The “Aguilas Aztecas” in the War with Japan

Just so people don't think that I only do USA

In March 1942 Mexico declared war on Germany and Japan. This was more than just a gesture of support for the United States in its struggle with the Axis, for Mexican ships had been sunk by enemy action. Nor was the declaration merely a symbolic one, for Mexico ultimately made a valuable, if modest, contribution to the military defeat of the enemy.

With the cooperation of the United States, the Mexican Air Force organized a special air wing of three squadrons.

Squadron	Function
201st	combat
202nd	replacement training
203rd	primary training

Initially The Mexican airmen trained with the famed AT-6. They were subsequently equipped with P-40s, but went into combat after having transitioned to P-47s.

In July 1944 the 201st Squadron (“Aguilas Aztecas” – Aztec Eagles) arrived in the US for advanced flight training in P-47s. Upon completing training, the squadron departed for the Philippines in March 1945. Attached to the 58th Fighter Group, Fifth Air Force, and based at Clark Field on Luzon, the 201st Squadron performed reconnaissance, ground attack, and close air support operations against Japanese forces in the Philippines and on Formosa until August. Shortly before the surrender of Japan the squadron was reassigned to the Thirteenth Air Force and transferred to Okinawa in anticipation of participating in the Invasion of Japan. The squadron was still in Okinawa when Japan surrendered.

The 210th Squadron performed 785 combat sorties during the Philippine Campaign, during which only one man was killed by enemy action, and four others in operational accidents, and others had died in training.

The Aguilas Aztecas returned to Mexico in the autumn of 1945, and were disbanded on November 22nd.

Lend-Lease

During World War II one of the most important American contributions to the Allied war effort was Lend Lease. The program was created because by early 1941 Britain and the other Allied countries were running out of money with which to purchase munitions and other assistance from the United States. As a result, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed an arrangement under which he would be authorized to "lend" military equipment and other materials to nations whose defense he deemed vital to that of the United States. The program was enacted as Public Law 1776 on March 11, 1941, over often hysterical ("This bill will guarantee that every fourth American boy is plowed under!") opposition from isolationist groups ranging from the German-American Bund to the Communist Party, then still faithfully following the Moscow line of friendship with Hitler.

Lend Lease had an enormous impact on the war. Military equipment, foodstuffs, and in some cases cash totalling nearly $51 billion of very uninflated 1940s money was dispensed to nearly 45 countries, including the U.S.S.R. beginning within days of Hitler's invasion, after which the hitherto vigorously isolationist American Communist Party suddenly became just as equally interventionist.

Lend Lease Aid
Country	Sum
Belgium	$ 148,394,457.76
Bolivia	5,633,989.02
British Empire	31,267,240,530.63
Brazil	332,545,226.43
Chile	21,817,478.16
China	1,548,794,965,99
Colombia	7,809,732.58
Costa Rica	155,022.73
Cuba	5,739,133.33
Czechoslovakia	413,398.78
Dominican Republic	1,610,590.38
Ecuador	7,063,079.96
Egypt	1,019,169.14
El Salvador	892,358.28
Ethiopia	5,151,163.25
France	3,207,608,188.75
Greece	75,475,880.30
Guatemala	1,819,403.19
Haiti	1,449,096.40
Honduras	732,358.11
Iceland	4,795,027.90
Iran	4,795,092.50
Iraq	4,144.14
Liberia	6,408,240.13
Mexico	36,287,010.67
Netherlands	230,127,717.63
Nicaragua	872,841.73
Norway	51,524,124.36
Panama	83,555.92
Paraguay	1,933,302.00
Peru	18,525,771.19
Poland	16,934,163.60
Saudi Arabia	17,417,878.70
Turkey	26,640,031.50
U.S.S.R.	11,260,343,603.02
Uruguay	7,148,610.13
Venezuela	4,336,079.35
Yugoslavia	32,026,355.58
Total Payments	$48,361,210,768.24
Other Expenditures	2,578,827,000.00
Grand Total	$50,940,037,768.24
Note: "Other Expenditures" includes materials not charged to the recipient nations, including goods lost in shipment, items consumed by American forces, and administrative costs

In terms of 2002 dollars, the $51 billion expended through Lend Lease is roughly the equivelent of some $800 billion.

The range of materials covered by Lend Lease was extraordinary. Russia, for example, received over 430,000 trucks, nearly 7,000 fighters, and over 340,000 field telephones, as well as samples of unusual equipment such as the M?1 rifle, the T?10 heavy tank, and the B?17, not to mention a lot of gold braid, which was found useful in raising the morale of Red Army officers (who wore it) and men (who saluted it.)

Several countries provided the U.S. with what was termed "reverse lend-lease," goods and equipment not readily available, a category including everything from uranium ore to cheese. The total value of this was about $10 billion, leaving a deficit of about $41 billion. It is, however, worth recalling that virtually all the money involved was actually spent in the U.S. Some one owes us a whole lot of money.

David Bushnell’s American Turtle

David Bushnell (1740-1824), of Connecticut, began experimenting with the possibility of underwater explosions while attending Yale, 1771-1775, and created a viable device using a waterproof keg and a clock. He then set about building a submarine, on the Connecticut River.

Completed in early 1776, Bushnells’ American Turtle consisted of two large wooden demi-hemispheres built of shaped oak staves, caulked with cork, joined by iron bands, and with the hull tarred, which formed an enclosed vessel of about six feet by seven. It had a hatch and eight small windows in little conning tower. The vessel had a rudder, and two short, hand cranked screw propellors, one for vertical and one for horizontal movement. There were two brass schnorkles, one for intake and one for exhaust, which could be sealed, leaving the operator 30 minutes of air when completely submerged. There was 900 pounds of lead ballast, of which 200 pounds could be detached for buoyancy. For navigation underwater, the operator had a compass and a barometer both rimmed with phosphorus to aid visibility.

An iron auger bit that could be worked from inside the vessel wasa intended to be used to affix a screw against the hull of an enemy ship. A rope attached to the screw extended to the mine, which could then be released from its storage site on the “back” of the vessel, which simultaneously activated the clockwork mechanism, and left the mine floating against the hull of the enemy ship.

Initially intended for use against the British fleet in Boston Harbor, the American Turtle was not ready before the British evacuated Boston in March of 1776. However, with the British landing on Staten Island later that summer, Bushnell convinced Benjamin Franklin and George Washington that he should be given a chance to try his device.

An intial effort against a ship anchored in the Narrows failed because neither Bushnell nor his brother were strong enough to maneuver the vessel. Sgt. Ezra Lee of the Connecticut was chosen to be the pilot, and shortly after midnight on September 7, 1776, attempted to attack HMS Eagle, 64, the flagship of Admiral Richard Howe, off South Ferry, New York. This effort failed because the screw mechanism was unable to penetrate the ship’s copper sheathing.

As he returned to Manhattan, Lee cast off the mine, which exploded harmlessly about an hour later, leading the British to cut their cables so that their could drift down the bay to avoid danger.

When Washington evacuated Manhattan, the American Turtle was hauled to safety. Several other attempts were made to use the vessel, none successful, although an attack on HMS Cerberus in 1777 off New London did result in the destruction of a schooner. The ultimate fate of the American Turtle is unknown

So Why Does a Lieutenant General Outrank a Major General?

Well, it's a bit complicated.

Aside from a few men to guard the royal person and some critical castles, prior to the fifteenth century most countries did not have standing armies. When war came, the king would call for troops, often using a combination of feudal levies, paid contractors, and mercenaries, who were often feudal lords commanding their own vassals. But in the late fifteenth century the kings of France and of the Spains began keeping a larger body of troops on the royal payroll even in peacetime, primarily to preserve internal order.

These were organized into "companies" of vaguely similar size, each of which was commanded by a "captain," a word deriving from the Latin and meaning essential "head." Assisting the captain was a lieutenant, deriving through French from the Latin locum tenens, which means "in place of the holder [of command]." Now since these companies were initially composed of mounted troops -- men-at-arms -- the individual soldiers were all "serjeants," essentially unknighted knights. So the next lowest ranking man in the company was the "sergeant major."

When an army was needed, a bunch of the companies was ordered to report to an officer appointed as the "captain general," who would command them in action. Of course with so many individual companies under his command, the captain general had a lot to do. So early in the sixteenth century, King Ferdinand of Spain (Columbus' friend), grouped batches of ten companies into colunelas --columns -- under a capitan de colulnela, thus creating the first regiments. He also created the basis for the modern rank structure The colunelas worked pretty well in combat, as the captain general now had a lot fewer subordinates to deal with. Within his colunela the capitan de colunela -- the "colonel" -- had several subordinates, notably a teniente de colunela and a sergente mayor de colunela. And within his army, the captain general also had some subordinates, a teniente general and a sergente mayor general.

On each level, the role of the officers was the same:

Rank (in Spanish)	Assignment
capitan, capitan di colunela, capitan general	The commanding officer
teniente, teniente di colunela, teniente general	Deputy commander
sergente mayor, sergente mayor di colunela, sergente mayor general	Management of the troops

With changes in spelling to account for language differences, the Spanish usage spread to the other armies in Europe. And it from these roots that modern rank structure developed.

Evolution of the Rank Structure
Original Spanish	Modern English
capitan general	general
teniente general	lieutenant general
sergente mayor general	major general
capitan di colunela	colonel
teniente di colunela	lieutenant colonel
sergente mayor di colunela	major
capitan	captain
teniente	lieutenant
sergente mayor	sergeant major

There are, of course, some other ranks. The differentiation between first lieutenant and second lieutenants -- and in some armies even third lieutenants -- was an evolutionary matter. The brigadier general is named after a non-commissioned officer rank found in some Latin armies, the brigada or brigadier , who was the principal subordinate of the sergeant major. It seemed reasonable to call the commander of a group of regiments by this title because he would be directly subordinate to the sergeant major general of the army. Eventually, of course, the commander's title became the name of his command, the brigade. In German and Russian usage there is a "colonel general." But these armies lack a grade between colonel and major general, so the colonel general actually ranks with a full general.

Gulf War Beta version

A totalitarian dictator of a Muslim nation kills hundreds of thousands while spending his nation's resources building a palace of mind-boggling size.
European powers toady to a Muslim tyrant who projects his power in provocative ways, preferring to pay him off and do business rather than take action against him - even though they have enough military power to do so.
The American president authorizes a mission to install a friendly government in a hostile Muslim country.
Sleazy French agents undermine the mission and warn the dictator.
An American diplomat whose marriage keeps him well connected scorns the idea that a government friendly to America can be established – or a military mission can succeed – then sets about to cause appeasement and containment.
Marines are left hanging without support in unfriendly territory after a spectacular military success.
Americans take the lead in stopping nation-sponsored terrorism in the Middle East, while the Europeans maintain a safe distance, becoming involved only in mop-up operations and peace negotiations.
If you suppose this scenario was taken from recent headlines, think again. Some are the main elements of a nearly 300-year old story, others from America's first shooting war during the Thomas Jefferson administration.

• Jefferson became president in 1801 he refused to accede to Tripoli's demands for an immediate payment of $225,000 and an annual payment of $25,000.

• May of 1801, the Corsairs of Tripoli became restless and declared war on the United States,

• The Americans cruised the Mediterranean, evacuating American merchantmen and winning several engagements with the Corsairs.

• The American show of force quickly awed Tunis and Algiers into breaking their alliance with Tripoli.

• Sweden declared war on the Tripolitans

• The combined fleet of Swedish and American, and infrequently Danish, ships was unwilling to bombard the city until early 1802

• President Jefferson ordered that the war be pursued with greater vigor.

• Sweden made peace that year

• Early 1803, an accidental explosion aboard an American ship killed nineteen men.

• May of that year, a large squadron of American warships was assembled and proceeded to Tripoli to destroy the Corsairs' fleet entirely Large guns protected the anchored fleet, but marines landed close to the walls of the city to set fire to many of the docked ships as they were pelted with stones from the town’s inhabitants.

• October of that year, a large U.S. man-of-war, Philadelphia, gave chase to a Corsair ship trying to break the blockade, but was lured into an uncharted reef. The ship was paralyzed and overtaken and put into the service of the pirates.

• February, eight marines sailed a small merchant vessel alongside the anchored Philadelphia, killed twenty Corsairs, and destroyed the warship without any loss of life of their own side.

• The aggressive action of Commodore Edward Preble (1803-4) forced Morocco out of the fight and his five bombardments of Tripoli restored some order to the Mediterranean.

• 1804, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies declared war on Tripoli, lending a number of small, maneuverable gunboats that were thought to be helpful in subduing the pirates.

• August 3, the American-led force began an all-out attack, sailing into the harbor and bombarding the city at direct range The Americans aboard the smaller gunboats decided to counter the pirates' standard technique and approached the enemy ships fast, boarding them and engaging in hand to hand combat. After destroying much of the town's fortifications, several gunboats, and a large mosque, the squadron withdrew.

• A small force of marines was sent to Alexandria, Egypt, to locate the original hereditary ruler of Tripoli, with the intent of restoring him to the throne.

finding him, they raised a mercenary army of Arabs and Greeks

began a several hundred-mile march towards Tripoli from the land.

• After a difficult march across the Libyan Desert and a bloody victory in the outlying town of Derne, the marines were informed by messenger that the war was over.

• The humiliating loss of the frigate Philadelphia and the capture of her captain and crew in Tripoli in 1803, criticism from his political opponents, and even opposition within his own cabinet did not deter Jefferson from his chosen course during four years of war.

• In fact, it was not until the second war with Algiers, in 1815, that naval victories by Commodores William Bainbridge and Stephen Decatur led to treaties ending all tribute payments by the United States. European nations continued annual payments until the 1830s.

http://hnn.us/articles/287.html

http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/17128.html

http://www.hnn.us/roundup/comments/26846.html

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