Escuadrón 201 station
Metro · 8 Line 8
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The story behind the icon
The station image is the emblem or military badge that identifies the Mexican air force unit Squadron 201.
The heroic Squadron 201 is a Mexican air force unit sent by our country to fight as part of the Allies in the Second World War. In that conflict, international relations between Mexico and the rest of the world changed radically. The allied nations, chiefly the United States, redoubled their efforts to keep the Latin American countries on their side. The "good neighbour" policy of the United States and Mexico's inclination to support the causes of democracy were the main reasons why these two countries gave one another mutual aid.
In early 1942 Germany's U-boats extended their area of operations to include the Atlantic coast of the United States and the Gulf of Mexico; two Mexican oil tankers were attacked and sunk by German submarines in May 1942, and this led Mexico to declare war on the Axis powers. On 29 December 1944 the Senate authorised sending troops into combat, and so the Air Improvement Group (GAP), in keeping with the order and classification of the Mexican Air Force, became Fighter Squadron 201 of the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force (FAEM). It was originally to take part in Europe, but with Hitler's troops already defeated, and on the recommendation of General Alamillo Flores, military attaché in Washington, it was decided that the Squadron should serve in the Pacific, in particular in the liberation of the Philippine archipelago, since this was a nation whose original language was Spanish, along with the Hispanic cultural path that unites both nations.