The 49th Mixed Brigade (),
/ref>Carlos Engel, ''Historia de las Brigadas Mixtas del E. P. de la República'', 1999 p. 76 was a mixed brigade 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 ...

. It was formed in February 1937 at the

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

Front. This ill-fated military unit suffered heavy casualties over and over again during its involvement in different conflicts of the Civil War. It was finally terminated after the

bombing of Xàtiva The bombing of Xàtiva was an aerial bombing of the railway station of Xàtiva, Valencia Province, during the last phase of the Spanish Civil War. It was carried out on 12 February 1939 at the behest of Francisco Franco's nationalist government ...

in February 1939.

History

First phase

The 49th Mixed Brigade was formed in Guadalajara with four

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s, the "Pablo Iglesias Battalion", the "Triunfo Battalion" and the "Guadalajara nº 1" and "Guadalajara nº 2" Battalions, which became the 193, 194, 195 and 196 battalions respectively. The commander was Infantry Lt. Colonel Ángel de la Macorra Carratalá, a retired commander living in

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 ...

at the beginning of the conflict. The new unit was placed under the XII Division of the IV Army Corps of the Central Army. On 9 March 1937 the 49th Mixed Brigade had its baptism of fire at the Guadalajara Front, where it became part of the Republican forces that fought the Fascist Italian

Corpo Truppe Volontarie The Corps of Volunteer Troops () was a Fascist Italian expeditionary force of military volunteers, which was sent to Spain to support the Nationalist forces under General Francisco Franco against the Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil ...

Anti-Fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

Italian Major Arturo Zanoni took the command of the unit relieving de la Macorra for a brief period of time. He was then replaced by Infantry Commander Fulgencio González Gómez who had been captain at the 15th Almansa Regiment ''(Regimiento

Almansa Almansa () is a Spanish town and municipality in the province of Albacete, part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. The name "Almansa" stems from the Arabic (al-manṣaf), "half way of the road". The municipality borders with Al ...

nº 15)'' in

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

. The

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 Francisco Antón Sanz. After the Battle of Guadalajara the unit was sent to the Extremadura front on 14 May. Thereafter it joined the Cuenca Autonomous Group ''(Agrupación Autónoma de Cuenca)'' and went to the Huesca Front, returning to Madrid shortly after the failed offensive.

Battle of Brunete

On 8 July the 49th Mixed Brigade became part of the vanguard at 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 ...

and after three days the brigade was placed under the A Division ''(División A)'' of the V Army Corps of the Central Army. Its mission was to advance from Portillera de las Rozas until the ''Vértice Cristo'' along the

Majadahonda Majadahonda () is a municipality in Spain, situated northwest of Madrid, in the Community of Madrid. It lies alongside the motorway A6 Madrid- A Coruña. The Puerta de Hierro university (public) hospital was relocated to Majadahonda from the ...

Boadilla del Monte Boadilla del Monte () is a Spanish town and municipality located in the west of the Community of Madrid, inside its metropolitan area. It has the second highest level of income per capita in all of the country of Spain. In 2017, it had a popula ...

road until reaching the ''Vértice Manilla'' behind

Romanillos Boadilla del Monte () is a Spanish town and municipality located in the west of the Community of Madrid, inside its metropolitan area. It has the second highest level of income per capita in all of the country of Spain. In 2017, it had a popula ...

. On 12 July the brigade crossed to the right flank and after two days it was made part of the Durán Division. During the night of the 24 to 25 July it relieved the

10th Mixed Brigade 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

at the Perales River. Towards the final phase of the fight at Brunete it was placed under the V Army Corps and at the end of the battle it became part of the XLVII Division of the XVIII Army Corps.

Last phase and end of the unit

The following commander of the unit would be Militia Major Emeterio Rodríguez Sanabria. Under his command the 49th Mixed Brigade took part in the

Battle of Teruel The Battle of Teruel was fought in and around the city of Teruel during the Spanish Civil War between December 1937 and February 1938, during the worst Spanish winter in 20 years.Hugh Purcell, p. 95. The battle was one of the bloodiest actions of ...

and later in the Battle of Alfambra, where its ranks were heavily depleted while trying to conquer 961 Hill ''(Cota 961)'' on 7 and 10 January. Only in the first day it suffered 213 casualties. On 3 April the unit found itself at the breaking point of the front which was submitted to vehement attacks by the forces of rebel general Antonio Aranda and it had to withdraw from the first line after being badly shattered. On 30 May the 49th Mixed Brigade was again very hard hit fighting the rebel

Levante Offensive The Levante Offensive, launched near the end of March 1938, was an attempt by Nationalist forces under Francisco Franco to capture the Republican held city of Valencia during the Spanish Civil War. The Nationalists occupied the province of Castel ...

in the

Ares del Maestrat Ares del Maestrat, also known as ''Ares del Maestre'' in Spanish or simply Ares, is a municipality in the province of Castelló in the Valencian Country. It is situated near the top of the Mola d'Ares mountain, at an elevation of 1,148 m. As a r ...

- La Jana sector. Towards the beginning of July the much depleted unit was defending Castellón under the command of Infantry Major Amado Granell, but on the 15 it was definitively withdrawn for its reorganization. Following the Levante battles Militia Major Fernando Gil Ferragut became the new leader of the unit and the brigade was transferred to the less active southern front of the Levantine Army.Carlos Engel, ''Historia de las Brigadas Mixtas del E. P. de la República'', 1999 p. 77 On 12 February 1939, when the train transporting the 49th Mixed Brigade was stopped at

Xàtiva Xàtiva (; ) is a town in eastern Spain, in the province of Valencia, on the right (western) bank of the river Albaida and at the junction of the Valencia, Spain, Valencia–Murcia and Valencia Albacete railways. It is located 25 km ...

, a group of Italian

Aviazione Legionaria The Legionary Air Force (, ) was an expeditionary corps from the Italian Royal Air Force that was set up in 1936. It was sent to provide logistical and tactical support to the Nationalist faction after the Spanish coup of July 1936, which mar ...

bombers attacked the train station, leaving 129 dead and over 200 wounded.Pablo Rodríguez Cortés: ''Febrero de 1939 en Xátiva''
. Many of the soldiers in the military train, as well as families and onlookers who were at the station to say farewell became victims of the bombing. There were so many dead among the members of the 49th Mixed Brigade, that the Republican high command desisted from reconstituting it, distributing the survivors among other military units.

References

External links