X Army Corps (Spain)

X Army Corps
X Cuerpo de Ejército
ActiveJune 1937–February 1939
Country Spain
AllegianceSecond Spanish Republic Republican faction
Branch Spanish Republican Army
TypeInfantry
SizeArmy Corps
Part ofEastern Army
Garrison/HQBarbastro
EngagementsSpanish Civil War:
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Gregorio Jover Cortés

The X Army Corps was a military formation belonging to the Spanish Republican Army that fought during the Spanish Civil War. During the war it was deployed on the fronts of Aragon, Segre and Catalonia.

History

The unit was created in June 1937, within the Eastern Army. It covered the front line that ran from the French border to the Sierra de Alcubierre,[1] with its headquarters in Barbastro.[2][3] During the following months some of its forces intervened in the offensives of Huesca (June), Zaragoza (August) and Biescas (September-October), which, however, did not bear the desired results: both Huesca and Jaca remained in the hands of the nationalist forces.

In the spring of 1938, during the Aragon Campaign, the X Army Corps performed poorly. From the first moment its forces fell back from the enemy push, particularly the 31st Division,[4] whose withdrawal —Which eventually became a rout— left the southern flank of the 43rd Division unprotected.[n. 1] At the beginning of April the X Army Corps, after a long retreat, they maintained their positions on the defensive line of the Segre River. Some elements of its 34th Division intervened in the Balaguer Offensive at the end of May. At the beginning of the Catalonia Campaign the X Army Corps continued to cover the Segre line. Its troops offered resistance to the nationalist assault, although at the beginning of 1939 the formation was forced to withdraw towards the French border along with the rest of the Eastern Army.

Command

Commanders
Commissars
Chiefs of Staff
  • Joaquín Alonso García;
  • Pascual Miñana de la Concepción;[13]
  • Magín Doménech Pujol;[n. 2]
  • Enrique López Pérez;[9]

Order of Battle

Date Attached Army Integrated divisions Battlefront
June 1937 Eastern Army 28th, 29th and 43rd Aragon
July 17, 1937 Eastern Army 28th, 31st and 43rd Aragon
December 1937 Eastern Army 31st and 43rd Aragon
May 1938 Eastern Army 24th and 34th Segre
September 3, 1938 Eastern Army 31st and 55th Segre
December 27, 1938 Eastern Army 31st, 32nd and 55th Segre
January 2, 1939 Eastern Army 32nd, 34th and 55th Segre

Notes

  1. ^ The 43rd Division had to withdraw and was surrounded in what was known as the Bielsa pocket.[5]
  2. ^ He had previously served as Chief of Staff of the 34th Division.[14]

References

  1. ^ Maldonado 2007, p. 202.
  2. ^ Martínez Bande 1975, p. 218.
  3. ^ Maldonado 2007, p. 171.
  4. ^ Ripol 2007, p. 55.
  5. ^ Tuñón de Lara 2000, p. 744.
  6. ^ de Paz Sánchez 2004, p. 211.
  7. ^ Maldonado 2007, p. 239.
  8. ^ Martínez Bande 1975, p. 133.
  9. ^ a b Martínez Bande 1979, p. 30.
  10. ^ Alpert 2013, p. 215.
  11. ^ Álvarez 1989, p. 179.
  12. ^ Álvarez 1989, p. 187.
  13. ^ Martínez Bande 1975, p. 84.
  14. ^ Engel 1999, p. 214.

Bibliography

  • Álvarez, Santiago (1989). Los comisarios políticos en el Ejército Popular de la República (in Spanish). Ediciós do Castro.
  • Alpert, Michael (2013). The Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939. Cambridge University Press.
  • de Paz Sánchez, Manuel (2004). Militares masones de España: diccionario biográfico del siglo XX (in Spanish). UNED Alzira-Valencia.
  • Engel, Carlos (1999). Historia de las Brigadas Mixtas del Ejército Popular de la República (in Spanish). Madrid: Almena. ISBN 84-922644-7-0.
  • Maldonado, José María (2007). El frente de Aragón. La Guerra Civil en Aragón (1936-1938) (in Spanish). Mira Ediciones. ISBN 978-84-8465-237-3.
  • Martínez Bande, José Manuel (1975). La llegada al mar (in Spanish). Madrid: San Martín. ISBN 84-7140-115-0.
  • Martínez Bande, José Manuel (1979). La Campaña de Cataluña (in Spanish). Madrid: San Martín.
  • Ripol, Marc (2007). Las rutas del exilio (in Spanish). Barcelona: Alhena ediciones.
  • Tuñón de Lara, Manuel (2000). La España del siglo XX (in Spanish). Vol. III. Madrid: Akal. ISBN 84-460-1105-0.