86th Mixed Brigade

86th Mixed Brigade; 86.ª Brigada Mixta
	Military flag of the Popular Army
Active	1937–1939
Country	Spain
Branch	Spanish Republican Army - Infantry; International Brigades (January - October 1938)
Type	Mixed Brigade
Role	Home Defence
Size	Four battalions: ; The 341, 342, 343 and 344
Part of	24th Division (1937); 63rd Division (1937 - 1939)
Garrison/HQ	Puertollano
Engagements	Spanish Civil War
Commanders
Notable; commanders	Aldo Morandi

Last updated March 05, 2019

The 86th Mixed Brigade (Spanish : 86.ª Brigada Mixta),^[1] was a mixed brigade of the Spanish Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War. It was formed in March 1937 with battalions of the Carabineros corps. Until its demise it operated mostly in the Sierra Morena area, at the southern limits of the territory held by the Republic.

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.

History

First phase

A unit known as Brigada Móvil de Puertollano was established towards the end of 1936 led by Infantry Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Martín del Castillo. It was organized with two Carabineros battalions from Requena and Castellón, the 'Pablo Iglesias nr 2 Battalion' from Valencia and another Carabineros battalion that joined the unit in Linares.^[2]

<i>Carabineros</i> Spanish law enforcement agency

The Carabineros was an armed carabiniers force of Spain under both the monarchy and the Second Republic. The formal mission of this paramilitary gendarmerie was to patrol the coasts and borders of the country, operating against fraud and smuggling. As such the Carabineros performed the dual roles of frontier guards and customs officials.

Requena, Valencia Municipality in Valencian Community, Spain

Requena is a municipality in eastern Spain, in the province of Valencia, located on the left bank of the river Magro.

Castellón de la Plana, Castelló de la Plana, or simply Castellón / Castelló, is the capital city of the province of Castellón, in the Valencian Community, Spain, in the east of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Costa del Azahar by the Mediterranean Sea. The mountain range known as Desert de les Palmes rises inland north of the town.

In March 1937 this military unit became the 86th Mixed Brigade (86.ª Brigada Mixta) and one of its Carabineros battalions was replaced by the 20th International Battalion (20.º Batallón Internacional). The newly-formed battalion had four companies: the First (1ª compañía) was French; the Second (2ª compañía) or Anglo-American Company was English-speaking with a Latin-American, an American and a British and Irish section; the Third (3ª compañía) included Czechoslovak and Polish volunteers; and the Fourth (4ª compañía de ametralladoras) was made up of Germans and Austrians. ^[3]^[4]

The 20th International Battalion was a battalion of the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War.

The leader of the new unit was Italian Militia Major Aldo Morandi, who was replaced as head of the 20th International Battalion by Mexican Colonel Juan Bautista Gómez, with German Major Fritz Schiller as Chief of Staff.^[3] The reorganized brigade became part of the 24th Division of the Spanish Republican Army.^[2]

Aldo Morandi (1896–1975) was an Italian communist/antifascist. It was an alias name of Riccardo Formica.

On 10 March the brigade performed poorly in combats around Sierra Mulva. Between 27 March and 13 April it took part in military operations over Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo, attacking Pozoblanco in the left flank of the campaign.^[5] On 22 August the brigade was badly shattered at Puerto de San Vicente. Between 18 and 20 October it took part in the defense of the Sierra de la Noria. In December it was made part of the 63rd Division of the 8th Army Corps and again it suffered a lot of casualties during the attack against Granja de Torrehermosa, so that it was relieved of its duties and sent to Villanueva de Córdoba in order to be reorganized. At this time there were numerous desertions among the remaining members of the wrecked brigade.^[2]

The Sierra Morena is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. It stretches for 450 kilometres from east to west across the south of the Iberian Peninsula, forming the southern border of the Meseta Central plateau and providing the watershed between the valleys of the Guadiana to the north and the west, and the Guadalquivir to the south.

Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo is a Municipality located in the province of Córdoba, Spain. According to the 2014 census, the municipality has a population of 385 inhabitants. Its postal code is 14200.

Pozoblanco Municipality in Andalusia, Spain

Pozoblanco is a town in the province of Córdoba, southern Spain, in the north-central part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located near the headwaters of the Guadamatillas and of other small sub-tributaries of the Guadiana, in the lowlands of Los Pedroches, which lie between the Sierra de la Alcildia on the north and the Sierra Morena on the south.

International Brigade period

In January 1938, as a result of heavy restructuring, the 20th International Battalion was split into three battalions, the 20th, 21st and 22nd. At the same time three of the Carabineros battalions were transferred to the 222nd Mixed Brigade so that the only remaining Spanish battalion was the 'Pablo Iglesias nr 2 Battalion'. Thus the 86th Mixed Brigade became one more International Brigade, with 2,338 international fighters of which 57 were leaders and officers and 29 were sub-officers. The newly-formed battalions were led by Militia Majors Ernst Düdel, Paul Odpadlik, Cuni Bernhardt and Adolf Rach, while the machine gun company was led by Georg Prunzings.^[2]

The restructured brigade returned to the front line at the Sierra del Castaño and the Peña del Águila, replacing the 103rd Mixed Brigade. It saw action during the attack against the rebel positions at Villafranca de Córdoba covering the front in the Guadalmellato and Miradero positions.^[2] However, in order to satisfy the demands of the Non-Intervention Committee, the foreign members of the brigade were withdrawn on 1 October 1938 and were replaced by battalions of Spanish conscripts. Being composed of local soldiers, thenceforward the 86th Mixed Brigade was wrapped up as an International Brigade.^[6]

End of the unit

In its last phase the 86th Mixed Brigade was initially led by Militia Major Lino Carrasco Ortiz, who was replaced by Militia Major Ramón Lleida Gómez after only a month.^[1] The unit saw little action in the intervening months until the final defeat and surrender of the Spanish Republic in March 1939.^[6]

Related Research Articles

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References

1 2 "República - EPR - 86 B.M." Retrieved 26 September 2017.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Carlos Engel, Historia de las Brigadas Mixtas del E. P. de la República, 1999; p. 114
1 2 Las Brigadas Internacionales en Andalucía - Comisión histórica de la AABI
↑ Full text of "International Solidarity with the Spanish Republic (1936-1939)"
↑ Ramón Salas Larrazábal (2006); Historia del Ejército Popular de la República, pp. 1402-1404
1 2 Carlos Engel, Historia de las Brigadas Mixtas del E. P. de la República, 1999; p. 115

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[SBHAC-1] 1 2 "República - EPR - 86 B.M." Retrieved 26 September 2017.

[p114-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Carlos Engel, Historia de las Brigadas Mixtas del E. P. de la República, 1999; p. 114

[BIA-3] 1 2 Las Brigadas Internacionales en Andalucía - Comisión histórica de la AABI

[ISwSR-4] Full text of "International Solidarity with the Spanish Republic (1936-1939)"

[5] Ramón Salas Larrazábal (2006); Historia del Ejército Popular de la República, pp. 1402-1404

[p115-6] 1 2 Carlos Engel, Historia de las Brigadas Mixtas del E. P. de la República, 1999; p. 115