The CL International Brigade or 150th International Brigade, also known as "Dabrowski Brigade" ( es, Brigada Dombrowski or ''Brigada Dabrowski''), was a military unit of the International Brigades during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

. Its members were mostly

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

, but there was also a Spanish battalion, as well as a Hungarian section.

History

This relatively short-lived

mixed brigade Mixed brigade ( es, brigada mixta) was a basic tactical military unit of the Republican army during the Spanish Civil War. It was initially designed as “pocket division”, an innovative maneuverable combined-arms formation. Because of high sa ...

was established on 27 May 1937 as the Dabrowski Brigade ''(Brigada Dabrowski)'', officially the 150th International Brigade of the loyalist army under the leadership of Fernando Gerassi. It was initially formed by the Dabrowski Battalion, the André Marty Battalion and the

Rakosi Battalion The Rákosi Battalion was a volunteer unit founded in April 1937. It was formed predominantly of Hungarians, who fought in the CL International Brigade and the XIII International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). The battalion wa ...

which were sent to the Aragon Front as part of the new unit. Later, in order to make up for the heavy losses incurred during the

Huesca Offensive The Huesca Offensive was an ill-fated Republican army thrust toward Huesca between 12 and 19 June 1937, during the Spanish Civil War. Hungarian writer and communist commander Máté Zalka was killed in the course of the battle. Background In ...

in mid June, a new battalion was added, the José Palafox Battalion. The CL International Brigade took part in the

Battle of Brunete The Battle of Brunete (6–25 July 1937), fought west of Madrid, was a Republican attempt to alleviate the pressure exerted by the Nationalists on the capital and on the north during the Spanish Civil War. Although initially successful, the R ...

in July as part of the 45th Division, also known as "45th International Division", led by Kléber. At that time the brigade had 1,910 men distributed in four battalions. Is performance was poor and it suffered heavy losses during the combats, ending up quite battered when the operations in the Brunete area came to an end. Thus, on 4 August the CL International Brigade was disbanded and its battalions were transferred to other units of the International Brigades. Most of the men of the defunct unit ended up in the

XIII International Brigade The 13th International Brigade – often known as the XIII Dąbrowski Brigade – fought for the Spanish Second Republic during the Spanish Civil War, in the International Brigades. The brigade was dissolved and then reformed on four occasions. ...

Posthumous honors

The postal service of the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million ne ...

issued two stamps in 1946 and one in 1966 commemorating the ''Brigada Dombrowski''. Also two pieces of

postal stationery A piece of postal stationery is a stationery item, such as a stamped envelope, letter sheet, postal card, lettercard, aerogram or wrapper, with an imprinted stamp or inscription indicating that a specific rate of postage or related serv ...

were issued, one in 1946 and another in 1986. In 1956 the government of the Polish People's Republic established the award 'Za wolność waszą i naszą' for the members of the Polish Brigade in Spain (''Dąbrowszczacy'').

Structure

Some of the battalions of the CL International Brigade were transferred from other units, while others were established anew. The brigade included the following battalions during the time of its existence:Hugh Thomas, The Spanish Civil War, ''Appendix III'', p. 1035 * Dabrowski Battalion also known as the Dombrowski Battalion – exiled Polish volunteers * Djuro Djakovic Battalion – Yugoslav volunteers * André Marty Battalion – Franco-Belgian volunteers (named after

André Marty André Marty (6 November 1886 – 23 November 1956) was a leading figure in the French Communist Party (PCF) for nearly thirty years. He was also a member of the National Assembly, with some interruptions, from 1924 to 1955; Secretary of Comintern ...

). *

– Polish and Hungarian volunteers * Adam Mickiewicz Battalion – Polish volunteers * José Palafox Battalion – Polish and Spanish volunteers

References

Bibliography

*Beevor, Antony. ''The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939.'' Penguin Books. London. 2006. *Engel, Carlos. ''Historia de las Brigadas Mixtas del E. P. de la República'', Almena. Madrid. 1999. * Salas Larrazábal, Ramón. ''Historia del Ejército Popular de la República,'' La Esfera de los Libros, Madrid. 2006. *Thomas, Hugh. ''The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. London. 2001.

External links