Luis Farell

Luis Farell Cubillas
General Luis Farell Cubillas in 1964.
Born	(1902-09-27)September 27, 1902 San Pedro de las Colonias, Coahuila, Mexico.
Died	July 17, 1977(1977-07-17) (aged 74) Mexico City.
Allegiance	Mexico
Service/branch	Mexican Air Force
Years of service	1920–1964
Rank	Division General of the Mexican Air Force.
Battles/wars	Adolfo de la Huerta coup, Cristero War, Yaqui Campaign, Arnulfo Gomez coup, José Escobar coup, Saturnino Cedillo revolt.
Awards	Cruz de Guerra. Mérito Aeronáutico. Mérito Doscente. Institutional Perseverance. Honor Medal (by Cuba, 1936).

Luis Farell Cubillas (September 27, 1902 – July 17, 1977) was a Mexican Air Force combat pilot during the Revolution of the 1920s. He fought against Adolfo de la Huerta, the Yaqui rebels, General Arnulfo R. Gomez, against the Cristeros and accomplished several bombing and strafing missions against the military coup headed by General José Gonzalo Escobar and the revolt by General Saturnino Cedillo. Farell retired from active service as a Division General while being Sub-Chief of the Mexican Air Force.

Farell Cubillas was born in San Pedro de las Colonias, Coahuila, Mexico, being son of Consuelo Cubillas Gutiérrez – a native of Santander, Spain- and the jeweler Enrique Farell Solá – a native of Lerida, Catalonia, Spain. Luis Farell had 11 siblings, including the senior politician Arsenio Farell Cubillas.

Luis Farell attended school in Mexico City and in February 1911 at the age of 9 years and along with 30,000 spectators, Farell witnessed the aerial exhibition of the Moisant brothers with Blériot airplanes carried out in the fields of Balbuena in Mexico City. In 1920, at the age of 18 years, Farell graduated as accountant just after the military-political events that caused the fall of President Venustiano Carranza. This rebellion had three important leaders: General Alvaro Obregón, General Plutarco Elías Calles and Adolfo de la Huerta. In August 1920, the President Adolfo de la Huerta hired three famous veteran and foreign pilots of World War I with the purpose of training Mexican pilots in modern tactics and organizing a functional air force. The foreign instructors were the American Ralph O'Neill, the German Fritz Bieler and the French instructor Joe Ben Lievre. Ralph O'Neill was designated as Chief Instructor of the Military school of Aviation and under orders of General Gustavo Salinas; the Mexican instructors were Alberto Carranza, Horacio Ruiz Gaviño and the brothers Juan Pablo Aldasoro and Eduardo Aldasoro.