The 20th International Battalion ( es, 20.º Batallón Internacional —''Vigésimo Batallón Internacional'' or ''"Batallón 20"'' — ''Batallón Veinte'') was a
battalion
A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...
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 ...
.
History
The high number of casualties suffered by the
XV International Brigade
The Abraham Lincoln Brigade ( es, Brigada Abraham Lincoln), officially the XV International Brigade (''XV Brigada Internacional''), was a mixed brigade that fought for the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War as a part of the Internation ...
during the month of February 1937 prompted the General Staff of the
Spanish Republican Army
The Spanish Republican Army ( es, Ejército de la República Española) was the main branch of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic between 1931 and 1939.
It became known as People's Army of the Republic (''Ejército Popular de la Rep ...
to create the 20th Battalion at the time of the
Fascist Italian attack in Guadalajara in March.
The 20th Battalion was formed by remnants of the 21st Battalion garrisoned at Pozo Rubio,
Albacete
Albacete (, also , ; ar, ﭐَلبَسِيط, Al-Basīṭ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete.
Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the ...
, new
volunteer
Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
s, as well as some soldiers and officers who had recovered from their wounds. It was made up of three companies of
fusiliers, a Polish/Czechoslovak Company, a French Company, an Anglo-American Company—which had an American, a Latin-American, and an Irish and British section, as well as a mixed machine-gun company of Germans and Austrians.
[Full text of "International Solidarity with the Spanish Republic (1936-1939)"](_blank)
/ref> It was moved to Puertollano
Puertollano () is a municipality of Spain located in the province of Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha. The city has a population of 47,035 (2019). Contrasting to the largely rural character of the region, Puertollano stands out for the importance o ...
—at the edge of the Sierra Morena
The Sierra Morena is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. It stretches for 450 kilometres from east to west across the south of the Iberian Peninsula, forming the southern border of the ''Meseta Central'' plateau and providi ...
—and put under the orders of the Chief of the Army of Andalusia on 20 March. Later the 20th Battalion would be joined by two battalions, one of militias and a Carabineros
The was an armed carabiniers force of Spain under both the monarchy and the Second Spanish Republic, Second Republic. The formal mission of this paramilitary gendarmerie was to patrol the coasts and borders of the country, operating against ...
battalion.
Eventually the 20th Battalion became the nucleus around which the 86th Mixed Brigade would be established around the first half of April 1937.[Manuel Requena Gallego (ed.), ''La Guerra Civil Española y las Brigadas Internacionales'', Ediciones de la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (1998) p. 166] In January 1938, as a result of heavy restructuring, the 20th International Battalion was split into three battalions, the 20th, 21st and 22nd.[Carlos Engel, ''Historia de las Brigadas Mixtas del E. P. de la República'', 1999; p. 114]
References
External links
From Monageer to Spain – The Story of Peter Daly
International Brigades
Military units and formations established in 1937
Military units and formations disestablished in 1938
{{SpanishCivilWar-stub