexico at the end of World War II, the school had been built and named after the squadron. The importance of the school to this community is strongly emphasized. The text briefly describes the military action in which the squadron was involved. Well-captioned vintage photos appear on every page.
VERDICT The intersection of military history, biography, and the power of community is unique. An additional purchase for those looking for a multifaceted work of history.
—Eldon Younce, Anthony Public Library, KS

About the Author
Dorinda Makanaonalani Nicholson was born in Hawai'i and was an eyewitness to the attack on Pearl Harbor when she was six years old. She believes it is her mission to bring World War II history to life for children. Her works have received starred reviews and awards, including the IRA Children's Book Award for nonfiction, Benjamin Franklin Award, and ALA Notable. In addition to being a writer, Nicholson is a Missouri Humanities Council member and an avid hula dancer. She and her husband live in Raytown, Missouri.