When the previous article by Adrian English was first published in El Dorado ( Vol.III, Nos. 3 & 4 ) in 1990, there were only the sources that Adrian quotes available. Since then I have only seen two other works relating to this war that are worthy of mention, alas I have seen only photocopied parts of two books in Spanish that covers this war, although I am sure that there must be a few more. The first of these books in English is a book by Dan P. Hagedorn entitled "Central American and Caribbean Air Forces", published by Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, (5 Bradley Road, Upper Norwood, London SE19 3NT), this was published in 1993, the other is the following article sent in for publication into El Dorado by Dave Spencer, it was this article which prompted me to formulate this booklet. The following notes are taken from Dan Hagedorn's book that I've just mentioned, as I feel that they can be of assistance. The Air Force of Honduras was called "Fuerza Aérea Hondurena" (F.A.H.) The Air Force of El Salvador was called "Fuerza Aérea Salvadoreña" (F.A.S.) The Piper P-28 Cherokee that was forced down on the 3rd July was numbered YS-234P. The pre-arranged plan by Honduras to move its aircraft to various bases was code named "Operación Base Nueva". The time of the first air attack by El Salvador on the 14th July was 1819 hrs., this aircraft few at 8,000 feet and managed to drop its bombs by rolling them through the open cargo doors. The first air attack by Honduras left its airfield at 0318 (15th July), the C-47 took with it 18 x 100-lb bombs. The afternoon air attack on the same day by the FAH consisted of one F4U-4 and three F4U-5s, these aircraft were commanded by Major Oscar Colindres Corrales and they were from the "Escuadron de Casa", each carried a 500-lb bomb while the F4U-4 also carried 6 rockets. The fall name for the FAH "ace" was Major Hernando Soto Henriquez, who displayed on his F4U-5 (FAH 609) the silhouettes of two FD-1Ds and one F-51, two of the FAS pilots shot down were named; Lieutenant Valdimir Varela and Captain Reynaldo Cortez. The aircraft of Captain Walter Lopez, a F4U-4 of the FAH, was forced to land in Guatemala, through a carburettor fault, where it was interned for the remainder of the war. An aircraft from the FAH was forced to land in Nicaragua, while an aircraft from the FAS was also forced to land in Guatemala. I have some other data taken from "Dias de Infamia" by Juan Ramon Ardon, published in Honduras, these are only 3 pages of hand-written text taken from this book by Society member and contributor Mark Axworthy, how bias the author and data are remains to be seen? Ardon states that El Salvador lost 27 officers and 1,000 soldiers killed plus 1,473 National Guard, while a radio broadcast from El Salvador is quoted as giving these losses; killed 6 officers & 84 men, wounded 7 officers & 223 men. He lists this official Honduran return dated 11-9-1969 for men killed; officers and men: 3rd Military Zone: 0 and 21 3rd Battalion of Infantry: 2 and 30 2nd Military Zone: 0 and 6 Presidential Guard of Honour Batt.: 0 and 6 Cuerpo Especial de Seguridad: 0 and 2 1st Infantry Battalion: 1 and 24 1st Military Zone: 0 and 6 Airforce Infantry: 0 and 1 Grand Total: 3 and 96 and for men wounded; 1st Infantry Battalion: 2 and 32 1st Military Zone: 0 and 2 3rd Infantry Battalion: 2 and 18 Presidential Guard of Honour Batt.: 0 and 7 Airforce Infantry: 0 and 3 Total: 4 and 62 There is also a figure of 98 men under the heading of "mining", could this mean 98 men have been killed or wounded since the end of hostilities due to enemy mines? As one can see there is still much more research for information on casualties, military and civilian, to be found out. El Salvador Northern Theatre of Operations Commander: Colonel Mario de Jesús Valásquez (Colonel Návez) 1st Infantry Battalion, Major Alirio Hulgo (Lieutenant Antonio Palacios) 8th Infantry Battalion, Colonel Ernesto A. Claramont Rozerville (Cabanas Company, Captain Mariano Quinteros) (Cabanas Company, Lieutenant Montano) (Mortar Company, 2nd Lieutenant Ticas) (Mortar Company, 2nd Lieutenant Fransisco Martinez) "Tigres del Norte" Commando Unit, Artillery, Mechanised Cavalry Regiment, Lieutenant Juancho Llovera Guarda Independent Column, General José Alberto "Chele" Medrano (Captain Aristides Napoleón Montes) Eastern Theatre of Operations Commander in Chief, General Guillermo Segundo Martínez 4th Infantry Battalion 5th Infantry Battalion 6th Infantry Battalion Colonel Benjamín Mejía 11th Infantry Battalion Special Forces Artillery Major Joaquin Evelio Flores Amaya Engineers Colonel Lemus Treasury Police Commander Miguel Angel Flores (Company Commander Captain Jaime Ernesto Flores) Reserve at Santa Rosa de Lima 10th Infantry Battalion Chalatenango Theatre of Operations ? North Eastern Theatre of Operations ? Honduras Presidential Guard of Honour Batt. 1st Infantry Battalion 2nd Infantry Battalion 3rd Infantry Battalion Ranger Battalion Colonel Arnaldo Alvarado 20 Garrison Companies Engineer Battalion (I have left blank spaces so that in the future they can be filled in by yourself, either by additional data that I might find and publish in El Dorado, or by your own researches, let me know if you manage to find anything, thanks. T.D.H.) I also have this data on the Salvadoran Army circa 1966, the source is quoted as being from the "Ministry of Defence Gazette", ( is this U.S., British or from El Salvador, I presume the first) the photocopy was sent to me by Lt. Commander W. M. Thornton M.B.E. R.N.R (Rtd.). El Salvador, Other ranks. Main ceremonial order is: Diario; Tech. Sergeants:- Beige gabardine cap and tunic, khaki shirt. Men: Khaki peaked cap, black visor, (except paras, who wear blue-black beret). Shirt, trousers all in khaki drill, ankle boots and gaiters. Garrison; Men: Field cap in olive-drab, no braid, or bush hat (for Special Forces). Olive-drab shirt and slacks, black combat boots. Combat: As above, with helmet liner, all olive-drab. Branches: These wear scarfs with shirts as follows (Emblems as U.S.): E.M.G.F.A. (Armed Forces General Staff): Apple Green Artillery: Red Infantry: Blue Cavalry: Black Parachutists: Olive Green Special Forces: Light Blue Telecommunications: Orange Engineers: Yellow Military Police: White Rank: General: gilt laurel leaf Colonel: 3 gilt 5 - pointed stars Lt. Colonel: 2 gilt 5 - pointed stars Major: 1 gilt 5 - pointed star Captain: 3 silver 5 - pointed stars Lieutenant: 2 silver 5 - pointed stars 2nd Lieutenant: 1 silver 5 - pointed star Technical (Sargento Técnico) Sergeant: 2 gold chevrons and T on black field Sergeant: 2 gold chevrons on black field Sub-Sergeant: 1 gold chevron on black field Corporal: 1 red chevron on black field Back to Table of Contents: Booklet No. 7, Leticia Conflict Back to El Dorado List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by The South and Central Military Historians Society This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com