Hi Guys,
I am trying to find out how many Mexicans and Cubans served in the US armed forces in WWII. Apparently the US reached reciprocal agreements with both Mexico and Cuba in early 1943 allowing them to call up each other's nationals resident in their countries. But how many men did this involve?
Cheers,
Sid.
Wanted: US military forum for WWII?
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sid guttridge
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Hi Sid,
I've looked through various Mexican websites and found that the only Mexicans that actually saw battle outside Mexican national waters were the men of 201 Squadron 'Aguilas Aztecas', the Aztec Eagles.
Mexico declared war on the Axis in May 1942 after the Kriegsmarine sank two Mexican petroleum tankers though some sources say that at least one of them was sunk by the US Navy to put pressure on Mexico to join the Allied war-effort.
Mexican oil exports had been boycotted by most democracies after Mexico nationalised its petroleum industry (apparently Great Britain even broke off diplomatic relations because of that) and the only countries that bought Mexican oil were Japan and Germany. After the declaration of war the Allies lifted the boycot and all export oil was sold to the Allies from then on.
The Army mobilised and the airforce and navy patrolled the Mexican coasts. The navy may have sunk one German U-boat.
After the April 1943 agreement between Mexico and the US (signed by presidents Camacho and Roosevelt in Monterey) Mexican troops were trained in the US but, as far as I've been able to find, never were part of the US Army. Also the 201 Squadron, consisting of some 300 men, flew under the Mexican flag in the Pacific, they were however integrated into the US command structure and relied for their support on US units.
Many Mexican labourers were sent to the US to fill the gaps left by American men joining the Army in agriculture and the railroads. Also Mexico started to produce crops that were mostly imported from the Far East to fulfill the American requirements for such crops after Japan had occupied much of the Far East.
It's kinda tough to see through the bombastic 'heroic this' and 'brave that' of the Mexican sites but all in all I think that it was just the 300 men of the Axtec Eagles that actually fought within the US Army and even then they weren't officially a part of the US forces.
Hope that helps you along a bit,
Paul
I've looked through various Mexican websites and found that the only Mexicans that actually saw battle outside Mexican national waters were the men of 201 Squadron 'Aguilas Aztecas', the Aztec Eagles.
Mexico declared war on the Axis in May 1942 after the Kriegsmarine sank two Mexican petroleum tankers though some sources say that at least one of them was sunk by the US Navy to put pressure on Mexico to join the Allied war-effort.
Mexican oil exports had been boycotted by most democracies after Mexico nationalised its petroleum industry (apparently Great Britain even broke off diplomatic relations because of that) and the only countries that bought Mexican oil were Japan and Germany. After the declaration of war the Allies lifted the boycot and all export oil was sold to the Allies from then on.
The Army mobilised and the airforce and navy patrolled the Mexican coasts. The navy may have sunk one German U-boat.
After the April 1943 agreement between Mexico and the US (signed by presidents Camacho and Roosevelt in Monterey) Mexican troops were trained in the US but, as far as I've been able to find, never were part of the US Army. Also the 201 Squadron, consisting of some 300 men, flew under the Mexican flag in the Pacific, they were however integrated into the US command structure and relied for their support on US units.
Many Mexican labourers were sent to the US to fill the gaps left by American men joining the Army in agriculture and the railroads. Also Mexico started to produce crops that were mostly imported from the Far East to fulfill the American requirements for such crops after Japan had occupied much of the Far East.
It's kinda tough to see through the bombastic 'heroic this' and 'brave that' of the Mexican sites but all in all I think that it was just the 300 men of the Axtec Eagles that actually fought within the US Army and even then they weren't officially a part of the US forces.
Hope that helps you along a bit,
Paul
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sid guttridge
- on "time out"
- Posts: 8055
- Joined: Thu Oct 10, 2002 4:54 am
Hi Paulus,
I know about the 201st Fighter Squadron of the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force in the Philippines. This was an allied Mexican national unit, not part of the US armed forces.
However, it seems to me that the Mexican contribution within the US armed forces as a result of the 1943 reciprocal agreement on the conscription of each other's nationals was far greater than this. There were apparently several hundred Mexicans who served in the USSAAF 8th Air Force alone, but this seems to be the only broad study done.
Hispanics, unlike Blacks, were not segregated and so were not recorded separately from Whites. It is therefore impossible to find accurate figures for them.
However, as Mexicans and Cubans were foreign nationals, it seems likely that at some stage they were recorded separately.
It is likely that the number of Mexicans in the US armed forces ran into the several tens of thousands. It is this figure that I am trying to pin down.
Cheers,
Sid.
I know about the 201st Fighter Squadron of the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force in the Philippines. This was an allied Mexican national unit, not part of the US armed forces.
However, it seems to me that the Mexican contribution within the US armed forces as a result of the 1943 reciprocal agreement on the conscription of each other's nationals was far greater than this. There were apparently several hundred Mexicans who served in the USSAAF 8th Air Force alone, but this seems to be the only broad study done.
Hispanics, unlike Blacks, were not segregated and so were not recorded separately from Whites. It is therefore impossible to find accurate figures for them.
However, as Mexicans and Cubans were foreign nationals, it seems likely that at some stage they were recorded separately.
It is likely that the number of Mexicans in the US armed forces ran into the several tens of thousands. It is this figure that I am trying to pin down.
Cheers,
Sid.