Colonel Ildefonso Puigdendolas Ponce de Leon (1876, in

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

– 31 October 1936, near Illescas) was a Spanish

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent c ...

who served the

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

during 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 ...

. In 1931 he was colonel of Infantry in Seville as inspector of the security corps. In 1934 he was appointed to Malaga. In July 1936 he defeated the rebels forces at Alcala de Henares and Guadalajara. After that, he commanded the Loyalist militia at the Battle of Badajoz in 1936. After the battle of Badajoz he escaped to Portugal and returned to the zone controlled by 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'' ...

. During the

battle of Seseña The Battle of Seseña was a Republican-Soviet assault on the Nationalist stronghold of Seseña, near Toledo, 30 km south of Madrid in October 1936 during the Spanish Civil War. After the fall of Talavera de la Reina and Toledo in September ...

Puigdendolas was killed by his own men when trying to prevent desertion.Héctor Alonso García, ''El coronel Puigdengolas y la batalla de Badajoz: (agosto de 1936)'', Valencia 2014
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Notes

References

* Espinosa, Francisco. ''La columna de la muerte. El avance del ejército franquista de Sevilla a Badajoz.'' Editorial Crítica. 2003. Barcelona. * Espinosa, Francisco. ''La justicia de Queipo.'' Editorial Crítica. Barcelona. 2006. *Thomas, Hugh. (2001). ''The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. London. 1876 births 1936 deaths People from Girona Spanish colonels Unión Militar Republicana Antifascista members {{SpanishCivilWar-stub Spanish military personnel killed in the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction)