The Battle of Zarumilla or Zarumilla offensive was a military confrontation between

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

and

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

that took place from July 23 to 31 during the 1941

Ecuadorian–Peruvian War The Ecuadorian–Peruvian War, known locally as the War of '41 (), was a South American border war fought between 5–31 July 1941. It was the first of three military conflicts between Ecuador and Peru during the 20th century. During the war, ...

Background

Hostilities between Peru and Ecuador began on July 5, 1941, when fire was exchanged between both parties. The events themselves, however, are disputed. According to Ecuador, a group of Peruvians, including policemen, crossed the

Zarumilla River The Zarumilla River is a river in South America that marks the border between Peru and Ecuador. It is named after the Peruvian town of Zarumilla. It is part of the Gulf of Guayaquil-Tumbes mangroves Sanctuary and its currents, sediments, and ti ...

into Ecuadorian territory. The Peruvian policemen are then said to have fired first when a border patrol was spotted. According to Peru, the

Ecuadorian Army The Ecuadorian Army () is the land component of the Ecuadorian Armed Forces. Its 25,650 active soldiers are deployed in relation to its military doctrine. The contemporary Ecuadorian Army incorporates many jungle and special forces infantry un ...

shot first at local Civil Guard troops, which exchanged fire for 30 minutes, holding back a potential advance and waiting for reinforcements. After July 5, hostilities along the border continued. As a result, on the night of July 6, the senior commander of the Ecuadorian Army ordered the formation of the 5th Infantry Brigade in El Oro, under the command of Colonel Luis Rodríguez.

Battle

The Peruvian offensive began on July 23, being carried out by the newly formed Northern Army Detachment headed by General

Eloy G. Ureta Eloy Gaspar Ureta Montehermoso (Chiclayo, December 12, 1892 – Madrid, October 10, 1965) was a Peruvian army officer who led the Peruvian Armed Forces to victory in the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War of 1941 for which he was awarded the honorary ...

with the purpose of pushing north into

El Oro Province El Oro (; ''oro'' = gold) is the southernmost of Ecuador's coastal provinces. It was named for its historically important gold production. Today it is one of the world's major exporters of bananas. The capital is Machala. History The area was s ...

to prevent more skirmishes along the disputed

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

Quebrada Seca

On July 23, 1941, the 41st Peruvian Squadron took off from Tumbes to fulfill a mission, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Antonio Alberti and made up of Lieutenants Fernando Paraud, José A. Quiñones and Manuel Rivera, aboard their

North American NA-50 The North American P-64 was the designation assigned by the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) to the North American Aviation NA-68 fighter, an upgraded variant of the NA-50 developed during the late 1930s. Seven NA-50s were purchased by the P ...

or ''Toritos'' fighter planes. The mission consisted of bombing the Ecuadorian post of Quebrada Seca, where they had concentrated the bulk of their anti-aircraft artillery and placed machine guns. According to Peruvian accounts, instead of parachuting to safety, Quiñones chose to crash his damaged aircraft into the Ecuadorian position, rendering the battery out of action. This version of events has been subsequently called into question by Ecuadorian military authorities, who have stated that there were no anti-aircraft guns in the area. The other planes that made up Squadron 41 continued with their mission and carried out a subsequent attack, returning to Tumbes.

Jambelí

The Peruvian destroyer '' Almirante Villar'' set sail from

Zorritos Zorritos is a town in the Tumbes Region, in northwestern Peru. It has a population of 6,605 (1999) and is the capital of the Contralmirante Villar Province. It is also the main settlement in the Zorritos District. Its current mayor is Jesus Al ...

with the mission of entering Ecuadorian waters and carrying out patrolling and reconnaissance tasks in the area. It was then that, being in the vicinity of the Jambelí channel, the Ecuadorian gunboat '' Abdón Calderón'' was spotted. The Ecuadorian ship, which was in transit to

Guayaquil Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...

, turned 180º with respect to its course as soon as it recognized the Peruvian ship, fleeing towards

Puerto Bolívar Puerto Bolívar is an Parishes of Ecuador, urban parish and port city, part of the municipality of Machala, El Oro Province, Ecuador. Puerto Bolívar is one of the world's largest shipment points for bananas, most of them destined for Europe; ab ...

while firing shots. Admiral Villar did the same, maneuvering in circles avoiding getting too close to the coast due to its shallow depth. After 21 minutes of both sides exchanging fire, the incident ended.

Puerto Bolívar

On July 23, Peruvian aircraft carried out a

strategic bombing Strategic bombing is a systematically organized and executed military attack from the air which can utilize strategic bombers, long- or medium-range missiles, or nuclear-armed fighter-bomber aircraft to attack targets deemed vital to the enemy' ...

of the port city. On the next day, aircraft returned to attack the ''Aviso Atahualpa'' patrol boat, located in the docks of the city. The fact that the patrol boat was the target as well as the subsequent defense of it carried out by Ecuadorian troops prevented valuable explosives located nearby from being attacked and ignited. On July 28, Peruvian submarines ' and ' carried out a reconnaissance mission at the

mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...

of the Jambelí Strait in order to detect the presence of artillery. The following day, cruisers ''

Coronel Bolognesi Club Deportivo Coronel Bolognesi is a Peruvian football club located in the city of Tacna. Originally founded on 18 October 1929, It was named after Francisco Bolognesi. Years later, a second branch of the club called Club Sport Bolito, was founded ...

'' and '' Almirante Guise'', during a patrol in front of the Jambelí Strait, bombed Punta Jambelí and Puerto Bolívar, in preparation for the Peruvian advance on El Oro. On July 31, prior to the cease fire that was to be effective on that date, an order was given to capture the city of Puerto Bolívar, which was accomplished using paratroopers from the newly formed

Paratrooper Company The Paratrooper Company () was the paratroop branch of the Aeronautical Corps of Peru. Formed in 1939, it saw combat during the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War, when it seized the Ecuadorian port city of Puerto Bolívar on 27 July 1941, marking the f ...

of the

Peruvian Air Force The Peruvian Air Force (, FAP) is the branch of the Peruvian Military of Peru, Armed Forces tasked with defending the nation and its interests through the use of aerial warfare, air power. Additional missions include assistance in safeguarding i ...

. The use of said paratroopers was decisive in the capture of the city and served as a surprise factor since, only a handful of countries had a unit of said type, such as

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

with their ''

Fallschirmjäger The () were the airborne forces branch of the Luftwaffe before and during World War II. They were the first paratroopers to be committed in large-scale airborne operations. They were commanded by Kurt Student, the Luftwaffe's second-in-comman ...

'', making Peru the first country in the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the 180th meridian.- The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Geopolitically, ...

to deploy paratroopers, being followed by

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in 1944.

Aftermath

After the ceasefire, a

Civil Administration Civil authority or civil government is the practical implementation of a state on behalf of its citizens, other than through military units (martial law), that enforces law and order and that is distinguished from religious authority (for exampl ...

was established in the occupied Province of El Oro by Peru. A month later, on October 2, a bilateral ceasefire was signed which also established a

demilitarized zone A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between states, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or boundary ...

between both states. By the time the ceasefire had been accepted, the cities bombarded by Peru included Santa Rosa, Machala and Puerto Bolívar. Peruvian aircraft had reached

in at least two different occasions, but the squadron sent to the city limited itself to dropping propaganda leaflets, which were republished by Peruvian newspapers ''La Industria'' and ''El Tiempo''. A fire began in Santa Rosa on August 1, 1941, which destroyed over 120 houses. The government of Ecuador, led by Dr.

Carlos Alberto Arroyo del Río Carlos Alberto Arroyo del Río (27 November 1893 – 31 October 1969) was President of Ecuador from 1940 to 1944. He was a member of the Ecuadorian Radical Liberal Party. During his term, the country decisively lost the 1941 Ecuadorian–Pe ...

, signed the

Rio de Janeiro Protocol The Protocol of Peace, Friendship, and Boundaries between Peru and Ecuador, or Rio Protocol for short, was an international agreement signed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 29, 1942, by the foreign ministers of Peru and Ecuador, with the p ...

on January 29, 1942, with which Ecuador officially renounced its claim to a sovereign outlet to the Amazon River. On February 12, 1942, Peruvian troops vacated the Ecuadorian province of El Oro.

Gallery

Batalla en Tembleque 1941.png, Peruvian troops during a battle in Tembleque Island Puesto ecuatoriano de Chacras capturado el 23 de julio.jpg, A captured Ecuadorian outpost in Chacras. Bandera peruana en Quebrada Seca.jpg, The Peruvian flag flies over Quebrada Seca. Puerto Bolivar 1941 3.jpg, Reconnaissance photo of Puerto Bolívar prior to its invasion. Bombardeo a Ecuador 1941.jpg, Bombing of Ecuador by Peruvian aircraft Santa Rosa.png, The town of Santa Rosa prior to its invasion Incendio Santa Rosa 1941 retouched.png, Santa Rosa during the fire. Ecuador durante la ocupación 1941.png, The Ecuadorian coast during the Peruvian occupation on the 31st. Manuel Odría en Puerto Bolívar (provincia de El Oro).jpg, Peruvian troops in Puerto Bolívar during the occupation. Future president

Manuel A. Odría Manuel Arturo Odría Amoretti (26 November 1896 – 18 February 1974) was a military officer who served as the 45th President of Peru. He ousted President José Luis Bustamante y Rivero in the 1948 Peruvian coup d'état and seized power. He pr ...

can be seen among them.

References

Bibliography

Notes

{{notelist Ecuadorian–Peruvian War 1941 in Ecuador 1941 in Peru Wars involving Peru Wars involving Ecuador Zarumilla Zarumilla Zarumilla