The 63rd Division was one of the
divisions of the
People's Army of the Republic that were organized 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 Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...
on the basis of the
Mixed Brigades
Mixed brigade ( es, brigada mixta) was a basic tactical military unit of the Republican army during the Spanish Civil War. It was initially designed as “pocket division”, an innovative maneuverable combined-arms formation. Because of high sa ...
. Throughout the war it was deployed on the
Cordoba front.
History
The unit was created at the end of the summer of 1937. It was made up of the
25th,
86th, and
114th brigades, with their command post in
Villanueva de Córdoba
Villanueva de Córdoba is a city located in the province of Córdoba, Spain. , the city has a population of 9,599 inhabitants. The city is located in Andalusia, southern Spain, close to the capital of the province of Córdoba.
References
Exter ...
. Command of the division fell to
Aldo Morandi
Aldo Morandi was the alias of Riccardo Formica (1896–1975), an Italian communist/antifascist.
In 1936, he was persuaded by the French Communist Party to enroll in the International Brigades of the Spanish Civil War and fight against the natio ...
, with Fritz Schiller as Chief of Staff. At the end of the year it was incorporated into the
VIII Army Corps.
In February 1938, Morandi took command of the
Extremadura Division
Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, ...
, being replaced by
José Frías González-Mouvelles. Except for a few sporadic actions, for most of the war the 63rd Division did not take part in significant military operations. In March 1939, after the
Casado coup
The National Defence Council ( es, Consejo Nacional de Defensa) was the governing body in Republican Spain at the end of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The council seized power with Colonel Segismundo Casado’s coup on 5 March 1939 when ...
,
Ildefonso Castro Ruiz assumed command of the unit. The unit was still on the Córdoba front when it found out about the end of the war.
Command
; Commanders
*
Aldo Morandi
Aldo Morandi was the alias of Riccardo Formica (1896–1975), an Italian communist/antifascist.
In 1936, he was persuaded by the French Communist Party to enroll in the International Brigades of the Spanish Civil War and fight against the natio ...
;
*
José Frías González-Mouvelles;
*
Julián del Castillo;
*
Ildefonso Castro Ruiz;
; Commissars
*
Kind Vera Jiménez, of the
CNT;
; Chiefs of Staff
* Fritz Schiller;
* Enrique Trigo Bru;
Organization
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
{{Divisions of the Spanish Republic, state=expanded
Military units and formations established in 1937
Military units and formations disestablished in 1939
Divisions of Spain
Military units and formations of the Spanish Civil War
Military history of Spain
Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic
1937 establishments in Spain
1939 disestablishments in Spain