Corporate Body - Ejército Popular de la República. 15ª Brigada Internacional (España)
Identification
Type:
Corporate Body
Preferred form:
Ejército Popular de la República. 15ª Brigada Internacional (España)Other forms
Fechas de Existencia:
from 1937-01-31 to 1939
History:
The 15th International Brigade, also called and known as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade was made up of volunteers from the United States, Canada, Ireland and the UK, but also from other countries. It fought in some of the major battles of the war, such as Jarama, Brunete, Belchite, Fuentes de Ebro, Teruel, Aragón and the Ebro.
The brigade was formed on January 31, 1937, in Albacete with the Lincoln Battalion (the largest battalion within the battalions that formed the brigade, formed by Americans) the British Battalion (Battalion Saklatava, formed by British and Irish) the Dimitrov Battalion (formed by Yugoslavs and Bulgarians, who subsequently was transferred to the 150th Brigade and later to the 13th Brigade) and the 6th of February Battalion (formed by French, which was later transferred to the 14th Brigade).
Also, the brigade had some attached units as the Anti-Tank Company, the Photographic Unit of the 15th International Brigade, from August 1937 to September 1938, and Volunteer Corps Benito Juarez Garcia formed by Mexicans which soon withdrew from the 15th Brigade and joined other units.
On early February, rebel forces attacked the south of Madrid and the Brigade was sent to fight in the Battle of Jarama. The rebellious side moved quickly to Ciempozuelos, crushing the forefront of the 15th Brigade. A company of the British Battalion was taken prisoner after leaving a group of Moroccan regulars who were singing "The Internationale" to reach their trenches. After this battle, the brigade was very badly damaged and it was withdrawn for a short period of time. Between 23 and 27 February, the Republicans launched a general counterattack, participating for the first time the Lincoln Battalion. The maneuver failed and with it lost a large number of effectives, but the brigade recovered its forces with the arrival of new volunteers. Thus, for the end of February there were 2 Americans battalions, the Lincoln Battalion and the new Washington Battalion, made up mostly by Canadians.
In late March, the Spanish Volunteer 24 Battalion joined the brigade. After a few months, the brigade was reorganized into two groups: the first consisted of English-speaking volunteers and the second consisted of the union of Dimitrov, 6th of February and Volunteer 24 Battalions. This was the composition of the brigade before the Brunete Offensive where it was used as shock troops. On July 7, the English brigade took Villanueva de la Cañada, and on July 11 followed Villanueva del Pardillo. The Republican offensive succeeded in conquering Brunete and Quijorna before being slowed down in their advance on July 15. On July 18 began the general counterattack of Franco's divisions and, as in Jarama, the brigade suffered a high rate of losses which led to the union of the American battalions and the Lincoln-Washington Battalion was formed.
In September, the 15th Brigade moved to the front of Aragon to intervene in the Battle of Belchite, where it had an important role, but with a high price, the loss of heavy casualties. After the fight in Belchite, the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion joined the brigade while the Dimitrov Battalion was transferred to the 13th Brigade. Between January and February 1938, it was involved in numerous actions in Front of Teruel and able to stop several counterattacks.
On March 10, shortly after the beginning of the Franco attack in Aragon, Solchaga?s divisions came into the devastated town of Belchite, and the British, American and Canadian troops were the last to leave the ruins of the village that had been so difficult to conquer the previous summer. Caspe was installed as the operations center of the brigade and the International Brigades gathered in this village, but by the evening of March 17, the Aragonese village had fallen after two days of heavy fighting.
On early April, the unit entered Catalonia. When Franco's troops reached the sea by Vinaroz, Castellón, and cut the Republican zone in two, it was surrounded by the rest of the Republican zone. But the brigade was decided to keep struggle, and it entrenched in Gandesa. On April 3, the disputed town felt down, and with it also 140 British, though the Brigade struggled for a few days which allowed the evacuation of valuable military equipment and the regrouping of several republican units across the Ebro.
As of July 25, it participated in the Ebro Offensive, crossing the river and heading to Gandesa. On August 1, the 15th Brigade launched a scathing attack against the fascists who were in a strategic position behind which was Gandesa. The list of casualties was very high, as in previous attacks of Gandesa. On August 2, the Republican advance was stopped, and then the brigade went on defensive and began to dig trenches. August went through with constant fighting during which, although it lost ground, it managed to stop the numerous Franco counterattacks.
The debate of the withdrawal of international volunteers started to be questioned and the International Brigades were composed by Spanish more than internationals, as well as the 15th Brigade had some units composed purely by Spanish. Before the Retreats, on September 22, the 15th Brigade was fighting his last fight in the Ebro where it suffered heavy casualties, which led to its reorganization as a purely Spanish unit during the Campaign of Catalonia which was unable to offer firm resistance and it retired to the French border where it entered in France in early February and disappeared.
Date of the event: 1936 - 1939
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