Military Aviation in Mexico & S. America in WWII
Thu Mar 06, 2008 2:34 am
Hi all, I'm sitting in my hotel room in San Francisco and couldn't help but to post something. I just hope I don't offend anyone south of the border like I did with all the people in Hawaii ... 
, kidding 
Anyway, I know very little about WWII military aviation in Mexico and South America. I believe Mexico had a few P-47 squadrons in the Pacific, but did any other country in South America contribute? and if so, what? where? and when? .... and NOT!!!! ... what if? ....
Did Britain or America have any bases in South America? Or was South America neutral? I suppose I could Google all these questions, but you guys are so knowledgable, why should I do all that work?
Found this:
Mexican pilots received training in the United States and in 1945 fought valiantly in the air war in the Phillipines. Only one squadron, Number 201, actually saw combat. Nicknamed "The Aztec Eagles," they flew P-47 Thunderbolt fighters and offered close ground support for U.S. and Philipino ground forces as they struggled to liberate the islands from the Japanese. Decorated by the United States, Mexico and the Phillipines, its 31 pilots and approximately 150 ground support personnel were the only Mexican military force to serve outside of Mexico. Of the squadron's 31 pilots, 5 were killed in action.
This is interesting as well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participan ... rld_War_II
oops!!!! did I just post a link? ....
Mark the very stable, very calm, very cool, never loses his temper poster ...
, kidding
Anyway, I know very little about WWII military aviation in Mexico and South America. I believe Mexico had a few P-47 squadrons in the Pacific, but did any other country in South America contribute? and if so, what? where? and when? .... and NOT!!!! ... what if? ....
Did Britain or America have any bases in South America? Or was South America neutral? I suppose I could Google all these questions, but you guys are so knowledgable, why should I do all that work?
Found this:
Mexican pilots received training in the United States and in 1945 fought valiantly in the air war in the Phillipines. Only one squadron, Number 201, actually saw combat. Nicknamed "The Aztec Eagles," they flew P-47 Thunderbolt fighters and offered close ground support for U.S. and Philipino ground forces as they struggled to liberate the islands from the Japanese. Decorated by the United States, Mexico and the Phillipines, its 31 pilots and approximately 150 ground support personnel were the only Mexican military force to serve outside of Mexico. Of the squadron's 31 pilots, 5 were killed in action.
This is interesting as well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participan ... rld_War_II
oops!!!! did I just post a link? ....
Mark the very stable, very calm, very cool, never loses his temper poster ...
Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:16 am
It's always good to read your posts. 
To this day, the only South American country I thought had any participation in WWII was Brazil. And to my knowledge they had only one fighter aircraft type in Europe: P-47D.
Since when did I assume that? Well, when I looked at Brazil's location on a map. If you look at it, the closest country to African shores is Brazil, especially north.
I’m almost regretting posting this, since I feel I may get stumped, but…
To this day, the only South American country I thought had any participation in WWII was Brazil. And to my knowledge they had only one fighter aircraft type in Europe: P-47D.
Since when did I assume that? Well, when I looked at Brazil's location on a map. If you look at it, the closest country to African shores is Brazil, especially north.
I’m almost regretting posting this, since I feel I may get stumped, but…
Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:29 am
Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:11 am
Thanks for the link.
Maybe Tulio can answer this, but in WWII did any other fighters or bombers of South American countries, besides Brazil with the P-47, participate actively in aerial war in Europe?
Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:19 am
Hi Sean, take a look at the link I posted up top, after I asked a few questions I started to answer them myself with a little late night Gooooogling.
The link lists all participants in WWII and gives some interesting info. Fun stuff.
The link lists all participants in WWII and gives some interesting info. Fun stuff.
Thu Mar 06, 2008 12:53 pm
Brazil actively participated in bombing and strafing missions with their P-47s, in Italy.
Their pilots trained in the USA and in Panama.
There were also Piper Cubs assigned to artillery units for spotting, since they had an Expeditionary Army Corps, also in Italy.
Mexico had also a squadron of P-47s that arrived to the Philippine Islands late during the Pacific War final stages; I do not have the exact dates, but they did not fly long there, had several taxiing accidents, and there are reports of blue on blue. When they returned to the U.S., due to the agreement that they had with the U.S., they were provided with brand new P-47s, which equipped their main aviation units for some years.
At one point, sooner or later during the war, most of the Latin American nations declared war on the Axis, with Guatemala being first on 12 Dec 1941. Argentina was one of the last, declaring war in 1945 IIRC.
There were bases in all of the Central American countries, as well as in Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and of course, Brazil. Natal on the Atlantic coast, was the closest point to Africa, and from there and from Manaus, aircraft made "the jump" to The Gambia and thence to other war theaters.
Ecuador had granted bases in the Galapagos islands, and there were two patrol flights to protect the Panama Canal approaches, with one flight each way taking off from San Jose, in Guatemala, and the other from the Galapagos, landing at their opposite airfields at the end of their patrols.
There are rumors of an Honduran aircraft having been lost to a U-Boat fire; there were patrols and reported attacks from Mexican AF T-6s on U-Boats in the Gulf of Mexico area; there were also patrols and attacks on U-Boats from Brazilian Air Force units on the South Atlantic.
As with any other military flying operations, there were accidents and crashes; the ones I remember although without any details, are the crashes of at least one B-24 and a B-17 in Guatemala; there were besides the bombers, a fighter unit equipped with P-39s and / or P-40s, based on a rotation basis at La Aurora, where revetments and underground storage were bulldozed over and covered with dirt at the end of the war.
There were many ships flying Latin American countries flags, sunk by U-boats. Brazilian, Panamanian, Honduran, Mexican and others.
I wish that I could provide you with a detailed list of books on the subject, so that you could further research, but I do not have access to my books at this time.
Other than the Brazilians in Italy, and the Mexicans in the Philippine Islands, no other Latin American nations sent any aircraft to Europe.
There is of course, the sponsoring of aircraft through the Bellows groups in several Latin American nations, purchasing fighters for Great Britain through contributions, and there were many Argentinean pilots flying with the RAF.
Saludos,
Tulio
Their pilots trained in the USA and in Panama.
There were also Piper Cubs assigned to artillery units for spotting, since they had an Expeditionary Army Corps, also in Italy.
Mexico had also a squadron of P-47s that arrived to the Philippine Islands late during the Pacific War final stages; I do not have the exact dates, but they did not fly long there, had several taxiing accidents, and there are reports of blue on blue. When they returned to the U.S., due to the agreement that they had with the U.S., they were provided with brand new P-47s, which equipped their main aviation units for some years.
At one point, sooner or later during the war, most of the Latin American nations declared war on the Axis, with Guatemala being first on 12 Dec 1941. Argentina was one of the last, declaring war in 1945 IIRC.
There were bases in all of the Central American countries, as well as in Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and of course, Brazil. Natal on the Atlantic coast, was the closest point to Africa, and from there and from Manaus, aircraft made "the jump" to The Gambia and thence to other war theaters.
Ecuador had granted bases in the Galapagos islands, and there were two patrol flights to protect the Panama Canal approaches, with one flight each way taking off from San Jose, in Guatemala, and the other from the Galapagos, landing at their opposite airfields at the end of their patrols.
There are rumors of an Honduran aircraft having been lost to a U-Boat fire; there were patrols and reported attacks from Mexican AF T-6s on U-Boats in the Gulf of Mexico area; there were also patrols and attacks on U-Boats from Brazilian Air Force units on the South Atlantic.
As with any other military flying operations, there were accidents and crashes; the ones I remember although without any details, are the crashes of at least one B-24 and a B-17 in Guatemala; there were besides the bombers, a fighter unit equipped with P-39s and / or P-40s, based on a rotation basis at La Aurora, where revetments and underground storage were bulldozed over and covered with dirt at the end of the war.
There were many ships flying Latin American countries flags, sunk by U-boats. Brazilian, Panamanian, Honduran, Mexican and others.
I wish that I could provide you with a detailed list of books on the subject, so that you could further research, but I do not have access to my books at this time.
Other than the Brazilians in Italy, and the Mexicans in the Philippine Islands, no other Latin American nations sent any aircraft to Europe.
There is of course, the sponsoring of aircraft through the Bellows groups in several Latin American nations, purchasing fighters for Great Britain through contributions, and there were many Argentinean pilots flying with the RAF.
Saludos,
Tulio
Last edited by Tulio on Thu Mar 06, 2008 5:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thu Mar 06, 2008 3:48 pm
Tulio, you're 'gato' and 'rapido'! Thanks for the post!
Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:07 am
A few years ago, Aviation History Magazine ran this article about the Mexican Air Force in WWII.
I'd like to hear more about the Brazilians in Europe. And any others, for that matter.
I'd like to hear more about the Brazilians in Europe. And any others, for that matter.
Military Aviation in Mexico and Sth America
Sat Mar 08, 2008 5:03 pm
One publication which outlines the participation of South America in WWII is Dan Hagedorn's, "Latin American Air Wars and Aircraft 1912-1969". If you can get hold of a copy (it's pricey, but worth it) it is full of pictures and information on the subject plus it allows access to a website which contains all of Hagedorn's research on the subject.