José María Bravo Fernández-Hermosa (8 April 1917 – 26 December 2009) was a Spanish Republican fighter pilot and

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

. During 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 fought for the Second Republic and later for the Soviet Union in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Until his death in 2009, he was the highest-scoring Spanish fighter pilot still alive.

Early life

José María Bravo was born

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

in 1917 and studied at the

Institución Libre de Enseñanza The Institución Libre de Enseñanza (ILE, English: ''Free Teaching Institution'') was a pedagogical experience developed in Spain for more than half a century (1876–1939). It was inspired by the Krausism, Krausist philosophy introduced at the Co ...

, where he was considered a good student. His good grades won him a place at a study-abroad program in Germany.

Spanish Civil War

Upon the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936, Bravo volunteered to serve in the

Spanish Republican Air Force The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics () and Naval Aeron ...

. He had already flown gliders. Bravo was accepted and traveled to the Soviet Union as part of the first course of pilots. After six months of training in

Kirovabad Ganja (; ) is Azerbaijan's third largest city, with a population of around 335,600.Azərbaycan Respublikası. — 2. Azərbaycan Respublikasının iqtisadi və inzibati rayonları. — 2.4. Azərbaycan Respublikasının iqtisadi və inzibati r ...

, he returned to Spain in June 1937 as a non-commissioned fighter pilot and an expert in the state-of-the-art

Polikarpov I-16 The Polikarpov I-16 () is a Soviet single-engine single-seat fighter aircraft of revolutionary design; it is a low-wing cantilever monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear, and the first such aircraft to attain operational status. It "in ...

monoplanes. He flew with Russian pilots in the 1ª Escuadrilla de Moscas. His command abilities and charisma earned him multiple promotions:

Teniente A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, security services and police forces. The rank i ...

(11 March 1938) and Capitán (31 May 1938).''El último gran 'as' de la República''
/ref> He was put in command of the 3ª Escuadrilla de Moscas and participated in the battles of the Levante and

Ebro The Ebro (Spanish and Basque ; , , ) is a river of the north and northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain. It rises in Cantabria and flows , almost entirely in an east-southeast direction. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea, forming a de ...

. This squadron achieved the most aerial victories during the Levante Campaign, with 10 credited to Bravo.Biografía de José María Bravo en ''Galería de Militares republicanos''
/ref> On 27 August 1938, he became the adjutant of Grupo 21 de Caza (under the command of Manuel Zarauza Clavero and composed of I-16 fighters) at only 22 years old. The Republican defeat at the

made imminent Republican defeat inevitable and 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 ...

forced the remaining Republican pilots to flee to France, Bravo among them. He was credited with 23 individual aerial victories achieved during 160 aerial combats and 1200 flying hours. He flew the I-16s marked ''CM-193'' y ''CM-249''.

Second World War

He was imprisoned in the refugee camps at

Gurs Gurs () in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. History Gurs was the site of the Gurs internment camp. Nothing remains of the camp; after World War II, a forest was planted on the site where it stood. Geography Gurs ...

and

Argelès-sur-Mer Argelès-sur-Mer (; ; ; ), commonly known as Argelès ( ), is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in the administrative region of Occitania, France. It is about 25 km from Perpignan. Geography Argelès-sur-Mer is located in ...

in southern France until fleeing to the Soviet Union, where he resumed his studies at Járkov (

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

), until the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. He tried to join the

Red Air Force The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Sovie ...

but the Soviet commanders declined to take Spanish pilots, so he had to join a unit of miners and nighttime saboteurs operating in the Azov area. In 1942, he was accepted into the VVS along with several other former Republican pilots and participated in the defense of the Baku area during the Battle of the Caucuses. In 1943, he led the aerial escort for Stalin in his trip to Tehran for the

Teheran Conference The Tehran Conference (codenamed Eureka) was a strategy meeting of the Allies of World War II, held between Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill from 28 November to 1 December 1943. It was the first of the Allied World Wa ...

. In 1948, he was demobilized.

Return to Spain

After leaving the VVS he went to Moscow, where he worked at the Instituto Pedagógico de Idiomas teaching Spanish. In 1960, he returned to Spain without too much trouble from the Franquist authorities due to his past as a Spanish Republican combatant and his residence in the Soviet Union. From 1976, he helped found the Asociación De Aviadores de la República (''ADAR'') to obtain recognition for the military service of Spanish Republican aviators. This having been achieved, in 1978, he was named a colonel in the

Ejército del Aire The Spanish Air and Space Force () is the Aerial warfare, aerial and space warfare branch of the Spanish Armed Forces. History Early stages Hot air balloons have been used with military purposes in Spain as far back as 1896. In 1905, with th ...

, with all associated privileges. Since then he collaborated with the

Fundación Infante de Orleans Fundación is a town and municipality of the Colombian Department of Magdalena. Its people are known as Fundanenses. The primary economic activity is livestock-raising, for production of both meat and milk. Other crops are: corn, yuca, or ...

, especially in its project to acquire an I-16. He continued to attend aerial demonstrations until his death in Madrid at the end of 2009.

Movie

In 2012 a biographical movie, ''El Español'' (English: "The Spaniard", "Испанец" in the original Russian), directed by Aleksandr Tsatsuev (Александр ЦАЦУЕВ) and starring Vladimir Panchik (Владимир ПАНЧИК) as Bravo, was screened.

Memoir

* José María Bravo & Rafael de Madariaga (2007); ''El seis doble: Bravo y los Moscas en la Guerra Civil Española y en la Segunda Guerra Mundial'', Madrid. .

References

External links (Spanish)

S.B.H.A.C., ''Galería de Militares Republicanos''

Nos deja José María Bravo, último "as" de la aviación republicana, Real Aero Club de España

José María Bravo Fernández, el último gran 'as' de la República, El País
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bravo, José Maria 1917 births 2009 deaths Spanish flying aces Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in the Soviet Union Soviet World War II pilots Spanish Civil War pilots