Camilo Alonso Vega

Camilo Alonso Vega (29 May 1889 – 1 July 1971) was a Spanish military officer and minister.

Camilo Alonso Vega
Birth nameCamilo Alonso Vega
Nickname(s)Don Camulo
Born(1899-05-29)29 May 1899
Ferrol, Spain
Died1 July 1971(1971-07-01) (aged 72)
Madrid, Spain
Allegiance Kingdom of Spain (1904–1932)
 Spanish Republic (1931–1936)
Nationalist Spain
Years of service1907–1959
RankLieutenant general
Captain general (ad honorem; 1969)
Commands heldBrigade (1937–8)
Division (1938–9).
Battles/warsSpanish Civil War

Early life

A childhood friend of Francisco Franco, as a Captain he entered in the Foreign Legion and fought in the Rif War.[1] He was initially assigned as commander of the 9th machinegun company of the 3rd Bandera of the Legion. Later he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the Spanish Army in 1935 and full Colonel in December 1936 due to performance on the battlefield.[2]

Spanish Civil War

In July 1936, he supported the 17–18 July coup d’etat and helped conquer Vitoria, the capital city of the province of Alava for the rebels.[3] In December 1936, he led the defense of the town of Villareal against an offensive of the Basque forces.[4] In March 1937 he was appointed as commander of the 4th Brigade of the newly organized Mola’s Navarrese division and, he led this brigade in the Biscay Campaign,[5] in the Battle of Brunete in July 1937,[6] in the Battle of Santander in August, and in the Aragon Offensive,[7] and on April 15 he took the town of Vinaròs (in the province of Castellón) cut in a half the Republican held zone.[8] Later, he led a division in the Battle of the Ebro.[9]

Francoist Spain

After the war in January 1940, he became Sub-Secretary of the Ministry of the Army, which included supervising of the concentration camps and later the head of the Civil Guard (1943-1955).[10] He was the Minister of the Interior of the Francoist Spain from 1956[11] to 1969.[12] He retired from the military in 1959,[13] remaining as Minister of the Interior nonetheless. He led the opposition inside the francoist government against the Fraga's Press Law. In 1969 he crushed the university demonstrations, because of this, he was nicknamed Don Camulo by the students[11] (a portmanteau of his given name and mule).

Notes
  1. Preston, Paul. (1994). Franco. Fontana Press. London. p.29
  2. http://linz.march.es/Documento.asp?Reg=r-39585
  3. Thomas, Hugh. (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p.226
  4. Thomas, Hugh. (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p..525
  5. Beevor, Antony. (2006). The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939. Penguin Books. London. p.228
  6. Thomas, Hugh. (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p.691
  7. Thomas, Hugh. (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p.781
  8. Beevor, Antony. (2006). The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939. Penguin Books. London. p.327
  9. Thomas, Hugh. (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p.817
  10. Beevor, Antony. (2006). The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939. Penguin Books. London. p.405
  11. Preston, Paul. (1994). Franco. Fontana Press. London. p.740
  12. Preston, Paul. (1994). Franco. Fontana Press. London. p.746
  13. Ministerio del Ejército: "Decreto 1021/1959, de 4 de junio, por el que se dispone que el Teniente General don Camilo Alonso Vega pase a la situación de reserva" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (142): 8560. 15 June 1959. ISSN 0212-033X.
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