Irish Brigade

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Irish Brigade

Emblem of the Irish Battalion (or Flag) of the Spanish Legion.svg
Lineup November 1936 to June 1937
Country borde Irish Free State
Branch of service infantry
Strength An estimated 700 volunteers
Insinuation Bandera del bando nacional 1936-1938.svg Spanish Legion
Location Cáceres , Ciempozuelos , La Marañosa
Butcher Battle of the Jarama

The Irish Brigade ( Spanish la bandera Irlandesa , Irish Briogáid na hÉireann ), also called Legion of St. Patrick , was an Irish volunteer brigade that fought on the side of the Franco nationalists during the Spanish Civil War. It was named after the Irish Christian missionary St. Patrick . It was founded on the initiative of Cardinal Joseph MacRory by the politician Eoin O'Duffy . He had previously founded the fascist blueshirts and greenshirts in Ireland . Under the leadership of Eoin O'Duffy, volunteer recruitment began in Ireland right after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.

Many of the volunteers appear to have been influenced by a desire to defend the Catholic faith in Spain. They were deeply impressed by the press reports and sermons, such as B. by the sermon of Bishop Edward Doorly von Elphin , in which he vividly preached about the terrible atrocities of the Republicans against the Spanish clergy in Spain. This was also confirmed by an eyewitness report by an Irish Brigade volunteer about the torture and killing of nuns in a monastery in Badajoz .

An estimated 700 Irish volunteers made their way to Spain prior to the Irish government's ban on participating in the war. The first ten Irish volunteers were shipped to Portugal via Dublin on November 13, 1936 . On November 27th, another group of 84 volunteers was shipped from Liverpool to Lisbon on the Yeoward Line and the SS Aguila. The third shipment took place on December 12, 1936 via the port city of Galway with a total of 600 volunteers to the Spanish naval port of El Ferrol . This shipment was organized by Joseph Veltjens , who acted on behalf of the German Reich . Another 700 men were to be shipped from Ireland to Spain on January 6, 1937. Out of a total of 6,000 volunteers, only about 700 could ultimately be shipped to Spain.

After arriving in Spain, the volunteers were given uniforms and weapons in a barracks in Cáceres , Franco's headquarters. The uniform consisted of a black shirt with a fascist emblem on the pocket, a Sam Browne belt and a black cap with a gold star. After military training in Cáceres, the Irish Brigade became part of the XV Bandera Irlandesa del Terico of the Spanish Legion . With its strength, the Irish Brigade was the largest foreign unit in the Spanish Legion.

The Irish Brigade initially refused to fight the separatist Basques because they saw parallels between their struggle for independence and their own. They saw their primary role in defending Catholicism against communism and socialism in Spain (see War in the North ). Father Mulrean, who had served in Gibraltar and also spoke fluent Spanish, was the minister of the Irish Brigade .

Under the command of Sergeant Lee, after the Battle of Badajoz in August 1936, according to eyewitness reports, some members of the Irish Brigade in cooperation with the Guardia Civil liquidated Republicans. Furthermore, Republican prisoners were shot dead by the Civil Guard on the grounds of the barracks for several days.

After an inspection by Franco on February 6, the brigade was moved by rail on February 17 from Cáceres via the railway junction near Valdemoro to Ciempozuelos , a place 35 kilometers south of Madrid on the Jarama River . At the Battle of Jarama , the Irish Brigade suffered losses from self-fire while advancing on Ciempozuelos because a brigade from the Canary Islands considered the Irish Brigade to be volunteers for the International Brigades . Four soldiers died, among them a non-commissioned officer and a captain. The Irish Brigade was then put into combat readiness, with parts of the Irish Brigade guarding a German battery of the Condor Legion on a hill. In the morning hours of March 13, the brigade attacked Republican positions east in the town of Titulcia . After being fired by the Republican artillery, the Irish Brigade withdrew to its original position. On March 17, the brigade was transferred to La Marañosa , a town on the banks of the Jarama River. The range of hills of La Marañosa made it possible to control large areas with a river crossing over the Jarama, as well as the heights of Pingarrón , with artillery and machine gun fire. The Irish Brigade remained stationed in La Marañosa for a few months. Due to the threat of the Irish government to revoke the members of the brigade of Irish citizenship, the brigade was disbanded on the orders of Franco in June 1937 and shipped to Ireland via Cáceres and Portugal. The shipment in Lisbon took place between June 17th and June 22nd on the SS Mozambique.

When the Irish Brigade arrived in Dublin, thousands of Dubliners greeted the returnees. After a reception by Lord Mayor Alfred Byrne at the Mansion House , the official residence of the Dublin Mayor, the Archbishop of Dublin, Edward Joseph Byrne, also paid tribute to the Irish Brigade. Of the estimated 700 Irish volunteers, 77 brigadists died, according to unofficial information. Eoin O'Duffy, the commander of the Irish Brigade, published his book Crusade in Spain on his return to Ireland in 1938 .

Irish volunteers also fought on the Republican side. This unit was called the Connolly Column .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Niamh McGuinness: A Bandera volunteer remembers on Ireland and the spanish war. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  2. ↑ Ireland and the spanish was on Ireland and the spanish was Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  3. ^ Fighting for Franco on Ireland and the spanish was accessed on May 1, 2012.
  4. ↑ Historian Paul Preston : Welt online, author calls Spanish civil war "Holocaust" , accessed on May 18, 2012.
  5. ↑ Hugh Thomas : The Spanish Civil War. Ullstein publishing house, Berlin West 1962, p. 295.