The 1st Division () was a division of the

Spanish Republican Army The Spanish Republican Army () was the main branch of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces, 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 República'' ...

in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. This unit was deployed in a relatively inactive section of the front located in the mountainous area north of

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

History

The First Division was established on 31 December 1936 with the militia forces that had been operating in the

Somosierra Somosierra is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain, located at 83 km north of Madrid, in the mountain pass with the same name, at an elevation of 1433 metres above sea level, being the northernmost town of Community of Madrid ...

sector and which had been led by Lt. Colonel

Enrique Jurado Barrio Enrique Jurado Barrio (15 September 1882 - 30 March 1965) was a Spanish military colonel who fought in the Spanish Civil War for the Second Spanish Republic. Born in a family with a strong military background, Jurado participated in the war in ...

. The headquarters of the division was in Loyozuela. This unit was garrisoned at the secondary sector of

El Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (), or (), is a historical residence of the king of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up the valley ( road distance) from the town of El Escorial, Madrid, El ...

and did not take part in any important military operation. The commander who replaced Enrique Jurado, Lt. Colonel Fernando Cueto Herrero, was discovered when he was trying to join the enemy forces and was summarily dismissed and shot for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

on 18 September 1937. Except for a few sporadic skirmishes the unit rarely saw combat action and was mainly engaged in fortification work. The First Division was disbanded at the end of the war in late March 1939.

Order of battle

Leaders

;Commanders * Lt. Colonel

; * Lt. Colonel Fernando Cueto Herrero; * Infantry Commander Ernesto Güemes Ramos; * Militia Major Dionisio Hortelano Hortelano; * Militia Major Raimundo Calvo Moreno; * Militia Major Juan Sáez de Diego; ;Commissars * Alberto Barragán López, member of the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

(PSOE); * Victorio Casado Fernández, member of the (PSOE); ;Chief of Staff * ''

Carabineros The was an armed carabiniers force of Spain under both the monarchy and the Second Spanish Republic, Second Republic. The formal mission of this paramilitary gendarmerie was to patrol the coasts and borders of the country, operating against ...

'' Commander Rafael Quintana Vilches;

References

Bibliography

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External links