67th Division (Spain)

The 67th Division was a unit of the Spanish Republican Army that existed during the Spanish Civil War, created on the basis of the mixed brigades. It came to be deployed on the fronts of Teruel, Extremadura and Levante.

67th Division
67.ª División
ActiveAugust 1937–March 1939
Country Spain
Allegiance Republican faction
Branch Spanish Republican Army
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
EngagementsSpanish Civil War:
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Fulgencio González Gómez

History

The unit was created at the end of August 1937, in Ciudad Real, formed with recruits from 1930, 1937 and 1938. The command fell to the infantry commander Fulgencio González Gómez.[n. 1] The new 67th Division, which was formed by the 215th, 216th and 217th mixed brigades, was integrated into the XX Army Corps.[2][3] The training and instruction of the new unit lasted until the end of 1937, remaining located in the general reserve.

At the beginning of 1938 it was sent to the Teruel front,[4] to reinforce the units that were already fighting there. After its arrival, it replaced the seriously broken 68th Division.[5] During the subsequent Battle of Alfambra, the unit withstood the bulk of the enemy attack, emerging very broken from the fighting.[n. 2]

It was then sent to the Extremadura front, where it replaced the 45th International Division as the reserve force of the Extremadura Army.[7] In April 1938, two of its brigades, the 216th and 217th, intervened in a small republican offensive in the Talavera de la Reina sector.[8] Until July 1938, the unit remained in Extremadura, when it was replaced by the 68th Division.[7] It was sent as reinforcement to the Levante front, where it was added to XXII Army Corps. Upon arrival, however, the fighting had decreased significantly. During the rest of the war he remained on this front, without taking part in relevant military operations. Towards the end of the war the division was attached to the XIII Army Corps.[9]

Command
Commanders
  • Infantry Commander Fulgencio González Gómez;[10][11]
Commissars
  • José Villanueva Márquez, of the CNT;[12]
  • Pelayo Tortajada, of the PCE;[13]
Chiefs of Staff
  • Cavalry commander Leopoldo Ortega Nieto;[10]

Order of battle
DateAttached Army CorpsIntegrated Mixed BrigadesBattle front
November 1937XX Army Corps215th, 216th and 217thGeneral reserve
April 1938VIII Army Corps215th, 216th and 217thEstremadura
August 1938XXII Army Corps16th, 215th and 217thLevante

Notes
  1. However, Michael Alpert indicates that at this time the head of the division was the Carabineros Lieutenant Colonel Hilario Fernández Recio. [1]
  2. According to Rafael Casas de la Vega, the 67th Division "was beaten on its entire front."[6]

References
  1. Alpert 1989, pp. 348, 369.
  2. Alpert 1989, p. 348.
  3. Bermúdez 1992, pp. 149-150.
  4. Maldonado 2007, p. 270.
  5. Casas de la Vega 1973, p. 200.
  6. Casas de la Vega 1976, p. 362.
  7. Moreno Gómez 1985, p. 616.
  8. Martínez Bande 1981, p. 175.
  9. Engel 1999, p. 188.
  10. Bermúdez 1992, p. 149.
  11. Martínez Bande 1981, p. 303.
  12. Álvarez 1989, p. 181.
  13. Álvarez 1989, p. 189.

Bibliography
  • Alpert, Michael (1989). El ejército republicano en la guerra civil (in Spanish). Siglo XXI Editores.
  • Álvarez, Santiago (1989). Los comisarios políticos en el Ejército Popular de la República (in Spanish). Ediciós do Castro.
  • Bermúdez, Antonio (1992). República y guerra civil: Manzanares (1931-1939) (in Spanish). Diputación de Ciudad Real.
  • Casas de la Vega, Rafael (1973). Teruel (in Spanish). Barcelona: L. de Caralt.
  • Casas de la Vega, Rafael (1976). Alfambra. La reconquista de Teruel (in Spanish). L. de Caralt.
  • Engel, Carlos (1999). Historia de las Brigadas Mixtas del Ejército Popular de la República (in Spanish). Madrid: Almena. ISBN 84-922644-7-0.
  • Martínez Bande, José Manuel (1981). La batalla de Pozoblanco y el cierre de la bolsa de Mérida (in Spanish). Madrid: Editorial San Martín.
  • Moreno Gómez, Francisco (1985). La Guerra civil en Córdoba (1936-1939) (in Spanish). Córdoba: Alpuerto.
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