Bombing of Xàtiva

The Bombing of Xàtiva was an aerial bombing of the railway station of Xàtiva, Valencia Province, during the last phase of the Spanish Civil War. It was carried out on 12 February 1939 at the behest of Francisco Franco's nationalist government by the Aviazione Legionaria of its Fascist Italian allies.

Bombing of Xàtiva
Part of the Spanish Civil War

Memorial to the dead at Xàtiva Railway Station. Named "Aixopluc", it was inaugurated on 18 February 2007.
Date12 February 1939
Location
Xàtiva, Valencia, Spain
Result 129 killed
Belligerents
 Nationalist Spain
( Kingdom of Italy)		  Spanish Republic
Strength
Five Savoia-Marchetti SM.79
Casualties and losses
None 129 killed
200+ injured

History

Carried out in the last days of the Civil War, the bombing hit a train which had entered Xàtiva Railway Station in the morning. 129 people died, of whom 109 perished instantly, and over 200 were wounded.[1]

The train was carrying military personnel of the Spanish Republican Army belonging to the 49th Mixed Brigade, which was being transferred to another location. At the time of the bombing the train was surrounded by a throng of civilians who hoped to greet relatives and friends among the soldiers. Most of those who perished were members of the 49th Mixed Brigade.[2]

The bombing was carried out around 10:30 am by five Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 bombers of the Aviazione Legionaria based in Palma de Mallorca. They dropped twenty 250 kg (550 lb) bombs from a height of 4,200 m (13,800 ft) over the railway station. Although the fatalities were mostly soldiers, some of the victims were civilians, including three children and 14 women.[3] There were so many dead and wounded among the members of the 49th Mixed Brigade, that the Republican high command desisted from reconstituting it, distributing the survivors among other military units.[4]

See also

References
  1. Pablo Rodríguez Cortés: Febrero de 1939 en Xátiva Archived 18 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. Eladi Mainar Cabanes, El bombardeo de Xàtiva, in "La Guerra Civil en la Comunidad Valenciana." Ed. Prensa Valenciana, 2007
  3. Jose Antonio San Martin Frigols: Efeméride: 70 años del bombardeo de Xàtiva con 5 victimas de Sellent
  4. Carlos Engel, Historia de las Brigadas Mixtas del E. P. de la República, 1999 p. 77
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