The First Battle of the Corunna Road took place between 29 November and 3 December 1936 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 Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...
. The Nationalists tried to isolate Madrid from the west, cutting the Corunna Road, but the Republican army repelled the attack.
Background
After the failure to take
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...
in November 1936 and the failure to reduce the morale of the city's population through aerial bombing,
Franco
Franco may refer to:
Name
* Franco (name)
* Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975
* Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître"
Prefix
* Franco, a prefix used when ...
decided to encircle the city from the north-west in order to cut off water and electricity supplies from the
Sierra de Guadarrama
The Sierra de Guadarrama (Guadarrama Mountains) is a mountain range forming the main eastern section of the Sistema Central, the system of mountain ranges along the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. It is located between the systems Sierra de G ...
. Franco's
Nationalists, led by
José Varela, concentrated a force of 3,000 men supported by heavy artillery including
Ju 52
The Junkers Ju 52/3m (nicknamed ''Tante Ju'' ("Aunt Ju") and ''Iron Annie'') is a transport aircraft that was designed and manufactured by German aviation company Junkers.
Development of the Ju 52 commenced during 1930, headed by German aeron ...
bombers. The defending
Republican army had one brigade.
The battle
The Nationalist offensive started on 29 November with heavy artillery bombing on the
Pozuelo sector with 3,000 ''
Legion'' and
Moroccan colonial troops backed by tanks and Ju 52 bombers. The Republican brigade was initially routed in disorder, but just a few days later a Republican counter-attack backed by
T-26
The T-26 tank was a Soviet light tank used during many conflicts of the Interwar period and in World War II. It was a development of the British Vickers 6-Ton tank and was one of the most successful tank designs of the 1930s until its lig ...
tanks, re-established the line on 3 December.
Aftermath
The Nationalists only occupied
Boadilla del Monte and
Villanueva de la Cañada
Villanueva de la Cañada is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Located 30 km north-west from Madrid, the municipality covers an area of 34.92 km2. Geographically, it sits on a large plain, in which there are several pr ...
and failed to cut Madrid from the north.
[Boadilla by Esmond Romilly, The Clapton Press Limited, London, 2018 ] They then decided to concentrate a huge force in order to continue
the offensive which was recommenced on 13 December and continued into mid-January the following year in the
Second Battle of the Corunna Road.
See also
*
List of Spanish Republican military equipment of the Spanish Civil War
*
References
Corunna Road
1936 in Spain
Corunna Road
Corunna Road
November 1936 events
December 1936 events
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