The 45th 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 established in mid 1937 in order to gather some scattered units of the

International Brigades The International Brigades () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front (Spain), Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Bri ...

under one command, therefore it was also known as ''"45.ª División Internacional"'' (45th International Division). It took part in some of the major battles of the conflict such as

Brunete Brunete () is a town located on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain, with a population of 10,730 people. History There was no military garrison in Brunete and there was no rebel attempt to seize the city during the coup of July 1936. Brunete remai ...

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

and the

Battle of the Ebro The Battle of the Ebro (, ) was the longest and largest battle of the Spanish Civil War and the greatest, in terms of manpower, logistics and material ever fought on Spanish soil. It took place between July and November 1938, with fighting mainly ...

persistently being afflicted by numerous casualties.

History

The establishment of the 45th Division took place at the

Aragon Front The Aragon Offensive 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 c ...

June 1937 during the planning period of the

Huesca Offensive The Huesca Offensive was an operation carried out during the Spanish Civil War by the Republican Army in June 1937 in order to take the Aragonese city of Huesca, which since the start of the war in July 1936 had been under the control of the N ...

. It was initially foreseen as a provisional unit and even before it became operational General Lukács, the head of the unit grouping, died after being hit by an artillery shell and was replaced by " Emilio Kléber", the first ''de facto'' commander of the division. After the crashing failure of the new unit at the combats of the

in June, the 45th Division was brought to the

Madrid Front The siege of Madrid was a two-and-a-half-year siege of the Republican-controlled Spanish capital city of Madrid by the Nationalist armies, under General Francisco Franco, during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The city, besieged from Oct ...

in order to take part in the

Battle of Brunete The Battle of Brunete (6–25 July 1937), fought west of Madrid, was a Republican attempt to alleviate the pressure exerted by the Nationalists on the capital and on the north during the Spanish Civil War. Although initially successful, the R ...

under Kléber's leadership. Even though it began well at Brunete, the division did not succeed in meeting its assigned targets and ended up suffering numerous casualties. In August it went back to the Aragon Front in order to take part in the

Aragon Offensive The Aragon Offensive 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 con ...

as part of the so-called ''Agrupación B'', together with an artillery group and an engineer battalion.''La guerra civil mes a mes,'' Vol 17. Maniobras de Distracción en Belchite (September 1937), p. 40. Various authors, Grupo Unidad Editorial S.A., 2005 Sent to a front of scant activity Kléber's troops advanced without difficulty until they had to halt as they arrived at a distance of 6 km from

. In the exposed flat terrain the troops were defenseless against the fierce attacks of the artillery and the planes of the rebels. Owing to the poor performance of the unit under his command, Kléber was replaced by

Hans Kahle Hans Kahle (22 April 1899 – 1 September 1947) was a German journalist, communist, and head of the Volkspolizei in Mecklenburg.Militaer Wochenblatt Education and career Kahle was born in Berlin-Charlottenburg, the son of a senior official. He ...

and the human losses were covered by new reinforcements. Wladislaw Stopzyk, a new political

commissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means ' commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and ...

, was assigned to the unit. In February 1938 the 45th Division fought briefly at the Extremaduran Front, where it had a measure of success in some combats. But very soon it was rushed again to the Aragon Front where it took part in the effort to halt the overwhelming

of the rebels. However, the attempt proved futile and the division joined the other Republican units in the massive withdrawal that ensued. By April the rebel troops led by General

Antonio Aranda Antonio Aranda Mata (13 November 1888 – 8 February 1979) was a military officer who fought on the Nationalist faction in the Spanish Civil War. Biography Antonio Aranda Mata was born in Leganés on 13 November 1888. During the Morocco wars A ...

reached the Mediterranean Sea dividing the Spanish Republic in two and the 45th Division would remain locked in

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, becoming detached from the

129th International Brigade The 129th International Brigade was a Military organization, military unit of the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. Its members were from a number of different countries thus it was also known as "Forty Nations Brigade" (). ...

, which had remained in the mountainous territory south of the

Ebro The Ebro (Spanish and Basque ; , , ) is a river of the north and northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain. It rises in Cantabria and flows , almost entirely in an east-southeast direction. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea, forming a de ...

. Isolated from the remaining Republican territory, the 45th Division was made part of the 5th Army Corps led by Lt. Colonel Enrique Líster. During the months that followed the division managed to rearm and was reinforced by the 139th Mixed Brigade in order to be able to participate in the upcoming

. During the offensive the division held its ground against the deadly attacks of the Francoists, ending up with a very high number of casualties, especially the

XIV International Brigade 300px, A memorial commemorating the International Brigades The XIV International Brigade was one of several international brigades that fought for the Spanish Second Republic during the Spanish Civil War. History and structure It was raised on 2 ...

—part of the division— which suffered huge losses during the failed attempt to cross the Ebro River near

Amposta Amposta () is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Montsià, in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain, 190 km south of Barcelona on the Mediterranean Coast. It is located at 8 metres above sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shorten ...

. Following the withdrawal of the

in October 1938, the division was reorganized with Spanish leaders and recruits. Its last commander was

Francisco Romero Marín Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Commu ...

, a communist war veteran. It is known that the 45th Division took part in the first hopeless Republican efforts of trying to contain the rebel onrush of the Catalonia Campaign, but it soon had to withdraw northwards to the French border. After crossing the frontier line in early February 1939 the fleeing Republican troops were disarmed and interned in

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

s by the French authorities and the division was terminated.

Order of Battle

Leaders

;Commanders * General

Manfred Stern Manfred (Moses) Stern (; also known as Emilio Kléber, Lazar Stern, Moishe Stern, Mark Zilbert; 1896–1954) was a member of the GRU, Soviet military intelligence. He served as a spy in the United States, as a military advisor in China, and gaine ...

(since June 1937) * Militia Lt. Colonel

(since October 1937) * Militia Major Luis Rivas Amat (since 23 September 1938) * Militia Major

Ramón Soliva Vidal Ramón or Ramon may refer to: People Given name *Ramón (footballer, born 1950), Brazilian footballer * Ramón (footballer, born 1983), Brazilian footballer * Ramón (footballer, born 1988), Brazilian footballer *Ramón (footballer, born 1990), Br ...

(since 7 November 1938) * Militia Lt. Colonel

(since 17 January 1939) ;Chiefs of Staff *

François Bernard François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * François-Marie Arouet (better known as Voltaire; 169 ...

. *

Miguel Ángel San Cruz --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places * Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands * São Miguel (disam ...

(since May 1938) ;Commissars * Augusto Vidal Roget; * Wladislaw Stopzyk, member of the International Brigades (since 1 September 1937) *

François Vittori François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * François-Marie Arouet (better known as Voltaire; ...

, member of the International Brigades (since 7 March 1938) *

José Sevil Sevil José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

, member of the

Spanish Communist Party The Spanish Communist Party (in ), was the first communist party in Spain, formed out of the Federación de Juventudes Socialistas (Federation of Socialist Youth, youth wing of Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). The founders of the party, that ...

(PCE) (since September 1938)

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links