The Bombing of Naco

[W.G.Ewald]

Another Bizarre Tale of the West - The Bombing of Naco | SimplyLife

An event on the US-Mexican border in 1929.

Patrick Murphy [was] a pilot with a bi-wing plane sitting idle. Being an Irishman, he had a few whiskeys in Bisbee and decided to go down to Naco and offer his services as a bomber pilot to the poor under-equipped rebels. He offered to make some custom bombs and make a run at routing the army. It was all quickly arranged with the rebels who promised some significant pesos for his services.

Murphy went to work assembling homemade bombs with dynamite, nails, scrap iron, and bolts. He stuffed them into old suitcases and iron pipes.On March 31 and April 1, he made two attempts at bombing the army, both of which failed since the bombs didn't explode. On his third attempt, he flew low over the town of Naco, Sonora and let the third load fall. Unfortunately, it hit the customshouse and sprayed shrapnel towards the U.S. audience. Undaunted, the pilot hastily flew back to his hangar and made four more bombs. He was getting better, or so it seemed.

He continued his bombing raids and on April 6 he made his most magnificent strike. He managed to kill two Mexican soldiers in a trench and then things really went south or rather north. Murphy grossly miscalculated and continued his raid on Naco, Arizona. He managed to bomb a garage, broke the windows out of the Naco Pharmacy, wrecked a touring car, damaged the Phelps Dodge Mercantile, and the U.S. Post Office. The pilot who sensed he might be in trouble with the U.S. government, parked his plane and slipped into Mexico. The U.S. Army came out and immediately disabled the plane, while Gen. Topete of the rebel forces promised the U.S. there wouldn't be any more bombings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Murphy_(pilot)

Murphy owned a biplane around the time of the Cristero War (also known as "The Cristiada") in Mexico against the purportedly anti-Catholic and secular government of Emilio Portes Gil. He was hired to aid the rebels by using his biplane to bomb the government-controlled town of Naco, Sonora.[2] He made several attempts in 1929 between March 31 and April 6 to bomb Naco but also, apparently accidentally, bombed the Arizona border town of the same name, destroying various buildings and a car. His poor accuracy has been variously blamed on high winds perhaps combined with the consumption of alcohol by either himself, his 'bombardier', or both.[1] The plane was eventually shot down by Mexican 'Federales' troops, but Murphy escaped to rebel territory and eventually crossed to the United States, where he was immediately arrested.[3][4]