Yague – CAROLINE ANGUS

This Week in Spanish Civil War History – Week 142: The Final Offensive 26 March – 1 April 1939

Published on March 27, 2019March 23, 2023 by Caroline AngusLeave a comment

March 26

General Yagüe and his troops advance north and east from the Sierra Morena mountains, on the Andalusia/Castilla La Mancha border. Any remaining Republican soldiers in the country are ordered to drop their weapons and retreat from any remaining front-lines. Nothing can be done to stop the Nationalists now. In a single day, the Nationalist troops take 200,000 square kilometres of land and take 30,000 Republican prisoners. Escobar Huerta surrenders the city of Ciudad Real to Yagüe inside an old casino, and is then shipped off to be executed.

March 27

General Solchaga’s Navarre Corps, General Garcia Valiño’s Army of Maestrazgo, and General Gambara’s Italian troops are ordered to take the city of Toledo, which has spent much of the war on the front-line, and just 70 kilometres from Madrid. The city suffers unconditional surrender and prisoners are quickly captured. Anyone Republican must be swiftly rounded up.

March 28

Republic Colonel Prada officially surrenders Madrid to the Nationalists, who have had the city surrounded for almost three years, and the Nationalists are able to enter the city without a fight. All remaining leaders of the Republicans who are in Madrid flee to Valencia in the hope of escape, including General Casado, who had been trying to negotiate a peaceful surrender with Franco.

Troops mingle with locals as they enter Madrid

March 29

The Nationalists now hold the main centre of Jaén, some 90 kilometres north of Granada, and have also marched 250 kilometres southeast of Madrid to Albacete and Cuenca, so most of Castilla La Mancha is now occupied. The port town of Sagunto, just 30 kilometres north of Valencia city, is occupied, leaving Republicans refugees almost nowhere else to go.

March 29

The ports of Valencia, Gandia, Alicante and Cartagena are still in Republican hands, and 50,000 Republican refugees are stranded along the coast, without any Republican navy to aid them from the coming onslaught. British and French ships in the regions cannot take refugees, as their governments have recognised Franco’s control over Spain. Hundreds of Spaniards rich enough to bribe foreign ship captains are able to escape, General Casado included.

March 30

The Nationalists take Valencia, marking the final demise of the Republican effort to save their country. Gambara’s Italian troops take Alicante and its port, taking 15,000 refugees prisoner at the port. Gambara is prepared to allow political refugees to leave the country, but the Nationalists shall not allow it. At the port in Alicante, refugees start committing suicide in huge numbers, to avoid the Nationalists, who are only one day away from arriving.

The British Stanbrook leaving Alicante with rich refugees, bound for Algeria.

March 31

After taking the regions of Almeria, Murcia and Cartagena in the far south-east, all of Spain is now under Nationalist occupation. All remaining refugees in Spain are huddled in Alicante port, hoping their chance to be evacuated will still come. The Nationalist troops arrive, and the refugees are slowly lined up to be taken prisoner. But there are 20,000 terrified people, and they have to suspend capturing people until the next day, giving more the chance to commit suicide at the port before being taken away. The suicide toll runs into the hundreds.

April 1

Generalissimo Francisco Franco broadcasts what will be his last radio message of the war:

Today, after having disarmed and captured the Red Army, the Nationalist troops have secured their final military objective. The war is ended. Burgos, April 1, 1939. Year of Victory.

As of April 1, only the Soviet Union does not already recognise Franco’s government. Franco already has a new Non-Aggression Pact with Portugal and a treaty of friendship with Germany, leaving Spain to be neutral in WWII, while they recover from civil war. Within a week, Franco backs the Anti-Comintern Pact between Germany and Japan to denounce Communism. German and Italian troops leave by June 1939, in preparation for the coming European war.

The Final Offensive saw 150,000 Republic soldiers and civilian rounded up in the concentration camps, bringing the total of Republic prisoners in April 1939 to upwards of 500,000. Within just several years, over 50,000 will have already been executed.

After three years of bloody battles, of murder, rape, pillaging, looting, of destruction of cities, towns, communities, ways of life, ideals, and families, evil emerges the winner. All sides of political spectrum have fought, the rich against the poor, the workers against those desperate to hold onto the monarchy, religion, and landowning feudal rulers, everyone and everything has been pitted against one another for a horror show of gore and misery. Approximately one million people are dead, murdered by people of their own country. From the sprawling rural plains to the ancient cities, everything has been reduced to nothing, every way of life hacked to pieces. Civilians have been herded and lined up to be executed, women raped until they died and left sprawled in the dirt. Bodies of nuns were dug up and displayed, family members ripped from their homes in the dead of night and shot in ditches, their families still to scared to speak up eighty years later.

Nationalist victory parade in San Sebastian

While April 1st marks the end of the Spanish Civil War, the war didn’t end for many. Franco’s first decree was to ensure all Republicans would suffer for their choices. More than 1000 concentration camps were erected in Spain, holding people well into the 1950’s. Many didn’t survive the camps. How many people died between 1939 and 1975 isn’t known, but one estimate is almost one million. Fascism and staunch Catholicism wormed its way into every part of Spanish life, its people silenced as Franco systemically destroyed everyone who hated him. Right up until Franco died, he signed death warrants, a miserable old bastard who got to die warm in his bed.

With WWII starting just a few months after Spain was brought down, Franco and what he did has been largely ignored, by history and anyone not directly affected. Franco couldn’t have won the war without Hitler and Mussolini, whose European exploits shot memories of their fascist cruelty into the hearts and minds of everyone, unforgettable despotic hatred. Franco allowed the Germans and Italians to aid him, and they used Spain as their own practice killing fields, testing new methods of warfare, such as carpet bombing, testing men and artillery, preparing for the fight to take Europe. Countries such as the UK and France sat idly by, hoping to avert a European war by doing nothing, when they could have potentially stopped Germany, Italy and Spain before the Nazis took over. But not the UK, France, nor any other country in the Non-Intervention Committee bothered to help, countries overrun by Germany soon after. The Germans and Italians assumed the UK would quickly intervene when the war started, and were surprised that nothing happened in retaliation. The US was as unhelpful in the Spanish Civil War as it was in the first two years of WWII. The only people desperate to stop all this were the Spanish Republicans, and the thousands of individuals who risked their lives to find their own way to Spain to help. Many never made it home, many who did were punished for their bravery.

I will do a separate post as to the fates of the main players of the war on both sides, as well as the struggles faced by the people in their home cities and towns in the aftermath. I will also post about the ongoing discovery of ‘disappeared’ Spaniards still being reburied, the fates of the refugees who walked into France, and what happened to the International Brigades. I will also do a post on the many sources I have used for these three years of postings.

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.

This Week in Spanish Civil War History – Weeks 129 – 131: 1 – 21 January 1939

Published on January 6, 2019January 6, 2019 by Caroline AngusLeave a comment

January 3

Nationalist occupations continue in Catalonia, with General Solchaga’s men taking Les Borges Blanques, General Valiño and General Grande’s troops take Artesa, and Yague and his Moroccan Legionnaires manage to cross the Ebro. General Moscardo starts an attack from a base in Lleida, while the Italian troops join General Solchaga’s troops in Les Borges Blanques to continue the offensive towards Barcelona.

January 5

As the Catalonia Offensive takes up all of the Nationalist attention, the far-west Extremadura Republicans plan the Battle of Valsequillo, also known as the Battle of Peñarroya, 75 kilometres north-west of Cordoba over the Andalucia border. The XXII Corps led by Colonel Juan Ibarrola (the 47th Division, 70th Division, and the 10th Divisions, joined by Major Nilamon Toral, and his 6th, 28th and 52nd divisions ), combine to attack the border and capture Hinojosa del Duque, creating an eight kilomotre break in the Nationalist frontline. Within a day, they make it through another frontline to capture Fuente Obejuna, and take Los Blazquez and Peraleda del Zaucejo by January 7.

January 7

The weather has changed in Extremadura, and while the Republicans have 90,000 men, the poor weather means their 40 tanks cannot advance any further in thick mud. The offensive needs to halt, but they have taken 500 square kilometres, though the land has no strategic value.

January 9

General Moscardo’s Aragon Army Corps combine with General Gambara’s infantry at Mollerussa, and break through a Republican frontline. The Republicans have their V and XV Republic Corps in the region, but they are beaten back in heavy fighting and are forced to retreat.

January 15

The Nationalist Aragon and Maestrazgo Corps combine and take the town of Cervera, forcing a rereat of any remaining Republicans in the area, who had been separated while fighting in Mollerusa. General Yague’s Moroccan Legionnaires march a full 50 kilometres in a single day, and occupy the hugely strategic town of Tarragona, only 100 kilometres from Barcelona. By this stage, 23,000 Republicans have been captured, another 5,000 soldiers are already dead.

January 17

The Nationalists in Extremadura and Cordoba begin their counteroffensive, bringing together 80,000 men to retake control of the area around Valsequillo. They bring seven divisions (10th, 40th, 74th, 81st, 60th, 112th and 122nd divisions) led by General Queipo de Llano and spread out, quickly recapturing the town of Peraleda del Zaucejo.

January 20

With the Nationalists moving through Catalonia at a huge speed, Franco has planned a huge bombing attack on the city of Barcelona, set to take place over January 21 -23, with 40 attacks, an in attempt to destroy all defenses the Republicans have put in place. The Nationalist men on the ground are fast making their way in Barcelona, and the people of the city need to decide if they will stay and fight or run for the French border some 150 kilometres away.

This is not a detailed analysis, just a highlight (lowlight?) of the month’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.

This Week in Spanish Civil War History – Weeks 104 – 107: 1 – 31 July 1938 – Two Years of War; the 80th Anniversary of Ebro

Published on July 19, 2018July 19, 2018 by Caroline AngusLeave a comment

July 1

July 1938 has all eyes on Valencia, Catalonia and Aragon, and yet in the south-west, the Mérida pocket is also suffering new battles. Extremadura, the most western area of Spain, was quickly taken by the Nationalists when the war broke out, but the Mérida pocket is the sole area held by Republicans, an area west of Mérida in the La Serena region in Badajoz province. Franco wants the Mérida pocket in his control to settle the entire region. If Republicans could take Mérida, then they could cut the Nationalist zone in Extremadura in half. While the Nationalists had quietly secured the frontline along the Zújar River in June, Franco implements a plan to circle all remaining Republican men and execute the whole lot, whose numbers could be as high as 10,000.

July 10

The Battle of the Ebro preparation is well underway. The Republican Ebro Army was formed on May 15 by the Republicans, in response to massive gains made by the Nationalists as they murder their way through the Valencia region. Lieutenant Colonel Juan Modesto took control of both the 5th and 15th Army Corps, which combined the 35th International Division (made of the XI, XIII and XV International Brigades), the 3rd Division (made of the 31st, 33rd and 60th mixed brigades) the 42nd Division (made of the 226th, 227th and 59th brigades), the 15th Army Corps (with the 16th Popular Republican Army Division of the 12th Army Corps) and the 3rd Cavalry Regiment. By mid-July many anti-aircraft weapons arrive along with 11th Division (made of the 1st, 9th and 100th mixed brigades), the 46th Division (made of the 10th, 60th and 101st mixed brigades) and the 45th Division International Division (made with the 12th”Garibaldi”, 14th “Marsellesa” and 139th mixed brigades).

July 13

The Republicans add more to their numbers with the 12th Army Corps, now led by Lieutenant Colonel Etelvino Vega. The 12th Army Corps was then made up of the 16th Division (including the 23rd and 24th mixed brigades) and the 44th Division (including the 140th, 144th and 145th mixed brigades). The 18th Army Corps bring Lieutenant Colonel José del Barrio to lead the 27th Division (including the 122nd “la Bruixa”, the 123rd and 124th mixed brigades), the 60th Division (with the 95th, 84th and 224th mixed brigades) and 43th Division (with the 72nd, 102nd and 130th mixed brigades). At its height, the Republican troops will number 80,000 men.

Republican soldiers at the Ebro, July 1938

July 15

The Nationalist army has been storming regions around the Ebro for months and have many huge battalions in the area. The Army of the North, controlled by General Fidel Davila, a powerful and successful group, are flanked by the 40th, 50th and 105th Divisions of the Moroccan Army Corps under vicious General Yague. Included in the Moroccan Corps are the Legionarios, Regulares, the Carlists and Falaganists and African mercenaries, all groups well-known over the past two years for wild slaughter, torture and rape of troops and civilians. General Rafael García Valiño’s Maestrazgo Army Corps, made of the 1st Navarra Division and the 74th, 84th and 13th Divisions are also very close by, having controlled the northwest Valencia region. The numbers the Nationalists have/can access is 90,000 experienced men.

July 18

Today marks two years of civil war in Spain. The death tolls is already into the hundreds of thousands, with no spot in the country unaffected. Madrid continues to be held by the Republicans while surrounded by Nationalists, who still cannot get through the front-lines. Catalonia’s uprising with the rights of workers has long dimmed as the war nears their own streets, and the Aragonese anarchist lifestyle has been destroyed. Concentration camps have been set up to take Republicans, if they are not first executed. All major cities, except for capital Valencia, Madrid and Barcelona, rest in Nationalist hands. Europe is looking nervously at Hitler, yet not helping the people of Spain, already suffering Hitler’s power as Franco looks to join Hitler and Mussolini as Europe’s great fascist leaders. Precious few believe in the Republican cause now, which is the one card they have to play in the Battle of the Ebro, as they have the element of surprise on the Nationalist troops.

July 20

South in Extremadura, the Mérida Pocket is going to be closed by the Nationalists. General Saliquet, based in the northern area of the Badajoz region, marches his men south into La Serena, where the Republican front-line is strong. At the same time, General Queipo de Llano has been marching his men northwest towards La Serena. This makes the Republicans embattled at both their major front-lines, and are routinely pounded by gunfire for four days.

24 July

The Republican divisions, the VII Army Corps with the 36th and 36th Divisions from Algodar to Zújar, and the VIII Army Corps with the 38th, 63rd and 51st divisions from Zújar to Guadalmellato, are completely overtaken by Nationalist troops. The battle ends with the massive slaughter of troops throughout the Don Benito and Villanueva de la Serena areas, murdering the whole Extramaduran Republican Army. This short battle is the largest slaughter of troops in the region (as civilian slaughter and imprisonment has been wholesale here since the outbreak of war). Nationalist men continue their march through the Mérida pocket of La Serena, eastwards into Toledo province, where the Republican 91st and 109th mixed brigades are trapped on every side. These remaining men are rounded up to be placed in the Castuera concentration camp 45 kilometres south, though most will be executed in the camp. Colonel Ricardo Burillo, leader of the Extremadura Army Corps, survives, and is dismissed after the bloody defeat of around 10,000, while the Nationalists have lost almost no one.

July 25

After a week of planning, the commanders of the 14th Republican Army Corps cross the Ebro river, to watch the Nationalists, taking their positions while other troops prepare river crossings. The Nationalists soon see what is happening, reporting to Franco that the Republicans and their International Brigades are on the bank of the river with rafts and pontoons. Franco is not concerned, aware of how weakened the Republicans have been in the area.

The early hours of July 25 are completely dark with no moon. Between Fayon and Benifallet, a 45 kilometre bend in the river, the commanders again cross the river and kill 50th Division Nationalist guards posted in the area. After fastening assault boats, the first of 90 boats cross, ten men in each boat, under darkness. All following troops then cross on pontoon bridges at daybreak. The Nationalists are totally unprepared for this wide attack, overcome in surprise. The International Brigade attack 40 kilometres south of Benifallet at Amposta, but are overpowered within the first 18 hours of combat, with the few survivors retreating back over the Ebro.

Around 4,000 Nationalist men of the 50th division are imprisoned, while some manage to desert. The Republican 15th Army Corps carry on, and advance three miles north, while the 5th Army Corps manage a huge 21 kilometres east.

July 26

The Republicans have marched 30 kilometres south to Gandesa, and now occupy 800 square kilometres, but cannot hold Gandesa, as the Nationalists’ 13th division have the town fortified. Franco frantically deploys more troops to counter the attacks, with an extra eight divisions, 140 bombers and 100 fighters sent to the Ebro. The Nationalists hold the dams at Tremp and Camarasa, which are opened, flooding the Republican pontoons, which take two days to repair. At the same time the German Condor Legion and Italian Aviazione Legionaria bomb the pontoon bridges, which can only be repaired at night. Due to the planes and the flooding, the Republicans have only got 22 tanks and minimal artillery over the bridges, leaving men exposed and without water and food.

International Brigades cross at Minveret

July 27

The town of Gandesa is a key target for the Republicans, which is 25 kilometres west of their first river crossing point. Gandesa is surrounded by hilly limestone terrain in the Caballs, Pandols and Fatarella ranges. The limestone hills have little shelter, leaving the men at the mercy of overhead bombers. But they push on, spread out over a 35 kilometre line, eager to take Gandesa, a pivotal town into Catalonia, so men and tanks are forced over the limestone hillsides.

July 31

The leading Nationalist commanders want to hold their ground at Grandesa, keeping the town in their hands and stopping the Republicans, while also planning to attack them from the north. But Franco is unwilling to listen to this, as he is pleased to have the strength of the Republican army trapped within a 35 kilometre stretch. Regardless of the loss of life, Franco wants the Nationalists to regain all the ground they have lost, rather than holding Republicans in place. Franco wants them back over the Ebro and killed.

The International Brigades, who have been mixed with 15th Army Corps, have regrouped after their failed crossing at Amposta, and plan an attempt to take Hill 481, right outside the town of Gandesa. It will be a risky attack, with no cover from the air bombers. The battle still has four months to run.

bombing of Barcelona 1938

This Week in Spanish Civil War History – Weeks 88/89: 16 – 31 March 1938

Published on March 22, 2018March 22, 2018 by Caroline AngusLeave a comment

March 16

With the battle of Aragon in full swing, the border with France is open to allow Russian supplies to flow down to Barcelona and into Aragon to aid the Republicans. Mussolini has a new strategy, to literally win the war with fear and terror, by bombing the civilians in Barcelona.

Barcelona has no aircraft artillery and no fighter cover. None of the Spanish Republican Air Force are based in Barcelona, leaving the city exposed to the surprise attack. At around 10pm, the Italian Aviazione Legionaria arrived from Mallorca with German Heinkel He 51s and Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 and Savoia-Marchetti SM.81s to begin the first of 17 air raids, at three-hour intervals. The darkness means people are caught out by the attacks.

After weeks of fighting in Aragon, the Spanish fighters and International Brigades, led by Republican commander Vicente Rojo have established a defensive in the town of Caspe (only 130 kilometres from the eastern coast), where they have been pushed back 36 kilometres from their original front lines. The Nationalist have forced the Republicans into the centre fo Caspe, with the XV International Brigades desperate to hold the small town. The Nationalists have many troops and a strong air support behind them, and this is a last chance for the Republicans to hold back the onslaught. What begins is two days of heavy and brave fighting by the International Brigades to hold the Nationalists out of Caspe.

March 17

The Italian bombing of Barcelona continues with civilian targets hit, rather than military areas. While Barcelona has an air-raid alarm system in the city, the consistency of the attacks causes confusion, as the air-raid alarm sounds at both the beginning and end an attack. With three hourly attacks, the alarms do little more than cause panic, as the beginning and end alarms are so close together there is no telling what is happening. The bombs dropped are delayed-fuse, meaning they fall through into a building, or onto a street, then detonate, destroying things at ground level. Such a brutal and unjustified attack on civilians begins to be reported around the world, with foreign leaders condemning such cruel attacks.

The XV International Brigades and their Spanish comrades are still battling in Caspe, but are eventually overcome by the Nationalist men who are better equipped. While numbers in the battle are unknown, most of the Spanish and International men are killed in fighting, and the Nationalist battalions quickly move on to continue their march towards the coast. These battles are quickly wiping out all the men and hard work done by international volunteers through the war. The Nationalists can continue their push east and north-east, with plans to take Lleida in Catalonia, some 80 kilometres north-east.

March 18

The 17th and final bombing by the Italians hits Barcelona at 3pm. The Republican air force did not arrive until March 17, and are unable to do much to deter the heavy bombers. Overnight the working class areas of the city, where many left-wing supporters live, were badly damaged in the bombings, and the lateral force of the bombs means everything is demolished, especially innocent people. One bombs lands in the courtyard outside the Sant Felip Neri church, murdering the 30 playing refugee children who lived there. After 44 tonnes of bombs have been dropped, between 1000 and 1300 people are dead, another 2000 wounded, while the Nationalists and their Italian allies have suffered no losses. The Foreign Minister in Italy is quoted as saying “(Mussolini) was pleased by the fact that the Italians have managed to provoke horror, by their aggression instead of complacency with their mandolins. This will send up our stock in Germany, where they love total and ruthless war.” Countries around the world denounce such behaviour, yet none step in to help. As the bombing had no provocation, neither any need to stop, it is believed Barcelona has been used as a site to practice such terror raids on civilians, for later use on the nations as part of Germany’s escalation in Europe.

remains of the Sant Felip Neri bombing

March 20

While the fighting had been ongoing in Caspe, 27 kilometres south in Alcañiz, the Italian forces in the Nationalist camps were also gaining ground on the eastern march. Republican outposts are ill-equipped and can not fight effectively. Floods of Republican troops are fleeing through the Aragon region and also north up into Catalonia. Whole units are either collapsing in battle, or due to desertion and retreat. As the men run, both German and Italian planes were able to attack from overhead. General Karol Świerczewski, leader of International Brigades barely manages to escape the battle at Alcañiz as the Italians take over.

The Nationalists decide to pause and regroup and reorganise, as their 100,000 men are well spread out over a large region. They stop among the Ebro and Guadalope rivers, to prepare for their next attacks.

March 22

The Nationalists decided to begin a new attack, this time further 100 kilometres northwest, between Zaragoza and Huesca. This area has been part of the Republican territory since the beginning of the war, and has been part of the Aragon social revolution, where the poor and working class managed to gain control and began a new lifestyle, without government control or money, with land redistributed to help employ and feed the population. But the time has come for the area to be invaded, and the Nationalists storm the area along the 75 kilometre stretch between Zaragoza and Huesca, an east-bound flood of battle. The civilians in the area are now forced to flee or die, resulting in countless refugees leaving the Aragon region. In a single day, troops heading east from Zaragoza make it 75 kilometres to Bujaraloz and north in Huesca, they conquer 50 kilometres east towards Barbastro, with varying distances in between along the mountainous area. This strong and proud region has been cut down in only one day of battle.

Republican men outside Fraga

March 25

Cruel General Yague is leading the Nationalist battalions out of Barastro, and manage to fight their way to Fraga, 50 kilometres east from Barbastro. This marks the day that the Nationalists finally enter the region of Catalonia, with the vast majority of Aragon now totally defeated. Republicans are either being killed, captured (death would be better), or retreat with the refugees. Fraga is only 100 kilometres from the Catalonia coast.

Republicans in Barbastro

March 27

Yague and his men now look to push on to the larger town of Lleida, but are slowed down by a strong Republican defense, lead by Communist Valentín ‘El Campesino’ González, who is miraculously still alive throughout all these battles. Much of the Nationalist front-line has slowed due to total lack of need to fight, with most of Aragon in their possession. But El Campesino holds the northern battle area, and Colonel Duran and his men hold the southern Maestrazgo area, all fighting bravely to allow the majority of Republicans to escape into the rugged Maestrazgo mountain area in south Aragon/northern Valencia region, where they are safe and hidden. A week the Nationalists are held off as men run for safety throughout the southern Aragon region.

Another Nationalist group, fighting the 100 kilometers north from Huesca up to the Pyrenees, also encounter little resistance. The Republicans are beginning to turn on one another; Communists refuse to share artillery with anarchists, and many Republicans retreating their posts and battalions completely. Andre Marty, who is commanding the International Brigades, is seeing the total destruction of all the work done by the volunteers over the course of the war. Men are now traitors as they flee for their lives alongside their Spanish counterparts. Men are turning on eachother, with executions performed among their fellow officers if accused of being a traitor or cowards. The Republican front-lines are falling away and the International Brigades are all but lost, left to die and rot where they fall.

All is not lost; a Republican battalion manages to hold off the Nationalists at Solchaga, some 270 kilometres west of Huesca. Due to this offensive, and the battles for Lleida and Maestrazgo, precious Russian supplies are being received in Barcelona, where they can be distributed along the coast, to aid the Republicans when the Nationalists eventually arrive. The battle for the Mediterranean coast still has months to go, and the Republicans are getting armed and prepared.

International Brigades encounter Italian troops in Gandesa, and 150 are killed, another 100 captured

March 31

The Aragon offensive is now largely over, with the exception of the far north along the Pyrenees, where Franco worries the French may rise up to defend themselves. The Nationalist men, tired and losing numbers, need to slow to recover, before finishing the region piece by piece over coming weeks. Soon the Levante offensive can begin, taking the Mediterranean coastline of the Catalonia and Valencia regions, but first the Segre river battle must be won, to take hold of water supplies and vital hydro dams which spreads from Segre to 170 kilometres north in the Pyrenees.

This Week in Spanish Civil War History – Weeks 86-87: 1 – 15 March 1938

Published on March 10, 2018March 10, 2018 by Caroline AngusLeave a comment

March 5

The Nationalists have a large naval base on the island of Mallorca, where two heavy cruisers, Baleares and Canarias, set off as an escort for a convoy, accompanied by a light cruiser named Almirante Cervera, flanked by three destroyers. The ships are protecting an Italian shipment of artillery heading south along Spain’s eastern coast line. At the same time, the Republican navy sets out from their base in Cartegena, with two light cruisers, the Mendez Nunez and the Libertad, flanked by five destroyers, all heading north along the coast. As night falls, the three Nationalist destroyers turn back toward Mallorca as planned, while the cruisers continue their journey.

March 6

In the night, quite by chance the two groups meet off the coast of Murcia, near Cape Palos, and a Republican destroyer fires a torpedo, missing the Nationalist fleet. The Nationalists decide they want to avoid a battle, as they are better suited to fighting in daylight, but the Republicans are keen to engage with the enemy.

Just after 2am, the Nationalists fire upon the encroaching Libertad, who is situated only 5000 metres away. The Republican cruisers begin firing back, and three of the Republican destroyers, the Sanchéz Barcáiztegui, Lepanto, and Almirante Antequera, manage to move away unseen, before turning to fire a total of 12 torpedoes from a range of about 3000 metres. Several torpedoes damage the Nationalist Baleares, and one torpedo from the Lepanto makes a central hit which begins to sink the Baleares.

The other Nationalist cruisers flee as Baleares goes down. By luck, the stern manages to stay afloat, and two British destroyers head to the battle from 75 kilometres away. The Kempenfelt and Boreas destroyers manage to save 441 or the 1206 Baleares crew.

As dawn breaks over the area, the Nationalist cruisers return to the scene, and meet with the British Boreas, to collect their rescued men. But Republican bombers have arrived to attack from the air and one British naval officer is killed in the attack.

The sinking of the Baleares is one of the last successes the Republicans will have in the war, with the men on all the Republican ships given bravery medals for their roles. The battle of Cape Palos has no effect on the war itself, but is still considered to be an impressive Republican victory.

the Baleares sinking, as seen from a Republican bomber

March 7

Franco begins the Aragon Offensive. The Nationalists have 100,000 men between Zaragoza and Teruel, an area only separated by 180 kilometres. With them comes about 950 planes, 200 tanks and thousands of well-equipped trucks. New artillery built in the Basque Country and aid from the German Condor Legion and Italian fascists mean the Nationalists are ready for the huge push to cut off the Catalonia and Levante regions from each other. While the Republicans have as many (possibly more) men than the Nationalists, their artillery and weapons had been decimated in the failed battle of Teruel only weeks earlier. Most men don’t even have a gun. Republican generals were ready for the Nationalists to resume their cancelled Guadalajara offensive, so the Aragon offensive to break through to the Mediterranean coast comes as a surprise attack.

A 6.30am attack begins by the Nationalists along the 100 kilometre Republican front-line between Vivel del Rio Martin and the Ebro river. The northern Ebro area is attacked by General Yague’s cruel African army with the German Condor Legion flying relentlessly overhead. The front-line breaks on the first day of the attack. The fighting goes on for days as the Nationalists slaughter their way down the right bank of the Ebro river.

March 10

The XV International Brigade, with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade as support, attempt to hold the already battered town of Belchite. Nationalist General Solchaga launches an offensive to take the town back from the Republicans, which results in the final bombing and destruction of the village. Belchite marks 35 kilometers that the Nationalists have eaten into Republican territory over only four days of battle. Famed Lincoln commander Robert Merriman is killed as he orders the retreat of his men while the Nationalists took over, and most of the international volunteers are killed alongside Merriman. This was the start was what became known as The Retreats, as the Nationalists pushed towards the Levante coast, and all enemy soldiers and prisoners are executed without delay. Almost none of the International Brigades survive the Belchite assault. Around 55 kilometres south from Belchite, the Italian Black Arrow division at Rudilla break through the front-line and continue the fascist march east.

Belchite after its second bombing

March 13

From the southern tip of the offensive at Vivel de Rio Martin to the north at Ebro, the Nationalists are making their way through the front-lines, and begin the next phase of moving both east and north, as the assault will stretch north right to the Pyrenees some 300 kilometres away. Retreat is in full swing by Republican soldiers who haven’t been killed, and the Republican factions, made of multiple groups, are splitting apart, with many turning against the communist allies and mutiny is rife. Decorated Communist Generals Lister and Marty attack each other rather than the enemy. Lister begins shooting commanders who direct their troops to retreat from battles.

The Republicans are now looking to retreat to the town of Caspe, some 115 kilometres east of their front-lines, to regroup as the Nationalists storm towards them. The commander-in-chief of the Republican army, Vicente Rojo, looks to set the centre of the Republicans in Caspe, but three strong Nationalist battalions are fighting towards Caspe at great speed, while the Republicans lose enormous ground.

marching to Caspe

March 15

The French government reopens their borders with Spain and Russian supplies can get towards Barcelona to aid the Republicans. The same day, Mussolini looks to stop these supplies by planning a huge terror raid in Barcelona, to bomb the city to pieces so the struggling Republicans cannot get their supplies.

March 16 is chosen as the start dates for both the bombing of Barcelona and the Battle of Caspe.