XV International Brigade explained

Unit Name:XV International Brigade
Abraham Lincoln Brigade
Dates:1936–1939
Country:United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Bulgaria, Greece, Yugoslavia, France, Belgium, and Cuba
Allegiance: Spain
Branch: International Brigades
Type:Mixed Brigade – Infantry
Role:Home Defence
Size:Four battalions: the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th (January 1937)
Command Structure:35th Division (1937–1939)
Garrison:Albacete, Barcelona
Nickname:Brigada Abraham Lincoln
March:Jarama Valley and Viva la XV Brigada
Battles:Spanish Civil War
Notable Commanders:Janos Galicz
Vladimir Ćopić
Robert Hale Merriman
Milton Wolff
Veli Dedi

The Abraham Lincoln Brigade (Spanish; Castilian: 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 International Brigades.

The brigade mustered at Albacete in Spain, in January 1937, comprising mainly English-speaking volunteers – arranged into the mostly British Saklatvala Battalion and the mostly North American Lincoln Battalion. It also included two non-English-speaking battalions, the Balkan Dimitrov Battalion and the Franco-Belgian Sixth February Battalion. It fought at Jarama, Brunete, Boadilla, Belchite, Fuentes de Ebro, Teruel and the Ebro River.

The brigade's songs were "Jarama Valley" and "Viva la Quince Brigada".[1]

History

The XVth Brigade first fought at the Battle of Jarama in February 1937 and suffered many casualties. The British lost 225 men out of 600, the Lincolns 120 out of 500. After the battle, the brigade was seriously under-strength.

At the end of March, a Spanish battalion, Voluntario 24 (the 24th Volunteers), joined the brigade. Over the next few months, under the close supervision of Janos Galicz, the brigade was re-organised into two regiments of about 1,200 men. He appointed "the gallant major", George Nathan, as brigade Chief of Staff.

The first regiment, commanded by Jock Cunningham, with Harry Haywood as political commissar, was English-speaking and comprised the depleted British and Lincolns, as well as the recently formed but under-strength second battalion of American volunteers, the George Washington Battalion. The second regiment was commanded by Major "Chapaiev" (Mihaly Szalvay) and consisted of the Dimitrov Battalion, the Sixth February Battalion and the Voluntario 24 Battalion.

This was the composition in July 1937 for the Battle of Brunete. As with the Battle of Jarama, the brigade suffered huge casualties; the brigade strength was reduced from six to four battalions. In particular, the two American battalions were so depleted that they merged to form the Lincoln-Washington Battalion.[2] (This name did not last: it was renamed the Lincoln Battalion in October 1937.) The 6 February, which also suffered severe casualties, was transferred after Brunete. After Belchite, the nominally Canadian Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion joined the brigade, while the Dimitrov Battalion departed.

During the fall of 1937 the units of the International Brigade were integrated into the Spanish Popular Army and the Battalions were re-numbered. The British Bn became the 57th, the Lincoln-Washington the 58th, the Spanish (formerly known as the 24th), became the 59th and the Mackenzie-Papineau the 60th. The battalion line-up remained stable through the withdrawal of the Internationals during the Ebro Campaign.

The XVth International Brigade also included volunteers from Latin America,[3] who, after incidents of bad treatment from North Americans, left the international Brigades and joined other units such as El Campesino's First Mobile Shock Brigade.[4] [5]

After an invitation from J. B. S. Haldane, American singer and activist Paul Robeson traveled to Spain in 1938 because he believed in the International Brigades' cause, visited the hospital of the Benicàssim, singing to the wounded soldiers.[6] Robeson also visited the battlefront[7] and provided a morale boost to the Republicans at a time when their victory was unlikely.

On 13 March 2015, Dan Kaufman interviewed Del Berg, a 99-year-old veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, who he described as the last known survivor of the Brigade.[8] Berg died 28 February 2016.[9]

Overview of battalions

Date joinedNumberBattalion NameCompositionDate leftComments
31 Jan 193716th/57thSaklatvala BattalionBritish, Irish, Dominion23 Sep 1938Demobilized
31 Jan 193717th/58thLincoln BattalionAmerican, Canadian, Irish, British23 Sep 1938Demobilized
31 Jan 193718thDimitrov BattalionBulgarian, Greek and Yugoslav20 Sep 1937Moved to 45th Div. Reserve
31 Jan 193719thSixth February BattalionFrench and Belgian4 Aug 1937Moved to 14th Brigade
14 Mar 193724th/59thVoluntario 24 BattalionCuban10 Nov 1937Moved to a Spanish Mixed brigade
29 Jun 193760thMackenzie-Papineau BattalionAmerican and Canadian23 Sep 1938Demobilized
4 Jul 193720thWashington BattalionAmerican14 Jul 1937Merged with Lincoln Battalion[10]

Notable members

See also

References

Sources

Books
Websites

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Viva la Quinta Brigada was misnamed in the 1970s song "Viva la Quinta Brigada" by Christy Moore.
  2. "... losses in killed and wounded approached four hundred out of close to eight hundred just eight days before..."
  3. Web site: Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Spanish Civil War History and Education: The War in Spain. Alba-valb.org. 12 October 2017.
  4. Web site: Spaniards and Latinos in the International Brigades - The Volunteer. Albavolunteer.org. 7 February 2011 . 12 October 2017.
  5. Book: Petrou , Michael . Renegades: Canadians in the Spanish Civil War, p. 109-110 . UBC Press . 2008 . 9780774858281.
  6. News: Paul Robeson. Rutas Culturales. October 29, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161030000718/http://blogs.comunitatvalenciana.com/rutas-culturales/2016/10/26/paulrobeson/. October 30, 2016. dead.
  7. cf.,
  8. News: The Last Volunteer. The New York Times Magazine. Kaufman, Dan. 2015-03-13. MM38. 2015-03-16. Del Berg, 99, is the last known surviving veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, a contingent of nearly 3,000 Americans who fought to defend the democratically elected government during the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s..
  9. News: Delmer Berg, Last of American Volunteers in Spanish Civil War, Dies at 100. The New York Times. Roberts, Sam. 2016-03-03. A21. 2016-03-03.
  10. Briefly known as the Washington-Lincoln Battalion