223rd Mixed Brigade (Spain)

This article is about the Spanish military unit. For the British formation, see 223rd Brigade (United Kingdom).

223rd Mixed Brigade 223.ª Brigada Mixta
Military flag of the Popular Army
Active	1937–1939
Country	Spain
Branch	Spanish Republican Army
Type	Mixed Brigade
Role	Home Defence
Size	Four battalions: The 889, 890, 891 and 892
Part of	Coastal Defence (1937) 64th Division (1937 - 1938) 10th Division (1938 - 1939) Coastal Defence (1939)
Garrison/HQ	Cartagena
Engagements	Spanish Civil War
Commanders
Notable commanders	Ramón Garsaball López

View of Cartagena where the 223th MB was based.

The 223rd Mixed Brigade (Spanish: 223.ª Brigada Mixta),^[1]^[2] was a mixed brigade of the Spanish Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War. It was formed in the summer of 1937 from Coastal Defence units and had four battalions, the 889, 890, 891 and 892. This unit lasted until the end of the war.

History

The 223rd Mixed Brigade was established in August 1937 in Cartagena with Coastal Defence (Defensa de Costas) battalions as a military reserve unit for the Andalusian Army (Ejército de Andalucía). The command of the unit was initially entrusted to the commander of the Regimiento de Infanteria Sevilla 34, an infantry unit of the Spanish Republican Army based in Cartagena, but this regiment was disbanded as a result of the reorganization of the Republican Armed Forces^[3] and its troops were integrated into newly established mixed brigades, following which the command of the 223rd Mixed Brigade went to Militia Major Ramón Garsaball López who would be its leader until only a month before the surrender of the Republican Military.^[1]

First phase: Cartagena and the Eastern Front

Although in April 1938 the 223rd Mixed Brigade was placed under the 64th Division of the XIX Army Corps of the Eastern Army (Ejército de Levante), the unit was still garrisoned in Cartagena. In July the same year the brigade was found out by the Military Investigation Service (SIM) in Cartagena to have been infiltrated by fifth column elements, following which it was sent to the Eastern Front line where there were numerous desertions among the hidden fifth-columnists that had caused the punishment of the brigade.^[4]

In the front the brigade was placed under the 10th Division of the XXI Army Corps, also belonging to the Eastern Army. The 223rd Mixed Brigade first fought in the Defensive Belt of Valencia (Cinturón Defensivo de Valencia), becoming later part of the Eastern Army reserve. Between 7 and 10 November the unit took part in the failed assault to dislodge the rebels from Nules and Castellón.

Extremaduran Front and end of the brigade

The 223rd Mixed Brigade was then transferred to the Battle of Valsequillo, where on 7 January it attacked the Cerro Mulva and the Sierra de los Santos in protracted combats that lasted about week. In February it returned to its garrison in Cartagena where it took again the Coastal Defence duty. In March 1939, during Segismundo Casado's coup against Prime Minister Juan Negrín the 223rd Mixed Brigade stood against the coup, following which its commander was deposed and Militia Major Ángel Muñoz took the command.^[1]^[2] Shortly thereafter the Republican Armed Forces surrendered and the unit was disbanded.

References

1 2 3 SBHAC - Brigadas Mixtas del Ejército Popular, 223ª Brigada Mixta
1 2 Carlos Engel, Historia de las Brigadas Mixtas del E. P. de la República, 1999
↑ Cartagena - Regimientos de 1900 a 1996
↑ Angel Bahamonde Magro & Javier Cervera Gil, Así terminó la Guerra de España, Marcial Pons, Ediciones de Historia, ISBN 9788495379092 p. 427

External links

Elche - Memoria Digital

Mixed brigades of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th XI XII XIII XIV XIV Bis XV 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32nd 33rd 34th 35th 36th 37th 38th 39th 40th 41st 42nd 43rd 44th 45th 46th 47th 48th 49th 50th 51st 52nd 53rd 54th 55th 56th 57th 58th 59th 60th 61st 62nd 63rd 64th 65th 66th 67th 68th 69th 70th 71st 72nd 73rd 74th 75th 76th 77th 78th 79th 80th 81st 82nd 83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th 88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd 93rd 94th 95th 96th 97th 98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd 103rd 104th 105th 106th 107th 108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th 114th 115th 116th 117th 118th 119th 120th 121st 122nd 123rd 124th 125th 126th 127th 128th CXXIX 130th 131st 132nd 133rd 134th 135th 136th 137th 138th 139th 140th 141st 142nd 143rd 144th 145th 146th 147th 148th 149th 150th CL 151st 152nd 153rd 154th 155th 156th 157th 158th 159th 160th 161st 162nd 163rd 164th 165th 166th 167th 168th 169th 170th 171st 172nd 173rd 174th 175th 176th 177th 177th 179th 180th 181st 182nd 183rd 184th 185th 186th 187th 188th 189th 190th 191st 192nd 193rd 194th 195th 196th 197th 198th 199th 200th 201st 202nd 203rd 204th 205th 206th 207th 208th 209th 210th 211th 212th 213th 214th 215th 216th 217th 218th 219th 220th 221st 222nd 223rd 224th 225th 226th 227th 228th 229th 230th 231st 232nd 233rd 234th 235th 236th 237th 238th 239th 240th 241st 242nd 243rd 244th 245th 246th

International Brigades (in Roman numerals) Fifth Regiment Central Region Army Group Eastern Region Army Group List of Spanish Republican divisions

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/10/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.