The Battle of the Ebro

On 25 July 1938, the moon new, Republican units crossed the Ebro river in Southern Catalonia beginning, the bloodiest battle of the Spanish Civil War, ending 115 days later in victory for Franco’s forces, and breaking the back of the Republican army. Photo. Republican troops crossing the river

Corbera d’Ebre

A view of the village of Corbera d’Ebre which was destroyed during the Battle of the Ebro. The Sant Pere church can be seen in the background. Image wiki.

Memorial

Memorial in the Serra de Pàndols, erected in 1938 to International Brigaders killed in the Ebro battle. The memorial survived the Franco regime hidden in these hills and was rediscovered some years ago. The flag has taken a battering since I was last there. Photo kindly sent to me by Mr Andy.

The British Batallion at the Ebro battle

The last HQ of the British Batallion in the Ebro front before their withdrawl on 21 September 1938. Shared with comanders of Yiddish speaking Botwin company. Accents of the Thames, Mersey and Clyde with those of Warsaw, Lwów and Krakow. Thanks to @TerraEnlla for showing me this.

Memorial to the British and Irish at the Ebro

Some of the birth places on the memorial to the 90 men of the British Battalion killed in the Ebro Battle. Located on the hilltop of Cota 705 (Cota 705) Serra de Pàndols, which saw some of the bitterest fighting in the terrible heat of that Catalan summer. The memorial ends with the words “They died fighting for the freedom of Spain”

Resources

  • Wikipedia
  • Ebro battle tours: Alan Warren: pdlhistoria@gmail.com. Alan also offers interesting Civil War tours in Barcelona. He is probably the biggest expert on the International Brigades on the ground
  • Web: http://pdlhistoria.wordpress.com/ Email:. pdlhistoria@gmail.com. 
  • Batalla del Ebro con Terraenllà. Expertly guided tours in Catalan, Spanish and French to the Ebro battle sites by local historians Andreu and Maite. Their website is a mine of information. https://terraenlla.com/ email: terraenlla.guiatges@gmail.com
  • Ebro Battle museum and sites: Excellent museum in Corbera d’Ebre (also essential for old town ruined by battle). Their site is in English (click on ENG)  and has loads of info with maps on individual battle sites (see “historic sites”):  There are several other SCW museums in the area which form a network (see web).
  • VIDEO Voices from a Mountain  (follow the parts to watch whole thing) Documentary film about British volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, focusing on the re-discovery of a memorial to English-speaking soldiers killed at the Battle of the Ebro in summer