1st Division (Spain)

This article is about the Spanish Republican military unit. For other formations, see 1st Division.

The 1st Division (Spanish: 1.ª División)^[1] was a division of the Spanish Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War.

1st Division 1.ª División
Military flag of the Popular Army
Active	31 December 1936 – 27 March 1939
Country	Spanish Republic
Branch	Spanish Republican Army
Type	Infantry division
Role	Home Defence
Part of	1st Army Corps (1936–1939)
Garrison/HQ	Lozoyuela
Engagements	Spanish Civil War
Commanders
Notable commanders	Enrique Jurado Barrio Fernando Cueto Herrero

View of the mountains of the Somosierra area in the winter.

This unit was deployed in a relatively inactive section of the front located in the mountainous area north of Madrid.

History

The First Division was established on 31 December 1936 with the militia forces that had been operating in the Somosierra sector and which had been led by Lt. Colonel Enrique Jurado Barrio.^[2] The headquarters of the division was in Loyozuela.^[3]

This unit was garrisoned at the secondary sector of El Escorial and did not take part in any important military operation. The commander who replaced Enrique Jurado, Lt. Colonel Fernando Cueto Herrero, was discovered when he was trying to join the enemy forces and was summarily dismissed and shot for treason on 18 September 1937. Except for a few sporadic skirmishes the unit rarely saw combat action and was mainly engaged in fortification work. The First Division was disbanded at the end of the war in late March 1939.^[1]

Order of battle

Date	Army Corps	Mixed Brigades	Battlefront
December 1936	1st Army Corps	26th, 27th and 28th	Center
December 1937	1st Army Corps	26th and 27th	Center
April 1937	1st Army Corps	26th, 27th and 28th	Center
November 1938	1st Army Corps	26th and 27th	Center

Leaders

Commanders

• Lt. Colonel Enrique Jurado Barrio;^[4]
• Lt. Colonel Fernando Cueto Herrero;^[1]
• Infantry Commander Ernesto Güemes Ramos;
• Militia Major Dionisio Hortelano Hortelano;
• Militia Major Raimundo Calvo Moreno;^[5]
• Militia Major Juan Sáez de Diego;

Commissars

• Alberto Barragán López, member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE);
• Victorio Casado Fernández, member of the (PSOE);

Chief of Staff

• Carabineros Commander Rafael Quintana Vilches;

See also

• Mixed Brigades