224th Mixed Brigade (Spain)

224th Mixed Brigade; 224.ª Brigada Mixta
	Military flag of the Popular Army
Active	1937–1939
Country	Spain
Branch	Spanish Republican Army
Type	Mixed Brigade
Role	Home Defence
Size	Four battalions: ; The 893, 894, 895 and 896
Part of	Coastal Defence (1937); 72nd Division (1937–1938); 60th Division (1938)
Engagements	Spanish Civil War
Commanders
Notable; commanders	Martín Calvo Calvo ; Antonio Moya Gabarrón

Last updated March 05, 2019

The 224th Mixed Brigade (Spanish : 224.ª Brigada Mixta^[1]^[2]) was a mixed brigade of the Spanish Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War. It was formed in summer 1937 in Catalonia from scattered Coastal Defence units and had four battalions: the 893, 894, 895 and 896.

Spanish or Castilian, is a Western Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain and today has hundreds of millions of native speakers in the Americas and Spain. It is a global language and the world's second-most spoken native language, after Mandarin Chinese.

A mixed brigade was a tactical military formation of the Spanish Republican Army following the coup of July 1936 and the onset of the Spanish Civil War. It was the basic military unit of the Republican People's Army after its war-dictated 1936 reorganization.

The Spanish Republican Army was the main branch of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic between 1931 and 1939.

Aragon is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza. The current Statute of Autonomy declares Aragon a historic nationality of Spain.

The number of this unit was assigned then to a new brigade established a month later, on 19 April 1938. This new mixed brigade also suffered many losses and only a few of its men survived and were able to cross the French border while fleeing from the advancing rebel armies.^[1]

The Nationalist faction or Rebel faction was a major faction in the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939. It was composed of a variety of political groups that supported the Spanish coup of July 1936 against the Second Spanish Republic, including the Falange, the CEDA, and two rival monarchist claimants: the Alfonsists and the Carlists. In 1937, all the groups were merged into the Falange. One of the main leaders of the 1936 coup, General Francisco Franco, would lead this faction throughout the war and later would become the dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975.

History

The 224th Mixed Brigade was established in August 1937 in Catalonia with Coastal Defence (Defensa de Costas) units as a military reserve unit for the Levantine Army (Ejército de Levante). The command of the unit was entrusted to Infantry Commander Martín Calvo Calvo, who had been a retired Captain at the time of the July 1936 coup. The commissar was Ignacio Fernández of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE).^[1]

Catalonia is an autonomous community in Spain on the northeastern corner of the Iberian Peninsula, designated as a nationality by its Statute of Autonomy. Catalonia consists of four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. The capital and largest city is Barcelona, the second-most populated municipality in Spain and the core of the sixth most populous urban area in the European Union. It comprises most of the territory of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is bordered by France (Occitanie) and Andorra to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the east, and the Spanish autonomous communities of Aragon to the west and Valencia to the south. The official languages are Catalan, Spanish, and the Aranese dialect of Occitan.

Coastal defenceand coastal fortification are measures taken to provide protection against military attack at or near a coastline, for example, fortification and coastal artillery. Because an invading enemy normally requires a port or harbour to sustain operations, such defences are usually concentrated around such facilities, or places where such facilities could be constructed. Boom defences were also used to physically close bodies of water. By the late 19th century, forts were usually accompanied by naval mines. Compared to land forts, coastal forts usually mounted heavier weapons, comparable to those on ships that might attack them.

A military reserve, reserve formation, or simply reserve, is a group of military personnel or units that is initially not committed to a battle by its commander, so that it remains available to address unforeseen situations or exploit sudden opportunities. Such a force may be held back to defend against attack from other enemy forces, to be committed to the existing battle if the enemy exposes a vulnerability, or to serve as relief for troops already fighting. Some of the different categories of military reserves are: tactical reserve, operational reserve, and strategic reserve.

First unit: Aragon

The 224th Mixed Brigade was placed under the 72nd Division of the XVIII Army Corps of the Levantine Army (Ejército de Levante). It was sent with this division to the Teruel front line, but the organization of both the brigade and its division was still so deficient that it was not possible to use them in combat and thus it was camped as reserve unit south of La Muela. On 7 March 1938 the brigade was sent, still not fully equipped, to the Battle of Belchite during the imminent rebel offensive in Aragon, but it was overwhelmed by the sheer force and intensity of the Nationalist attacks. The brigade was further devastated on 11 March in bloody combats that followed in the Escatrón and Caspe area.^[1]^[2]

The Battle of Teruel was fought in and around the city of Teruel during the Spanish Civil War. The combatants fought the battle between December 1937 and February 1938, during the worst Spanish winter in twenty years. The battle was one of the bloodier actions of the war with the city changing hands several times, first falling to the Republicans and eventually being re-taken by the Nationalists. In the course of the fighting, Teruel was subjected to heavy artillery and aerial bombardment. The two sides suffered over 140,000 casualties between them in the two-month battle. It was a decisive battle of the war, as Francisco Franco's use of his superiority in men and material in regaining Teruel made it the military turning point of the war.

The Battle of Belchite (1938) involving the Spanish Republican Army took place during the Spanish Civil War. After the campaigns at Aragón and Quinto, the Lincoln-Washington Battalion marched to the town of Belchite where battalion commander Robert Hale Merriman ordered the troops to attack the church. Out of 22 men only 2 survived the first assault.

The Aragon Offensive it was an important military campaign during the Spanish Civil War, which began after the Battle of Teruel. The offensive, which ran from March 7, 1938, to April 19, 1938, smashed the Republican forces, overran Aragon, and conquered parts of Catalonia and the Levante.

The result of all these combat actions foisted on the ill-prepared brigade was the almost total dispersion of the unit, with only a much battered battalion remaining in the area between Pertusa and Monzón, another between Fraga and the Ebro River and the remainder engaged in the Defence of Lleida. The brigade had been shattered in such manner that it was no longer possible to reestablish it and it was terminated in March 1938.

Pertusa is a municipality located in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain.

Monzón is a small city and municipality in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. Its population was 17,176 as of 2014. It is in the northeast and adjoins the rivers Cinca and Sosa.

Fraga is the major town of the comarca of Bajo Cinca in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. It is located by the river Cinca. According to the 2014 census, the municipality has a population of 14,926 inhabitants.

Latter unit: Catalonia

On 19 April the number 224 was revived and assigned to a new mixed brigade hastily formed with new battalions that had formerly belonged to the 124th Mixed Brigade. The new unit was assigned to the 60th Division of the XVIII Army Corps at Vallfogona. The commander was Militia Major Antonio Moya Gabarrón, and the chief of staff commander was Militia Captain Benito García Freixas.^[1]

The new unit took part in the Battle of the Ebro, arriving to the frontline area on 30 July as reserve of the XV Army Corps in the Fayón-Vilalba dels Arcs sector. As stated in a rebel military report based on deserters from this Republican Army unit —while at the Second Gandesa front in Vilalba dels Arcs— unusual measures were taken in order to avoid desertions in the newly reorganized 224th Mixed Brigade.^[3]

... The morale in the 224th Mixed Brigade is very low judging from the high number of those who have escaped. Those engaged in spying for the eavesdropping service (servicio de escucha), as reported in the Brigade’s notice, are being watched by the squadron corporal, who is closely watched by a patrol of the Socialist Party composed of two individuals, these patrols are in turn watched by the brigade’s commissar and his helper. This service has been established about two days ago.

On 3 August the 224th Mixed Brigade relieved the troops of the 16th Division in the line between La Pobla de Massaluca and Cuatro Caminos. By 19 August it was caught up in the heavy combats of the Vilalba-Corbera-Vértice Gaeta ^[4] triangle where it held its positions without giving way for eight days. Between 9 and 12 September the brigade was relieved by forces of the 42nd Division, while they were on their way to cover the left bank of the lower Ebro River.

On 4 December the 224th Mixed Brigade was sent to Ivars d'Urgell in order to defend the bridgehead at Balaguer. In the combats that ensued it suffered many casualties, for the rebels were initiating the Catalonia Offensive with numerous well-equipped units and their advance was unstoppable. Its hasty retreat led the battered 224th Mixed Brigade northeastwards across Catalonia, to Cervera, Calaf, Manresa and Vic, from were a few of its remaining survivors managed to cross the French border around January 1939.^[1]

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References

1 2 3 4 5 6 "República - EPR - 224 B.M." Retrieved 11 September 2016.
1 2 Carlos Engel, Historia de las Brigadas Mixtas del E. P. de la República, 1999
↑ Pedro Corral, Desertores, Eds. de Bolsillo, San Sebastián, 1966, ISBN 9788483066508 p. 223
↑ "Vertex Gaeta" . Retrieved 11 September 2016.

External links

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[SBHAC-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 "República - EPR - 224 B.M." Retrieved 11 September 2016.

[CE-2] 1 2 Carlos Engel, Historia de las Brigadas Mixtas del E. P. de la República, 1999

[3] Pedro Corral, Desertores, Eds. de Bolsillo, San Sebastián, 1966, ISBN 9788483066508 p. 223

[4] "Vertex Gaeta" . Retrieved 11 September 2016.