A pic i pala / Trench dugout
IN ENGLISH BELOW THE LINE
Foto presa amb una Leica IIIb fabricada el 1938; objectiu Leitz Elmar f3.5 / 50mm fabricat el 1936; pel·licula Adox HR50, caducada de fa uns mesos.
Fotografies de la zona de combats de la Batalla del Ebre (1938). La càmera i les trinxeres daten del mateix any!
Al nord de Corbera d'Ebre es troba un important turó on s'han adecentat en certa forma les trinxeres que hi queden, la Cota 402. Es tracta del que fou el lloc de comandament de la 35 Divisió republicana durant els primers dies de la batalla, a finals de juliol i principis d'agost. Fou en aquells dies en que els republicans assaltaren sense exit l'entorn de Gandesa, i desde aquest turó es veu perfectament la zona de combat. Posteriorment, la fortificació passà a la 27 Divisió republicana (la del cosí del meu pare), i la ofensiva feixista de Puig Gaeta la situà prop del front. Finalment, la posició, molt bombardejada, va caure el 3 de setembre.
La batalla de l'Ebre (25 juliol - 16 novembre de 1938) fou la més important i mortifera de la guerra civil espanyola. Hi ha que també la consideren també la més decisiva, però crec que per desgracia la guerra ja estava decidida de molt abans, com a minim des del trencament del front d'Aragó el 9 de març del mateix any.
Tot i que l'exèrcit republicà creuà l'Ebre el 25 de juliol del 1938 per molts punts entre Mequinensa i Amposta, la major part dels combats de la batalla es donaren a la Terra Alta, a la zona entre Vilalba dels Arcs, La Fatarella, Camposines i Gandesa, a més de la Serra de Pandols.
www.diarideguerra.com/fitxa-3-24-71-f198/guerra-civil-a-c...
ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batalla_de_l%27Ebre
============================================
Picture taken with a Leica IIIb made in 1938; Leitz Elmar f3.5 / 50mm lens, made in 1936; Adox HR50 film, expired some moths ago.
This is part of the Ebro battlefield (1938), in Southern Catalonia. Both camera and trenches date from the same year.
To the north of Corbera d'Ebre there is an important hill where the remaining trenches have been improved to a certain extent, named Cota 402 ("Hill 402"). This is what was the command post of the 35th Republican Division during the first days of the battle, in late July and early August. It was in those days when the Republicans attacked without success the area around Gandesa, and from this hill you can see the combat zone perfectly. Later, the fortification passed to the 27th Republican Division (that of my father's cousin), and Puig Gaeta's fascist offensive placed it near the front. Finally, the position, heavily bombarded, fell on September 3rd.
The front was fixed here, at Gardell, from August 26 to early November, when the Republican army began the final retreat. This forest, which I believe is dominated by fascist fortifications, is completely full of trenches, shelters, craters and rocks scattered everywhere. Just on the upper side of the plateau lays what I believe was the Republican frontline. It seems like a sector of the static fronts of 1914-18.
The Battle of the Ebro (July 25 - November 16, 1938) was the most important and deadlier of the Spanish Civil War. There are those who also consider it the most decisive, but I think that unfortunately the war was already decided long before, at least since the breaking of the front of Aragon on March 9 of the same year.
The battle began with the greatest offensive made by the Republican forces, when they crossed the river Ebro between Mequinensa and Amposta (especially between Riba-roja and Miravet), and advanced to the line La Pobla de Massaluca -Vilalba dels Arcs -Gandesa - Serra de Pandols . But in just 48 hours, the dazzling advance was stopped short. Then Franco decided to crush the republican forces hill by hill (with massive artillery and bomber barrages), in a battle of attrition identical to the First World War for which the Republicans had no resources or alternative, especially with the river behind them. The main assaults, which lasted from August 10 to October 29, were concentrated in a very small and devastated area: the triangle Vertex Gaeta - Corbera - Camposines.
Finally, a final offensive on October 30 occupied the ridge of the Serra de Cavalls, making the entire Republican bridgehead unsustainable, which managed, however, to withdraw in an orderly manner until November 16. But the damage was already done, and there were no forces left for a proper defense of Catalonia, which fell three months later. Then, fascist darkness.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxQZ_gKCHtk
A pic i pala / Trench dugout
IN ENGLISH BELOW THE LINE
Foto presa amb una Leica IIIb fabricada el 1938; objectiu Leitz Elmar f3.5 / 50mm fabricat el 1936; pel·licula Adox HR50, caducada de fa uns mesos.
Fotografies de la zona de combats de la Batalla del Ebre (1938). La càmera i les trinxeres daten del mateix any!
Al nord de Corbera d'Ebre es troba un important turó on s'han adecentat en certa forma les trinxeres que hi queden, la Cota 402. Es tracta del que fou el lloc de comandament de la 35 Divisió republicana durant els primers dies de la batalla, a finals de juliol i principis d'agost. Fou en aquells dies en que els republicans assaltaren sense exit l'entorn de Gandesa, i desde aquest turó es veu perfectament la zona de combat. Posteriorment, la fortificació passà a la 27 Divisió republicana (la del cosí del meu pare), i la ofensiva feixista de Puig Gaeta la situà prop del front. Finalment, la posició, molt bombardejada, va caure el 3 de setembre.
La batalla de l'Ebre (25 juliol - 16 novembre de 1938) fou la més important i mortifera de la guerra civil espanyola. Hi ha que també la consideren també la més decisiva, però crec que per desgracia la guerra ja estava decidida de molt abans, com a minim des del trencament del front d'Aragó el 9 de març del mateix any.
Tot i que l'exèrcit republicà creuà l'Ebre el 25 de juliol del 1938 per molts punts entre Mequinensa i Amposta, la major part dels combats de la batalla es donaren a la Terra Alta, a la zona entre Vilalba dels Arcs, La Fatarella, Camposines i Gandesa, a més de la Serra de Pandols.
www.diarideguerra.com/fitxa-3-24-71-f198/guerra-civil-a-c...
ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batalla_de_l%27Ebre
============================================
Picture taken with a Leica IIIb made in 1938; Leitz Elmar f3.5 / 50mm lens, made in 1936; Adox HR50 film, expired some moths ago.
This is part of the Ebro battlefield (1938), in Southern Catalonia. Both camera and trenches date from the same year.
To the north of Corbera d'Ebre there is an important hill where the remaining trenches have been improved to a certain extent, named Cota 402 ("Hill 402"). This is what was the command post of the 35th Republican Division during the first days of the battle, in late July and early August. It was in those days when the Republicans attacked without success the area around Gandesa, and from this hill you can see the combat zone perfectly. Later, the fortification passed to the 27th Republican Division (that of my father's cousin), and Puig Gaeta's fascist offensive placed it near the front. Finally, the position, heavily bombarded, fell on September 3rd.
The front was fixed here, at Gardell, from August 26 to early November, when the Republican army began the final retreat. This forest, which I believe is dominated by fascist fortifications, is completely full of trenches, shelters, craters and rocks scattered everywhere. Just on the upper side of the plateau lays what I believe was the Republican frontline. It seems like a sector of the static fronts of 1914-18.
The Battle of the Ebro (July 25 - November 16, 1938) was the most important and deadlier of the Spanish Civil War. There are those who also consider it the most decisive, but I think that unfortunately the war was already decided long before, at least since the breaking of the front of Aragon on March 9 of the same year.
The battle began with the greatest offensive made by the Republican forces, when they crossed the river Ebro between Mequinensa and Amposta (especially between Riba-roja and Miravet), and advanced to the line La Pobla de Massaluca -Vilalba dels Arcs -Gandesa - Serra de Pandols . But in just 48 hours, the dazzling advance was stopped short. Then Franco decided to crush the republican forces hill by hill (with massive artillery and bomber barrages), in a battle of attrition identical to the First World War for which the Republicans had no resources or alternative, especially with the river behind them. The main assaults, which lasted from August 10 to October 29, were concentrated in a very small and devastated area: the triangle Vertex Gaeta - Corbera - Camposines.
Finally, a final offensive on October 30 occupied the ridge of the Serra de Cavalls, making the entire Republican bridgehead unsustainable, which managed, however, to withdraw in an orderly manner until November 16. But the damage was already done, and there were no forces left for a proper defense of Catalonia, which fell three months later. Then, fascist darkness.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxQZ_gKCHtk