La Legion Spanish legion
Years of existence
Subordination
Included in
Dislocation
Nicknames	suitors of death
Patron	Cristo de la Buena Muerte, (Congregación de Mena, Malaga)
Motto	Legionnaires in fight, legionnaires in death!
March	Tercios Heroicos La Cancion del Legionario El Novio de la Muerte.
Participation in
commanders
Notable commanders	Milian Astray Terreros

The Spanish Legion owes its creation to José Milian Astray, the legendary general who showed miracles of courage on the battlefield and lost an arm and an eye in battles. It was to him, the hero of the war in Morocco, who invariably fought in the forefront and personally raised the fighters to attack, that the phrase that went down in history belongs "Long live death, and let the mind perish!" ("Viva la muerte, y muera la inteligencia!"). The first part of it - "Long live death!" was the battle cry of the Legion.

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An excerpt characterizing the Spanish Legion

– Voulez vous bien?! [Go to…] – the captain shouted with an evil frown.
Drum yes yes ladies, ladies, ladies, the drums crackled. And Pierre realized that a mysterious force had already completely taken possession of these people and that now it was useless to say anything else.
The captured officers were separated from the soldiers and ordered to go ahead. There were thirty officers, including Pierre, and three hundred soldiers.
The captured officers released from other booths were all strangers, were much better dressed than Pierre, and looked at him, in his shoes, with incredulity and aloofness. Not far from Pierre walked, apparently enjoying the general respect of his fellow prisoners, a fat major in a Kazan dressing gown, belted with a towel, with a plump, yellow, angry face. He held one hand with a pouch in his bosom, the other leaned on a chibouk. The major, puffing and puffing, grumbled and got angry at everyone because it seemed to him that he was being pushed and that everyone was in a hurry when there was nowhere to hurry, everyone was surprised at something when there was nothing surprising in anything. The other, a small, thin officer, was talking to everyone, making assumptions about where they were being led now and how far they would have time to go that day. An official, in welled boots and a commissariat uniform, ran in from different directions and looked out for the burned-out Moscow, loudly reporting his observations about what had burned down and what this or that visible part of Moscow was like. The third officer, of Polish origin by accent, argued with the commissariat official, proving to him that he was mistaken in determining the quarters of Moscow.
What are you arguing about? the major said angrily. - Is it Nikola, Vlas, it's all the same; you see, everything has burned down, well, that’s the end of it ... Why are you pushing, is there really not enough road, ”he turned angrily to the one who was walking behind and was not pushing him at all.
- Hey, hey, hey, what have you done! - heard, however, now from one side, now from the other side the voices of the prisoners, looking around the conflagrations. - And then Zamoskvorechye, and Zubovo, and then in the Kremlin, look, half is missing ... Yes, I told you that all Zamoskvorechye, that’s how it is.
- Well, you know what burned down, well, what to talk about! the major said.
Passing through Khamovniki (one of the few unburnt quarters of Moscow) past the church, the entire crowd of prisoners suddenly huddled to one side, and exclamations of horror and disgust were heard.
- Look, you bastards! That is not Christ! Yes, dead, dead and there ... They smeared it with something.
Pierre also moved towards the church, which had something that caused exclamations, and vaguely saw something leaning against the fence of the church. From the words of his comrades, who saw him better, he learned that it was something like the corpse of a man, standing upright by the fence and smeared with soot in his face ...
– Marchez, sacre nom… Filez… trente mille diables… [Go! go! Damn! Devils!] - the convoys cursed, and the French soldiers, with renewed anger, dispersed the crowd of prisoners who were looking at the dead man with cleavers.

Along the lanes of Khamovniki, the prisoners walked alone with their escort and the wagons and wagons that belonged to the escorts and rode behind; but, having gone out to the grocery stores, they found themselves in the middle of a huge, closely moving artillery convoy, mixed with private wagons.

On September 4, 1920, the King of Spain ordered the formation of a new unit of three battalions - the Foreign Regiment (Tercio de Extranjeros). Particular merit in this belongs to General Millan Astray, who petitioned for the creation of such a unit since the conclusion of an agreement with France in 1912, according to which Spain's colonial possession of Morocco acquired the status of a protectorate. The Spanish officers, led by General Astrea, were clearly aware that even an entire army of reservists and conscripts who found themselves in the war against their will could not cope with the violent Moroccan partisans. Therefore, in 1919, the general went to Algeria to get to know the organization of the world-famous French volunteer corps, the legendary Foreign Legion.
On October 31, 1920, the new battalions marched in front of King Alfonso HPT and took the oath of allegiance. Each battalion consisted of a headquarters, two rifle companies and one support company armed with six heavy machine guns. Unlike the French counterparts, the new part was 90% staffed by the citizens of Spain.
Immediately after this, the Legion took part in the Moroccan campaign and remained on the African continent until 1927. The battalions took part in 850 battles, fighting in all areas - from Ceuta in the west to Melilla in the east (1921-1923) and from Xayen in the southwest to Alhucemas in the Mediterranean (1924-1927).
During the civil war of 1936-1939, the Legion was at the head of the African units, which tipped the scales in favor of the Francoists. By that time, he already had 12 battalions (reinforced with companies of armored vehicles). Legionnaires proved themselves in the battles for Madrid, Teruel and in Catalonia. Constantly used as assault units, by the time the war ended (April 1, 1939), Legion units had lost 7645 people killed.
After the civil war, 12 of the 18 battalions were disbanded, and the remnants of the Legion again went to North Africa, where they met in April 1956, when Morocco gained independence. Spain was left with only enclaves in Ceuta and Melilla and a huge southern region known as Western Sahara. It was there in November 1957 that the Legion took its most decisive battle on African soil, putting to flight a detachment of 2,500 well-armed militants, supported by the newly minted Moroccan government. A year later, thanks to joint action with French troops from Algiers, the uprising was completely crushed.
On February 28, 1976, Western Sahara ceased to exist as a colonial possession, and the Legion left the endless sands in which it earned its military glory.
Currently, the Legion has about 7,000 people and is divided into the 1st Regiment "Grand Captain" (the first regiment of the Legion, including the 1st, 2nd and 3rd battalions, is located in Melilla), 2nd regiment "Duke of Alba" (4th, 5th and 6th battalions, stationed in Ceuta), 3rd regiment "Don Juan of Austria" (7th and 8th battalions, 1st light cavalry squadron - Fuerteventura, Canary Islands) and the 4th Regiment "Alejandro de Farnesio" (Ronda, Southern Spain).
The royal decree of March 1986, which banned the recruitment of foreign nationals into the Legion, turned the brightest page in Spanish military history (albeit allowing previously recruited foreigners to complete the term of their contract).
The ranks of the Legion, staffed mainly by volunteers, may also include conscripts who have agreed to an 18-month term of service. Each battalion has 600-700 legionnaires. The 1st and 2nd regiments consist of motorized rifle battalions. The Legion also has three special forces companies stationed in Ronda, the current location of the main base of the corps, and one anti-terrorist unit (Unidad de las Operaciones Especiales; UOE), formed in 1981 as part of the 4th regiment.

One of the most celebrated units of the Spanish army is the Spanish Legion, commonly referred to simply as La Legión. During its existence, the unit was noted in all major conflicts in which Spain participated in the XXcentury. On the threshold of the unit's centennial anniversary, we recall the brightest pages of its history.

At the walls of Badajoz

The summer of 1936 was hot in Spain. A column of the African Army marched on Madrid. The “Africans” officers commanding it, led by Lieutenant Colonel Juan Yague Blanco, were in a hurry: there was still a chance to quickly take Madrid and prevent the country from plunging into the bloody chaos of the Civil War. Their path was blocked by the ancient fortress of Badajoz, which was defended by 8,000 soldiers and militias of the Popular Front. On the morning of August 14, 3,000 soldiers of the Army of Africa stormed the city. The 4th bandera of the Legion, under the command of Major Jose Vierna Trapaga, had the most difficult section - the assault on the gates of Trinidad and a nearby breach in the fortress wall, protected by a barricade with machine guns mounted on it.

At the very beginning of the battle, the Republicans managed to disable the armored car attached to the legionnaires. Three times unusual bearded soldiers, singing the hymns of the Legion, rose in a bayonet attack on the machine guns of the Republicans. On the third attempt, they were able to overcome the barricade in the "Gap of Death" and fight their way to the main square of the city - Plaza de España. Having taken all-round defense on it, Captain Perez Caballero, who commanded the remaining legionnaires, reported to headquarters: “Passed. There are 14 people left. I don't need reinforcements.". The legendary military unit came to the land of Spain.

Father of the Legion

At the origins of the Legion is one of the outstanding Spanish military figures of the first half of the twentieth century - José Milian Astray. He was born in 1879 in the family of a lawyer and an official, and from childhood he dreamed of a military career, so at the age of 14 he entered the infantry academy in Toledo. After graduating with the best marks, the young man received an appointment that was a dream for any Spanish officer - in the elite 1st Royal Infantry Regiment. However, just a few months later, José Milian Astray left him, going as a volunteer to fight against the rebels in the Philippines. There he commanded a Cazador company, participated in many operations against partisans and received his first military awards.

Like many young Spaniards, the "catastrophe of 1898" - the Spanish-American War, as a result of which Spain lost Puerto Rico, the Philippine Islands and other colonies - became a personal tragedy for Milyan Astray, and the revival of the glorious name of the Spanish army was the goal of life . He became interested in military history, taught at the infantry academy in Toledo, where many students were very impressed by his inspired stories about the exploits of the famous Spanish thirds in the fields of Flanders. In 1911, the colonial war began in Morocco, and Major Milyan Astray left his teaching job and went to fight. Commanding various native units, he not only distinguished himself in battles with the rebellious Moors, but also actively participated in comprehending the experience of the colonial war, compiling tactical instructions.

In 1919, Lieutenant Colonel Milian Astray received a very unusual order from the Minister of War: to visit units of the French Foreign Legion in Algiers.

Legion for Spain

The colonial war in Morocco was not very popular in Spain itself. This seriously affected the combat capability of infantry units sent to the Spanish protectorate of Morocco, manned by ordinary conscripts. Ordinary soldiers did not want to fight and were looking for any way to evade the fighting. In such a situation, the Spanish command had to increasingly rely on parts of the regulars recruited from local residents. The Moroccans were wonderful warriors, but there was one problem.

Unlike Britain or France, who could send their native soldiers to fight on the other side of vast colonial empires, Spain's Moroccan soldiers had to fight on their own soil. Their loyalty was highly dependent on the very intricate relationships of various clans and tribes. Often, hundreds of soldiers left a unit before an operation against a rebellious tribe with which their native tribe had strong ties, only to return to the unit a few weeks later and fight bravely against another tribe with which they were separated by centuries of bloody feud.

Starting in 1917, the Spanish military increasingly spoke of the need to form shock units like regulars, but staffed with professional soldiers from Spain. Nevertheless, the project of creating such units caused a lot of criticism from politicians: the left was afraid of turning such professional units into an instrument of terror against the labor movement, and the right was afraid that these units would become a refuge for numerous revolutionaries and anarchists.

One of the first recruiting posters of the Foreign Tercio, 1921

As a compromise, a project was put forward to create a Spanish analogue of the French Foreign Legion, fortunately in Europe that had just survived the Great War there was no shortage of experienced veterans who did not lose their desire to fight. It was to study the situation on the spot that Lieutenant Colonel Milyan Astray went to Algiers.

Most of all, during the trip, Milyan Astray was struck by the fact that up to a quarter of the French legionnaires he met were Spaniards. Many of them regretted that there was no such unit in their home country. So gradually, Milyan Astray came to understand that the unit being created should be “super-Spanish”, reviving the glorious traditions of the thirds of the golden age of the Spanish Empire. But for the general public they continued to tell stories about "Spanish Foreign Legion", and the word "foreign" for political reasons, it was included in the first name of the military unit.

Birth of the Legion

On January 28, 1920, King Alfonso XIII signed a decree establishing the Foreign Tercio as part of the Spanish army ( Tercio de Extranjeros), intended for operations in the protectorate of Morocco. Its first commander was Lieutenant Colonel Milyan Astray. Together with a group of young officers - like him, "Africans", that is, veterans of the war in Morocco: majors Francisco Franco, Adolfo Vara de Rey, captains Justo Pardo, Camilo Alonso Vega - Milyan Astray created a new unit from scratch, which was supposed to revive "the spirit of superiority that distinguished the Spanish soldiers in the fields of Flanders". The drums for the new unit were modeled after the drums of the old thirds kept in the army museum in Madrid, and the flags of its units copied the banners of the Spanish units from the time of the Duke of Alba and Don Juan of Austria. In contrast to the bright and impractical uniforms characteristic of the Spanish army of that era, a simple and comfortable uniform was created for the new third, whose distinctive feature was the characteristic cap - "gorilla", or "chapiri", with red hanging tassels and piping.

Legionnaire 1920s

In September 1920, the recruitment of the first legionnaires began. Men between the ages of 18 and 40 were called up to the new unit, they were paid 4 pesetas 10 centavos per day, which was much higher than the average Spanish salaries of that time, with a one-time bonus of 350 pesetas. “No document is required, no proof is needed, except for the doctor’s verdict “fit.” Name, status, past? Any - real or fictional ... The Legion calls and welcomes men, without asking who they are or where they come from ”, - wrote Milyan Astray.

On October 16, 1920, the first 200 legionnaires arrived at the Dar Riffen military camp, which became the cradle of the unit, 6 km from Ceuta, on the way to the capital of the Spanish protectorate, Tetuan.

Major Franco with a group of first legionnaires, 1921

The foreign third was formed as part of three banderas - the equivalent of infantry battalions. Each bandera consisted of two rifle, one machine-gun and one training and staff companies. Major Francisco Franco became the first commander of the 1st Bandera.

Milyan Astrai paid a lot of attention to creating a special spirit of the Legion. He wrote the legionnaire's creed and several manuals, including table manners: “The bread lies to the left of the plate, it is torn off with hands, in no case with a knife”. Milyan Astrai also came up with the most famous slogan of the Legion: "Long live Death!". Because of this, the nickname stuck to the legionnaires "constricted Deaths".

Official ceremony at the Dar Riffen camp, 1927

True, and here it is not so simple. The Legion still tells the story of its founder and a young lieutenant who wanted to join the ranks of the unit. Milyan Astrai asked the romantic young man why he wants to join the Legion.

Yes, my colonel, to die!

Who told you this? He deceived you!

My colonel, I...

No. People come here to work day and night, dig trenches, sweat in summer and freeze in winter, fight tirelessly, drag wounded and fallen comrades, and only after all this, if necessary, die!

Reef War

The baptism of fire for the Foreign Tercio was the Rif War of 1921-1927 in Northern Morocco. In March 1921, the 8th company of the 3rd Bandera, under the command of Captain Ortiz de Zarate, entered the battle for the first time. In May, the 1st and 3rd Banders of the Legion became part of the column of General Sankhurho, who set off to storm the main stronghold of the rebellious leader Raysuni in western Morocco. The offensive was interrupted by the Anval disaster, when in July 1921 the reef rebels defeated the main forces of the Spanish army in eastern Morocco and there was a threat of capturing the remaining defenseless Melilla, the oldest Spanish colony in Africa.

Two Banderas under the command of Milyan Astray covered 96 km in an accelerated march to Ceuta, from where they were transferred by sea to Melilla. When the legionnaires landed in the city, panic reigned there, the population was ready to flee. But Milyan Astrai was able to cheer up the crowd. His fighters took up positions in the immediate vicinity of the city and held them for 15 days until the first reinforcements arrived from Spain.

The rescue of Melilla made the legionnaires real heroes of Spain and caused a large influx of volunteers. By 1926, eight Banderas had already been formed.

The foreign third quickly became the main striking force of the Spanish army in Morocco. The specific tactics of the legionnaires was born in the local mountains: under the cover of artillery and machine gun fire, and later tanks, they got as close as possible to enemy positions and then launched a bayonet attack. The officers of the Legion not only dined with their subordinates at the same table, but also personally led them into the attack.

Legionnaires in Morocco with an FT-17 tank, 1920s

Milyan Astrai was wounded four times and lost an arm and an eye. Lieutenant Colonel Rafael de Valenzuela y Urasais, who replaced him as commander of the Foreign Tercio, died in action on June 5, 1923. The third commander of the Legion was Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Franco: it was he who commanded his units in the main operation of the Rif War - the landing in Alhucemas in September 1925.

Lieutenant Colonel Franco at the position of legionnaires in Wad Lau, 1925

Under him, on February 16, 1925, the Foreign Tercio was renamed the Moroccan Tercio. Despite the presence of some colorful foreigners like the German Sergeant Fricke, the mighty New York negro Williams, or a certain Russian count, the unit was of an exclusively Spanish character.

The Reef War ended in 1927. During this time, the legionnaires participated in 505 battles, 1,987 legionnaires died, 6,094 were wounded, 18 earned the highest military award in Spain - the Laureada San Fernando Cross.

On the fields of the Civil

After the end of the Rif War, legionnaires continued to carry out garrison service in Morocco. New challenges awaited the Legion after the fall of the monarchy in April 1931. Relations with the new authorities did not work out from the very beginning. On March 7, 1932, in Ceuta, under circumstances that were not completely clarified, the commander of the third, Colonel Juan Mateo y Perez de Alejo, was killed, who was in conflict with Manuel Azana, the prime minister, who simultaneously held the post of minister of war. The Republican authorities reduced the Legion to six banderas, numbering 1,500, dividing it into two separate units stationed in Ceuta and Melilla.

In October 1934, when the leftists made an attempt to organize a revolution in Spain, on the initiative of General Francisco Franco, who led the operations against the revolutionaries, legionnaires from Morocco were attracted to them, as the most reliable and trained units of the army. One arrival of the 2nd and 3rd Bandera in Barcelona and their march through the city was enough to put an end to the separatist uprising in Catalonia. Then they went to Asturias, where, in the battles against the revolutionary miners, they were joined by two more Banders of the Legion - the 5th and 6th. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Juan Yagüe Blanco, they played a major role in crushing the workers' uprising in Oviedo.

Legionnaires of the 3rd Bandera with banners on the streets of Barcelona, ​​October 1934

The bloody events in Asturias in the autumn of 1934 became the prologue to the Civil War. In an atmosphere of the deepest split in Spanish society, the legionnaires and the "African" officers who led them resolutely took the side of the nationalists. On the morning of July 17, 1936, Lieutenant Colonel Yagüe gathered legionnaires on the parade ground of the Dar Riffen military camp and made a short speech:

"Knights of the Legion! Spain, our Spain has risen against her worst enemies! The hour has come when we must show the whole world that we are able to regain our homeland! Forward, to the sacred land of Castile!.

It was the legionnaires who became the decisive force in the uprising of the nationalists in Morocco, ensuring their quick victory. And then we went to Spain.

The transfer of legionnaires to Spain by air, 1936

During the Civil War, the legionnaires became the main striking force of the nationalist army, participated in all decisive battles, being invariably at the forefront of the main blow. Even during the war, on May 8, 1937, the Legion finally acquired its modern name: it was renamed from the Moroccan Tercio to the Spanish Legion.

Legionnaires go on the attack on the Madrid front, 1937

Formally, General Yagüe remained the commander of the Legion during the Civil War, but Bandera usually acted separately as part of various nationalist divisions and brigades. The Legion expanded rapidly, the number of Banderas grew from six to nineteen. Each Bandera now consisted of 750 legionnaires, had four rifle and one machine gun companies, as well as a mortar section. The most brave and devoted to the cause of the nationalists fighters served here. It was in the Legion that the foreign volunteers who came to the aid of Franco served, mainly Russian white émigrés, Irish and French.

Legionnaire in winter uniforms on the Teruel front, 1938

In February 1938, all the armored units of the nationalists were consolidated into a separate armored bandera as part of the Legion, led by Lieutenant Colonel Pujales Carrasco. By the end of the war, at the expense of captured Soviet T-26s, it had grown to the size of a full-fledged tank brigade.

The Legion took part in 3,042 combat operations, 7,645 legionnaires were killed in battles, including the commanders of six banderas, 28,973 soldiers were wounded and 776 were missing. Ten legionnaires have earned the Laureada San Fernando Cross, including one Italian, Lieutenant Giuseppe Borghese.

World War and the Blue Division

After the end of the Civil War, the Legion was reduced and reorganized. The armored units were withdrawn from the Legion: they became the basis of the four armored regiments of the Spanish army. The number of banders was reduced to eleven. They were divided into three thirds (regiments) based at Ceuta (Dar Riffen camp), Melilla (Tauima camp) and Larache (Crimda camp). Most units of the Legion returned by the end of 1939 in Morocco.

Legionnaires of the 3rd third "Don Juan of Austria" at the parade in Tetouan, 1951

Two Bandera remained in Spain. The 1st Bandera continued to participate in operations against the Republican partisans in the Pyrenean regions of Galicia and Leon. The 3rd Bandera, just in case, was stationed in a camp near the British colony of Gibraltar. Toward the end of World War II, in February 1945, the 3rd Bandera was also transferred to northern Spain. Together with the 1st Bandera, she formed a group of the Pyrenean mobile reserve under the command of Colonel Mance. The group was stationed in Lleida and was intended to support the operations of the Civil Guard units against the Republican partisans. By the end of 1947, the guerrilla war in northern Spain subsided, and both banders returned to Morocco.

Legionnaires on patrol in northern Spain, 1940s

Legionnaires also took part in the battles of World War II as part of the Blue Division. True, the widespread opinion that they formed its basis is far from the truth. The Spanish command did not welcome the weakening of the most combat-ready units of its army, therefore, in the first part of the "Blue Division" there were only nine officers of the Legion, including two lieutenants of Russian origin - Goncharenko and Krivoshey, who joined the unit during the Civil War. "Hero of Badajoz" Colonel Holse Vierna Trapaga, commander of the 2nd Tercio of the Legion, became the first commander of the 262nd Regiment of the Blue Division.

Nevertheless, in the future, due to the reduction in the number of volunteers, more and more legionnaires went to fight in Russia. As a result, they amounted to 16.4% of the personnel of the Blue Division. One of these legionnaires, Captain Jesus Andujar, distinguished himself on February 10, 1943 in the battles for Krasny Bor and was awarded the Laureada Cross. Several legionnaires, including the owner of the Cross of the Laureate of the Civil War, Captain Juan José Orozco Massio, earned Iron Crosses in Russia.

End of the colonial empire

After the end of World War II, the Legion continued to play the role of the Spanish colonial army. In 1950, a new reorganization of the unit followed with an increase in the number of banders to twelve. Now the Legion consisted of four thirds, bearing the names of the great Spanish commanders of the past: the Great Captain, the Duke of Alba, Don Juan of Austria and Alessanlro Farnese. Each third included three banderas. In the 1960s, the banders of the Legion also acquired their own names - for example, the 1st received the name "Generalissimo Franco".

The 6th Bandera was now stationed in the Spanish Sahara. In 1956, in another Spanish enclave in Morocco, Ifni, a new 13th Bandera was formed.

Morocco gained independence in 1956. Spain left the north of the country. But the refusal to give up the enclave of Ifni and the Sahara led in 1957 to an armed conflict, which in Spain is usually called the "Last Colonial War". Legionnaires also actively participated in the hostilities. The 6th Bandera operated in the Ifni region, the 4th, 9th and 13th - in the Spanish Sahara. It was the 13th Bandera that took part in the bloodiest battle of that war, which took place on January 13, 1958 near Edchera. 48 legionnaires died in it, and Brigadier Sergeant Francisco Fadric Castramonte and Private Juan Maderal Oleaga were posthumously awarded the San Fernando Laureada Crosses. To date, this remains the last presentation of this award in Spanish military history. During the Ifnian War, the 11th company of the 9th Bandera was commanded by Captain Nicomedes Baho, behind whom there were three decades of service in the Legion and participation in all the Legion's military campaigns: the Rif War, Asturias, the Civil War and World War II in the ranks of the Blue Division ".

The feat of the legionnaires in the battle of Edcher. Modern painting

After the end of the war, the legionnaires left Morocco. In 1961, the native home of the Legion, the Dar Riffen camp, was also abandoned. The number of Legion banders was reduced to eight, divided into four thirds. Each third included two banderas, a group of light cavalry and a battery of field artillery. The 1st and 2nd thirds were located in the Spanish enclaves in the north of Morocco - Melilla and Ceuta, and the 3rd and 4th thirds were relocated to the Spanish Sahara. It was they who, in 1974-1975, had to participate in the brown events in Western Sahara, which ended the history of the Spanish colonial empire.

Since the 1990s, legionnaires have represented Spain in various peacekeeping missions, for example in the Balkans and Congo. In the 21st century, legionnaires formed the basis of the Spanish contingents in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Queen Sofia of Spain presenting the new flag of the 2nd Tercio to the "Duke of Alba", 1982

Legion on the verge of centenary

In the 1990s, the Legion underwent a reform aimed at unifying it with the rest of the Spanish army. The Legion-specific sergeant rank system was abolished, but ordinary legionnaires are still called "knights" (caballeros). The annual colorful processions of legionnaires on Maundy Thursday in Malaga invariably attract many spectators.

Procession of Legionnaires on Maundy Thursday

The Legion currently has 2,875 troops. The 1st Tercio "Great Captain Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordova" and the 2nd Tercio "Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba" represent the garrisons of the Spanish enclaves in Morocco - Melilla and Ceuta. Each third has one light infantry bandera (the 1st, which since 2017 is no longer officially called "Major Franco", and the 4th "Cristo de Lepanto") with support units.

Spanish legionnaires, our days

The rest of the legionnaires were brought together in the 2nd legionary brigade "King Alphonse XIII", stationed in the town of Viator in the province of Almeria. It is part of the rapid reaction of the modern Spanish army. The brigade includes:

• headquarters bandera;
• lightly armored cavalry group "Catholic Kings";
• 3rd third "Don Juan of Austria" as part of the 7th bandera "Valenzuela" and the 8th bandera "Colon";
• 4th Tercio "Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma" as part of the 10th Bandera "Milyan Astray", field artillery groups, engineers and logistics.

Basic training lasts four months and takes place in the army training centers in Caceres and Cadiz. Then a two- or three-year contract is signed. After a training course, a recruit joins one of the units and undergoes additional training there, including the traditions of the Legion.

Girls in the most famous parts of the Spanish army - legionnaires (left) and regulars

Women now serve in the Legion as well. The first appeared in 1990, and since 2000 women have been accepted into combat units. One of them, artillery sergeant Puri Ehposito, was once asked by a journalist:

Are you the bride of death?

Yes. This is the essence of the Legion: to go where it is necessary, no matter what.

Literature:

1. Wayne, H. B. A military history of modern Spain: from the Napoleonic era to the international war on terror / H. Bowen Wayne, Jose' E. Alvarez. - Praeger Security International, Westport, CT, 2007.
2. Jose Vicente Herrero Perez. The Spanish Military and Warfare from 1899 to the Civil War / José Vicente Herrero Pérez. - Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
3. La Legion Espanola: 75 Anos de Historia (1920–1995). - Tomo 1–III. - Viator, Brigada de Infanteria Rey Alfonso XIII de la Legion, 2001.
4. Jose Luis Rodriguez Jimenez. A mi La Legion! De Millán Astray a las misiones de paz / José Luis Rodríguez Jiménez. - Planeta, Madrid, 2005.
5. Luis Eugenio Togores. Historia de La Legion Española. La infanteria legendaria. De Africa a Afghanistan / Luis Eugenio Togores. - La Esfera de los Libros, Madrid, 2016.
6. Luis Eugenio Togores. Millán Astray, legionario / Luis Eugenio Togores. - La Esfera de los Libros, Madrid, 2003.

“I read with interest in one of the issues of the Professional about the French Foreign Legion. But recently I learned about the existence of the little-known Spanish Legion. What kind of military formation is this?

Sergeant
contract service
Roman Khrustalev.

Contempt for death

The prototype of the regiment of the Spanish army founded in 1920 by General José M. Astray was the Foreign Legion of neighboring France, which already then had an impeccable military reputation. By the way, the legendary general himself (at that time a lieutenant colonel) showed miracles of courage on the battlefield, lost an arm and an eye in battles. It was to him, the hero of the war in Morocco, who invariably fought in the forefront and personally raised the fighters to attack, that the phrase “Long live death, and let the mind perish!” belongs to history! (“Viva la muerte, y muera la inteligencia!”) Its first part is “Long live death!” was the battle cry of the Legion.
Having previously studied this military machine, perfect for those times, General Astray formed the first three battalions of the new regiment, called "Foreign". On October 31, 1920, having sworn allegiance to King Alfonso XIII (the brigade of the Foreign Legion now bears his name), the regiment was immediately transferred to Morocco, where for seven years it participated in almost incessant clashes. It was possible to distinguish legionnaires from other soldiers not only by their military uniform, but also by the long - up to the chin - thick sideburns that they let go. By tradition, such sideburns were considered a symbol of contempt for death.
Taking as a basis bushido - the code of honor of the Japanese samurai, M. Astray developed 12 commandments of a legionnaire. They included commandments about courage, discipline, camaraderie, friendship, unity and mutual assistance, fortitude, etc. The most important commandment of the legion was considered the "death creed": "To die in battle is the highest honor. They die only once. There is no pain in death, and dying is not as scary as it seems. There is nothing worse than living as a coward."
Why did the Spanish Legion begin its military history in Morocco? According to international agreements concluded in 1906 in Algeciras, this African country was divided into two zones, one of which was under the protectorate of Spain, and the other - of France. In Morocco, liberation movements periodically arose, the purpose of which was to expel foreigners from the country. The most famous rebel leaders were Mohammed Ameziane - "El Mizzian", who seized the iron mines in the Reef, and Abd el Krim, who united under his command groups of Moroccans who had once fought among themselves. Abd el Krim operated mainly in the Spanish zone. His goal was to create an independent state of the European type in the north of Morocco.
At that time, compulsory military service existed in Spain. Corruption, abuse and theft flourished in the army. The rich exempted their children from military service, sending young men from poor families to serve in the army instead of them. Without sufficient training, soldiers died by the thousands. The number of victims was so great that riots broke out in Barcelona and other Spanish cities.
There was a need to create professional army units capable of resisting Moroccan troops, performing the most complex and risky operations, "fighting and dying with a smile on their lips and without a single complaint."
The war in Morocco ended in May 1926 when Abd el Krim surrendered to the French. The last pockets of resistance were crushed by 1927.
They were commanded by the Generalissimo
A noticeable mark in the history of Spain was left by legionnaires, including Russian emigrants, during the Civil War. They marched in the advanced orders of the most violent supporters of the overthrow of the government of the Popular Front - the troops of "socialists and communists" who tried to resist the putschists in the Canary Islands were smashed by the legionnaires. Yes, it probably could not have been otherwise - Francisco Franco Baamonde himself, the future generalissimo, dictator and sole ruler of Spain until 1973, was none other than the former commander of the Spanish Foreign Legion.
After the Francoists came to power, in accordance with the decision of the command of the national army, the number of legionnaires was reduced by three times. The six battalions that survived after the reform again took their usual places of deployment on the territory of Spanish Morocco (in Ceuta and Melilla) and in the Canaries. An insignificant part of the former legionnaires subsequently took part in World War II on the side of Nazi Germany, fighting as part of the so-called "Blue Division", however, for a short time. But this group of fanatical volunteers managed to distinguish themselves by special ruthlessness and contempt for death. Their sophisticated cruelty terrified not only their compatriots, but also their German allies. Despite the fact that the legionnaires continually violated the rules established by the Germans, not a single German officer dared to reprimand them.
Legionnaires have always fought at the forefront in the most dangerous areas. They looked intimidating when, with huge fluttering sideburns and with long knives clamped in their teeth, they burst into the Russian trenches. Drunk at the sight of blood, they slit the throats of the wounded, cut off the hands of captured partisans so that they could never again take up arms. As souvenirs, they brought the severed fingers of opponents to the camp. The soldiers of the Blue Division, who overwhelmingly avoided the manifestation of cruelty towards prisoners and the civilian population, were horrified by the behavior of the "Africans", as they called the legionnaires, and shunned them.
11 years after the end of World War II, the “fun” time again came for the Spanish legionnaires - Western Sahara turned into an arena of battles with the rebels, who were supported by the government of the newly independent Morocco formed in 1956. Having won in November 1957 one of its most significant victories over the 2.5-thousandth group of African extremists, the legion waged incessant “local battles” with the partisans throughout the year, confidently holding the enclaves remaining in Spain. In Western Sahara, the legion's units were in combat service until 1976, leaving this part of the African continent only after it lost the status of a Spanish colony.
Second life sideburns
Now the Spanish Legion, once called the Foreign Legion, is part of the rapid deployment forces of the armed forces of Spain, an active member of NATO. Its number, according to some sources, exceeds 7,000 people. Currently, the legion is represented by the following main units: 1st separate regiment "Grand Captain", located in Melilla; 2nd separate regiment "Duke of Alba", stationed in Ceuta; brigade "King Alfonso XIII". The main structural components of the brigade are: the 3rd regiment "Don Juan of Austria", stationed on the island of Fuertoventura, and the 4th regiment "Alejandro Farnesio", located in Ronda, province of Malaga.
In the legion, a special role is assigned to the 4th regiment "Alejandro Farnesio". He, unlike other parts of the legion, has pronounced special forces functions. In addition to two banderas (battalions) and one paratrooper unit, the regiment also has an operational battalion. It is customary to classify it as a special forces unit of the Spanish Legion. This battalion has approximately 500 troops. All of them have received special training and are trained in combat operations during maritime operations, including their use as combat swimmers-submarines; combat operations in the arctic and mountainous desert areas; organization of sabotage and sabotage; landing with parachutes (including landing on water); conducting long-term reconnaissance raids; conducting counter-terrorism operations; the use of a wide variety of vehicles (the battalion still uses land rovers, BMR600S, Nissan trucks and other vehicles made in the US and UK); the art of sniping.
The main armament used by the special forces of the battalion is practically no different from the armament of the rest of the legion and includes: a CETME rifle (5.56 caliber), an Ameli submachine gun (7.62 caliber), a 9-mm machine gun and a Star model pistol, 40- mm grenade launcher. In terms of equipment, the Spanish Legion uses the same field uniform as the Spanish Armed Forces. There is only one specific difference - red tassels on headdresses.
The times when the procedure for entering the service of the Spanish Legion was very simple, like the process of joining the ranks of his French counterpart, are gone forever. In Spain, a foreign applicant for service in the legion could simply turn to any policeman, abroad - go directly to the Spanish embassy. On both occasions, he was immediately given the opportunity to meet with representatives of the Legion, who were ready to talk about the conditions of service and even show a demonstration film.
Formally, the legion was staffed by foreigners who had passed the preliminary selection, but the vast majority of it was made up of fighters with Spanish citizenship. The trend towards "Spanishization" found its final expression in the decree of the King of Spain, which in 1986 eliminated the possibility of recruiting parts of the legion by foreign nationals.
Is language also a weapon?
Nevertheless, the Spanish defense department does not plan to completely abandon the opportunity to replenish the ranks of the legion at the expense of foreign citizens who are ready, among other things, to serve outside Spain. The difference lies in the fact that now only emigrants from Latin American countries, for whom Spanish is their native language, can apply for the title of legionnaire. A special form of oath is provided for them, but the basic requirements for recruits remain unchanged.
What does Spain intend to offer to volunteers from abroad? First of all, Spanish citizenship, which automatically guarantees the natives of Latin America a higher standard of living (citizenship is provided only at the end of the service in the legion). Of course, the newly minted legionnaires will be provided with a fairly high salary and a whole package of a wide variety of benefits that are not so attractive to the native Spaniards.
Conscripts can also serve in the legion, but their service time is limited to 18 months. The term of service for contract volunteers is usually 3 years. At the same time, in accordance with the terms of the contract, leaving the legion of one's own will is even more difficult than in the French Foreign Legion.
A course of study, usually not exceeding 3-4 months, newly converted legionnaires, as a rule, take place in Ronda. The training program, which includes disciplines that are also practiced in the French Foreign Legion, is very severe, to say the least. The hallmark of this training is the hardest forced marches, with the help of which "natural selection" is made. The curriculum of the Spanish Legion is recognized as one of the most stringent and difficult in the world practice of training ground units. The usual thing is the use of live ammunition in training, physical impact on legionnaires. The media has repeatedly leaked information about the facts of the punishment of recruits of the Legion, coupled with brutal assault. Moreover, far from amateurs are engaged in this - the training course program also includes training in "active" interrogation methods.
The Spanish Legion is not for the weak in body and spirit. Otherwise, the legionnaires themselves believe, and it cannot be: in addition to participating in NATO peacekeeping operations abroad (Bosnia, Croatia, Angola, Nicaragua, Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala), Spain’s “headache” is relations with Morocco, which is increasingly demanding withdrawal parts of the legion from Western Sahara, once part of the so-called Spanish Morocco. In 2002, things almost came to an armed conflict, and therefore the Spanish Legion is in constant combat readiness.
… The legionnaires who went through bloody battles left this world or turned into weak old men, and the horrors of wars passed into the realm of legends. Just as the warlike Vikings transformed into calm peace-loving Scandinavians, the current legionnaires have become the same smiling and friendly Spaniards that we see around us every day, although some of them still wear long sideburns, remember the commandments of the legionnaire by heart and remain confident that that the coolest machos in the world serve in the Foreign Legion. As for the Spaniards themselves, they still call the legionnaires "married to death."
For more than 80 years of the existence of the legion, the losses amounted to more than 40 thousand people, the last losses were in missions under the control of the UN in fulfilling the obligations given by Spain. Today, the role of Spain in the international community is quite large. Close relations with Latin America, with which it is historically and culturally connected, open up new opportunities for the legion to operate. The actions of Spain as a mediator in various world conflicts change the role of the legion, which is more used in various peacekeeping missions conducted under the auspices of the UN.
Today, the legionnaire is the pride of the Spanish army: a highly trained soldier ready for any mission. His hallmarks are ultimate dedication, devotion, loyalty and teamwork. Moreover, missions can be completely different: military, humanitarian, and even civil protection. And he will always be ready to give everything for his country, his battalion, and will always help others, risking his life. After all, he is the "bride of death." His name is a Spanish legionnaire!

Strange as it may seem, but we still know almost nothing about the life of the foreign legions of different countries. More than others known French. About the same as the English, Dutch, Spanish foreign legions, we know very little. Therefore, let's talk today about the Spanish Legion. Although it is significantly smaller in strength than the French, this unit can by no means be called a smaller copy of it. If the French were noted in various countries - from Mexico to Indochina, then the Spaniards do not have such a rich combat biography. The fact is that by the beginning of the 19th century Spain had already lost most of its colonies and needed not so much to acquire new possessions, as France had at that time, but to keep the remnants of its former power under its rule. For this reason, the number of the French Foreign Legion increased more and more, and the Spanish gradually decreased.

For Spain in the 19th century, an important task was to keep its possessions in Morocco, allowing it to control the exit from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. For a long time, the power of both the Spaniards and the French in Morocco was nominal and extended only to large cities and the coastal strip. The inhabitants of the interior - Arabs and Berbers - refused to obey the conquerors

The war with them in the mountains was very difficult and bloody. Therefore, the main burden of the fight against the Moroccans was assumed by the foreign legions of France and Spain, used by their masters as cannon fodder and thrown into the most disastrous areas. A special test for both the French and Spanish legions was the war against the Moroccan leader Abd-El-Kerim in 1921-1926. However, this is the subject of a separate article.

We will tell you about the most significant war in which the Spanish Legion had to take part - the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939. Until now, the Russians knew that thousands of Soviet soldiers and officers took part in this war on the side of the Republicans against the supporters of General Franco. Few people know that many dozens of our compatriots fought on the other side of the barricades, under the banners of national Spain and the tricolor Russian flag, incl. and in the ranks of the Spanish Foreign Legion.

Legion - stronghold of General Franco

Before the events of 1936 - the pro-communist government came to power in Spain and the uprising against it on July 18, 1936 of the army, incl. and the Spanish Legion, there were few Russians living in this country compared to other European territories. True, it is known that at least four of our compatriots who left Russia after the events of 1917 served in the Spanish Legion even before the civil war in this country since 1932. They took part in the Spanish Legion in the suppression of the October pro-communist uprising of 1934 in Asturias, where Moscow, through the hands of the Communist International (Comintern) - an international organization created to overthrow capitalist governments around the globe, was already then trying to arrange a revolution to spread it to other countries. With this, the Spanish Foreign Legion earned the communists the glory of one of the most hated units of Franco. The failure, which cost many lives of the legionnaires and even more of the rebellious workers, did not stop the ideologists of communism from the USSR. In 1936 they managed to bring their own government to power. However, an attempt to further expand the revolution ran into resistance from the Spanish army. Perhaps the most serious stronghold of General Franco against the leftists who took power in Madrid was the Spanish Foreign Legion, whose soldiers and officers were among the first to rise up to fight against the communists.

The events in Spain were perceived by Russian emigrants as a continuation of the civil war and the struggle against communism, which had recently been waged in the expanses of the Motherland. Franco was called in the White Guard press of that time the Spanish Kornilov, and the Francoists were called White Guards and Kornilovites. Indeed, much of what happened in Spain was painfully reminiscent of the civil war in Russia: the devastation of churches, the red terror of state security against the intelligentsia, the wealthy sections of the population, officers, the bloody excesses of communists and anarchists, the socialization of women, the arrests and executions of opponents of the Republicans, the same international rabble, who came to the civil war to rob, rape, and kill under the banner of fighting the Nazis. Franco's slogans also strongly resembled the ideology of the white generals: "For a united and indivisible country", uncompromising struggle against the communists, free choice by the population of the future structure of the state. Dozens and hundreds of Russian volunteers were sent to help General Franko. These were mainly White Guards living in France, associated with the Russian All-Military Union (ROVS). However, the EMRO could not provide large-scale assistance to General Franko. The semi-socialist government of France, having learned about the help of the Russian White Guards to the anti-communist forces of Spain, closed the border for them and did not allow them to help the Francoists. However, this ban did not apply to military supplies, including tanks and aircraft, as well as to the Red volunteers of the Comintern, who were transported by the thousands across the border and joined the Red International Brigades. At first, Franco's position was very difficult: the uprising he raised was only partially successful, because. failed to achieve its main goal - the rapid overthrow of the pro-communist government. In addition, the capital of Spain remained in the hands of the left. Most countries of the world, including the United States, hypocritically speaking about non-interference in Spanish affairs, secretly helped the communists and their allies.

For the first six months of the struggle, almost no one seriously helped Franco's movement. Germany and Italy recognized the Franco government with great hesitation only in November 1936, since Hitler and Mussolini did not consider him "in spirit" to be kindred to them. Practical assistance to him began to be carried out only from the end of the same year. This happened only when they realized that Franco was better than the communists.

At this time, the attitude towards Russians in Spain was ambiguous. However, almost everyone associated the word "Russian" with the word "communist". It got to the point that there were often cases when Russian volunteers who had come a long way and spent substantial sums of money on the road were sent back by the Francoists, suspecting them to be agents of the Communists. In general, even among the Spanish intelligentsia, little was known about Russia and Russians, and the majority of the population believed that there "the tsar and queen named Rasputin expelled the former tsar Trotsky, who killed Lenin."

By the beginning of the civil war, the Spanish Foreign Legion was divided into banderas (battalions). Bandera consisted of campaigns (companies) - three rifle (rifle) and one machine gun. The machine gun company had 12 heavy machine guns of 7.65 mm caliber. In addition, each rifle company had 6 light machine guns of 6.5 mm caliber. According to the testimony of the English captain Kempt, thirty machine guns were not enough for Bandera, because. machine guns often failed.

In dangerous directions

During 1936, the Spanish Foreign Legion, being in the most dangerous directions, suffered heavy losses in continuous battles. Many of the Russian volunteers were transferred here from other parts of the Francoists to replenish the legion. However, there were not enough foreigners. A way out was found in giving the legion of Spanish volunteers - the Falangists (an extreme right-wing party) and the Carlists - supporters of the monarchy. The detachments of these volunteers did not have heavy weapons and therefore were attached as auxiliary forces to the legion, which by that time had technical units, incl. armored vehicles and heavy artillery. Subsequently, due to the lack of foreigners, the legionaries began to actively enroll Spaniards, both mobilized of several ages, and volunteers. According to the legionnaire Shinkarenko, "many Spaniards prefer to volunteer in the foreign legion, because there is a much more perfect organization." Unlike France, where it was considered a shame to serve in a foreign legion, since for many years those who had the gallows replaced by an army were sent there to serve, in Spain public opinion treated the legion differently: many of the prominent public and political figures went through this unit, including. h. and the governor of the city of Alcazar, famous for his heroic defense against the Republicans, as well as General Franco himself. For this reason, already at the beginning of 1937, foreigners of the Spanish Legion made up only a quarter of the total number of its personnel. It should be noted that subsequently the replenishment of the Spanish Foreign Legion by the Spaniards became a tradition, and today, to the chagrin of many who want to become mercenaries, the admission of foreigners to this unit is practically stopped.

"Wine doesn't count, it's instead of water"

When conducting military operations, Franco took into account the experience of the civil war in Russia. He immediately paid special attention to the logistics of his troops, rightly believing that the poor organization of the rear by the White Guard generals was one of the main reasons for their defeat. The Russian legionnaires were surprised at how wonderfully the Francoists organized their rear. Testimony of one of them: “Each captured piece of land is cleared, put in order, supplies are organized, the prisoners fix the road, and only then we again capture and recapture a new piece of land from the Reds. Thanks to this, we always have good food and a sufficient amount of equipment, and where you need water tankers too. Everything is really well organized." As a result, according to Russian volunteers, the Spanish Foreign Legion was supplied with everything necessary in the best possible way. In this he favorably differed from the French. In the French Legion, the supply was so poor and the salary so small that, judging by the letters of legionnaires and their friends, in Tunisia, for example, one could see first-year legionnaires picking up discarded cigarette butts in the streets. In Spain, despite wartime conditions, the legionnaires received provisions in excess. So, cabo (sergeant) Ali Gursky, a former Russian officer, writes: “I get a soldier’s ration for sure and I have everything that is needed. The food here is so good that we can be envied by restaurants, of course, average ones, and in some cases and all of you who are left in peace today lunch is noodle soup seasoned with garlic, tomatoes, onions, beans with pieces of meat and cauliflower, with boiled potatoes, cuttlefish fried in its juice, a piece of veal with fried potatoes, a handful of dates (yesterday - walnuts), a glass of wine. And this is in the trenches, at the front, on top of a mountain, distant lands from the nearest city. And also big white bread. I never eat everything, and in the evening I often don’t have dinner, I drink only coffee And this is what we got for Christmas: appetizer - on a toothpick - 1 olive, anchovy, a piece of lobster, a piece of pickle, a piece of something else tasty and a piece of bread; a glass of vermouth, shell pilaf, shrimp and cuttlefish with tomato sauce; scrambled eggs with roasted peppers, a piece is smoked oy ham, riesling, fillet with chips, oranges and apples, biscuits, steak; coffee, cigar-havana; red wine does not count, it is instead of water. "A characteristic feature of the Spanish Foreign Legion was that the soldier's and officer's rations were no different. In general, there was no concept of an officer's ration here, in the Spanish legion they knew only the concept of a soldier's or legionnaire's ration. According to the general opinion of the legionnaires, the food here was at that time better than in any other army in the world.

Madrina - military godmother of a legionnaire

Moreover, a feature of the Spanish Foreign Legion was that each legionnaire had his own madryna - i.e. military godmother. In reality, almost none of the legionnaires knew their madryna. Often the military authorities themselves advertised in the newspaper that such and such a defender of the homeland from the legion did not have his own madryna, and asked girls and women to become one, or the representatives of the beautiful half of humanity themselves, who wanted to help the legionnaires, gave their addresses to newspapers. Sometimes madryns were appointed by political parties at the request of the legionnaires themselves. Madryns, according to custom, sent everything that their wards needed. However, many Russians simply corresponded with their madryns, lacking female attention, not accepting gifts from them for the reason that they had everything they needed.

The only thing that the Russian legionnaires in Spain suffered from was due to poor awareness of what was being done at home and among the white emigration. This problem was soon partly solved - some White Guard newspapers and magazines began to send copies of their publications to Russian legionnaires at the front.

It is worth mentioning the uniform of the Spanish Foreign Legion, a distinctive feature of which at that time was a uniform green shirt. According to one Russian legionnaire, "everyone - from generals to ordinary privates - now walk in these green shirts, they wear sleeves rolled up above the elbow. It's very hot. We have a lot of people walking in knee-length pants, like underpants" In the Spanish Foreign Legion they wore and special epaulettes, a characteristic feature of this unit: a patch-emblem in the form of a connected halberd, musket and crossbow. This emblem was taken by the leadership of the legion to emphasize its continuity from units created from Europeans from different countries under the famous Duke of Alba, when Spanish troops went on campaigns throughout almost all of Western Europe. In summer, legionnaires wear scarlet berets - slaughterhouses, in cold weather - a special gorro cap, scarlet or protective color. Legionnaires did not wear helmets in principle. Firstly, tradition did not allow, and secondly, this was not done because of the heat, and thirdly, because of a kind of competition with the Moors, who wore only cloth turbans, and because of the desire to flaunt each other. According to Russian legionnaires, each bandera of the Spanish Legion had its own priest. "The priests here wear officer uniforms - the same khaki and the same gorro cap on their heads. And a cross."

Particular attention, according to the letters of the Russian legionnaires, in the Spanish Legion was paid to "salute. And when without a gorro - then in a new way, hand up."

How to get another rank?

According to the white general Shinkarenko, who arrived in Spain as an ordinary volunteer to fight against the communists and became a legionnaire, all Russians who by that time were in the Spanish Foreign Legion enjoyed great sympathy with legionnaires, both privates and officers. A characteristic feature of the Spanish army and the Spanish Foreign Legion was the extreme length of production in the next rank. So, a Russian legionnaire described: "my good friend, who began his officer service in the legion under the command of Franco, told me that before receiving the captain's galloon, he "blew" a lieutenant for 9 years. This is in the order of things. There is no accelerated production in the Spanish army. " However, unlike the French Legion, the Russians here "grew" very quickly. So, Shinkarenko in his letters says that those four Russians who served in the Legion by the time the civil war in Spain began, rose to junior officer ranks in 5 years of their service. An indicator of the fighting qualities of Russian legionnaires is that many of them earned non-commissioned officers and even officer ranks for a year and a half of participation in the Spanish Civil War. For military merit, General Franco himself personally promoted Shinkarenko to the officers of the Spanish army. According to Shinkarenko, one of the Russian officers, a former cavalryman, not only became the commander of the Bandera, but also, as a sign of the highest gratitude from the command of the Francoists, was seconded to occupy a high post in the Francoist Falanga party.

According to the letters of the Russian legionnaire Shinkarenko, by the beginning of 1937, the Spanish Legion had established itself as one of the best units of the Francoists: "the participants in the battles speak very highly of the Banderas of the Spanish Foreign Legion, which have a good command staff. The officers are all Spaniards"

Armor is weak. And the tank has already stalled

The main competitors of the legionnaires in "obtaining military glory" were the Moroccans. This was the paradox: the communists for many years and not without success kindled the flames of anti-colonial struggle in Morocco, setting the Moroccans against the Spaniards and the French. In the 1920s, the war in Morocco almost did not stop. It seemed that a little more - and the agents of the Comintern would win here. However, this did not happen. The Spanish foreign legion successfully coped with the tasks assigned to it, and after fierce fighting, the Moroccans were defeated. In 1936, when the Spaniards were occupied with the civil war, it seemed that the most favorable situation was created for the Moroccans to strike at the parts of the legion that were in Morocco, and the Francoists, who defended the idea of ​​the indivisibility of Spanish possessions. The calculations of the communists did not materialize: the Moroccans preferred to fight with weapons in their hands in commonwealth with their former sworn enemies, the legionnaires, against the communists, whose actions in Spain against religion they regarded as a manifestation of satanism.

In battle, both the legionnaires and the Moroccan Moors had their advantages. And if, according to the opinions of Russian volunteers, the legionnaires had no equal in attack, then they were often inferior in stamina to the Moors in defense. In addition, at that time a special competition between the Moors and the legionnaires took place in the fight against the tanks of the Republicans. The fact is that at first the tanks of the Republicans were a real scourge for the Francoists: they had almost no tanks of their own, and the Italian and German vehicles that arrived in 1937, often armed only with machine guns and pierced by a bullet from a rifle, could not compete with the Soviet tanks. The anti-tank armament of the Francoists was also very weak: anti-tank rifles were ineffective, and anti-tank artillery was small and had an insufficient firing range. For a long time, the Francoists were unable to achieve air superiority, and therefore it was impossible to effectively fight enemy tanks with the help of aviation. Under these conditions, the legionnaires developed their own tactics: machine-gun and rifle fire cut off enemy infantry from armored vehicles, and self-made bottles of gasoline with an ignited wick flew into approaching tanks. Soviet technology of that time had so many combustible materials that it was often enough to hit one such bottle with a Molotov cocktail for a formidable armored vehicle to turn into a pile of burnt scrap metal. Often the fight against tanks was facilitated by the fact that they simply got stuck in the trenches and became easy prey: a stalled tank was surrounded on all sides, demanding the surrender of the crew, threatening otherwise to burn it along with the crew. If the legionnaires had more destroyed enemy tanks, then the Moors had a larger percentage of captured armored vehicles. The fact is that the Soviet tanks of that time BT and T-26, according to Russian legionnaires, suffered from defects, due to which it happened that they stalled at the most inopportune moment and became easy prey for the Francoists. According to legionnaire Shinkarenko, by March 1937, legionnaires and Moors had only captured 42 Soviet tanks. This allowed the Francoists to replenish their own park. Soon, in support of the offensive, legionnaires began to be given tank sections of 8 tanks - 6 German (machine-gun) and 2 cannon-machine-gun captured (Soviet).

Legion and "international brigades". Who will win?

However, the most serious opponent of the legionnaires was not the tanks and aircraft of the Republicans, but the international brigades of communist volunteers from different countries, among which there were especially many citizens of the USSR, Latin American states and France. In their stamina and perseverance, the International Brigades and the Spanish Legion competed with each other. It could be said with a high degree of certainty that in those areas where legionnaires and Moors were advanced, the republicans would put up international brigades. The battles between the international brigades and the legion cost both sides great sacrifices, and this struggle was fought with bitterness and with varying success. Legionnaires achieved a major success on July 24, 1937 in a battle near Madrid, where 2 battalions of the Lister International Brigade were almost completely mowed down by machine-gun fire.

In turn, the communists also had success. Geographically, many Russians in 1937 were on the Northern, Biscay front in the Dona Maria de Molina unit. Having failed in the rapid capture of the capital, Franco decided to gradually eliminate the pockets of resistance of the Republicans and cut off the part of Spain they occupied from the French border in order to stop their replenishment from the outside and make it difficult to deliver military supplies to them. In this regard, at the end of the summer of 1937, Franco began an operation to liquidate the Northern Front, in which Russian volunteers and the foreign legion took an active part. Squeezed in a relatively small area in northern Spain, the Republicans of the Biscay Front not only stubbornly defended themselves, but also launched fierce counterattacks themselves. During one of them at the end of August 1937, they defeated Franco's troops, breaking through the front line. During this battle, in the area of ​​​​the village of Kintai, one of the companies of the Francoists was almost completely destroyed. Its remnants, led by officers of the Spanish service, who had gone from private to lieutenant - the former general of the White Army Fok and the artillery officer of the famous Markov division Polukhin, took refuge in the local church, fighting off with rifles, pistols and captured "maxim" for two weeks from invading communists. They unsuccessfully tried to help out, although help was close. Every day, Francoist pilots dropped pennants on the roof of the church, which said that help was nearby and that they needed to hold out a little more. However, it was not possible to save them: according to one report, the communists, annoyed by the unsuccessful attacks on the church, smashed its walls with shells. At the same time, all the defenders were buried under its ruins, with the exception of one of these Russian officers, who, being wounded and not wanting to surrender to the enemy, shot himself. According to other sources, during the attack of the internationalists, when the cartridges of the defenders in the church were running out, and only a few wounded and exhausted by continuous battles survived, Fock somehow called the fire of the Francoist artillery "on himself", under which they died and defenders and attackers. One way or another, but the Russian volunteers fought to the end. This was caused, firstly, by their uncompromising attitude towards the communists and their unwillingness to fall into the hands of their opponents alive. They knew the sad example of the Russian volunteer A. Kutsenko, who was captured by the Republicans: he was brutally tortured, castrated, and his head was crushed with a stone.

The story of General Fock is interesting in that he unsuccessfully tried several times to volunteer for Franco's army. His services were refused because of the venerable age of the general, which was 57 years old, but then the Spaniards accepted him into their ranks. It should be noted that Generals Fok and Shinkarenko, having good earnings before the start of the war, left everything and joined the Spanish army as privates in order to fight the enemies every second, risking their lives. The death of Polukhin, a former staff captain who survived the memorable battle of the Russian Civil War, when a significant part of the Markov division was cut down by the Budyonnovists, and who died in battle with the communists on distant Spanish soil, was mourned by many white émigrés. Shortly after this tragedy, Kintai was liberated by the Francoists. All the defenders of the church who died in battle were found under the ruins, but Polukhin and Fok could not be identified, their bodies turned out to be so mutilated. All those who died in that battle were buried in two mass graves, separately - officers and soldiers, but not divided by nations.

The Spanish Civil War was the center of attention at the time. General Nissel, an outstanding French strategist who distinguished himself in the First World War, commenting on these battles, highly appreciated the actions of the Spanish Foreign Legion. According to him, "the initial practical superiority of the nationalists (Francoists), which allowed them to liberate Toledo and Oviedo, approach the gates of Madrid, interrupting the communications of their opponents with the French territory in Biscay, is due to the fact that on their side were solidly equipped and trained parts of the Spanish of the legion, which at first met with a militia of volunteers without any military training. Their superiority over the militia of the Reds, poorly disciplined and even less trained, is beyond doubt - during the first weeks of operations the same superiority was over the regular units, on the side of the Reds, but deprived of their officers"

A common feature of the foreign legions of France and Spain was a very severe discipline. According to the Russian legionnaire, this did not bother the Spaniards who served in it: "Spanish democracy is one of the deeply rooted national properties and therefore it not only finds its natural reflection in the army, but very easily gets along with the ferocious discipline of the legion"

"The attitude towards me in Bandera is exceptional"

In addition to Russians and Spaniards, there were many representatives of other nationalities in the Spanish Legion: Germans, Italians, Belgians, French, British, etc. The main competitors of the Russians in terms of military glory were the French, whose representatives were regularly noted among the sergeants of the Spanish Legion, and the British, some of whom reached officer ranks. For example, in England, the fact that Captain Kempt took part in the Spanish Legion for two years in the civil war, who returned home in 1938, gained great fame. The attitude towards the Russians, not only of the Spaniards, but also of representatives of other nations, was the most remarkable. This is evidenced by Ali Gursky: “the attitude towards me in Bandera is exceptional, on the part of both officers and soldiers. progress in the language.When I was in the village, one legionnaire threw himself on my neck: "Friend, brother, let's go drink wine!" I ask him: "Why am I your brother?" - "So you are Russian, and I am Italian , both in the legion, which means they are now brothers!" I had to agree. "But since you are a good Russian, then pay for the wine." He drank - and he drank, and in the evening I took him to his company. A very nice person!"

According to a letter from one Russian legionnaire, “we, Russians, have proven ourselves here in such a way that everyone appreciates us as a combat element, from the head of the legion, General Yague, to a simple legionnaire. This explains why we are not kept in one Bandera. But almost all Russians in banderas were appointed chiefs in "lasses" - personal orderlies. During very serious battles, commanders order orderlies to be with them and are not sent anywhere anymore. The captain knows that the Russian orderly will not leave him to the end even in case of injury or death will always bring you out of the fire." The example of the feat of the Russian legionnaire Kempelsky once again proved this. Kempelsky, being appointed orderly to the commander, was on the offensive in the battalion of the foreign legion. The Reds opened heavy rifle and machine-gun fire on the legionnaires. Here and there the wounded and the dead fell. At this time, Kempelsky saw that his commander was wounded, and a company of legionnaires, unable to withstand the destructive fire, retreated and lay down. The wounded commander remained lying on the "neutral". Kempelsky, grabbing a light machine gun, ran far ahead and shouted: "Legionnaires! Take out your captain, I'll cover you!" - Began to water the Republicans out of it. They focused all their fire on him. After a few minutes of battle, he fell, wounded, but rose again and continued to shoot, covering the retreating legionnaires with a wounded commander, until he fell, riddled with enemy bullets, dead. Russian legionnaires wrote that the captain, who owed his life to Kempelsky, recovered, "and when they now introduce a Russian to him, he takes off his cap, comes up, shakes his hand, saying:" Thank you for Kempelsky, who sacrificed himself to save his captain. Every Russian is a native member of my family!"

Near Madrid

And here are pictures of the battles of the Spanish Legion in 1936 - 1937 near Madrid. After separate parts of the legionnaires participated in the capture of the suburbs of the Spanish capital - the University campus, they had the hardest task of holding it. Here, for six and a half months, the legionnaires fought the most stubborn street battles, during which the Spanish Legion lost 650 people. By the standards of the then war, as Russian legionnaires testify, "this was considered small." Here, in the piles of ruins, the legionnaires fought desperately against enemy tanks, machine guns and mortars. The enemy trenches were only 30 paces from each other, so that the enemies often threw "goodies" in the form of hand grenades to each other. According to the testimony of a Russian legionnaire, the tenacity of the fighting near Madrid was evidenced by the fact that during the six and a half months of the presence of the Spanish Legion there, even the existing remains of buildings turned into a pile of rubble. Here is a brief characteristic diary entry about the battles in this area of ​​a Russian legionnaire: "They shoot little. And they do more. This is the Madrid Front."

The fact that the Spanish Foreign Legion repeatedly won victories over the best communist units of the Republicans - the International Brigades and Soviet volunteers, speaks volumes. And most importantly - about the serious fighting qualities of this unit. In the words of Russian volunteers, "perhaps, among all the current troops - all that are in the world today, the Spanish Legion is the most glorious and most famous army."

Way to relax - like sardines in a box

And here is a description of the officers of the Spanish Legion given to them by a Russian legionnaire: "9th Bandera. It is commanded by Major Jose Peñarredondo. Young, although older than our colonels used to be. And he very elegantly wears a wound on his face - a not ugly scar above the corner of his mouth , next to a shaved mustache. The former, African wound. Others are very nice officers. And the priest in our bandera is a very young Jesuit who volunteered to come from Belgium "

And here are pictures of the battles on the Aragonese front. An interesting entry about the conditions of fighting in the Spanish mountains in winter conditions: “I haven’t washed for about 20 days. It’s very cold. The mountains are covered in snow. This is the coldest place in Spain. We used to imagine Spain as a burning sun, palm trees, but I assure you that it is not inferior to the cold of the north of Russia. I remember how in June (1937) during the Amboracin offensive, we shivered at night on the mountains from the cold! When I was wounded near Teruel, we advanced at 15 degrees of frost! Knee-deep snow! In the hospital Nikolai Bibikov, a Russian volunteer, was lying with frostbitten legs. Our bandarin (signner) was also lying there. They cut off his foot in my presence, and when I left, they had to cut off the other one. He frostbitten them during the attack. We are dressed warmly, but it is natural that when "If you spend day and night in the open air, then your toes and fingers get cold, no matter how you wrap them up. At the front, you have to sleep on damp ground. The legionnaires' way of resting - like sardines in a box, for warmth - is avoided by me. I don't want to feed strangers with myself." "pets x", enough of their own. The captain allowed me to settle down separately from the campaign and as I wish, freeing me from roll call in the mornings and evenings.

Battle of Cuesta de la Reina

Among the many battles won by the Spanish Legion, the battle near Cuesta de la Reina on October 13, 1937 should be especially noted. Lieutenant Shinkarenko describes it like this: "the Moors went Then - the legion: our bandera We turn around shortly and each company - not in chains, but in small packs Legionnaires - in short winter jackets with open collars and wide collars of green shirts, the same shirts with sleeves rolled up above the elbow.

Legion's song... About the readiness to die for a free Spain, about the valor of the legion. It's brilliant to go on the attack with it. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd companies went. Everything is equal. All bullets, bullets, bullets. And the field is such that there is nothing that could at least a little delay at least one beating bullet, rifle and machine gun. And also artillery - ours and theirs, of all calibers, from three to six and a half inches (75 - 155 mm). All grenades, shrapnel. Stretcher with the wounded. From everywhere. More from us, from Bandera. Fire, fire and fire. The Moors attacked the enemy lightly, rescued us. Our Bandera attacked the enemy's thickest, into the very fire. Attacked bloodily, leaving 6 officers and 150 legionnaires on the battlefield. This is for a small battalion. But here our Bandera took the Casa Colorado from the Reds.

In this battle, I did not see a single legionary who would go back healthy or under any pretext. And the wounded - almost not a single groan. And the officers! The commander of one of our Banderas, Lieutenant Goldin, was severely wounded in the leg and did not allow himself to be carried out and continued to command. And he was killed. Another lieutenant is Viyolba. He has his own, special misfortune: he has a father-general who serves as a red, they have an important face. Vijolba was wounded in both legs by two or three bullets. He was bandaged in front of me. And when the orderlies raised the stretcher to carry it to the rear, Viyolba shouted loudly so that everyone could hear: "Long live the legion!"

Padre Val, our priest is a Jesuit. And now he is in battle, everywhere. In all companies, in the fire itself, at death And, in addition, helps, like a brother of mercy, like a nurse

Fight, fight and fight. The Reds have tanks, 3 or 4 Soviet vehicles. They are cautious, fearful. Afraid of bottles of gasoline, or what? ..

Suddenly, news was received that everyone had taken it, that the "comrades" (the derisive name of the Reds since the civil war in Russia by the Whites) were thrown back, Cuesta de la Reina was bailed out. Comrades who were crushed today - party communists from the 14th international brigade, they were beaten along with their tanks.

Teruel operation

Further, Ali Gursky writes about the participation of the Spanish Foreign Legion in the famous Teruel operation, the outcome of which largely predetermined the further development of the war in Spain. The foreign legion went to Teruel to attack the International Red Brigade. The legionnaires went into this battle, wearing all their orders and badges. On January 4, 1938, they attacked the Republicans, pushing them back 5-6 kilometers with a fight. "The Reds retreated, but they snarled great, but we almost ran forward, not letting them come to their senses, through the snow and hills. We were very tired. By evening, we approached the main position of the Reds and lay down behind a hillock, and spent the night right there, right on the snow."

The next day, with the support of artillery and aviation, the legionnaires hit the Republicans. "The Reds, who brought up all their reserves and a lot of machine guns, defended themselves to failure and even fought back with hand grenades when ours were already closer than 20 meters, and only then retreated and opened fire again. At 12 o'clock, our Bandera again went on the attack against the Reds on the mountain ", and so, when our campaign went upstairs, I was horrified. We had to attack them on a flat plane like a table of up to one and a half thousand meters. A flat field in the snow, strewn with stones the size of a human head. We began to run from stone to stone. The Reds opened a hurricane of fire from machine guns, we suffered heavy losses, but moved forward. The Reds also fired from a four-gun battery on the squares. And then there was a deafening explosion, something threw me up, hit my head with terrible force, and I fell. After 10-15 minutes I heard, that someone was creeping up behind me. It was one of the legionnaires. He began to shout: "Ali is wounded!" - and suddenly I felt that he pulled off my blanket (the legionnaires wrapped themselves in them, fleeing from a terrible x cold) and pulls off my bag with things. Calmly, having calculated my strength, I raised my leg and hit the dashing legionnaire in the stomach. After such an argument, he agreed with me, left my things alone and began to call the paramedic. Soon the paramedics came up with a stretcher and carried us back across this field, under machine-gun fire. How none of us were wounded during these 400 meters, only God knows. In general, there were a lot of wounded legionnaires. They showed me my woolen helmet - covered in blood, with a hole in the front from a fragment and pierced by bullets in six places! I even knew about it!

All the positions of the Reds were taken, although we suffered heavy losses. I was wounded at the beginning of our strike, but already one number of taken tanks and downed Red airplanes - tired to the point of madness, not counting the thousands of prisoners who surrendered in crowds - are very significant. "In the village , where the wounded were demolished, there were already 45 people from Ali Gursky's Bandera by the time he himself was delivered there.

Further, Ali Gursky describes the hospital of the Spanish Foreign Legion in Zaragoza. There, each wounded legionnaire received cookies, cakes, chocolates, port wine, oriental sweets, nuts, cigars, 3 packs of cigarettes and 5 pesetas for personal needs.

At the final stage of the war in Spain, one could observe, according to the records of Sergeant Ali Gursky, the following pictures: "About 12 o'clock in the afternoon - suddenly some screams. Everyone is running from the village to the posts. The Reds in the trenches stood up, raised their hands and became something shouting. Some of them ran to us without weapons. They, of course, were not allowed into the trenches and sent truce envoys and an officer to them. It turns out that they congratulate us on the brilliant victory in Asturias and the end of the Northern Front, they talk about the imminent end of the war, about "They don't want to fight, and they asked for our newspapers. About a dozen of them generally ran over to us. They repeat such things often, but the latter turned out to be not so prosperous. The Reds, as always, stood in the trenches and began to ask them to give them our newspapers. Of course, sent them to them. Both sides, out of curiosity, poured out of the trenches and began a roll call. I, fortunately, remained in the trench, because the Reds suddenly began to pour machine guns on ours. The picture is interesting and instructive for the legionnaires. Imagine the result themselves."

Dear win price

These lines already refer to the end of 1938, when the war ended. In the end, Franco's forces managed to cut off a significant part of the Republicans from the French border and sharply limit Soviet aid to them by sea. This was one of the main reasons for the defeat of the Republicans. In March 1939, the Republican government of Spain fell. The victorious troops of Franco, including the Spanish Foreign Legion, entered Madrid, which they tried unsuccessfully to take for two and a half years. The Russian volunteers paid dearly for this victory: out of 72 volunteers, 34 died in battle, i.e. almost half. Among the dead after Polukhin and Fok, the most famous was Sergeant Major Nikolai Ivanov, an old-timer of the Spanish Legion, who went through the African campaign and suppressed the uprising of the Communists in Asturias. There were various rumors about his heroic death throughout Spain. He died at the beginning of 1939 on the Catalan front, when only a few days remained before the victory over the communists. Most of the others were wounded. So, legionnaire Nikolai Petrovich Zotov was wounded 5 times. Due to the last injury, one leg became much shorter than the other. For this reason, he was declared unfit for further service, but he begged the authorities to allow him to return to the legion, where he enjoyed an exceptional reputation and, due to personal courage, was set as an example to the already brave legionnaires. "Another legionnaire, a former officer of the Russian service, Georgy Mikhailovich Zelim -Beck, was wounded by an explosive bullet in the jaw and was also declared unfit for further service, but begged the legionary authorities to leave him in the ranks Lieutenant Konstantin Alexandrovich Konstantino, company commander in the Spanish army, a former Russian service officer, a Georgian by nationality and sergeant Ali Konstantinovich Gursky was wounded three times, the first losing one eye.Russian legionnaires played an important role in this war.The largest number of Russians - 26 - was concentrated in the Dona Maria de Molina company under the command of Lieutenant Nikolai Evgenievich Krivoshey, a former officer of the Markov White Guard division.

General Franco personally had a very great sympathy for the Russian legionnaires and insisted on their mandatory participation in the victory parade in Valencia on March 18 (31), 1939. According to the participants in this event, all those participating in the parade were given new uniforms, officers - white gloves. Tassels were attached to the scarlet berets - shbofry, officers - gold, chief officers - silver, sergeants - green, privates and corporals - red. The Russian detachment, marching on the right flank of the consolidated bandera of the Spanish Foreign Legion with the national "tricolor", attracted everyone's attention. What respect the Russians enjoyed among the legionnaires is evidenced by the fact that, according to the Spanish military tradition, an officer should carry the banner of the Bandera Legion. However, the officers of the legion insisted that Ali Gursky carry the banner of Bandera at the parade as the best legionnaire, although he did not have an officer's rank.

After the end of hostilities, Franco did not demobilize the Russian detachment, but left it entirely as a sign of special gratitude as part of the Spanish armed forces with extraordinary production, which was nonsense for Spain and its army. The Russians, almost all of whom became officers in the Spanish Legion, reached great heights here and continued to faithfully serve Franco. So, the Russian volunteer Boltin rose to the rank of colonel and died in 1961. The fact that a Russian person was given such a high honor - an introduction to such a high rank of a foreigner in the Spanish army, which was previously prohibited, testifies to the highest professional qualities of Russian officers who fell into Spain.

Participation in the hostilities on the side of Franco, Russian volunteers showed that the white emigration remained capable of actively fighting against communism. The very fact of the participation of dozens of Russians in this war on the side of Franco made it possible to partly dispel the image of Russians in the West in the form of destroyers of peaceful life under the red flag and show that among them there are active opponents of Lenin's ideas. In addition, Russian volunteers inscribed their names in golden letters with their own deeds in the history of the Spanish Foreign Legion and contributed to the creation of a high authority for the Russian name.

* Bandera - battalions in the Spanish Foreign Legion.