Francisco Galán Rodríguez (1902–1971) was a Spanish military officer.

Early life

He was the brother of Captain Fermin Galán and the Republican

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

s José Maria and Juan Galán. Before the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

he was a lieutenant of the

Spanish Civil Guard The Civil Guard (; ) is one of the two national law enforcement agencies of Spain. As a national gendarmerie, it is military in nature and is responsible for civil policing under the authority of both the Ministry of the Interior and the Minis ...

Spanish Civil War

In July 1936 he remained loyal to the Republican government and led one

Militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

column in the Somosierra front. In November 1936 he led the 3rd Mixed Brigade of the

Spanish Republican Army The Spanish Republican Army () was the main branch of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces, 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 República'' ...

during the Battle of Madrid. In August 1937 he was one of the Republican commanders in Asturias and in September 1937 he led the 14th

Army Corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...

in the Asturias Campaign and on October he fled on board a fishing boat in order to avoid capture by the Nationalists. After that, in February 1938 he led the XX Corps in the Battle of Teruel, replacing Leopoldo Menéndez and he led the XII Corps during the

Catalonia Offensive The Catalonia Offensive (, ) was part of the Spanish Civil War. The Nationalist Army started the offensive on 23 December 1938 and rapidly conquered Republican-held Catalonia with Barcelona (the Republic's capital city from October 1937). Ba ...

. On March 3, 1939, he was appointed military commander of Cartagena, but on March 4 he was arrested by the supporters of Casado during the Cartagena Uprising. On March 6 he fled from Cartagena to Bizerte on board a republican ship.Beevor, Antony. (2006). ''The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939.'' Penguin Books. London. pp.390-391.

Exile

After the end of the war, he fled to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and lived there until his death in 1971.

Notes

References

*Beevor, Antony. (2006). ''The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939.'' Penguin Books. London. *Jackson, Gabriel. (1967). ''The Spanish Republic and the Civil War, 1931-1939.'' Princeton University Press. Princeton. *Thomas, Hugh. (2001). ''The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. London. {{DEFAULTSORT:Galan, Francisco 1902 births 1971 deaths Spanish army officers Communist Party of Spain politicians Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in Argentina