- October 10
Franco’s Navarrese Brigade are still heading west into Asturias, and reach the small town of Cangas de Onís. The town, deep in the Picos de Europa, is only 65kms from the city of Gijón, which is preparing for invasion.
A mixture of Republican fighters and International Brigades are still keen to take ground in Aragon, and after minimal gains for heavy losses in the battle of Sabiñánigo, they again plan to attack along the Ebro river in the Zaragoza area. Fighting in the rural areas is sparse and it gains little for either side scattered through the region.
October 13
The Madrid Council, representing socialist parties and workers’ unions, confronts the Spanish government (currently in Valencia) over the influence of the PCE (Partido Comunista de España, Communist party of Spain) in the Republican government. They also protest the recent expulsion of Caballeristas, socialist parliamentary supporters of former prime minister Francisco Largo Caballero.
October 17
Th Consejo Soberano, the Sovereign Council of Asturias and Leon, decide to evacuate, due to the large number of Nationalist soldiers entering the region from fallen Cantabria. The Consejo Soberano is based in Gijón and officials and their families are taken out of the city for their safety. Asturian villages to the west of Gijón are abandoned, as the 1934 miners revolt is still a fresh horror for those living in the mountain areas. Guerilla style groups form, to help protect rural areas from incoming Nationalists, but none have the numbers or resources to save anyone. These men will fight to the death and light houses on fire with dynamite if they flee.
Socialist Francisco Largo Caballero is arrested in Madrid while giving an anti-PCE speech at Pardina cinema. He is placed under house arrest in Madrid and held responsible for the Madrid Council’s anger.
The Condor Legion march through Gijon
October 21
The Nationalist Army of the North finally reaches Gijón. The fall of the city is as bad as expected; rape and murder goes uncontrolled for days as those still in the city are subjected to the Nationalists’ cruelty. Countless thousands are raped and murdered in the first few days of the invasion, and no official count of those tortured and killed is ever recorded. The soldiers plundering the city are so busy with killing, their jurisdiction is called ‘the machine gun’. Unlike many other Republican-held cities, Gijón cannot put up a fight; many have fled, many are already refugees from other cities, they is no international back-up and the atrocities committed are not well-documented or photographed. Wholesale slaughter brings Asturias’ largest city under control within days.
I do not post photos of women raped to death, or mass bodies lined up before firing squads. While the majority of these types of widespread depravity happened earlier in the war, Gijon managed to hold out longer than most main centres. Regardless of when it happened, I do not post such photos. You can search for yourself if you are into such perverse behaviour.
October 30
The Republican government has been safe in Valencia for a year. Valencia is far from the front line and is a base for many Republicans and Spain’s elite who do not side with Franco. Valencia does still suffer many air raids, and the government decides to leave Valencia and move north to Barcelona, despite the Catalonia region not being stable like Valencia.
Need to catch up? – SCW history : October 1936
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This is not a detailed analysis, just a highlight (lowlight?) of the week’s events. Things get lost in translation – Feel free to suggest an addition/clarification/correction below. The more the world remembers, the better. All photos and captions are auto-linked to source for credit, and to provide further information.
CAROLINE ANGUS 