The 54th Division was one of the
divisions of the
People's Army of the Republic that were organized during the
Spanish Civil War on the basis of the
Mixed Brigades. It came to operate on the
Levante front
The Levante Offensive, launched near the end of March 1938, was an attempt by Nationalist forces under Francisco Franco to capture the Republican held city of Valencia during the Spanish Civil War. The Nationalists occupied the province of Caste ...
.
History
During 1937, on the
Northern Front there had already been a division that used this numbering.
In the spring of 1938, within the
IX Army Corps, a division was created that was numbered "54". Its first commander-in-chief was Lieutenant Colonel
Martín Calvo Calvo. It was made up of the newly created
180th,
181st and
182nd mixed brigades. Some time later it was sent to the Levante front, where it was included in the
XIII Army Corps. It participated in the fighting in the Levante, resisting the
nationalist offensive
Offensive may refer to:
* Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative
* Offensive (military), an attack
* Offensive language
** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...
against
Valencia. During the operations, the unit had an outstanding performance, coming to be congratulated by the republican authorities. On
August 11
Events Pre-1600
* 3114 BC – The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, notably the Maya, begins.
* 2492 BC – Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founde ...
, 1938, command of the unit passed to the anarchist
Francisco Fervenza Fernández. During the rest of the war the unit remained inactive on the Levante front.
Command
; Commanders
*
Martín Calvo Calvo;
*
Francisco Fervenza Fernández;
; Commissars
*
Eleuterio Dorado Lanza
Eleuterio or Eleutério is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Eleuterio Maisonnave y Cutayar (1840–1890), Spanish politician, Minister of State in 1873, under President Francisco Pi y Margall
*Eleuterio Felice Foresti (1793–1 ...
, of the
IR;
; Chiefs of Staff
* José García Benedito;
* Gonzalo Castelló Gómez-Trevijano;
Organization
Notes
References
Bibliography
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{{Divisions of the Spanish Republic, state=expanded
Military units and formations established in 1937
Military units and formations disestablished in 1937
Military units and formations established in 1938
Military units and formations disestablished in 1939
Divisions of Spain
Military units and formations of the Spanish Civil War
Military history of Spain
Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic