34th Pursuit Squadron The 34th Pursuit Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit . It was wiped out in the Battle of the Philippines ( 1941 – 42 ) . The survivors fought as infantry during Battle of Bataan and after their surrender , were subjected to the Bataan Death March , although some did escape to Australia . The unit was never remanned or equipped . It was carried as an active unit until 2 April 1946 . History . Origns . The squadron was organized at Kelly Field , Texas on 22 December 1939 and assigned to the 28th Composite Group . Activated on 1 February 1940 and equipped with P - 36 Hawk s for training as a part of the Air Corps buildup of forces after the outbreak of World War II in Europe . The squadron was reassigned to Hamilton Field , California on 30 November 1940 , and trained as part of the west coast defense forces . As part of the buildup of forces in the Philippines in the fall of 1941 , it was was relieved from the 28th CG , and the personnel of the squadron ( without equipment ) moved to the Port of Entry , San Francisco , California and departed on the SS President Coolidge , arriving in Manila , Philippine Islands on 20 November 1941 . The 35th Pursuit Group was scheduled to move from Moffett Field , California to reinforce Far East Air Force , and the 34th was concurrently attached to the 24th Pursuit Group in the Philippines , awaiting for the 35th to arrive . Upon arrival it was assigned to Del Carmen Field , Luzon , with the 21st Pursuit Squadron transferring its Seversky P - 35A fighters to the squadron . The P - 35As were manufactured originally for the Swedish Air Force . On 24 October 1940 , President Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order requisitioning all the undelivered EP - 106 aircraft and impressing them into the USAAC . These were designated P - 35A by the Army , and 40 planes were sent to the Philippines during 1941 to bolster the islands ' defenses . Battle of the Philippines . On 8 December 1941 , when the Japanese launched the first air attacks on the Philippines , the P - 35A fighters were an important part of the first line of defense of these islands . After the initial Japanese strikes on Clark and Nichols Fields , the Japanese struck at Del Carmen . With only a few minutes notice of the attack , the 34th pursuit pilots prepared to meet the enemy formations . However , the P - 35As were completely inadequate for the task . By late 1941 standards , the P - 35A was hopelessly obsolescent . It was too lightly armed and lacked either armor around the cockpit or self - sealing fuel tanks . Consequently , the squadron pilots stood little chance against the Japanese Zero fighters and were badly mauled . Most of the aircraft were quickly shot down in combat or else were destroyed on the ground . By December 12 , there were only eight airworthy P - 35As left . By 20 December orders were received to move south to the Bataan Peninsula , and the five remaining aircraft of the 34th attempted to fly to Bataan from Lubao Airfield , but two were shot down as they attempted to land , and a third was destroyed in place when no volunteer could be found to fly it . The last two aircraft of the squadron were flown south to Mindanao on 11 January 1942 , transporting several unit personnel In Their luggage compartments . Remaining ground personnel of the squadron were ordered into ground combat . As an infantry unit , the men were engaged in beach defense of the Bataan peninsula . The last recorded actions by the squadron was on 4 April when the two aircraft briefly returned to Bataan Airfield to evacuate other personnel . One was lost crash landing on Cebu on 10 April . Without any remaining pilots , the sole surviving 34th P - 35A was turned over to a Capt . Ramon Zosa of the Philippine Army Air Corps on 30 April , and flew its last sortie out of Del Monte Airfield , accompanying a P - 40 on a strafing attack of Japanese landings at Macajalar Bay on 3 May . With the collapse of organized United States resistance in the Philippines on 8 May 1942 , a few surviving members of the squadron managed to escape from Mindanao to Australia where they were integrated into existing units . The 34th Pursuit Squadron was never re - manned after the battle . it was simply left on the active list of Fifth Air Force organizations throughout the war . It was inactivated on 2 April 1946 ; the squadron designation has never been reactivated by the United States Air Force .