Miguel Angel Sanz Bocos, also known as ''El Vallecas'' (5 July 1918 – 13 August 2018), was a Spanish aviator who was a member of the

Spanish Republican Army The Spanish Republican Army ( es, Ejército de la República Española) was the main branch of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic between 1931 and 1939. It became known as People's Army of the Republic (''Ejército Popular de la Rep� ...

during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

. Sanz Bocos was born in

Arganda del Rey Arganda del Rey () is a municipality and city of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. Geography Located in the central part of the Iberian Peninsula, the city lies at roughly 613 metres above sea level, not far from the junction of the J ...

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; es, Comunidad de Madrid ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the Central Plateau (''Meseta Central''). Its capital and largest munic ...

, on 5 July 1918, under the care of his father, Marcelo Sanz, who was part of a family of renowned ironmongers in

Vallecas Vallecas was a municipality of Spain that disappeared as such in 1950, when its annexation to the Municipality of Madrid was effectuated. Nowadays it is a large neighborhood of Madrid composed of two districts: Puente de Vallecas (population ...

. At the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, at the age of 18, Sanz Bocos enlisted in the Republican army, in the Antigas unit, starting at the front of

Villanueva del Pardillo Villanueva del Pardillo is a municipality of the Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; es, Comunidad de Madrid ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of ...

, to later be assigned to the Talavera front. He was part of a group sent to the pilot school in

Kirovabad Ganja (; az, Gəncə ) is Azerbaijan's third largest city, with a population of around 335,600.Azərbaycan Respublikası. — 2. Azərbaycan Respublikasının iqtisadi və inzibati rayonları. — 2.4. Azərbaycan Respublikasının iqtisadi və ...

, Azerbaijan, where he was chosen to become pilot of the

Polikarpov I-16 The Polikarpov I-16 (russian: Поликарпов И-16) is a Soviet single-engine single-seat fighter aircraft of revolutionary design; it was the world's first low-wing cantilever monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear to attain ...

. After the war, in February 1940 Sanz Bocos was ordered to take land in Toulouse, along with his unit, heading to the French Pyrenees where agents and mobile guards from France waited for them. There they waited in unsatisfactory conditions, which caused in a short time that most of his unit began to die of dysentery, starvation and hypothermia; later they were transferred to the station of

Oloron-Sainte-Marie Oloron-Sainte-Marie (; oc, Auloron e Senta Maria; eu, Oloroe-Donamaria) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (before 2015: Aquitaine), southwestern France. History The town was founded by the ...

, in the concentration camp of

Gurs Gurs is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. History Gurs was the site of the Gurs internment camp. Nothing remains of the camp; after World War II, a forest was planted on the site where it stood. Geog ...

. In 1981, he published his first book entitled ''Luchando en tierras de Francia: la participación de los españoles en la Resistencia'' (''Fighting in the lands of France: the participation of the Spaniards in the Resistance'') where he expressed his lived experiences. In the year 2000, he published his second book entitled ''Memorias de un chico de Vallecas: piloto de caza de la República'' (''Memories of a boy from Vallecas: fighter pilot of the Republic''). On 13 August 2018, he died at 100 years of age in Benidorm, Province of Alicante.

External links

Interview: Childhood in Vallecas

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanz Bocos, Miguel Angel 1918 births 2018 deaths Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Spanish military aviators Spanish Civil War pilots Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in France Spanish centenarians Men centenarians People from Arganda del Rey