Events 1936-1939 in Spain, Soviet historiography for many years was considered as a "national liberation war of the Spanish people", but it is obvious that this is not true. The forces of democracy and the forces of totalitarian regimes simply clashed, and all this happened in an extremely backward, in fact, semi-feudal, peasant country, with a patriarchal mentality ingrained in the minds of the masses. And - yes, it was a real "dress rehearsal" of the future war, where its technique and tactics were being worked out.
T-26 - "the most significant Soviet tank" of the Spanish war. Tank Museum near Madrid.
This aspect of the war in Spain was known in our country in the era of the USSR! But … it was given without any particular details. True, the Navy was lucky, since Admiral Kuznetsov told in his memoirs about the actions of the Spanish Navy in sufficient detail, and then also published a number of analytical articles on the same topic. There seemed to be a lot of information on aviation, too, but until recently they were heavily "smeared" in various publications. The tanks were the least fortunate. And it's clear why. Our planes were good, but the German ones were better! Who is guilty? Constructors! But tanks … tanks were out of competition throughout the war. That is why I did not want to tell our participants about their mistakes at all. Nevertheless, there is information about tanks in Spain and why don't we get to know it from various sources?
However, it will immediately become clear that the exact number of T-26 and BT-5 sent to Spain is unknown. Historians abroad tend to exaggerate figures, ours, on the contrary, usually underestimate them.
For example, in the monograph "T-34" I. P. Shmelev, it is written that 362 tanks were sent to the Spaniards from the USSR, or - and even less - 347. But, for example, such a Spanish historian as Rafael Trevino Martinez gives other figures: there are about 500 T-26 tanks and another 100 BT-5, and that's all this is without taking into account different BAs.
The fact that there were 362 tanks was also written by Raymond Surlemont, the French historian of BTT, in the Armored Car magazine, but at the same time he added that, in addition to the USSR tanks, he had sent 120 FAI and BA-3 / BA-6 armored cars to the republicans.
Hugh Thomas is a famous English historian, whose monograph was published several times and is, by all accounts, the most objective study of this topic in English-speaking countries, in general he writes about 900 Soviet tanks, plus 300 BA. He gives the following table.
People Aviation Tanks Artillery
Nationalists
from Germany 17000 600 200 1000
from Italy 75000 660 150 1000
Moroccans 75,000
Total 167000 1264 350 2000
Republicans
from Russia 3000 1 000 900 1550
Other countries and
Interbrigades 35000 320
Non-military formations from abroad 15000
Total 53000 1320 900 1550
* Huqh Thomas, The Spanich civil war, p / 985
From Italy came 149 CV 3/35 "Fiat-Ansaldo" tankettes and … 16 BA "Lancia-Ansaldo" 17M model 1917, and 5 tankettes arrived in Spain on August 16, 1936, armored cars on December 22. On September 29, 10 more tankettes were sent, 3 with flamethrowers. Only at the end of October 1936 was it possible to form a full-fledged company of mixed Italian-Spanish crews, which was shown to General Franco on October 17 at a military parade. These "tanks" went into battle on October 21 near the town of Navalkarnero. The Republicans defending it, seeing the "tanks", immediately retreated. But the Italians lost one wedge heel, but they were very proud of their success, so they called this part "Navalkarnero"! On October 29, these tankettes met our T-26 for the first time. The result was a tank duel between our tank with a cannon and an Italian tankette with a machine gun and a flamethrower, commanded by officer P. Berezi. Of course, the T-26 knocked her out with a direct hit, and her crew was killed. The second tankette was badly damaged, but the T-26 was also seriously damaged by artillery shells from the nationalists. In total, during the autumn battles for Madrid in 1936, the Italians lost 4 cars, three people were killed, 17 wounded and one was missing. Then on December 8, 1936, another replenishment came from Italy in the amount of 20 cars.
It turned out that Soviet tanks hit the Italian ones with the first shell that hit them. Therefore, they began to be used as "fast units" (just like today's "rapid response" units!), And this turned out to be justified. That is, they were sent to where our tanks were not, and it was there that they delivered unexpected strikes. So, with their help, the nationalists occupied Santader, and already in the spring in March-April 1938 they actively fought in the Montenegro mountains. In July 1938, reinforced with German 37-mm RAK-36 guns, these tankettes were able to break through the Republican front at Teruel and then move forward more than 100 kilometers!
And on this it was possible to fight and win?
In December 1938, 32 tankettes were delivered from Italy to the nationalists for the last time. Now the tank unit, which belonged to the Italian Expeditionary Force in Spain, began to be called a regiment, as part of the headquarters, two battalions of tankettes, each of which had two companies. One tankette battalion had Spanish crews. In addition, there was one motorized battalion, an armored car company, a motorcycle scout company, and a Bersaglier company. The regiment also included an Orditi battalion, an anti-tank battalion armed with 65-mm mountain cannons and German RAC-36. This also included the 47-mm and 45-mm captured guns.
In December 1938, the regiment fought in Catalonia, where the fighting once again led to the breakthrough of the Republican front. Now the resistance of the Republicans was weakening before our eyes, but the severity of the situation was successfully compensated for by the Republican press. On January 17, 1939, newspapers reported on the heroic deed of Corporal Celestino Garcia Moreno, who, near the town of Santa Coloma de Queralt, met 13 Italian tanks and blew up three with hand grenades. Then he took a pickaxe, broke the hatches on them and captured all five tankers. Moreover, the remaining 10 cars immediately fled! On January 26, Franco tanks entered Barcelona, and on February 3, 1939, during the assault on the city of Gerona on the French border, the Italians lost their last tankette. Actually, they were on the border on February 10, where the CTV captured 22 Republican tanks, 50 cannons and over 1000 machine guns! On May 3, Italian tanks paraded in Valencia, and on May 19 in Madrid, which, of course, filled the hearts of the Duce tankers with pride. However, the loss of 56 tankettes hardly speaks of their high quality. Although, yes, all memoirists note that they justified their motto: "Quickly to victory", that is, they drove really fast and … one way or another, but the Republicans were forced to retreat.
"Legion" Condor "" 9 T-I A tanks received at the end of 1936, then 32 tanks were delivered in mid-September. The tank group of the legion was named "Panzer group Dron". It was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma. The group consisted of a headquarters, two tank companies, each of three sections. The section had five line tanks and one commander's vehicle. Support units included a transport section, a field repair shop, an anti-tank and flamethrower section. Von Thoma noted that "Spaniards learn quickly, but also quickly forget what they have learned." Because of this, the Germans were in charge of the mixed German-Spanish crews.
Impressive and formidable machine, isn't it?
The weakness of the T-IA was shown already in the very first battles, and from December 1936 the T-IB tanks went to Spain. By 1938, German tank units numbered 4 battalions, each of 3 companies and 15 tanks in each company. 4 companies / 60 tanks / were made up of captured T-26s. For the capture of a T-26 tank, the nationalist command gave a bonus of 500 pesetas - the monthly salary of an American pilot from the Republicans (moreover, the Soviet "Stalinist falcons" were paid less than everyone else!) there was a lot of money. They were Muslims! They did not drink wine, did not play cards, and all the "earned" money, like modern migrant workers from Central Asia, was sent to their families. And it is clear what a find the "real Russian tank" was for them! Well, in the end, the nationalists got as trophies … 150 T-26, BT-5 and BA-10 tanks, and these are just those vehicles that they were able to repair and then use in their army. In fact, the USSR laid the foundation for Franco's tank fleet, that's how!
An interesting paradox: the more poor the army is, the brighter its uniform is, and there are more "bells and whistles" in it.
The Germans in Spain were completely independent and, in fact, did not obey the Spaniards, but only coordinated their actions with them. There was a case when Franco demanded that von Thoma send his tanks into the attack along with the infantry "in the usual manner of generals belonging to the old school," to which he replied: "I will use tanks, not spraying them, but concentrating", and Franco wiped himself off! Moreover, he had 15 tanks in the company, and in total there were 180 vehicles. But only in Catalonia, the Republicans had up to 200 Soviet tanks and BA. And what do you think? The command on the Catalan front viewed the T-26s as … too heavy and, in addition, not efficient enough!
In winter, the main thing for a soldier is to keep warm!
The question arises: what other efficiency did the Spaniards need from Soviet vehicles, if the T-IA and T-IB, and CV 3/35 did not have guns, but ours did? The domination of Franco's aviation, which allegedly led to large losses among the Republicans, cannot be considered sufficiently established. If the nationalists spent up to five hundred bombs on one destroyed pontoon bridge on the Ebro River, then how many bombs did they spend on one destroyed tank? And then, on the critical days of November 1936, it was the T-26 and the I-15 and I-16 fighters that dominated Spain both on the ground and in the air!
But many Republicans fought in jeans!
Obviously, the Republicans just … didn't know how to fight properly! That is, the most important reasons for the victory of the nationalists were combat training, discipline and professional command. So M. Koltsov in his book "The Spanish Diary" repeatedly wrote that the nationalists had special sergeants to shoot the retreating and cowards, which placed machine guns behind the infantry. But General Enrico Lister also ordered to shoot his soldiers in case of retreat. The Republican sergeants even had an order to shoot officers who commanded a retreat without a written order from headquarters. “Anyone who allows the loss of even an inch of land will be held accountable for it with his head” - this is how Lister addressed his troops, and still it did not help, the Republicans suffered one defeat after another. On the other hand, perhaps the Soviet military advisers were simply not listened to there? "A large number of Russian officers in Aragon puts Spanish soldiers in the position of colonized aborigines," read a telegram from the headquarters of the Aragonese front to the Minister of War of the Spanish Republic, and this example of attitude towards us is by no means unique. And the question is, where is the gratitude? And an elementary one! It is interesting that no one said this to American pilots and volunteer officers from England, the USA and Canada, and their salaries were paid more than ours at times! Probably, ours were too ceremonious with them! And they would say bluntly: without our tanks and aircraft, you are all "zero without a stick" and, you see, they would have understood their place. And then all the "fraternal solidarity", "proletarian internationalism", "international assistance", but it was necessary like the Germans … "and you go!"
