The Spanish Civil War 1936-39 by Patrick Turnbull

Author:Patrick Turnbull
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: The Spanish Civil War 1936–39
ISBN: 9781472804464
Publisher: Osprey Publishing

The sector selected by the Republican War Council was that of the Ebro river from Mequinenza in the north to Amposta near the mouth, the main blow to be delivered in the great bulge formed by the river between Fayón and Cherta, known to be held by only a single division of Yagué’s Corps, supported by a powerful diversionary attack on a much shorter front from Fayón to Mequinenza. The terrain throughout was mountainous and broken, the Republicans hoping that, should their offensive be slowed, eventual enemy logistic superiority would thereby be nullified. The principal aim was to restore land communications with the Valencia pocket.

Again complete surprise was achieved. At 0.15 hrs on the night of 24/25 July, men who had received intensive training in river crossings were ferried over the Ebro in rubber dinghies at a series of points selected by Michael Dunbar, XVth International Brigade’s chief of staff; the first unit to reach the right bank was the Hans Heimler Battalion of the XIth, made up of Scandinavians and Catalans. Yagué’s strung-out division was quite incapable of containing an attack of such magnitude. By evening, leading units of the V and XV Corps had established two bridgeheads, one of a depth of five miles from Mequinenza to Fayón, the second, considerably more extended, between Fayón and Cherta; here, having wiped out one of the holding brigades, capturing the heights of Caballs and Pandolls, and pushing right up to the gates of Gandesa, Lister had achieved a penetration of 25 miles. The arrival of Yagué’s reserve division only just managed to avert the fall of Gandesa itself, the most important road junction in the area.

At the southern extremity of the line, XIVth International Brigade crossed the river in the neighbourhood of Amposta, only to run into strong opposition from General López Bravo’s division. They had failed to achieve surprise and could make no impression on the ad hoc but effective defence. For eighteen hours they made desperate attempts to establish a proper bridgehead, but by dawn on the 26th, after suffering over 600 dead, fell back in confusion to the left bank abandoning the bulk of their equipment.

On 1 August the XVth International Brigade endeavoured to storm a key position, Hill 481, baptized ‘The Pimple’, overlooking Gandesa. The British Battalion in the van again suffered heavily, among the killed being Lewis Clive, a direct descendant of Clive of India, and David Haden Guest, son of a Labour peer. Even though several assaults were led by Lister in person, they were unable to dislodge Yagué’s legionaries.

By the following day, the Nationalists had managed to align seven fresh divisions. The Republicans were faced by the brutal truth that the great offensive on which such high hopes had been pinned had been brought to a halt. They were determined, however, to hang on at all costs to their gains of the past ten days. Their forward posts began to dig in, while their highly efficient engineers set to work preparing a defence

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