Henri Vuillemin Battalion

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The items Louise Michel Battalion , Henri Vuillemin Battalion , Chapayev Battalion and XIII. International brigades overlap thematically. Help me to better differentiate or merge the articles (→  instructions ) . To do this, take part in the relevant redundancy discussion . Please remove this module only after the redundancy has been completely processed and do not forget to include the relevant entry on the redundancy discussion page{{ Done | 1 = ~~~~}}to mark. - Rita2008 ( discussion ) 18:19, Dec. 20, 2014 (CET)
Flag of the Interbrigades

The Henri Vuillemin Battalion was a largely Franco-Belgian battalion of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War . It was named after Henri Vuillemin, a French revolutionary. The Henri Vuillemin Battalion was set up on December 1, 1936 in Albacete , the central base and training camp of the International Brigades. The battalion became part of the XIII. International Brigade . It was named N o 10 . The commander of the XIII. International Brigade was Wilhelm Zaisser , better known as General Gomez. During the formation, the XIII. International Brigade has the following structure:

1.º Louise-Michel-Bataillon (French)
2.º Tschapajew-Bataillon (mainly German and Polish)
3.º Henri-Vuillemin-Bataillon (French)
4.º Juan-Marco-Bataillon (Spanish)

After fighting near Teruel , the battalion was reconstructed by merging with the Louise Michel battalion in January 1937.

history

Levant

Immediately after the formation of the battalion in December 1936, the Henri Vuillemin battalion received marching orders to secure the coast in the Levant . The battalion traveled by rail from Albacete to Valencia . The reason for the marching order to secure the coast was that larger troop transports were carried out from Italy to Spain, so that there was a risk of a landing operation by Italian Black Shirt divisions on the Mediterranean coast between Castellón de la Plana and the mouth of the Ebro . After being stationed in the Levant, the battalion received the order to relieve the Tschapajew battalion , which had been guarding a tank formation loaded on a freight train on the railroad from Valencia to Castellón de la Plana for a week. The next day the XIII. International Brigade with the Louise Michel Battalion , the Chapayev Battalion, the Henri Vuillemin Battalion and the Juan Marco Battalion issued the order to march to the Teruel Front .

Teruel relief offensive

As part of the fighting over Madrid , the republican government decided to launch a relief offensive near Teruel . The aim of this relief offensive was the conquest of Teruel over the valley of the Alfambra river . The section of the front, a few kilometers from Teruel, was held by the Ledesma anarchist column , which was commanded by Pancho Villahermosa . A characteristic of this section of the front was that it was not yet militarized and that the front at Villalba Bajader had not changed for five months.

On December 26, 1936, shortly after the arrival of the XIII. International Brigade in the valley of the Alfambra River, the brigade with the tank formation and the Ledesma column received orders to attack Teruel in the morning hours of December 27, 1937. Due to the acute flank threat from a fascist position on Monte Cementerio, the republican units tried in vain to conquer the plateau over several days. Even with the support of the Chapayev battalion and the Louise Michel battalion , the Henri Vuillemin battalion failed to take the positions on Monte Cementerio. Due to the high losses in the fighting for Monte Cementerio, the two French battalions, the Henri Vuillemin battalion and the Louise Michel battalion, were merged. When the XIII. International Brigade on the Mediterranean coast should the positions of the XIII. International Brigade to be occupied by the Ledesma column , which however refused to take these positions. The column preferred to take positions that were easier to defend. Thus a gain of five kilometers of terrain was revealed.

Fight in the Sierra Nevada

Blue: advancing nationalist troops, green: Italian troops, red: Republican counterattacks

To avert the defeat of the Republicans at the Battle of Málaga , the battalion received on January 27, 1937 the order to march to the southern front in the Sierra Nevada . The battalion drove from Tortajado to Requena by truck . There the XIII. International brigade increased as the brigade's losses were extremely high during the four-week fighting for Teruel. In addition, another Spanish battalion was in the XIII. International Brigade grouped. After the regrouping, the XIII. International Brigade has the following structure:

During the fighting in the Sierra Nevada, the Henri Vuillemin battalion took up positions near Órgiva . The brigade managed to stabilize the front in this section of the front. This prevented the nationalists from advancing further on to Almería via Orgiva .

General view of Trevélez

After the front in the Sierra Nevada had stabilized, the brigade command decided to launch a relief offensive in the Trevélez Valley. This offensive was supposed to give a dispersed unit of 800 militiamen from Málaga the opportunity to get through the enemy lines. The XIII. The international brigade began the relief offensive in the Trevélez Valley with the Lenin battalion after the arrival of the Chapayev battalion . Towards evening the Henri Vuillemin battalion received the order to advance with the Chapayev battalion to Capilerilla . The battalion reached the valley of Pórtugos Capilerilla via high-altitude paths and captured the village. As part of the relief offensive, the Spanish brigades and the XIII. International Brigade on this day to take the localities of Pitres , Busquístar , Ferreirola and Mecina-Fondales in addition to the village of Capilerilla . After the stabilization of the front line in the Pórtugos area and the fortification of heights in the Sierra Nevada and Trevélez Valley, the trapped 800 militiamen from Málaga managed to escape the encirclement in the area of ​​the Lenin battalion during a snow storm at night. After the successful liberation of the militiamen from Málaga, the XIII. International Brigade issued the relocation order on March 27, 1937.

Cordoba Province

After the departure of the XIII. International Brigade from the Sierra Nevada, the brigade reached the province of Cordoba via Bailén . From April 1, 1937, the brigade moved into the starting position for the planned offensive in the Los Pedroches region . During the offensive from April 4, 1937 to April 6, 1937, the XIII. Cerro Mulva International Brigade , a key nationalist position. During the offensive, the XIII. International Brigade with the 86th Brigade and other Spanish units the towns of Valsequillo , La Granjuela , Los Blázquez , Esparragossa , Prados , Cuenca and Granja . The republican troops managed to conquer an area of ​​almost one hundred square kilometers within a few days, so that the front line could be advanced to the mountains of Peñarroya and Fuente Ovejuna .

After the offensive, the Henri Vuillemin Battalion took up position in the Los Blázquez front section, to the left of the Chapayev battalion's front section . After 5 months, the XIII. International Brigade reported that the brigade was to be withdrawn from the southern front to the central front. The relocation of the XIII. International Brigade went to Madrid via Valdepeñas .

Battle of Brunete

During the Battle of Brunete in July 1937, the Henri Vuillemin Battalion fought with the Chapayev Battalion , the Juan Marco Battalion, and the Otumba Battalion . At the beginning of the battle, the battalion and the Chapayev battalion advanced to the left of the road from Valdemorillo to Villanueva de la Cañada to Villanueva de la Cañada and the two Spanish battalions to the left of the road. The battalion can get 300 to 400 meters from the nationalist positions, whereupon the attack stalled. The Spanish Juan Marco battalion managed to break into the nationalist positions. By the attack of the Chapayev battalion from the cemetery and the attack of the XV. International Brigade succeeded the international battalions to take the village of Villanueva de la Cañada.

After the capture of Villanueva de la Cañada by the XIII. and XV. International brigades, the brigadists camped in this village, which gave the fascists the opportunity to fortify the heights of Villanueva de la Cañada. After the failure of the republican offensive, the XIII. International Brigade prepared for the expected counterattack by the nationalists. After five days, Franco's troops began to bombard the lines in front of Villanueva de la Cañada with massive artillery.

Because of this bombardment over several days, the losses of the XIII. International brigades two-thirds of the crew. Among other things, the brigade commissar and three battalion commissars of the XIII fell. International Brigade. In addition, a dozen company commanders and several commissioners fell. The losses of the Chapayev battalion were so high that the Chapayev battalion only existed on paper from July 23, 1937.

XIV International Brigade

On August 5, 1937, the battalion was assigned to the XIV International Brigade. On April 23, 1938, the battalion was disbanded.

Members of the Henri Vuillemin Battalion

  • Raymond Francois
  • Commander Lhes

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gomez - not a Spaniard , accessed January 2, 2014
  2. ^ Hanns Maaßen: Die Söhne des Tschapajew , Verlag des Ministry of National Defense, Berlin 1960, pages 69 and 78
  3. ↑ Hanns Maaßen : Die Söhne des Tschapajew , Verlag des Ministry of National Defense, Berlin 1960, pages 81 to 136
  4. ↑ Hanns Maaßen: Brigada Internacional is our honorary name ... , Röderberg-Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt / Main 1976, ISBN 3-87682-515-6 , page 223
  5. ^ Hanns Maaßen: Die Söhne des Tschapajew , Verlag des Ministry for National Defense, Berlin 1960, page 137
  6. ^ Hanns Maaßen: Die Söhne des Tschapajew , Verlag des Ministry for National Defense, Berlin 1960, page 137
  7. ^ Hanns Maaßen: Die Söhne des Tschapajew , Verlag des Ministry of National Defense, Berlin 1960, pages 137, 142, 214 and 353
  8. ^ Hanns Maaßen : Die Söhne des Tschapajew , Verlag des Ministry of National Defense, Berlin 1960, page 190
  9. ↑ Hanns Maaßen: The Sons of Tschapajew , Publishing House of the Ministry of National Defense, Berlin 1960, pages 272 to 290
  10. ↑ Hanns Maaßen: Die Söhne des Tschapajew , Verlag des Ministry of National Defense, Berlin 1960, pages 311, 357 to 367
  11. ↑ Hanns Maaßen: Brigada Internacional is our honorary name ... , Röderberg-Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt / Main 1976, ISBN 3-87682-515-6 , page 448
  12. ^ Hanns Maaßen : Die Söhne des Tschapajew , Verlag des Ministry of National Defense, Berlin 1960, pages 401, 402, 405 and 410