1938

January 1938

Ground Operations

Fuerza Aérea de la República Española - Republican Air Force

While relocating 21 SBs to the Reus and La Senia airfields near Manises on 4 January, one SB crashed and the entire Spanish crew perished.

Subsequently posted to the 3^a Escuadrilla de Chatos as deputy CO, teniente Leopoldo Morquillas Rubio was given command of the 2^a Escuadrilla of Grupo N^o 26, based at Villar airfield, in Valencia, on 11 January, replacing capitán Chindasvinto González García. There, he operated over the Teruel front and made a number of claims.

During take-off on 11 January, the wheel of the I-16 piloted by Aleksander Semenov collapsed. The aircraft was completely destroyed, and the pilot miraculously survived but sustained serious injuries. He no longer participated in combat actions in Spain.

On return from the Soviet Union, Juan Lario Sanchez was posted to the 4^a/26 on 12 January 1938, flying I-15s.
A few days later, he was posted to the 2^a/26, where he piloted Polikarpov I-15 no. CA-029.

During a training flight on 12 January, the wings "fell off" an I-16 and the Spanish pilot was killed.

Available Republican aircraft on 17 January 1938.

	I-16	I-15	SB	R-Z	R-5SSS	Others (obsolete)
Operational	49	48	21	35	9	19
In field repair	12	7	6	4
In factory repair	23	6	6	13	8	7
Total	84	61	33	52	17	26

The fighters were relocating on 19 January.

On 21 January, kapitan Anatoly Serov left Spain.

Available Republican aircraft on 24 January 1938.

	I-16	I-15	SB	R-Z	R-5SSS
Operational	46	36	25	35	8
In field repair	7	6	9	6	1
In factory repair	26	15	6	13	4
Total	79	57	40	54	12

Leitenant Platon Smolyakov took command of the 5^a/21 (I-16) on 25 January.

On 31 January, capitán Chindasvinto González García was ordered to accompany trainee pilots to Kirovabad in the USSR.

In January, capitán Rafael Peña Dugo was appointed Jefe de Estado Mayor (Chief of Staff) of the Agrupación de Defensa de Costas.

By the end of 1937, kapitan Ivan Yeremenko had claimed 9 victories, and in mid-January 1938 he returned to the Soviet Union.

Luis de Frutos González of the 1^a/21 (I-16) was killed in January during the unit's operations from Sarrión airfield.

The Grupo de Caza N^o 26 operated near Valencia.

Known Soviet aviators arriving in Spain in January 1938

Arrival	Name	Nom de guerre	Rank	Role	Born	Comment	Departure
1938-01-12	Bershak, Ivan A.		NCO	SB radio/gunner	1914	Returned early after being wounded. 1938-11-14 Order of the Red Banner	1938-05-01
1938-01-21	Dmitriyevskiy, Vladimir V.			SB radio/gunner	1918	1938-11-14 Order of the Red Banner	1938-07-21

Known Soviet aviators leaving Spain in January 1938

Departure	Name	Arrival	Comment
1938-01-11	Chesnokov, Ivan D.	1937-05-28
1938-01-15	Dushkin, Ivan Ivanovich	1937-05-27
1938-01-28	Antonov, Yevgeniy	1937-05-31
1938-01-28	Arkhangel’skiy, Petr Petrovich	1937-05-31
1938-01-28	Baryshpol’, Vasiliy P.	1937-05-31
1938-01-28	Burakov, Sergey Nikiforovich	1937-05-10
1938-01-28	Butrym, Petr Pavlovich	1937-05-13
1938-01-28	Doyar, S. A.	1937-05-31

Aviazione Legionaria

On 17 January 1938, in a ceremony held at Saragossa-Sanjurjo airfield, command of XVI Gruppo Caccia passed from Maggiore Giuseppe Casero to the former leader of its 25^a Squadriglia, newly promoted Maggiore Armando François.
Capitano Roberto Fassi became CO of the 25^a Squadriglia after Maggiore François.

Legion Condor

The personalities of Generalmajor Hellmuth Volkmann and Oberstleutnant Dr.-Ing. Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen had clashed following simmering tensions. On 11 January, von Richthofen noted, ”I request my release from business immediately, vacation here and then a return trip home. Volkmann beams with agreement.” Two days later, he wrote to his wife, ”Volkmann and I must part company at the soonest possible date.” By 30 January, he had gone, to be replaced by Major Hermann Plocher, an administrator from the Luftwaffe General Staff.

By 31 January 1938 the K/88 was at Alfaro.

Operations

Eastern Front
Five Heinkel He 51s reportedly attacked Republican ground forces in the Teruel area.
One of them was shot down by 20mm flak and Leutnant Heinz Runzel of J/88 was killed when his aircraft crashed and burned.

Republican AA also fired at a group of 18 Romeo Ro.37s and 17 Fiats.
One Fiat was reportedly shot down and, according to ground reports, crashed in enemy territory.

2 January 1938
Republican aviation did not fly due to bad weather.

Eastern Front
The 11th Republican Infantry Division suffered up to 300 killed and wounded from air strikes in the Teruel area.
Nationalist losses were insignificant and only two aircraft were shot down by machine gun fire. Both pilots were Spaniards. CR.32 3-77 flown by José Careaga Urigüen of 2-E-3 was destroyed by small-arms fire in the Teruel area and Careaga became a PoW. Luis Palacio Vega from 1-G-2, flying a He 51, was also shot down to become a PoW. According to some sources, it seems that Palacio died on 15 January (or February) 1938.
Republican AA gunner reported a raid by nine Ro.37s and 13 CR.32s and Anti-Aircraft Batteries Nos. 14 and 522 made claims (probably the aircraft above), which reportedly fell on Nationalist territory.

3 January 1938
Republican aviation relocated to airfields suitable for operations and was conducting training flights. There were no combat missions.

Eastern Front
The enemy bombarded Anti-Aircraft Batteries Nos. 13 and 14. As a result of the strike, Battery No. 13 suffered significant losses, was withdrawn from the front, and replaced by Battery No. 16.

At 14:33, a group of 10 Romeo Ro.37s and 15 fighters appeared over Republican troops. Six fighters from this group attacked Anti-Aircraft Battery No. 519 three times. One fighter was shot down and crashed 50 meters from the anti-aircraft gunners' positions. ”Pilot killed. Monoplane with a “BMW” engine of German production. This type of fighter had not appeared among the Nationalists before”.

4 January 1938
In total, the Republican aviation conducted 100 sorties during the day.

Eastern Front
XXIII Gruppo Caccia, based at Bello, went into action over Teruel during the early afternoon when 24 CR.32s of its three squadriglie, led by Maggiore Andrea Zotti, intercepted a formation of nine R-Zs from 2^a Escuadrilla of Grupo N^o 30, and their escort of 13 I-15s and 15 I-16s.
The Italian pilots claimed four light bombers destroyed, two of the aircraft crashing in Republican territory and a third coming down in flames onto the beach at Malvarosa, close to Sagunto. Two more battle-damaged R-Zs landed back at their Liria base. The Italian pilots then turned their attention to the bombers’ fighter escort when a second R-Z escuadrilla aborted its attack so as to escape the marauding CR.32s.
During a frontal clash in broken cloud, Maggiore Zotti shot down the I-15 flown by patrol leader leitenant Josef Kapustin of 1^a/26. The latter managed to parachute into Republican territory. The Italian ace’s aircraft had in turn been hit by seven rounds fired by Kapustin as he flew headlong at the CR.32.
It’s possible that the VI Gruppo also took part in this mission since Tenente Corrado Santoro of the 31^a Squadriglia is recorded to having taken part in a mission escorting bombers over Teruel.
The Republicans reported that an aerial battle took place over the front line near Teruel when two escuadrillas of R-Zs aircraft (16 machines), 15 I-16s, and 13 I-15s were engaged with CR.32s and He 111s. The Nationalist bombers and one R-Z escuadrilla returned without completing their mission while the remaining aircraft became involved in a fierce skirmish.
One R-Z was shot down but the crew parachuted to safely. Another R-Z sustained serious damage and crashed during landing, with the gunner killed. Josef Kapustin’s (1^a/26) I-15 was shot down, but he survived. Sergey Zubarov's I-16 was damaged, and it crashed during landing at Montoro airfield.
The Republicans claimed two CR.32s shot down, one of which fell on Republican territory.

Sargento Antonio Arias Arias, deputy CO 4^a/21 (I-16), claimed a shared Bf 109 on the Teruel front.
He also claimed a CR.32 on an unknown date in January.

5 January 1938
Eastern Front
26 P-Zs, escorted by 26 fighters, bombed ground troops twice in the Barrios de San Blas area.
The first mission was not intercepted but during the second, at around 15:00, they were intercepted by Fiat CR.32s and Bf 109s.
Leitenant Aleksey Loskutov was shot down and killed in his I-15. It is possible that Loskutov in fact was flying in I-16 CM118 from 5^a/21 since this is the only Republican loss reported during the day.
The gunners in the R-Zs reported that one CR.32 was shot down from which the pilot parachuted and landed in Nationalist territory. The Republican fighters claimed three CR.32s and one Bf 109. Only two claimants are known and flying from El Toro airfield, capitán Chindasvinto González García, CO 2^a/26, claimed a Bf 109 destroyed as his final recorded aerial victory while Emilio Ramírez Bravo from the same unit claimed a damaged CR.32.
The Italians reported that in the afternoon, Maggiore Andrea Zotti led 16 CR.32s from XXIII Gruppo on a surveillance patrol over Teruel. The aircraft intercepted a formation of R-Zs and claimed five shot down. One was credited to the gruppo’s second-in-command, Capitano Guido Nobili.
Oberfeldwebel Ignaz Prestele of 1.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed one I-16 in the same combat.
The only known Nationalist loss is a damaged CR.32 when Jorge Muntadas Claramunt from 2-G-3 made an emergency landing at his home airfield.

6 January 1938
In the afternoon, teniente Manuel Vázquez Sagastizábal and teniente Carlos Bayo Alessandri from 2-G-3 went to the defence of a unit of He 111s that was being attacked by enemy fighters. Vázquez attacked the lower group hitting a Chato, which fell in flames to the east of Teruel, while Bayo was successful in destroying a second Chato.

K/88 dropped 120 tonnes of bombs during the day.

7 January 1938
At 08:30, 18 SBs attacked Calamocha and damaged five He 51s.

Franco Lucchini of the 19^a Squadriglia claimed a shared R-Z.

8 January 1938
Capitán Chindasvinto González García’s (CO 2^a/26) fighter (Chato ‘CA-002’) was hit by anti-aircraft fire while strafing la Muela de Teruel, damaging its fuel tanks and forcing González to crash land at Sarrión.

9 January 1938
Due to bad weather, Republican aviation did not fly.

12 January 1938
2.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed two SBs when Oberfeldwebel Reinhard Seiler and Unteroffizier Wilhelm Staege claimed one each over the Teruel front.

Republican fighter pilot Antonio Pérez García was shot down and killed in combat on the Teruel front.

16 January 1938
A patrulla of I-16s from 4^a/21 claimed a SM.81 during the day.

17 January 1938
During the day, there were three clashes between Republic and Nationalist aircraft. In the last combat two groups of I-15s (32 fighters) were out to strafe in the Teruel area, escorted by eight I-16s. Over the target they clashed with a formation of 15 He 111s and 40 Fiat CR.32s. Two I-15s were quickly shot down when leitenant Aleksandr Osipov (patrulla CO 1^a/26 in I-15 CA 007) was shot down by fighters but managed to parachute and land in friendly territory. The second was kapitan Yevgeniy Stepanov of the Grupo N^o 26, who was shot down by AA fire over the town of Ojos Negros but managed to bale out. He was taken prisoner and spent the next six months in various prisons (Zaragoza, Salamanca and San Sebastian). One I-16 was shot down and the pilot killed. A third I-15 made a “taran” and the pilot, Romulo Negrin Mijoilar (the son of the prime minister of the Republic of Spain), who served in the 4^a/26, was wounded. He had attacked some Fiats, which were attacking Stepanov hanging in his parachute, bringing one of the CR.32 down together with his own fighter; the Italian pilot was killed. Two more I-15s were damaged in forced landing due to lack of fuel and five more returned with battle damage.
Teniente Leopoldo Morquillas Rubio, CO 2^a/26 claimed a CR.32 shot down during the day in the Teruel area as did J. Vela Díaz and C. Zuazo Garre from the same unit.
The Republican side claimed four Fiat CR.32s and one bomber. Two more CR.32s were claimed as damaged or probably destroyed.
The Italians from VI Gruppo claimed 11 ‘Curtiss fighters’ but lost two pilots when Maresciallo Bruno Cesna, (33^a Squadriglia) and Sergente Maggiore Angelo Boetti (Staff of VI Gruppo) were killed while Sergente Benassi was wounded. One Spanish pilot was also shot down when Pedro Gil Escosin was shot down in his Fiat CR.32 and parachuted. In one of the He 111, one of the crew members, T. Martner, was so badly wounded that he died the next day in hospital.
While as prisoner Stepanov was taken out to be shot on three occasions. The Republican government eventually managed to exchange him via the International Red Cross for some German PoWs.

18 January 1938
Leutnant Gerhard Klein of 4.J/88 was killed when his He 51 (2-59) exploded in the air over Teruel when he was attacking enemy concentrations near Fraga.

Oberleutnant Wolfgang Schellmann of 1.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-16 over Teruel while Leutnant Erich Woitke claimed another I-16.

Teniente Leopoldo Morquillas Rubio, CO 2^a/26, claimed a Bf 109 shot down during the day in the Teruel area.

Pedro Gil Escoaín of 4-E-3 was killed in an accident at Aranda and his CR.32 (3-92) was destroyed.

Starshiy leitenant Bela Arady crash-landed at Sarrión in I-15 CA-014.

19 January 1938
400 Nationalist aircraft flew sorties from dawn to dusk.

20 January 1938
XVI Gruppo went into action between Teruel and Aldehuela. Italian pilots were credited with shooting down five ‘Curtiss fighters’ and two Ratas. One of the I-15s were claimed by Sergente Ennio Tarantola. Sottotenente Renato Andreani of 25^a Squadriglia lost his life and two CR.32s returned to base with severe battle damage.
Grupo N^o 26 lost three I-15s during this clash, one from the 3^a Escuadrilla crashing near Torrente after its pilot, Puig Bastons, parachuted safely into Republican territory. A machine from 1^a Escuadrilla broke up in the air after being hit, its Soviet pilot, leitenant Ivan Gorshkov, being forced to bail out. Debris from Gorshkov’s I-15 (#9963) in turn hit the Polikarpov of the 2^a Escuadrilla commander teniente Leopoldo Morquillas Rubio, who also parachuted into Republican territory (Leopoldo Morquillas Rubio claimed a damaged CR.32 during the day – same combat?). No I-16s were lost, however.

Oberleutnant Wilhelm Balthasar of 1.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-16 while Oberfeldwebel Kurt Rochel of 2.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-15.

Teniente Juan Comas Borrás, CO of 3^a/26, claimed a Bf 109 over the Teruel area.

Jaime Torn Roca of the 2^a/26 claimed a Bf 109 in the Teruel area while M. Brufau Civit claimed a damaged CR.32.

The 4^a/21 (I-16) claimed three Bf 109s during the day.

1^a/21 (I-16) had a field day claiming eight victories when the escuadrilla claimed one He 111 and one Bf 109. Teniente Eduardo Claudín Moncada, CO 1^a/21 (I-16 Type 10 ‘CM-157’), claimed a CR.32 destroyed while flying from a Liria, in Valencia while J. Solinas Figueras claimed a second CR.32. J. Fernández Alberdi from the same unit claimed two Bf 109 while a third Bf 109 was claimed by Enrique Vilatela Soria and a fourth by a pilot namned Fernández.

22 January 1938
Teniente Manuel Zarauza Clavero, CO 4^a/21 (I-16), claimed a Bf 109.

Sargento José María Bravo Fernández of 1^a/21 claimed a Bf 109 over the Teruel front.

Oberfeldwebel Reinhard Seiler of 2.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-16 as his fifth victory in Spain.

24 January 1938
Leitenant Platon Smolyakov of the 6^a/21 (I-16) claimed a Fiat over Campillo in the Teruel area.

26 January 1938
A He 111 from 3.K/88 was shot down over Teruel by Republican fighters. This was the only loss for K/88 during the campaign, which took place in abominable weather. Certain sources, however, indicate that the aircraft, although badly hit, was able to put down at Alcocer.

28 January 1938
18 SBs attacked Salamanca. This striking force was made up of both Spanish and Soviet flown aircraft, the Soviets flying from their base at San Clemente.
While returning, the pilot leitenant Nikolay Serebryakov with his navigator Nikolay Abramov became very disoriented – possibly due to lack of oxygen. They apparently flew past their base and found themselves over the Bay of Valencia. They tried to find one of the airfields there, but ran out of fuel and had to ditch in the Mediterranean. The SB capsized and the crew was badly banged up and lucky to escape, especially Abramov who suffered a broken collar bone and a contusion on the right side of his body, which required 48 stitches (according to other sources they made a forced landing in Republican territory and Abramov was slightly injured).
Another SB was brought down by AA fire in an area north of the River Ebro and the crew were captured (including radio/gunner serzhant Mikhail Ivanovich Smertin).
Smertin was later released in a prisoner swap and returned to the Soviet Union on 27 July 1938.

29 January 1938
At 08:00, Miguel García Pardo and teniente Carlos Bayo from 2-G-3 spotted Russian tanks moving to attack Nationalist positions at Cabezón, in the Singra sector. They attacked these at low level with machine-gun fire, and shortly after found eleven more tanks attacking to the east of Celadas. Returning to base with their ammunition exhausted, they located five tanks on the plain near Singra, with five more behind them.

Luis Herrero de Teresa of 1-E-3 was killed in combat in the Teruel area and his CR.32 (3-64) was destroyed.

February 1938

Ground Operations

20 February 1938
Republican troops are forced to abandon Teruel and follow the highway to Valencia, under pressure from Moroccan troops commanded by general Yagüe. This marks the end of the Battle of Teruel.

Fuerza Aérea de la República Española - Republican Air Force

Mayor Luis Alonso Vega left the command of the Grupo de Natachas N^o 30 on 20 February when he was succeeded by mayor de Aviación Naval Valentin Pelayo Berra.
Mayor Alonso Vega was appointed CO of the Escuadra de Caza N^o 11 shortly thereafter, which he commanded during the retreat from Aragon and in the fighting in Levante.

On 9 February, at the height of the battle of Teruel, Juan José Armario Álvarez was promoted to mayor de Aviación Naval on the basis of his war record and confirmed as CO of the Grupo de Chatos N^o 26 on 25 February. Mayor Armario continued to command the unit through the various campaigns in Aragon, Levante and the Ebro, often leading his escuadrillas personally.

Vicente Castillo Monzó of the 2^a/26 was promoted to teniente.

The 2^a/26 moved to Requena airfield, Valencia, following the completion of operations over Teruel - it remained here until 30 June 1938.

Antonio Nieto Sandoval-Díaz of the 3^a/26 was promoted to teniente. He was assigned Chato ‘CA-017’ at this time.

After taking the fighter pilots’ course at the Escuela at La Ribera and spending time in the replacement pool at Celrá, sargento José Sarrió Calatayud was posted to the 1^a Escuadrilla of Grupo de Defensa de Costas N^o 71. There, he was assigned one of the two D.510s of the Reus patrulla, which had been established on 21 February 1938.

In February, Ivan Devotchenko became CO of the 2^a/21 (I-16). Pilots in this escuadrilla were at the time Boris Takhtarov, starshina Vasiliy Bagrov, Arsenii Shubikov, Nikolai Nikitin, Andrey Belov, Arkadii Sviridov, Viktor Troshkin, Vyacheslav Presnukhin and Aleksey Denisov.

Leitenant Platon Smolyakov CO of the 5^a/21 (I-16) was wounded in late February and starshiy leitenant Nikita Syusyukalov took command of the unit.

Known Soviet aviators leaving Spain in February 1938

Departure	Name	Arrival	Comment
1938-02-25	Kustov, Viktor	1937-08-20	Returned home early due to wounds.

Fuerza Aérea Nacionales (Arma de Aviación) - Nationalist Air Force

Aviazione Legionaria

Legion Condor

Operations

Republican fighter pilot Francisco Chumillas disappeared in the Teruel area and was presumed KIA.
According to some sources he was killed on 7 February.

Unteroffizier Willi Lohrer of 2.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-16. This was his only victory in Spain.

6 February 1938
Unteroffizier Hermann Stange of 2.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-16.

The 1^a/21 (I-16) claimed a Bf 109.

7 February 1938
A group of SBs bombed Calamocha railroad station, near Teruel. After dropping their bombs and leaving the anti-aircraft area the airplanes were attacked by a group of Bf 109s. Given no fighter escort, four SBs were shot down, while another four returned to base with serious damage.
The German pilots from 1. and 2.J/88 seems to have overclaimed heavily when they claimed 10 SBs and two I-16s (in another combat?) in a large air battle over the Alfambra. Identifying a weak stretch of the Republican line north of Teruel, Franco had launched a counter-offensive in this area - a flanking attack with a spectacular cavalry charge that helped turn the tide and trap the Republicans in Teruel. Four of the SBs fell to the guns of Oberleutnant Wilhelm Balthasar (2.J/88) within six minutes. Other claimants were Leutnant Hans-Karl Meyer (1.J/88) who claimed one SB and one I-16, Oberfeldwebel Ignaz Prestele (1.J/88) who claimed one SB, Oberfeldwebel Reinhard Seiler (2.J/88) who claimed two SBs, Unteroffizier Ernst Quasinowski (1.J/88) who claimed one SB, Unteroffizier Ernst Terry (1.J/88) who claimed one SB and Staffelführer Oberleutnant Joachim Schlichting (2.J/88) who claimed one I-16. Hauptmann Gotthardt Handrick (CO of J/88) recalled:

“None of us would have had good memories of Calamocha had it not been for 7 February 1938. This was the date of a quite special triumph for my Gruppe, for we were successful in shooting down no fewer than 12 enemy aircraft - ten Martin bombers and two Ratas within five minutes. We had participated eagerly in the fighting over Teruel, and day-by-day we had carpeted the enemy positions with bombs.
On 7 February I was underway with two Staffeln providing cover for the bombers, which were scheduled to follow us. I flew with 1. Staffel, and far ahead of us was 2. Staffel. Hardly had we flown over the Front when we caught sight of a large number of aircraft in the east, which were flying exactly opposite to our course. Were these our own bombers which, having performed their task, were already on their way home?
Soon, however, we could make out from their blood-red emblems that these were enemy bombers. They were Martin aircraft, Soviet machines of American design, not dissimilar to our He 111s. 2. Staffel, flying ahead of us, immediately attacked the Reds. We also stepped on the gas and took out the aircraft that were there. My heart was beating with joy for up to now we had never seen so many Red bombers - there were 22 of them - and we got them under our guns. Not only that, but it appeared as if the bombers were not accompanied by any fighters at all.
When the Reds recognised us, they turned away, but it was too late. As they turned our 2. Staffel caught them, and two Red machines dived into the depths, leaving enormous trails of smoke behind them. Their crews saved themselves by parachute. The remaining 20 attempted to slip away, but they were already near enough to be held under our fire. In a wink of an eye, eight Reds began to burn and crashed like flaming torches. I myself had got to about 150 m behind one of the bombers.
I had the aircraft, as large as a barn door, in my sights. I pressed the trigger, but after 14 rounds both weapons jammed - the enemy machine just stayed there. I had to break off from my victim. I could clearly see how its machine-gunner was shooting at me like a savage.
Meanwhile, the enemy fighter cover also showed up on the scene. Three or four squadrons of Ratas suddenly came down on us like a warm rain, and there resulted a wild and lurching twisting and turning dogfight, which ended up with two enemy fighters sharing the same fate as the Martin bombers. For us, it was now high time to protect our own bombers from the fighters. The enemy had, however, obviously lost his appetite. He withdrew in the direction of Valencia and our Kampfgruppe was able to accomplish its task unmolested.
Upon landing, we learned that other than the 22 Martin bombers, 12 more enemy bombers, without fighter protection, had been attacked. It would have been a celebratory meal for us if we had been able to get these fat morsels in front of our machine guns as well, but as it was we could be content with the day’s successes. That 7th of February thoroughly reconciled us with the dreary Calamocha, in as much as that in recognition of our success we received crates of wine from some Spanish generals which we and our Spanish comrades used to forget the icy cold weather during our victory celebration.”

Sargento José María Bravo Fernández of 1^a/21 (I-16) claimed a shared Bf 109.

Leitenant Platon Smolyakov CO of the 5^a/21 (I-16) claimed a shared Bf 109 over Calamocha.

Totally, Republican fighters claimed three Bf 109s during the day.

Progreso Núñez Martín (CR.32 3-99) of 4-E-3 was killed in a collision at Talavera with M. Varona Trigueros (3-93) from the same unit and both CR.32s were destroyed.

18 February 1938
During an assault mission in the Teruel area, Capitano Duilio Fanali's Breda Ba.65 "16-18" was hit by shrapnel. In spite of over a hundred holes on the airframe, Fanali managed to return and land safely.

Fanali inspecting combat damage on “16-18” after the mission on 18 February 1938.

19 February 1938
Unteroffizier Hermann Stange of 2.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-15. This was his third and last victory.

Unteroffizier Heinrich Torner of 4.J/88 was shot down and killed in his He 51 by anti-aircraft fire over Valdecebro.

20 February 1938
Teniente Ladislao Duarte Espés (CO 4^a/26), claimed a Bf 109 over Valdesebro. Reportedly the claim was made during the night(!).

21 February 1938
During the day, all the serviceable Polikarpovs took off to try to oppose Nationalist bombers during the Battle of Alfambra.
At 10:20, Miguel García Pardo and Javier Allende Isasi of 2-G-3 took off on a routine reconnaissance flight over the Teruel front. There they discovered 20 I-15s and a similar number of I-16s in combat with a few Bf 109Bs. When García Pardo and Allende Isasi went to the assistance of the Messerschmitts, the German pilots failed to recognize them as allies and opened fire on them. They beat a hasty retreat, calling into battle another formation of Fiat CR.32s before continuing with their reconnaissance.
The new formation compromised 24 CR.32s of the XXIII Gruppo ”Asso di Bastoni” led by Maggiore Andrea Zotti. The pilots included the Spanish capitán Carlos Haya González who, after attending his mother’s funeral, arrived by car in Bilbao just as the group was about to take off. Despite Commander Zotti’s opposition, he insisted on taking his place in the formation.
At 11:04 over Teruel when they spotted about 40 Republican fighters split in three formations with I-15 “Chatos” at 3,500 and 4,000 meters, and I-16 “Moscas” at 5000 meters. The Republican fighters were already in combat with 17 Bf 109s. Zotti immediately chased them, and sent part of the Gruppo to attack the “Chatos”, which tried to evade as they were over Republican lines. At Puebla de Valverde, the “Moscas” intervened, but they were faced by the rest of the XXIII Gruppo, which at the end claimed two “Chatos” and a “Mosca” destroyed. One of the I-15s was claimed by Franco Lucchini of the 19^a Squadriglia. In attempting to destroy an I-15 that was attacking another aircraft of his squadron, Carlos Haya González approached too close and collided with the I-15, falling to his death. It seems that this was sargento Francisco Viñals Guarro (I-15 CA-013) of the 2^a/26, who managed to return despite the almost total destruction of the rudder (according the Republic bulletin, it was teniente Manuel Orozoco Ovira, of the 4^a/26, who collided with Haya). Viñals’ I-15 was found to have a shattered aileron, badly damaged upper port wing and missing cockpit door and gunsight. Viñals’ promotion, recommended by the coronel Jefe de Fuerzas Aéreas and the Minister of National Defence, Indalecio Prieto, was effective from 22 February. The order was gazetted in the Diario Oficial issue No 47, which noted, ’For his heroic conduct in yesterday’s combats near Teruel, sargento del arma de aviación Francisco Viñals Guarro is promoted to teniente.’
Juan Lario Sanchez witnessed this combat. Haya fell near Puerto de Escadiòn and was posthumously awarded with a Medaglia d’oro al valor militare.
The German pilots of J/88 claimed seven I-16s when 1 staffel claimed three near La Pueblé (Leutnants Fritz Awe, Hans-Karl Mayer and Erich Woitke) and 2 staffel claimed four near Sarrion and Teruel (Unteroffizier Herbert Ihlefeld, Leutnant Edgar Rempel, Unteroffizier Kurt Rochel and Staffelführer Oberleutnant Joachim Schlichting).
It seems that the Bf 109s had been in combat with twelve I-16s from 2^a/21, which suffered three wounded pilots and one killed in combat with Messerschmitts and Fiats over Teruel in the morning while reporting 18 enemy aircraft downed (daily total?). Leitenant Aleksey Denisov (I-16 CM-034) claimed one Bf 109 before being shot down and had to bail out wounded. Leitenant Boris Adil’gireevich Takhtarov was wounded and badly burned when his aircraft (CM-123 or CM-239) caught fire after being hit by Bf 109s and he had to take to his parachute. When he jumped his parachute opened early, and on the way down the Germans tried to strafe him, but his comrades prevented them (he spent 35 days in the hospital and then returned home). The third wounded pilot was Andrey Belov. Leitenant Viktor Sergeevich Troshkin was killed while flying CM-032.
General Rojo advised Prieto, the Minister of Defence, that the Air Force had carried out three operations during the day, and that during the last of these they had been involved in a large-scale combat with the Nationalist Air Force. He later advised Prieto that according to information from Jerica (the Air Force’s command centre) five German aircraft – later stated to be five Bf 109s, seven Fiats CR.32s and one twin-engined aircraft had been destroyed. This message included the information that the ace pilot, Carlos Haya, who was reputed to have carried out the night attack on the War Ministry in Madrid, had been killed in this engagement. Their own losses were quoted as two I-16, which failed to return to base and two others, which were damaged and whose pilots were injured. Sergeant Manuel Orozco Ovira, who managed to fly his aircraft back to base after its tail had been destroyed, was recommended an award for outstanding bravery and skill.
The I-15s from the 2^a/26 claimed three and two probable CR.32; these were claimed by Teniente Leopoldo Morquillas Rubio (CO) (1 probable), J. Mora Fauria, sargento Francisco Viñals Guarro, Fernando Villins León (1 probable) and C. Zuazo Garre. Francisco Montagut Ferrer from the 3^a/26 claimed a Bf 109 while an unknown pilot from the 4^a/26 claimed a CR.32. An unknown I-16 pilot from 1^a/21 claimed a CR.32.

22 February 1938
Oberfeldwebel Reinhard Seiler of 2.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed two I-15s.

C. Zuazo Garre of the 2^a/26 probably destroyed a Bf 109 over the Teruel front.

Teniente Miguel Zambudio Martínez of the 3^a/26 probably destroyed a Bf 109 over the Teruel front.

23 February 1938
I-16 CM-025 was destroyed at Lérida.

24 February 1938
Sargento Antonio Arias Arias, deputy CO 4^a/21 (I-16), crashed while taking off in Mosca ‘CM-025’. Seriously injured, Arias was admitted to hospital in El Vedat.

CR.32 3-95 flown by José Ibarra Montis of 4-E-3 was destroyed by Republican AA fire.

March 1938

Ground operations

Fuerza Aérea de la República Española - Republican Air Force

Capitán Rafael Peña Dugo became commander of Puigcerdá airfield.

On 2 March, Anatoly Serov was decorated with the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin for his performances in Spain. By this time Serov already had left Spain.

Serzhant Vyacheslav Dmitrievich Popov of the 1^a/26 left Spain on 24 March.

In March, 31 I-16s arrived in Spain.

A (final) shipment of 31 SBs arrived from the Soviet Union in March. These aircraft, fitted with more powerful M-100A engines. Thus, the total number of SBs that participated in the Spanish civil war were 92 airplanes .

On 30 March, Juan Lario Sanchez was promoted to teniente.

Juan Comas Borrás (CO of 3^a/26) was promoted to capitán for his conduct during the battle of Teruel, as were other distinguished escuadrilla COs Ladislao Duarte Espés (CO 4^a/26), Leopoldo Morquillas Rubio (CO 2^a/26 and promoted on 7 March), Eduardo Claudín Moncada and Manuel Zarauza Clavero.

The 3^a/26 and 4^a/26 helped cover the retreat from Aragon, flying from Caspe and Bujaraloz.

Following a period at the newly established Grupo de Transición y Eventualidades (pilot’s pool) at Celrá, sargento Álvaro Muñoz López was posted on 8 March to the I-15-equipped 1^a/26, the squadron being led by Soviet pilot Aleksandr Osipenko.

Eduardo Claudín Moncada, CO 1^a/21 (I-16), was promoted to capitán for his leadership of the Escuadrilla during the Teruel campaign.
When the Aragon offensive started during the month, the 1^a/21 quickly returned to its old airfield at Caspe, where it was greeted by He 111s of the Legion Condor - two I-15s were destroyed in the ensuing raid. During those days of hard fighting Claudín’s unit operated alternately from airfields at Almenar (Lérida), Bell-Puig and Reus.

José María Bravo Fernández and Francisco Meroño Pellicer, both of the 1^a/21 (I-16), were both promoted to teniente.

José Falcó Sanmartín found himself a member of the short-lived 5^a Escuadrilla de Chatos.

Known Soviet aviators arriving in Spain in March 1938

Arrival	Name	Nom de guerre	Rank	Role	Born	Comment	Departure
1938-03-26	Anashchenko, Ivan Semenovich			I-15 pilot	29 August 1905	1939-02-22 Order of the Red Banner 1991-08-17 +	1938-08-05
1938-03-26	Anisimov, Viktor Alekseyevich		Leitenant	SB pilot	1909	1939-02-22 Order of the Red Banner	1938-09-03
1938-03-26	Asaulov, Sergey Pavlovich		Leitenant	SB pilot	1914	1939-02-22 Order of the Red Banner	1938-08-05
1938-03-26	Bashmakov, Petr Dmitryevich			I-16 pilot	1913	Credited with 1 and 3 shared in Spain 1939-02-22 Order of Lenin 1942-01-26 Died due to illness	1938-08-23
1938-03-26	Bobrov, Vladimir Ivanovich	’Camarada Vol’demar’	Leitenant	I-16 pilot	1915-07-11	Credit with 4 and 13 shared victories during 78 combat missions and 8 air combats 1939-02-22 Order of the Red Banner (1st) 1942-04-27 Order of Lenin (1st) 1943-08-11 Order of the Red Banner (2nd) 1944-01-29 Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class 1944-09-25 Order of Aleksandr Nevsky 1944-11-03 Medal ”for Military Merit” 1945-05-12 Order of the Red Banner (3rd) 1945-05-18 Order of Suvorov, 3rd Class 1950-11-15 Order of the Red Star (1st) 1954-11-05 Order of the Red Banner (4th) 1957-10-16 Order of the Red Star (2nd) 1970-03-28 + 1991-03-20 Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union 1991-03-20 Order of Lenin (2nd)	1938-08-13
1938-03-26	Brudnitskiy, Mikhail Yefremovich		NCO	SB radio/gunner	1913	1939-02-22 Order of the Red Banner	1938-09-03
1938-03-26	Chugunov, Vasiliy Dmitriyevich		Leitenant	SB navigator	1908	1939-02-22 Order of the Red Banner	1938-08-13
1938-03-26	Yemel'yanenko, Mikhail Ivanovich		Leitenant	I-16 pilot	1914-08-25	1939-02-22 Order of the Red Banner 19??-??-?? Order of the Patriotic War 1957-05-01 +	1938-08-13
1938-03-28	Budim, Fedor Zakharovich		Leitenant	I-16 pilot	1913		1938-05-18
1938-03-??	Yelagin, Vasiliy Ignat'yevich			SB navigator		1939-02-22 Order of the Red Banner	1938-??-??

Known Soviet aviators leaving Spain in March 1938

Departure	Name	Arrival	Comment
1938-03-21	Chigrik, Petr A.	1937-12-14
1938-03-24	Bazarov, Il’ya Aleksandrovich	1937-08-20

Fuerza Aérea Nacionales (Arma de Aviación) - Nationalist Air Force

On 18 March, in a ceremony held at Castejón airfield, Navarra, Joaquín García Morato was presented with the Cruz Laureada de San Fernando by general Alfredo Kindelán Duany, commander of the Aviación Nacional. Morato’s exploits in air combat over the Jarama front in February 1937 drew particular praise from general Kindelán.

Luis Noguera (CR.32 3-59) of 4-E-3 defected in the Aragón area.

Aviazione Legionaria

Maggiore Eugenio Leotta left the command of the VI Gruppo on 16 March 1938.

In March, the Squadriglia COs of the XXIII Gruppo were Capitano Marco Larker (18^a Squadriglia), Capitano Ettore Foschini (19^a Squadriglia) and Capitano Carlo Calosso (20^a Squadriglia). The new Gruppo CO was Maggiore Ciro Ajello.

Legion Condor

Leutnant Fritz Losigkeit had joined 3.J/88 in Zaragoza on 25 March 1938 from JG 132.

On 27 March the four Staffeln of K/88 were commanded respectively by Hauptmann Hans Schultz, Oberleutnant Rolf Schröter, Hauptmann Heinz Fischer and Hauptmann Dietrich von Ziehlberg.
The priority objectives for the unit at the end of March were the enemy positions of Fraga and the aerodromes in the sector of Lérida. It was at about this time that a flight of I-15s, engaged in a strafing sortie, surprised a formation of Hcinkels without escort and forced one to land in Republican territory between Candasnos and Fraga. The crew managed to set fire to the aircraft before giving themselves up. During a mission against the aerodrome at Lérida, the He 111s hit several aircraft stationed along the length of the runway, sweeping up four I-16s in course of taking off.

Operations

6 March 1938
On the night of 5-6 March, a Republican destroyer torpedoed and damaged the cruiser Baleares. On the morning of 6 March two SBs, flown by Soviet pilot major Stepan Ivanovich Berezhnoy and Spanish pilot Leocadio Mendiola, took off to find the damaged ship. They flew over the island of Mallorca, crossed the Mediterranean almost to Gibraltar, and spotted the Baleares being towed by the cruiser Canarias. Judging by their course, the ships were rushing to take cover in one of the North African ports.
When the reconnaissance aircraft returned to their base it was decided to bomb the damaged Baleares. To do this, three groups of nine bombers each, led by Mendiola, Mitrofan Lisov, and Stechishin, were urgently prepared.
The attack of the first group, led by Lisov, was successful. The Baleares was hit and soon sank. The Canarias rationally cut the towing lines and sailed away. Despite fierce anti-aircraft fire all 27 SBs returned safely.
One of the SB taking part in this action was flown by starshiy leitenant Ivan Morozov and a second was flown by leitenant Nikolai Serebryakov. Known crew members involved in this action includes Fedor Alekseyevc (Radio/Gunner).

16 He 111s from K/88 attacked the aerodrome of Caspe, while 18 others took on the base at Bujaraloz.
At 12:00 nine aircraft carried out a surprise attack on the General Staff of a Republican division to the south of Teruel.

7 March 1938
At 13:00, all of A/88 and K/88 bombed the station at Puebla de Híjar.

8 March 1938
Sargento José Sarrió Calatayud of the 1^a Escuadrilla of Grupo de Defensa de Costas N^o 71, Reus patrulla, flew a night intercept mission in a D.510, but the ‘enemy’ aircraft turned out to be a Republican R-5 Rasante bomber.

1.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed two I-15s when Leutnant Fritz Awe and Oberleutnant Wolfgang Schellmann claimed one each.

Two Staffeln of He 111s from K/88 attacked the bridges on the Ebro at Sastago, repeatedly missed by the Ju 87s on 6 and 7 March. The aircraft bombed from an altitude of 50m but had no more success against the stated objective but, by pure chance, two hits were made against a power station which was not even listed.
The two other Staffeln attacked a munitions factory and the station at Puebla de Híjar.

A He 111 was claimed as probably destroyed by an unknown pilot from 1^a/21 (I-16).
This claim can’t be verified by Nationalist records.

9 March 1938
Six Savoia bombers attacked Reus, and both D.510s of of the 1^a Escuadrilla of Grupo de Defensa de Costas N^o 71, Reus patrulla, were scrambled. Neither fighter managed to catch the raiders, however.
Sorties were flown almost daily, but no combats were recorded until the night of 21 March.

10 March 1938
3^a/26 (I-15) claimed one CR.32 and one Bf 109 during the day.

The pilots from 1^a/21 (I-16) claimed a He 111, which force-landed and was set on fire by its crew prior to their capture.
It is possible that this He 111 was credited to sargento Francisco Meroño Pellicer (I-16 CM-061), who claimed one during the day, which was attacking Caspe airfield.
The 4^a/21 (I-16) also claimed a Bf 109 during the day.

J/88 attacked Belchite and Jatiel, where three parked I-15s were strafed and set on fire. Oberfeldwebel Ignaz Prestele of 1.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-15 while Unteroffizier Kurt Rochel and Oberleutnant Joachim Schlichting, both of 2.J/88 (Bf 109), claimed an I-16 each.

K/88 made three missions during the day. During the first and taking off from Alfaro at 06:00, the four staffeln joined to attack Candasnos. At about the same time, the Do 17s of A/88 took off from Bunuel and all four staffeln of the Jagdgruppe took off from Sanjuro. At 07:00, the bombers of K/88 arrived over the Republican airfields at Caspe, Sarinena and Candasnos. Conditions were hazy. At Caspe five enemy aircraft were claimed destroyed on the ground. The airfield of Bujaraloz were bombed by the Do 17 Staffel and soon afterwards was forced to endure a low-level strafing attack by several He 111s. Returning from a high-level attack on Candasnos, the Heinkel bombers roared over Bujalaroz with all guns blazing. The He 111 unit set course for home leaving one parked aircraft in flames. It seems that He 111 25-7 from 4.K/88 returned for a second attack when it was attacked from behind and below by an I-15 just as it had crossed the airfield and forced to land at Bujaraloz (20km from Candasnos). The crew of Feldwebel Willi Hesse (pilot), Unteroffizier Theo Kowollik (radio operator), Unteroffizier Karl Hoffmeister (engineer, who reported that he couldn’t fend of the attack due to a jamming gun), Leutnant Kurt Kettner (commander and observer) and Obergefreiter Heinz Clacery (observer and had been invited for the trip) all became PoWs (they were exchanged on 2 Janaury 1939). This was the only He 111 lost during the day.
Flying from Candasnos, the 4^a/26 scrambled nine I-15s at 06:45 to intercept them and claimed two He 111s shot down over the airfield, one of which was credited to capitán Ladislao Duarte Espés (CO) for his last aerial success of the civil war. Romulo Negrin Mijoilar also took part in this intercept flying in CC-011.
I-16 CM-141 from 1^a/21 was destroyed by fire at Caspe during the day.

A Spanish He 45 was shot down by Republican ground fire and the crew (Saracho and Laffite) were KIA.

I-16 CM-121 from 2^a/21 was shot down at Alcañiz.

Sergente Aldo Buvoli (19^a Squadriglia) claimed a shared I-16 during the day.

While flying to Caspe, two pilots from 1^a/26, leitenant Ivan Gorshkov and leitenant Aleksandr Osipov (patrulla CO), became disoriented and landed their I-15s at Cennes-Monestié, France.
On 16 March, they were allowed to return to Spain.

11 March 1938
At 07:30, all 37 serviceable He 111 took off from Alfaro. They overflew Zaragoza and by 08:15 were over the target, the villages of Albalate del Arzobispo, Hijar and Azaila. After dropping a total of 42,4 tons of bombs the formation turned north-west toward home.
About 30 Republican fighters tried to interfere with the bombers as they approached the release point but were engaged by escorting Bf 109s. The Legion fighters lost one Bf 109 with out inflicting any losses on the enemy. Oberleutnant Alexander Graf zu Dohna, who was to have released Oberleutnant Joachim Schlichting as Kapitän of 2.J/88 was shot down over Sastago by a Rata (J. Bosch) on his second combat sortie. His Bf 109 struck the ground near Caspe with the pilot still aboard. Five He 111s returned to base with major battle damage.

12 March 1938
In the afternoon, 2-G-3 encountered enemy aircraft attempting to stop the sweeping advance in the Aragon offensive. During the afternoon 18 Fiats, led by capitán Ángel Salas (CO) and capitán Joaquín García Morato, escorted Ju 52/3ms on a raid, and having completed this task made a sweep of the front as far as Híjar, where they encountered 19 Chatos that were escorting 11 SBs. In the ensuing dogfights, capitán Salas claimed one probable I-15, capitán Morato claimed two I-15s while teniente Miguel García Pardo (2-E-3) destroyed one I-15, which fell near Híjar. Teniente Miguel Guerrero García (1-E-3) set fire to another I-15, whose pilot took to his parachute from a very low height. Teniente Julio Salvador (CO 1-E-3) attacked another machine, which began to trail smoke, but he was unable to continue his attack as his Fiat was almost out of fuel; unable to return to his base at Tauste, he had to land at Saragossa. Teniente Carlos Serra Pablo-Romero, teniente Carlos Bayo (2-E-3) and teniente Rodolphe de Hemricourt (2-E-3) each were successful in shooting down an I-15. Teniente Manuel Vázquez Sagastizábal (1-E-3) attacked three SBs claiming one of them that crashed while attempting to land near Escatrón. No CR.32s were lost in this combat.
The I-15 shot down by teniente García Pardo was from 1^a/26 and was flown by Soviet pilot starshiy leitenant Bela Arady, who bailed out badly burned and landed in Republican lines. The wreckage of this machine (I-15 CA-057) was recovered subsequently, and a piece of it was retained, on which ensuing victories of 2-G-3 were recorded, as well as the names of all those in the group who were killed.

Escuadra de Caza N^o 11 claimed three CR.32s destroyed on the ground.

The He 111s of K/88 attacked Albalate and Híjar and, at l7:00, 31 aircraft operated against Azaila and Híjar, five of them limping back to base after having been badly hit by Republican flak.

13 March 1938
At 09:30, 33 aircraft from K/88 attacked the aerodrome at Caspe.

Leutnant Arnim Ettling and Unteroffizier Herbert Ihlefeld, both from 2.J/88 (Bf 109), claimed an I-15 each.

Republican fighter pilot Vicente Pinar was killed in an accident at Caspe.
It is possible that he flew I-16 CM-102 from 5^a/21 since this aircraft was destroyed by fire at Caspe.

14 March 1938
Around 09:00, Maggiore Ciro Aiello (CO XVI Gruppo) led 25 CR.32s on a morning patrol as air cover for advancing columns of the Corpo Truppe Volontarie. As the aircraft approached Alcañiz they ran into 20 I-15s and 28 I-16s. Overwhelmed by the sheer size of the Republican formation, four CR.32s were quickly shot down. Sottotenente Luigi Armanino, Sottotenente Mario Montefusco (’Minervi’) (24^a Squadriglia) and Sottotenete Alberto Brondi (’Buona’). Armanino returned home the following day, Montefusco and Brondi became POWs.
Guido Bobba (26^a Squadriglia) claimed a 'Curtiss' during this combat as his only victory in Spain.
Maggiore Aiello’s aircraft was also forced down, the fighter flipping onto its back as its pilot attempted a forced landing. Aiello was also taken prisoner, but he somehow convinced his captors to defect and they accompanied him to Nationalist territory!
Four weeks later Maggiore Armando François, who had been recalled to command XVI Gruppo just as he was about to return to Italy, ordered the recovery of Aiello’s fighter from occupied territory. Once back in Nationalist hands, it was despatched to the Hispano-Suiza workshops at Seville-Tablada and rebuilt.
The Escuadra de Caza N^o 11 claimed six CR.32s destroyed during the day.

15 March 1938
At 17:00, fighters of the XXIII Gruppo again led by Maggiore Andrea Zotti, who had been called back to lead the unit, attacked twelve SBs escorted by 20 I-15s and 15 I-16s. The CR.32s claimed two I-15s and two I-16s. The bombers turned back without completing their mission, but one fell near Castelseras. During the combat, Franco Lucchini was hit and shot down. He parachuted and hid in a cave, watching Republican militiamen looking for him. Only under the cover of darkness, he could reach Nationalist lines.

Capitán Eduardo Claudín Moncada, CO 1^a/21 (I-16), claimed a shared in the destruction of a CR.32 with sargento Francisco Tarazona Torán. However, Tarazona had to make a belly landing following the action.

The I-15s from 2^a and 3^a/26 claimed three CR.32s during the day.

16 March 1938
At 15:00, a single Staffel from K/88 attacked enemy lines at Maella.

The Escuadra de Caza N^o 11 claimed two He 51s destroyed during the day.
These claims can’t be verified with Nationalist records.

19 March 1938
The Escuadra de Caza N^o 11 claimed a CR.32 destroyed during the day.

20 March 1938
J. Pérez Chulvi of 4^a/21 (I-16) claimed a seaplane during the day.

21 March 1938
In the early hours of 21 March, sargento José Sarrió Calatayud of the 1^a Escuadrilla of Grupo de Defensa de Costas N^o 71, Reus patrulla, took off from Reus in D.510 ‘CW-001’ (one of only two in Spain) and during the ensuing sortie shot down a He 59B seaplane from AS/88 near Cambrils, Tarragona, killing the crew.
This was the first night success for a Spanish Republican pilot and the Boletin de Información del Sector Aéreo de Reus noted:

“At 0425 hrs enemy air activity was reported near Reus, and a Dewoitine was scrambled from this airfield. A combat ensued over Cambrils with two seaplanes, one of which was shot down - it crashed on the road from Cambrils to Hospitalet. Four crewmen were killed, and a German survivor was taken to hospital at Cambrils but he died 40 minutes later. The wreckage indicates that the aircraft is of the same type as the one shot down a few days earlier at Vinaroz, namely a twin-engined Heinkel seaplane. The aircraft was completely destroyed in the ensuing fire. The other seaplane, which was forced to drop its bombs over the sea, returned to Palma. It too had been hit, but our aircraft was not able to continue the pursuit for lack of ammunition. Our aircraft landed safely.”

“In recognition of his conduct in shooting down a Heinkel twin- engined aircraft near Cambrils last night, sargento D José Sarrió Calatayud is promoted to teniente de Aviación.”

22 March 1938
After a short pause, the attack to the north of the River Ebro was resumed. 18 Fiats from 2-G-3 supported the Navarre Army Corps as they entered the Huesca sector.

23 March 1938
2-G-3 carried out five sorties in the Huesca sector, two by the entire group, one with two squadrons and two with patrols.
At 13:15, Ángel Salas and Manuel Vázquez Sagastizábal took off to locate a battery, which was firing at the pontoon bridge in Quinto. During the course of this patrol, they spotted twelve Chatos flying above them and immediately climbed to attack. Salas and Vázquez both made a number of passes at the enemy without registering any vital hits, and just before the Chatos withdrew Vázquez’s machine-guns jammed. Salas returned to base and Vázquez continued on a reconnaissance of his own. He spotted a battery of three guns, which were being dismantled and loaded on to lorries. When he returned to the airfield the group had already taken off, under Miguel García Pardo's leadership, which meant that only Salas, Julio Salvador and Vázquez were available to mount an attack against the enemy battery. Only minutes elapsed before all three were in the air, and so fast had been their action that the battery was still in the same position. Low-level attacks soon had five lorries in flames, one of which carried the battery's ammunition, and which exploded spectacularly.

24 March 1938
Around midday, 18 Fiats from all six Spanish CR.32 escuadrillas led by capitán Ángel Salas provided escort for the He 51s and SM.79s attacking Quinto. Between Quinto and Farlete they encountered eleven Ratas and 30 Chatos. In the ensuing combats four Chatos were claimed; capitán Salas, alférez Arístides García López Rengel (1-E-3), brigada Ramón Senra Àlvarez (1-E-3) and Rúiz Jiménez each claiming one. Teniente José Jurado González (3-E-3), flying Fiat No 3-104, was killed in action when Republican fighters shot him down between Caspe and Quinto.
Legion Condor Bf 109s also joined the fray, while He 51s flown by Spanish pilots performed ground attack missions below the swirling dogfight and one of the He 51s were destroyed, although its pilot survived.
At the end of this air battle, Salas almost succeeded in capturing a Chato. He had attacked one of the enemies and, although unable to destroy the machine, he so clearly held the upper hand that the Chato pilot descended to a low altitude and was making for Nationalist lines, with Salas in close attendance. Just as the Chato was about to land, it was attacked by a Bf 109B (No 51) flown by Oberleutnant Wolfgang Schellmann, staffelkapitän of 1.J/88, and destroyed, prompting Salas to lodge a formal complaint with the Legion Condor.
The German Bf 109s from 1.J/88 claimed two more I-15s in this combat when Leutnant Fritz Awe and Unteroffizier Alfred Stark claimed one I-15 each.
Totally the CR.32 pilots claimed four I-15s and five probable and the Bf 109s were credited with three I-15s.
In this battle Government aircraft Nos. CA-006, CA-032, CA-037 and CA-052, piloted respectively by Antonio Sánchez, Benigno Domingo Hueso, Jesús Pérez Pérez and Fernando Villins León, were destroyed and the pilots KIA; teniente Francisco Viñals Guarro and Elías Hernández flying machines Nos. CC-030 and CC-027 collided; and Alfredo Dealbert, aircraft No. CA-038 force-landed outside the airfield.
Teniente Viñals of the 2^a/26 had sortied from Pomar de Cinca airfield and he bailed out and landed between Pina and Osera.
The Government Air Force had not previously lost so many aircraft in a single battle. The Escuadra de Caza N^o 11 claimed four CR.32s and one Bf 109 with one CR.32 and one He 51 as probably destroyed.

Republican fighter pilot Conrado Suazo Gare was killed in an accident at Caspe-Balaguer.

25 March 1938
2-G-3 destroyed five lorries in the morning and a similar number in the afternoon. As this second sortie was ending, capitán Ángel Salas saw three Government light aircraft landing on the aerodrome at Mas de las Matas, which was about to be occupied by the land forces. Salas landed alongside these light aircraft, while his group maintained air cover. The enemy aircraft were soon captured, but the land forces tried to include Salas among the prisoners. These aircraft, which belonged to the School at Reus, were en route from Celrá to Valencia, under the leadership of Lieutenant Momblona; the pilot of a fourth machine, who was still airborne, realized what had happened and made good his escape.

26 March 1938
Antonio Figueroa Fernández (3-114) from 3-E-3 were shot down and killed by small-arms fire in the Aragón area while Manuel García Díaz (3-86), from the same unit, was killed at Caspe by small-arms fire.

27 March 1938
I-16s CM-135 (4^a/21) and CM-152 (5^a/21) were destroyed by fire at Lérida.

I-16s CM-006 and CM-044 (both from 4^a/21) were destroyed when they collided at Alcorisa.

29 March 1938
Capitán Manuel Zarauza Clavero, CO 4^a/21 (I-16), claimed a Bf 109.
He had been promoted to capitán during the month.

Leutnant Hans-Karl Meyer of 1.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-15.

30 March 1938
I-16 CM-155 from 1^a/21 disappeared over the front and was lost.

K/88 bombed Barbastro at night.

While returning from a close-support mission, two He 51s of 3.J/88 collided in mid-air and crashed on the east bank of the Cinca near Alcarràs.
Stabsarzt Schauwecker was flown to the crash site in a Fi 156 as soon as the news came in but could only confirm that both pilots, Hauptmann Hubertus Hering and Leutnant Manfred Michaelis, were dead.

April 1938

Ground Operations

Fuerza Aérea de la República Española - Republican Air Force

Republican lost 60 aircraft through enemy action during the offensive in Aragon - mainly I-15s and I-16s, half of which were destroyed on the ground or abandoned during the retreat. Several others were lost through accidents.

On 10 April 1938 the I-16-equipped 3^a Escuadrilla, which had been disbanded by the Soviet command, was officially re-established under teniente José María Bravo Fernández, who was another first year graduate from the USSR. Bravo appointed two course mates from the USSR, Francisco Tarazona Torán and Restituto Toquero (both Northern front veterans), and José Alarcón from Murcia as patrulla commanders. The other members of the escuadrilla were Vicente Yuste and Andrés Fierro, both from Madrid, Francisco Paredes and Vicente Beltrán from Valencia and Pedro Utrilla and Luis Sirvent from Aragon.
Sargento Francisco Tarazona Torán was appointed patrulla CO in the 3^a/21 on 10 April. He duly participated in the campaign in Levante while based at Sagunto and Camporrobles.
By this time, capitán Manuel Aguirre López, whose I-16 was coded ‘CM-137’, was leading three escuadrillas - 1^a, 3^a and 4^a.
Shortly thereafter the Soviet-led 6^a Escuadrilla was also disbanded, only to be reactivated under teniente Francisco Meroño Pellicer’s command during the battle of the Ebro.

On 9 April the 1^a/21 (I-16) left the Aragon front for Barcelona to provide support for the new Minister of National Defence, Dr Juan Negrín. Capitán Eduardo Claudín Moncada and his men flew from airfields at Valls, Salou and Sagunto until May

Antonio Arias Arias, deputy CO 4^a/21 (I-16) was promoted to teniente. At this time he was convalescencing from an accident in February at the Casa de Reposo de Aviación at La Malvarrosa. After 56 days in hospital he rejoined his unit, whereupon he discovered that government-held territory had been cut in two by the Nationalists. Arias took part in the Levante campaign and the offensive on Valencia, flying from Camporrobles airfield.

The 5^a Escuadrilla de Chatos was disbanded.
One pilot serving in this unit was José Falcó Sanmartín, who was posted to the 3^a/26, led by capitán Juan Comas Borrás. It was during his service with this unit that Falcó logged a total of 366 flying hours and fought in 20 aerial combats. During the month, he claimed eight victories, of which five were confirmed - three CR.32s, a Bf 109 and a He 59.

Known Soviet aviators arriving Spain in April 1938

Arrival	Name	Nom de guerre	Rank	Role	Born	Comment	Departure
1938-04-28	Andreyev, Vasiliy Dmitriyevich		Leitenant	I-16 pilot	1909	1939-02-22 Order of the Red Banner 1941-12-12 KIA 1941-12-27 Order of Lenin (posthumous)	1938-08-05
1938-04-??	Chistyakov, Aleksei Aleksandrovich			SB navigator		1939-02-22 Order of the Red Banner	193?-??-??

Known Soviet aviators leaving Spain in April 1938

Departure	Name	Arrival	Comment
1938-04-24	Denisov, Aleksey Aleksandrovich	1937-12-14
1938-04-25	Arady, Bela Ignat’yevich	1937-11-14
1938-04-25	Buryak, Ivan Markiyanovich	1937-08-20
1938-04-25	Devotchenko, Ivan Grigor'yevich	1937-08-28
1938-04-25	Dobronitskiy, Konstantin Petrovich	1937-08-20

Fuerza Aérea Nacionales (Arma de Aviación) - Nationalist Air Force

During the offensive in Aragon Nationalist air elements had lost 30 aircraft due to enemy action and an equal number in accidents.

Grupos 2-G-3 and 3-G-3 replaced XXIII Gruppo at Bello by the end of the month.

In the spring of 1938, the Escuadrilla 5-E-3 was formed with Fiat CR.32s. The unit was commanded by capitán Miguel Guerrero García.

Aviazione Legionaria

Legion Condor

Operations

4 April 1938
1. and 2.J/88 relocated from Zaragoza to Larraja, south of Huesca, where Volkmann was to make an inspection of the units. Leading a Schwann from 1. Staffel, Leutnant Fritz Awe ordered a 90-degree turn to port as the Messerschmitts made their landing approach around midday. As his wingman, Unteroffizier Adolf Borchers, overlapped Awe’s Bf 109, his propeller cut into Awe’s cockpit, breaking the fuselage in half. The tail spun to the ground while the cockpit, forward fuselage, engine and wing fell in pieces after it. Awe was discovered decapitated in the remains of his cockpit. Borchers, whose fighter overturned upon landing, suffered only light injuries.

6 April 1938
The 4^a/26 (I-15) claimed a Fiat CR.32 during the day.

8 April 1938
After escorting Ju 52s and He 45s to the Morella front, capitán Ángel Salas' Fiat was hit while he was strafing enemy troops. The bullet had severed an oil pipe, and with oil pressure falling rapidly he had only seconds to choose a suitable area for the in evitable forced-landing.
The terrain to the north of Morella was all hill country, an extremely difficult area for a landing. Salas was preparing to bale out when he caught sight of a clear patch of ground that seemed to offer a fair chance of getting his aircraft down safely, and immediately he circled to make an approach, putting the Fiat down with such skill that only the landing gear and the under surface of the port wing was damaged. The site of this manoeuvre was within half a 1 km of general Aranda’s Command Post. Aranda watched the landing with great interest, and lost no time in recovering both pilot and aircraft.
This aircraft was No. 3-61 (Factory No. 111), which was flown by Salas for the first time in September-October 1937 when he became CO of 2-G-3 and he flew it until his forced-landing at Morella on 8 April 1938. He regained possession of 3-61 on 3 July 1938, following repairs, and continued with it until 12 November, when he suffered a serious accident. After being repaired again the Fiat came back into the possession of Salas in January 1939, remaining with him until the end of the war. He continued to fly this machine from Getafe for a considerable time after the war’s end, until it was completely destroyed in an accident. This aircraft retained the two Breda-Safat 7.7mm machine-guns throughout its service life. Later machines of this type had two 12.7mm machine-guns of the same make, but the Spanish pilots normally preferred a combination of one 7.7mm and one 12.7mm machine-gun.

The 1^a/21 (I-16) claimed a Fiat CR.32 during the day.

11 April 1938
CR.32 3-110 of 3-E-3 was destroyed.

16 April 1938
New arrivals of Republican materiel were being discharged at Cartagena and the Legion Condor decided to deliver a massive strike and sent its 40 available He 111s from Sanjurjo to Seville-Tablada via Avila. One aircraft tried to make a forced landing at Villafranca de los Barros, 13kms to the west of Monasterio, the entire crew being killed in the attempt (Leutnant Andreas Siemsen, Feldwebel Oswald Kruschbersky, Feldwebel Rudolf Spieler and Felwebel Albert Matz with two invited passengers, Obergrefreiter Fritz Schmalfuss and Obergefreiter Erich Friclingsdorf).
Two other machines were damaged when landing at Seville.

17 April 1938
After the problems the day before only 34 aircraft from K/88 could attack the port of Cartagena under an intense barrage of flak.
During the second mission of the day at 12:00, 25 aircraft hit the Republican cruiser Jaime I^o and sank an MTB (Motor Torpedo Boat) in the harbour.
The aircraft of 1 Staffel’s leader, 25-27, was hit. but was able to stay with the formation to go on to attack the secondary target of Almeria. There it was again hit by more flak and had to ditch in the sea off the coast of Motril. 25-15, first hit by flak and then by I-15s, struggled back to base.
Thus operation Neptune finished with rather mediocre results; of the 40 aircraft which left Sanjurjo, only 25 returned on 18 April, five getting back later in the following days. In total 16 aircraft were damaged by the dreadful weather conditions encountered en route and. apart from the two aircraft lost, six others had to be scrapped as irreparably damaged.

21 April 1938
Teniente José María Bravo Fernández, CO 3^a/21 (I-16), claimed a He 111.

25 April 1938
He 111s from K/88 took off from Alfaro to attack Castellón de la Plana and the port of Sagunto. A battle above the aerodrome of Castellón ended with no loss according to the Legion; the Republicans, however, claimed three aircraft shot down into the sea off the coast of Valencia.
Teniente José María Bravo Fernández, CO 3^a/21 (I-16), claimed a shared He 111 and a Bf 109 destroyed while sargento Francisco Tarazona Torán claimed a He 111 over Valencia during the Levante campaign.

27 April 1938
Teniente José María Bravo Fernández, CO 3^a/21 (I-16), claimed a SM 79.

29 April 1938
Teniente Antonio Arias Arias, deputy CO 4^a/21 (I-16), claimed a Bf 109.

May 1938

Fuerza Aérea de la República Española - Republican Air Force

Capitán Andrés García La Calle was ordered to form the Grupo N^o 28, which was equipped with Canadian Car & Foundry-built Grumman GE-23 Delfin biplanes that were to be used for ground attack and coastal patrol duties.
As CO, capitán García La Calle participated in the early stages of the battle of the Ebro, although in reality he did little flying as he was attached to the command post of general Rojo and coronel Modesto as Aviación liaison officer.
On 5 May, capitán José Riverola Grúas became deputy CO of the new Grupo de Asalto N^o 28, which was based at Cardedeu airfield.
During the month, Juan Lario Sanchez was posted to the Grupo and he remained at this unit until the end of the war.

Capitán Rafael Peña Dugo was posted to the staff of Grupo N^o 71 of the Fuerzas Aéreas.

On 21 May, there were just 43 combat-ready I-16s in Spain.

Aside from the two Soviet escuadrillas (2^a and 5^a) equipped with the I-16, there were three Spanish escuadrillas too, the 1^a, 3^a and 4^a.

The 1^a/21 (I-16) commenced operations on the Castellón front from Liria. Fresh pilots replaced unit veterans at this time, the latter being transferred to teniente Jose María Bravo’s re-formed 3^a/21.
Bravo was promoted to capitán on 28 May.
His 3^a Escuadrilla, also known as Seis Doble (Double Six) after the domino artwork displayed on the fins of its aircraft, operated from Sagunto airfield for the whole of the Castellón campaign. It also flew from El Vendrell during a Nationalist attack on the Balaguer bridgehead and from Camporrobles towards the end of the battle for Valencia. Finally, there was a period of duty at La Rabasa, from where patrols were flown over the port of Valencia. During the early weeks of the battle of the Ebro the unit operated from el Plá de Cabra airfield.

Mayor Ramón Puparelli Francia was relieved as CO of the 4^a Región Aérea by coronel Felipe Díaz Sandino and given command of the 3^a Sección (Operations) of the Estado Mayor de Fuerzas Aéreas in Barcelona.

After further leave, capitán Juan Comas Borrás (CO 3^a/26) was injured in a landing accident at El Toro airfield on 15 May when the undercarriage of his Chato collapsed, resulting in him spending several months in hospital at Torrente, in Valencia.

When teniente José Redondo Martín (temporary CO 3^a/26) was sent on an I-16 Mosca course at the Escuela de Alta Velocidad at El Carmolí, teniente Miguel Zambudio Martínez was appointed CO of the unit. He led the unit during operations over Levante in May and June and also in the Ebro offensive.

Capitán Chindasvinto González García returned to Spain from Kirovabad, USSR, on 10 May.

Known Soviet aviators arriving in Spain in May 1938

Arrival	Name	Nom de guerre	Rank	Role	Born	Comment	Departure
1938-05-30	Chernyavskiy, Pavel Mitrofanovich		Kapitan	SB navigator	1902	1939-02-22 Order of the Red Banne	1938-11-11
1938-05-29	Dan’ko, Il’ya Ivanovich			SB radio/gunner	1913	1939-02-22 Order of the Red Banner	1938-10-17

Known Soviet aviators leaving Spain in May 1938

Departure	Name	Arrival	Comment
1938-05-01	Bershak, Ivan A.	1938-01-12
1938-05-18	Budim, Fedor Zakharovich	1938-03-28

Aviazione Legionaria

Colonnello Guglielmo Cassinelli left the command of the 3^o Stormo Caccia to Colonnello Venceslao D’Aurelio (’Dauria’) on 23 May.

Legion Condor

In the beginning of the summer, the next model of Bf 109 - the D - arrived with 3.J/88. Fitted with the Jumo 210Da engine, this variant carried the same four-gun arrangement as the Bf 109C, but was really a transitionary aircraft built in anticipation of the Bf 109E.

1., 2. and 3. Staffeln now flew Bf 109s, with only Hauptmann Eberhard d’Elsa’s 4.J/88 retaining He 51s. As soon as each Staffel re-equipped with the Bf 109, its rates of operational success increased dramatically.

Operations

5 May 1938
The He 111s of K/88 carried out two missions against Vinaroz.

11 May 1938
Sargento Francisco Tarazona Torán of the 3^a/21 (I-16) claimed a Bf 109 during the Levante campaign.

Unteroffizier Herbert Ihlefeld of 2.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-16.

13 May 1938
Teniente Antonio Arias Arias, deputy CO 4^a/21 (I-16), claimed a CR.32 over the Teruel front.
He later claimed a shared Do 17 in June on an unknown date.
Totally the Escuadra de Caza N^o 11 claimed eight CR.32s and two Bf 109s during the day.

Petr Bashmakov was wounded in combat but was able to bring back his I-16 and land at Villar Field.

14 May 1938
Leutnant Eckehardt Priebe of 1.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-16.
It seems that he had been involved in combat with Grupo N^o 21 (I-16), which claimed two Bf 109s during the day.

Republican communiques announced the destruction of a He 111 but this loss can’t be verified with Legion Condor losses.

15 May 1938
The Escuadra de Caza N^o 11 claimed one CR.32 (set on fire) and one Bf 109 during the day.

18 May 1938
Hauptmann Gotthardt Handrick, CO of J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-16.
2.J/88 (Bf 109) was also involved in combat during the day and Unteroffizier Kurt Rochel claimed an I-16 while Unteroffizier Herbert Ihlefeld and Unteroffizier Bernhard Seufert claimed one each; both being credited as unconfirmed.
Starshiy leitenant Leontii Aleksandrovich Klimov (Plyasov’s patrulla in 5^a/21) was killed in his I-16 during an attack on La Cenia by SB with I-16 escort. While trying to protect the bombers, his aircraft was attacked by two Bf 109s. Hit, the aircraft went into a dive, crashing into the ground with Klimov unable to get out.

During air combat, leitenant Fedor Aleksandrovich Samsonov’s I-16 ran low on fuel and he crashed while making an emergency landing. He was injured and was taken to hospital.
After his release he went home.

19 May 1938
The Escuadra de Caza N^o 11 claimed four Bf 109s and one Do 17 during the day.

21 May 1938
I-16 CM-151 was damaged when it landed on top of an I-15 at Monjos.

22 May 1938
I-16 CM-167 from 5^a/21 was damaged while ground-looping at landing and turning turtle at Valls.
It seems that conditions at Valls were difficult since CM-125 suffered a damaged starboard wing while CM-169 suffered a damaged starboard wing and rudder.

SBs from Escuadrilla Krasnoglazov attacked Zaragoza and leitenant Sergey Asaulov, piloting one of the SBs, was wounded when his aircraft was hit by AA fire.

23 May 1938
During the afternoon, the XXIII Gruppo escorted 20 S.79s and five BR.20s over the Balaguer bridgehead in Catalonia in support of the Spanish Nationalist Army. The XXIII Gruppo clashed with 25 I-15s, of which six were claimed shot down (one of them seems to have been claimed by Sergente Aldo Buvoli from the 19^a Squadriglia), for the loss of Maresciallo Mario Boschelli of the 19^a Squadriglia, who was killed.
About half an hour later, at 14:35, Maggiore Armando François led 28 CR.32s from his XVI Gruppo on an interdiction patrol over the area. The Italian formation consisted of 12 fighters from the 24^a Squadriglia, led by Capitano Luigi Bianchi, nine machines from the 25^a Squadriglia, led by Capitano Roberto Fassi, and seven CR.32s from the 26^a Squadriglia, led by Capitano Vincenzo La Carubba.
As the Fiat fighters of XVI Gruppo approached the bridgehead to escort the last of the S.79s home, they attacked nine Republican Tupolev SBs when they were set upon by 27 I-16s of Grupo de Caza N^o 21. Diving on the Italian aircraft from 19,000 ft, the Republican machines enjoyed a height advantage over the CR.32s. Nevertheless, Maggiore François successfully led his fighters against the enemy machines. Indeed, the XVI Gruppo pilots claimed five ’Ratas’ destroyed and three more probably destroyed and one SB. One of the confirmed fighters was credited to Maggiore François, whose aircraft was shot up during the engagement. Sottotenente Mario Visintini of the 25^a Squadriglia took part in this combat and claimed a pair of I-16s damaged.
In return, XVI Gruppo lost two CR.32s in a mid-air collision while chasing an I-16 when Tenente Pericle Baruffi of the 26^a Squadriglia and Sottotenente Alfonso Caracciolo of the 25^a Squadriglia collided; both parachuted and were captured. Three biplane fighters were also damaged by enemy fire.
Republicans admitted the loss of three fighters and a bomber. Soviet patrol leaders leitenant N. I. Marthishchenko from 2^a Escuadrilla and leitenant I. I. Turchin from 5^a Escuadrilla, both of whom were flying newly delivered Tip 10 versions of the I-16, perished in this clash. The Escuadra de Caza N^o 11 claimed one CR.32 and one He 111 during the day; the CR.32 seems to have been shot down by Nikifor Livanskii (I-16).

I-16 CM-165 from 5^a/21 was damaged while ground-looping at landing and turning turtle at Bell Puig (battle damage?).

Ivan Anashchenko of the 1^a/26 (I-15) was shot down by AA fire but was able to bale out.

26 May 1938
The Escuadra de Caza N^o 11 was heavily involved in combat during the day, claiming no less than four CR.32s and 12 more as probably destroyed.

During a mission, the SB flown by leitenant Nikolay Serebryakov was hit by AA fire but he was able to bring it back to base safely.

28 May 1938
CR.32s were operating over the Teruel front, setting four lorries on fire.

29 May 1938
Republican communiques announced the destruction of a He 111 but this loss can’t be verified with Legion Condor losses.
However, Leutnant Karl Kostlin was killed by flak over San Jorge.

30 May 1938
While operating over Teruel, capitán Ángel Salas, teniente Miguel García Pardo and teniente Carlos Serra Pablo-Romero, all received damage to their aircraft.

31 May 1938
Eight CR.32s from 2-G-3 and six from 3-G-3 took off in the morning. Their task was to escort a number of Ju 52/3ms and Ro.37s over the La Puebla de Valverde sector.
On arrival, they encountered 22 Chatos and 22 Ratas. A 90-minute clash began immediately but the Nationalist crews were successful in protecting the bombers, which, their task completed, made good their escape.
Eight I-15s and two I-16s were claimed shot down without losses. The successful pilots were teniente de Hemricourt (2-E-3) (I-15), teniente Julio Salvador (CO 1-E-3) (three I-15s and one I-16), teniente Rafael Simón García (2-G-3) (I-15), teniente Manuel Vázquez Sagastizábal (1-E-3) (I-15), capitán Javier Murcia Rubio (3-E-3) (two I-15s) and Muerza (I-16).
Teniente Salvador’s first I-15 was seen falling close to La Puebla, the pilot of the second escaped by parachute into Republican territory and the third, flown by teniente Juan Sayós Estivill of 1^a Escuadrilla, made an emergency landing at the Republican airfield of Sarrión with a damaged engine. Estivill quickly abandoned his fighter, which was strafed by Salvador until it caught fire and burnt out. A few minutes later the Spanish ace destroyed an I-16. Teniente de Hemricourt shot down another I-15 near La Puebla, the Belgian watching his opponent take to his parachute and land in the Republican zone.
During this combat, capitán Ángel Salas was attacking a Chato when three enemy fighters in turn attacked him. His Fiat was hit several times before he managed to break away from the attack, but his machine was vibrating so badly that he had to return to base.
Bf 109s escorting Legion Condor bombers also engaged some of the I-16s.
The Republican bulletin issued the following day acknowledged the loss of five aeroplanes that crashed within its own lines, with four wounded pilots and one uninjured. The Polikarpov units had claimed the destruction of 12 Italian and German aircraft in return, although not a single Nationalist aircraft had actually been lost in combat. The Escuadra de Caza N^o 11 claimed ten CR.32s and it seems that Vladimir Bobrov of the 1^a/21 (I-16) claimed one of the CR.32s.

Leutnant Fritz Losigkeit of 3.J/88 was shot down during the day and taken POW. He recalled:

“Galland left Oberleutnant Horst Lehrmann in command, and he was assisted by Oberleutant Mölders. Most of our missions could not be considered dangerous, since there was no anti-aircraft defence and the enemy infantry had very little chance of hitting us with small arms fire. However, on 31 May 1938, I took off in the afternoon for my second mission of the day - a mission which would prove to be my last in Spain. Lehrmann led the Staffel and Mölders led my Schwarm. We were briefed to attack an artillery position close to the front.
After about 15 minutes I saw a cloud of dust in the target area, and as I approached I could see that it was caused by a truck. Because it was so near the front and close to enemy lines, I assumed it was carrying munitions. The truck was moving fast, and I quickly realised that it was actually making for the cover of the enemy defences. My first attack was unsuccessful, and I decided to approach the vehicle at the lowest possible altitude. When I neared it, a 2 cm four-barrelled flak gun opened fire. I was taken completely by surprise and my aircraft was hit at an altitude of 100 m. Fortunately, I was not wounded, but my aircraft was so badly damaged that I knew I would not be able to reach my lines. I decided to bail out.
Seconds after opening my parachute I hit the ground. In the meantime, my comrades, having seen me shot down, opened fire in order to discourage the enemy from attempting to pick me up. In fact, having released my parachute, they could see exactly where I was, and that I was still alive. I was captured almost immediately.”

June 1938

Ground operations

Fuerza Aérea de la República Española - Republican Air Force

Capitán Manuel Aguirre López relinquished command of Grupo N^o 21 on 18 June.
Aguirre was succeeded as CO of Grupo N^o 21 by capitán Eduardo Claudín Moncada, who was killed in action on 5 July. The latter was then replaced by Manuel Zarauza.

On 30 June capitán José Riverola Grúas was transferred to Valencia with the 1^a Escuadrilla of the Grupo N^o 28 to fly defensive patrols over the port.
The unit also operated from Alcantarilla, El Carmolí, Los Alcázares and La Aparecida airfields in Murcia.
During the summer of 1938 Riverola’s Grummans were briefly committed to the Extremadura fronts, based at Saceruela and Almodóvar del Campo airfields.

In June, horizontal bomb racks, capable of carrying two 100-kg bombs, were tested on SB number BK-004.

Isidoro Jiménez García was promoted to mayor de Aviación on 8 June.

Capitán Manuel Zarauza Clavero continued to lead the 4^a/21 (I-16) - also known as the ‘Popeye’ squadron through its adoption of the cartoon character whose image was displayed on the fins of its aircraft - and participated in the campaigns in Aragon and Levante. According to an official biographical sketch published in the Barcelona newspaper El Diluvio on 12 June 1938, Zarauza had by then participated in about 100 aerial battles and shot down 23 enemy aircraft, a total which included fighters and bombers.
As CO of the 4^a Escuadrilla, Zarauza usually flew I-16 ‘CM-125’.

Known Soviet aviators arriving in Spain in June 1938

Arrival	Name	Nom de guerre	Rank	Role	Born	Comment	Departure
1938-06-10	Bogdanov, Boris Sergeyevich		Leitenant	I-16 pilot	1912	Patrulla CO 5a/21 Claimed 1 CR.32 and 1 He 111 destroyed during 32 combat missions and 13 air combats in Spain. 1939-02-22 Order of the Red Banner 1941-07-27 MIA	1938-09-15
1938-06-10	Boguslavchik, Leonid Dmitryevich			I-16 pilot	1914	1938-09-21 KIA 1939-02-22 Order of the Red Banner
1938-06-10	Bykovskiy, Sergey Dmitriyevich		Leitenant	I-16 pilot	1912	He flew combat missions for 55 hours and took part in 25 air combats. Credited with 2 CR.32s in Spain. 1939-02-22 Order of the Red Banner 1941-07-11 +	1938-10-26
1938-06-10	Gritsevets, Sergey		Starshiy Leitenant	I-16 pilot	1909		1938-10-26
1938-06-29	Belousov, Nikolay Vasil’yevich		Leitenant	SB navigator	1906	Alternative return date: 1938-07-11 1939-02-22 Order of the Red Banner	1938-11-11
1938-06-??	Cherenkov, Mikhail Zakharovich			SB radio/gunner		1939-02-22 Order of the Red Banner	193?-??-??

Known Soviet aviators leaving Spain in June 1938

Departure	Name	Arrival	Comment
1938-06-15	Bagrov, Vasiliy Vasil’yevich	1937-12-14

Fuerza Aérea Nacionales (Arma de Aviación) - Nationalist Air Force

In the end of June 1938, Joaquín García Morato assumed command of the second Fiat group (3-G-3).
Pilots in Escuadrilla 3-E-3 (later 5-E-3) were:
Capitán Javier Murcia Rubio (CO)
Ignacio Alfaro Arregui
G. Queipo de Llano Martí
Andrés Robles Cebrián
Joaquín Chapaprieta Inglada
Alfonso Rubial
García de Juan

Pilots in Escuadrilla 4-E-3 (later 7-E-3) were:
Capitán Heraclio Gautier Larrainzar (CO)
Teniente Joaquín Velasco Fernández Nespral
Teniente Emelio O’Connor Valdivielso
Acuña
Fernando Arrechea Belzunce
Enrique Munaiz de Brea
Alférez Alonso Fariña

Pilots in the Escuadrilla 6-E-3 were:
Capitán Jose Barranco del Egido (CO)
Teniente José Larios y Fernández Villavicencio
Muerza
José Andrés Lacour Macia
R. Bartolomé Chávarri
Kindelán
Carracido P. Téllez Rivas

Aviazione Legionaria

Capitano Antonio Raffi (’Anton Ramu’) took command of the 18^a Squadriglia on 6 June after Capitano Marco Larcher.
Capitano Raffi was shot down in combat on 18 July to become a PoW.

Legion Condor

Operations

Anti-aircraft artillery reported that they shot down two Nationalist bombers, one of which fell on Republican territory.

2 June 1938
Early in the morning, nine SBs with Spanish crews without fighter cover (22 I-16s patrolled over the front line and were supposed to cover the return of the bombers) launched a raid on the fighter base at La Sénia, south of Tortosa. By that time 16 Bf 109s remained in the two Messerschmitt staffel and a successful raid could have significantly reduced their numbers, but this did not happen. The SBs approached the target from the sea at an altitude of 6000 m. However, the cloudiness in front of the target made them to drop to 4800 m, and Bf 109s were already in the air over the airfield. Initially, anti-aircraft fire disrupted the formation of the bombers, and one SB was shot down by fighters.
When withdrawing, the bombers, pursued by the Messerschmitts, crossed the front line outside the I-16 loitering area. Two SBs made emergency landings on Republican territory, one of them was destroyed by fire. One SB crew consisting of Mingueli, Robles and Caravaca was KiA. The crew members of the second bomber, Miguel Baile, Justo Martin Calderon and Delgado, parachuted to become PoWs. The gunners in the SBs claimed one Bf 109 destroyed.
German fighters claimed five SBs around the airfield - three to the guns of Leutnant Kurt Heinrich of 2. Staffel (Bf 109) and one each to Unteroffizier Herbert Ihlefeld and Unteroffizier Willi Meyer of the same unit.
Hermann Göring wired his congratulations from Berlin on such an accomplishment.

Nine more SBs and 18 R-Zs escorted by of 20 I-15s flew another raid without losses.

Leutnant Martin Haupt of J/88 was killed when his aircraft was shot down by AA fire over Culla.

3 June 1938
Republican SBs made 18 combat flights while the fighters made 143 combat flights. The combat diary noted ”There were no air battles, although there were meetings with enemy fighters”.

The Legion Condor command post, located high in the Sierra de San Christóbal, which had moved from one mountain top to another as the Nationalist advance bore south from Morella, was attacked by nine enemy bombers accompanied by 31 fighters. On this occasion, there was not enough time to scramble the Bf 109s, but although the command post was strafed and bombed, there were no casualties.

On the Central front, the Nationalists was relocating their aviation units. Due to bad weather, seven CR.32s flying from Seville landed by mistake on Republican airfields in Alcala, and three more on the airfield in Guadalajara. However, only two CR.32s were detained on the Guadalajara airfield.

4 June 1938
The Escuadra de Caza N^o 11 claimed a bomber during the day.

6 June 1938
SB navigator leitenant Vasiliy Chugunov was slightly wounded by AAA fire when bombing enemy troops near Barracas.

7 June 1938
Sargento Francisco Sánchez Matos of the Escuela de Vuelo Nocturno at El Carmolí scrambled in Koolhoven FK.51 ‘EK-008’ at 00:30, but he was forced to crash-land when his engine seized due to oil starvation. The FK.51 turned over in front of the base hospital and Sánchez was wounded and the aircraft destroyed.

Republican fighters claimed two Bf 109s during the day according to the Jefatura de Fuerzas Aéreas War Diaries.
One of these was claimed by the Russian volunteer leitenant Aleksandr Romanov of the 2^a/21 (I-16), who claimed a Bf 109 over Torreblanca. During the day, I-16s from Grupo N^o 21 together with I-15s covered troops in the Albocàsser area. When returning, the Soviet-flown I-16s became involved in combat with seven Bf 109s and Romanov claimed one of these.
This claim isn’t verified with Legion Condor records.

8 June 1938
Tenente Corrado Santoro of the 31^a Squadriglia took part in an escort mission to bombers attacking Vistabella Choclos. 11 enemy aircraft was claimed shared destroyed (probably on the ground) by 22 Italian pilots.

Image taking during an escort to bombers over Spain.
Leading the formation is Maggiore Rossi and Tenente Corrado Santoro of the 31^a Squadriglia is flying in the CR.32 behind him.
Image kindly provided by Sergio Santoro

The He 51 of Leutnant Erich Beyer of 4.J/88 was hit by ground fire as it strafed enemy ground columns and crashed in flames at Sarratella, killing its pilot.

Republican fighter pilot Antonio Solana was killed in an accident at Celrá.

9 June 1938
Republican SBs made 12 combat sorties, R-Zs made 18, and the fighters made 135.
During one of the sorties to cover ground troops, 33 I-15s and 14 I-16s spotted five German fighters, which retreated.

According to the Jefatura de Fuerzas Aéreas War Diaries, Republican fighters claimed nine CR.32s during the day.

10 June 1938
Capitán José María Bravo Fernández, CO 3^a/21 (I-16), claimed a shared Bf 109 destroyed between Adsaneta and Useras together with sargento Francisco Tarazona Torán during the Levante campaign.
Pedro Utrilla from the same unit was killed in combat in the Levante area.

Republican fighter pilot Antonio Díaz Pérez was KIA in the Levante area.

Leutnant Hans-Karl Mayer of 1./J88 (Bf 109) claimed a SB. All three crewmembers of the SB were able to bail out; pilot leitenant Vasilii Andreevich Murav’ev (wounded), navigator leitenant Andrey Belitskiy and gunner/radio Fedor Eliseevich Parakhin (wounded).

2.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed two and one unconfirmed I-16s; these were claimed by Unteroffizier Kurt Rochel, Unteroffizier Bernhard Seufert and Leutnant Kurt Heinrich (the unconfirmed).

11 June 1938
Leutnant Eduard Neumann, Stab J/88 (Bf 109), claimed an I-16.
According to the Jefatura de Fuerzas Aéreas War Diaries, Republican fighters claimed two Bf 109s during the day.

13 June 1938
A large formation of Bf 109s intercepted an equally sizeable group of enemy fighters. Oberleutnant Wolfgang Schellmann (1.J/88) and Leutnant Wolfgang Ewald (2.J/88) both claimed I-16s, while Unteroffizier Wilhelm Staege (2.J/88), Unteroffizier Bernhard Seufert (2.J/88), Leutnant Lothar Keller (1.J/88) and Unteroffizier Erich Kuhlmann (1.J/88) each accounted for an I-15. Leutnant Walter Maurer (1.J/88), Oberleutnant Kurt Müller (1.J/88), Leutnant Hans-Karl Mayer (1.J/88) each claimed an unconfirmed I-15.

Vladimir Bobrov of the 1^a/21 (I-16) claimed a Bf 109 in the Vilafames area.

14 June 1938
1.J/88 escorted Stukas when they encountered I-15s and I-16s. The newly promoted Feldwebel Erich Kuhlmann claimed an I-15 but Leutnant Eckehart Pribe of 1.J/88 (on his 140th mission) gets his Bf 109 (6-33) severly damaged by an I-15 in the combat while trying to dislodge a particularly tenacious aircraft of the tail of Leutnant Rudolf Rech (2.J/88). Pribe later wrote:

‘Stuka escort, altitude about 4,000 meters; in front of us and above us a squadron of Ratas and many Curtisses. The command Schwarm turns to the left to climb into the sun. The Rata squadron dives on them. I intend to follow and after completing a turn I look around for Lt. Rech; instead I see a Curtiss close behind me. I dive away and in doing so I am struck a blow on my left shoulder. This is the end. My arm falls from the throttle lever, my side is completely stiff, great pain – a curtain begins to fall before my eyes! Then I pull myself together: the 109 is tumbling like a falling leaf, one moment the nose is up the next down. I don’t have the strength to reach over to the left with my right arm and jettison the canopy. That is my salvation, as I would have bailed out over Red territory. Orientation is simple: the Mediterranean to the right, to the left land and home!
Then I see Villafames, friendly territory, I become wide awake. I begin preparations to land, but I am unable to operate the throttle lever which is on my left side. With the last of my strength I push the red button to kill the engine, so as to land with a stationary propeller and, as it turned out, one flat tire. I come to as someone pounds on the canopy and shouts: “Herr Leutnant, open up, what’s wrong?” We are just behind the line of advance. They pull me out of the cockpit and report my condition to the Kommandeur. That’s Hpt. Harder, as Handrick is on leave. Harder comes rushing up, sees me spitting blood and laying in the hot Spanish earth surrounded by Spaniards and says in gretting: “Well, the big-mouth Berliner is going to be taking a little rest.” Covered in blood, I reply: “Thanks very much for the flowers!”
Zaragoza hospital: A bullet has pierced one lung, another is lodged in my shoulder blade. I receive excellent care and am given leave to recover. Several times I try to obtain permission to return to action, but nothing doing. I am sent home.’

Republican aircraft made five major missions to cover the Caspian region, Onda, Nules. During the last mission in the afternoon, 32 I-15s and 25 I-16s encountered 30 bombers escorted by Bf 109 in the Castellón area. The commander of the group Nikifor Glushenkov attacked the bombers and fighters out of the sun but were counter-attacked by the Germans.
According to the Jefatura de Fuerzas Aéreas War Diaries, Republican I-16s claimed three Bf 109s and one He 111 during the day and Petr Bashmakov, leitenant Nikifor Livanskiy and Andrey Stepanov claimed the three Bf 109s as shared with Spanish pilots while Livanskiy also claimed the He 111 as a shared together with Glushenkov.
Known claiming Spanish pilots were capitán Eduardo Claudín Moncada, CO 1^a/21 (I-16), and sargento Francisco Tarazona Torán of the 3^a/21 (I-16).
One I-16 was shot down, the pilot bailed out and after running out of fuel, leitenant Vasiliy Andreyev crash-landed his I-16 being slightly injured in the crash. According to some sources a third I-16 crash-landed, killing the Spanish pilot.
The battle seems to have been very intense since no German pilots claimed anything during the combat. Hauptmann Harro Harder in He 112V-9 (8-2), recalled:

‘There come the Red fighters, first several Curtisses, then swarms of Ratas, spiralling upwards. By turning tightly we are able three times to keep them from attacking the bombers. Suddenly the Reds are gone. There are still two Curtisses south of Sagunto at 4,000 meters. I attack one of them. In the instant I begin to fire he pulls up and opens fire at me while on his back. I pull up and at the same instant I am attacked by four Ratas. One is already on my tail in firing position. I dive away but can’t shake him off. I try everything to lose him: full throttle, shallow dive, radiator flap up, propeller pitch set for diving flight. The Rata sits somewhat off to my left and tries to get below me by diving steeply. There are machines in front of me, many Red fighters! The way is blocked!
I try to count them. 10, 20, then a new swarm approaches, I can only estimate their numbers at 10 to 20. I try to slip past them at the coast but that fat radial engine is still behind me. The Reds fail to notice me until I’m at their altitude, too late for them. Not far from Castellon, at an altitude of 1,000 meters, my pursuer gives up. How would things had turned out if I hadn’t had the fatest machine in the Gruppe?’

‘14th June. Today we were returning, the first and third squadrons, from Castellón front. Nules had been bombed brutally. We had had a tremendous battle with Heinkel bombers and Me 109 fighters. During the battle I had teamed up with Claudín. Yuste was at my side.
Whilst looking at the destruction caused by the Fascists at Nules, something down there, near the beach caught my eye.
A plane, leaving a trail of white smoke, was turning towards the north. I pointed this out to Claudín. We dived. We discovered that it was an Me 109. It had been hit. We swooped over it, without firing, where it had landed on the beach, on the right bank of the River Mijares…
… On reaching Sagunto I received orders to go out and bring back the Me 109. We went in a lorry, various mechanics, armourers and myself…
…”There is the ugly bird”, said one of them. “The pilot is nearby, in a gully at Villareal. He has been detained; he is only a lad of about 18 years”.
I am enthralled with the beauty of this fine piece of German aeronautical engineering. I admire it from the outside for a long time. Then, with aplomb, I sit in the cockpit. The oxygen, the radiotelephone, the fuel tank which serves as the pilot’s seat…
… We need to fly it; to study its characteristics, to compare it more closely with our own fighters. It is intact. As we are talking, the rattle of friendly machine-guns and the hollow sound of cannons from both sides serve as a background. The enemy is barely fifteen kilometres from us; within sight of Castellón…
… The rumble of aeroplane engines makes us look up. The noise increases; it seems as if they are coming along the road, but they are not yet visible.
There they are!
Six Me 109s appear over the sea, skimming the water. When they reach the Mijares estuary they make a gentle bank to starboard.
They are coming towards us…
Get out quickly!
The monoplanes form a circle around the Me 109 on the ground. They fire at it. At their second attack it bursts into flames…’

15 June 1938
According to the Jefatura de Fuerzas Aéreas War Diaries, Republican fighters claimed four Bf 109s and one enemy bomber during the day.

18 June 1938
Sottotenente Ranieri Piccolomini of the 65^a Squadriglia Assalto personal aircraft was coded "16-7", and he flew it from September 1937 until he crashed it after an aborted take-off due to a propeller failure during the day.

Ten pilots from 2-G-3 rescued a pilot of a He 51, who had fallen between the lines. The pilot, Alegría from 1-G-2 (a former member of 3-G-3) was shot down by when his group was harassing enemy forces on the Crementala slopes. Ángel Salas later wrote:

‘When I saw the pilot of a He 51 take to his parachute and land between the lines, I went down low to prevent his capture. After watching the situation for a while, I fired at the Red trenches, forcing the enemy to flee. At that moment two or three of our own men came out and picked up the pilot.’

19 June 1938
At 00:05, Koolhoven FK.51 ‘EK-013’ of the Escuela de Vuelo Nocturno, flown by sargento Juan Cobo Becerril, took off from El Carmolí and dived into the Mar Menor a short while later for no apparent reason, killing the pilot.

During a second sortie of the day, ten Fiats of 2-G-3 took off at 18:00 led by capitán Ángel Salas, to escort Ju 52/3ms bombing La Puebla de Valverde. They encountered a formation of 18 Chatos, which they chased as far as Alcublas, where nine Ratas joined the fray. Capitán Salas dived over the Chatos to attack, but was unable to fire his guns because a leak had emptied his compressed air bottle. Despite this, he continued to make dummy attacks, being hit five times by the Ratas, one bullet puncturing the coolant radiator. Teniente Julio Salvador (CO 1-E-3) enjoyed better luck, bouncing two Chatos from above near La Puebla, one of which exploded in the air, the other following in flames. It seems that these come from the 3^a Escuadrilla and both pilots survived with wounds. Salvador then had to retire with an overheating engine. Teniente Miguel García Pardo (2-E-3) effectively removed a Rata from the tail of alférez Arístides García López Rengel’s (1-E-3) Fiat by shooting it down. Teniente de Hemricourt (2-E-3) downed a Chato near Alcublas, then a Rata to the north of Villar del Arzobispo, and saw a Chato turn somersault as it attempted to land at its aerodrome. Teniente Esteban Ibarreche fired at a Chato close to the ground, and this separated from the rest of the formation and fell near to Hiruerela. Alférez Joaquín Ansaldo Vejarano (2-E-3) had to return to base when an engine cowling parted company from his Fiat.
No CR.32s were lost in this combat.

Sargento José Falcó Sanmartín of the 3^a/26 (I-15) claimed a CR.32 on the Levante front.

21 June 1938
According to the Jefatura de Fuerzas Aéreas War Diaries, Republican fighters claimed four CR.32s during the day.

Leitenant Aleksandr Georgeievich Romanov of the 2^a/21 was killed in an aircraft accident at Casinos Aerodrome. He was killed while testing the flaps on an I-16 (another bad wing problem?).
Romanov was born on 23 August 1917 and was buried in Spain. He was posthumously decorated with the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union on 14 November 1938. He had arrived in Spain on 26 March 1938 and had at the time of his death claimed three victories (one CR.32 in April, one Ju 52/3m over Barcelona in May and one Bf 109 on 7 June).

23 June 1938
Unteroffizier Boer of 3.J/88 made a forced landing in Bf 109E 6-90 following combat with a large formation of Republican I-15s and I-16s over the Ebro front.
The aircraft, the fourth ‘Emil’ to arrive in Spain, was subsequently salvaged

25 June 1938
Comandante Joaquín García Morato surprised a formation of nine R-Zs from 3^a Escuadrilla of Grupo N^o 30 near La Puebla de Valverde. Although the light bombers were being escorted by three higher-flying I-15s, both the Republican fighter pilots and the R-Z crews were distracted long enough by an increasing flak barrage for the lone CR.32 to sneak in undetected beneath them.
Ignoring the ‘friendly’ Nationalist ground fire, Morato quickly sent two R-Zs down in flames - the first in Nationalist territory as the formation began banking around towards home. The second fell a few moments later near the frontline, its crew taking to their parachutes and landing in the Republican zone. Morato subsequently recalled:

“This was one of the actions that I will remember most enthusiastically for the rest of my life. I was flying my faithful “3-51” alone on a reconnaissance sortie over the front when suddenly I saw enemy aircraft heading in my direction towards our lines. Although it was clearly an unequal fight in the enemy’s favour, I didn’t want to quit and let them attack our forces without trying to stop them. In fact I should have abandoned my attack as I was flying at a lower altitude than the Republican formation. Nevertheless, I managed to take the bombers by surprise, as their escorts were some way above them. Within a short time two bombers fell shrouded in flames, while the others beat a hasty retreat.
I left the scene without the fighters having noticed either their invisible enemy’s arrival nor his withdrawal.”

Feldwebel Herbert Ihlefeld of 2.J/88 claimed an unconfirmed I-16 while flying Bf 109B-1 6-6.

Oberleutnant Wolfgang Schellmann, 1.J/88 (Bf 109), claimed an I-16.

Republican fighter pilot José Ruiz Gómez was KIA in the Levante area.

26 June 1938
According to the Jefatura de Fuerzas Aéreas War Diaries, Republican fighters claimed two Bf 109s during the day.

29 June 1938
Starshiy leitenant Nikolai Romanov of the 5^a/21 (I-16) claimed a Bf 109 over Valencia.
This claim isn’t verified with Legion Condor records.

30 June 1938
During the day, leitenant Dmitrii Alekseevich Kiselev (patrulla CO of the 5^a/21) suffered problems when the leading edge of his port wing on his I-16 began to come apart, but he was able to bring it in for a landing.
Leitenant Kiselev served in Spain between 26 March and 13 August 1938, flew 77 missions, fought in 15 air combats and claimed two Fiat CR.32s (on unknown dates).

July 1938

Ground operations

Fuerza Aérea de la República Española - Republican Air Force

In early July, capitán Chindasvinto González García was appointed to lead the formerly Soviet 1^a/26 in succession to Aleksandr Osipenko, this unit being based at Manises and Requena airfields during the Levante campaign. According to one of González’ subordinates, unit deputy CO teniente Juan Sayós, he enjoyed a mixed reputation during his short period in command:

“He was a big, aggressive man. He was authoritarian and did not like his orders being questioned. He gave us instructions about our conduct over the front as if we had never been there before or as though we used to turn tail and run. We were flying a strafing mission over the Sarrión area when we noticed three or four enemy aeroplanes far in the distance. We warned the capitán about the presence of these aircraft and, although there were nine of us, he ordered us to return to base immediately. After we landed we asked him why we had not attacked those fighters. He angrily asked if we had realised that there were 15 or 20 of them. It was obvious that fear had made him see what hadn’t actually been there, and that his shouts and his aggressive behaviour was just a mask to hide his cowardice.
We were ordered to fly top cover for another escuadrilla, the 3^a de Chatos, which had to strafe enemy positions. We were over the target together and, while we flew top cover at 9000 ft, the 3^a Escuadrilla pilots dived to fulfil their mission, confident that we were covering their backs and would intercept enemy fighters. For a while it looked as though everything was going fine, but some minutes later we saw a group of Fiat fighters heading straight for us, and the capitán ordered us to retreat once again. One after another, all of us formally accused González of desertion in the face of the enemy.”

On 21 July, capitán Manuel Aguirre López was posted to the Jefatura de la Sección de Parque y Experimentación (Test Branch Command and Depot) at Manlleu airfield.

In late July, teniente Antonio Arias Arias succeeded capitán Manuel Zarauza Clavero (posted as CO of Grupo N^o 21 on 23 July) in command of the 4^a/21.
On 30 July the 4^a/21 was transferred to El Vendrell airfield for operations over the hotly contested Ebro front.
90 new I-16 Type 10 arrived in Spain during early August to make good losses suffered by Republican units, but Arias’ escuadrilla only received five examples as the aircraft in his unit had already been fitted with more powerful Wright-Cyclone R-1820-F4 engines to improve the I-16’s performance at higher altitudes. Higher ceilings meant that pilots now had to wear oxygen masks, and the latter led to the 4^a Escuadrilla being given a new nickname - la del chupete (dummy).

Following capitán Eduardo Claudín Moncada’s (CO Grupo N^o 21) death on 5 July, teniente José Redondo Martín was given command of the 1^a/21 at Camporrobles airfield in mid-July.
It was at around this time that he was involved in a collision with a Bf 109 during an engagement over the Levante front, the Spaniard being forced to take to his parachute. Redondo reached friendly lines two days later.

Known Soviet aviators leaving Spain in July 1938

Departure	Name	Arrival	Comment
1938-07-13	Belov, Andrey Ivanovich	1937-12-14
1938-07-13	Berezhnoy, Stepan Ivanovich	1937-12-14
1938-07-13	Bondar’, Ivan Prokol’yevich	1937-12-30
1938-07-21	Dmitriyevskiy, Vladimir V.	1938-01-21
1938-07-31	Alekseyev, Fedor Stepanovich	1937-12-14
1938-07-??	Abramov, Nikolay Nikolayevich	1937-12-??	Perhaps earlier departure due to wounds.

Fuerza Aérea Nacionales (Arma de Aviación) - Nationalist Air Force

On 18 July the fighter Groups 2-G-3 (Ángel Salas) and 3-G-3 (Joaquín García Morato) moved to Mérida and remained there, in oppressive heat, until the 28 July when they returned to Escatrón.

Aviazione Legionaria

On 1 July, Capitano Duilio Fanali left the command of the 65^a Squadriglia to Capitano Miotto and returned to Italy.

Capitano Giuseppe Majone took command of the 24^a Squadriglia, XVI Gruppo, on 7 July 1938.

On 20 July, the XXIII Gruppo transferred to Teruel.

Recently promoted Tenente Colonnello Andrea Zotti handed over command of XXIII Gruppo to Maggiore Aldo Remondino on the evening of 23 July at Teruel-Caudé.
On this date the gruppo could muster 24 CR.32s. During Zotti’s time in command between 22 April 1937 and 23 July 1938, the unit had received 33 CR.32s. A total of 27 had been lost to enemy action and 15 in accidents during this period. Whilst Zotti was CO the gruppo had flown 13,790 hours, of which 13,222 hours were in combat during the course of 337 engagements. Of the latter, 31 had involved aerial combat, resulting in claims for 143 enemy aircraft shot down and 19 probably destroyed. Seven pilots had lost their lives in combat or in flying accidents, five had been captured and five wounded.

Capitano Mario Bonzano took command of the 18^a Squadriglia, XXIII Gruppo, on 30 July 1938.

Sottotenente Franco Lucchini while checking the route before a mission, at Teruel airfield in early summer 1938. His aircraft was "3-6" of the 19^a Squadriglia, XXIII Gruppo.

Legion Condor

On 20 July, Sonderstab W issued a situation report stating that ”In the five days since the delivery of 22 new Bf 109s, the German Jagdgruppe has shot down 22 Red fighters without loss.”

Operations

5 July 1938
A patrol formed by capitán Ángel Salas, Isidro Comas Altadill and Abundio Cesteros took off to seek out enemy aircraft operating over the Villel front, to the south of Teruel. Anti-aircraft fire indicated the position of an enemy formation and, closing gradually, Comas Altadill and Cesteros each claimed an I-16.
Flying over the Teruel front, capitán Eduardo Claudín Moncada, CO Grupo N^o 21 (I-16), perished when his Mosca reportedly was hit by Nationalist anti-aircraft fire and crashed in enemy-held territory near Villaestar.
His posthumous promotion to mayor was dated 7 July 1938.
Claudín was replaced by Manuel Zarauza Clavero as CO Grupo N^o 21. His appointment was dated 23 July 1938, and he remained in this position until the fall of Catalonia four months later. Zarauza usually flew Mosca ‘CM-225’, which was assigned to the grupo staff.

6 July 1938
Starshiy leitenant Sergey Gritsevets of the 5^a/21 (I-16) claimed two Bf 109s.

Teniente Antonio Arias Arias, deputy CO 4^a/21 (I-16), claimed a CR.32.
Arias also claimed a shared Bf 109 on an unknown date in July.

7 July 1938
Leitenant Fedor Filipchenko (I-16) claimed a Fiat CR.32 in the Valencia area.

Starshiy leitenant Petr Nedelin of the 5^a/21 (I-16) claimed a CR.32.

8 July 1938
37 He 111s from K/88 flew a mission over the Sierra de Espadán, registering good results from their bombardment.
During a second sortie they encountered strong flak both light and heavy, without loss, at the station of Sagunto.

9 July 1938
Starshiy leitenant Sergey Gritsevets of the 5^a/21 (I-16) claimed a Fiat CR.32.

K/88 set itself up at Saragossa where the aircraft had to land carrying their bomb loads, ready to bomb the port and the station of Sagunto.

10 July 1938
During the night, sargento José Falcó Sanmartín of the 3^a/26 (I-15) claimed a He 59 over Valencia.

39 machines from K/88 bombed the enemy lines at Sierra de Espadán and Vall de Uxo. The weather was very bad. K/88 then operated in company with A/88 over the sector of Adzaneta.

11 July 1938
K/88 attacked the roads to the south of Castellrón

12 July 1938
2.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed two I-15s. These were claimed by Leutnant Wilhelm Keidel and Feldwebel Herbert Ihlefeld.

13 July 1938
On the first day of the offensive on Valencia, Nationalist fighter groups made two sorties without meeting any enemy aircraft.
During the second sortie, three Spanish He 51s were damaged and one was destroyed in a fourth attack, its pilot, teniente Rafael Serra Hamilton being killed when he was shot down by flak in the Tortosa area.
The Aviazione Legionaria were more successful, claiming four I-16s (or I-15s depending on source) and one SB over Sarrión, at the cost of one of their number. It seems that these claims were shared among 22 pilots and one of them was Sottotenente Elia Mussolin (32^a Squadriglia)
At 09:30, Tenente Vittorio Minguzzi (25^a Squadriglia) claimed a shared I-15 over Albentosa. It is possible that this claim should be included in the claims above.

Starshiy leitenant Sergey Gritsevets of the 5^a/21 (I-16) claimed a Fiat CR.32 over Albentosa.
Eight I-16s from 5^a/21 claimed two shared CR.32s over Valbonne. One of the pilots sharing these claims were leitenant Mikhail Fedoseyev.

South of Castellrón big aerial combat took place during which six He 111s from K/88 were hit, two of which had to carry out forced landings in the countryside.

14 July 1938
During 2-G-3’s second sortie of the day, they escorted Ju 52/3ms over the Sarrión sector. Teniente Miguel García Pardo and teniente Rodolphe de Hemricourt split away from the group, attempting to pinpoint enemy anti-aircraft batteries, which had been troublesome. Seeing that the Ju 52/3ms then only had six escorting CR.32s (flown by the veterans teniente Julio Salvador, teniente Miguel Guerrero García and teniente Esteban Ibarreche Arriaga and the novices Abundio Cesteros García, José Luis Bernal de Mérida and José M.^a Etayo Elizondo), an escuadrilla of high-flying I-16s attempted to jump the bombers. The CR.32, nevertheless, proved more than a match for them, and all Ju 52/3ms escaped without damage, but in the mélée Bernal (CR.32 3-65) of 5-E-3 disappeared. It is not known whether he was shot down, or if the speed of combat proved too much for his inexperience, causing him to lose control of the aircraft.

15 July 1938
The Bf 109s of J/88 claimed heavy during the day when they claimed nine I-15s shot down. Feldwebel Herbert Ihlefeld (2.J/88) claimed two while Leutnant Lothar Keller (1.J/88), Leutnant Wolfgang Lippert (3.J/88), Oberleutnant Kurt Müller (1.J/88), Feldwebel Erich Kuhlmann (1.J/88), Unteroffizier Ernst Quasinowski (1.J/88), Leutnant Walter Oesau (Stab J/88) and Oberleutnant Werner Mölders (3.J/88) claimed one each.
Oberleutnant Mölders claimed his first victory flying a Bf 109C over Villamalur. It proved a tough challenge for him to manoeuvre his Messerschmitt in an engagement in which his formation of six fighters were outnumbered by 25-30 Republican machines, and he questioned the wisdom of his decision to take them on. In a violent, whirling encounter in which Mölders found himself sweating ”like a bull”, he dived and reeled around the sky until eventually, coming up on an enemy machine, he closed to just 50 metres and opened fire. He continued firing as he followed the Chato down to its destruction. Mölders then felt relief that all his comrades had survived the brutal encounter.

16 July 1938
Nine aircraft from K/88 attacked enemy batteries near Ayedar.

17 July 1938
The Bf 109s of J/88 claimed six I-15s shot down. Unteroffizier Josef Bauer (3.J/88) claimed two while Oberleutnant Werner Mölders (3.J/88), Leutnant Rudolf Resch (2.J/88), Leutnant Walter Oesau (Stab J/88) and Unteroffizier Ernst Quasinowski (1.J/88) claimed one each. Oberleutnant Mölder’s I-15 was claimed north of Liria.

21 aircraft from K/88 bombed the stations of Segorbe and Soñeja, then, during a second sortie, attacked the road from Segorbe to Sagunto.

18 July 1938
At 12:15, two 12-aircraft formations of CR.32s from XXIII Gruppo were taking it in turns to patrol over the Viver front south of Barracas. The formations, led by Maggiore Andrea Zotti and Capitano Guido Nobili, were flying at altitudes of 3,600 meters and 4,000 meters, respectively, when they spotted 24 I-15s from Escuadrillas 1^a and 3^a of Grupo N^o 26 on a strafing mission. The biplane fighters were escorted by 24 I-16s from Escuadrillas 2^a, 3^a, 4^a and 5^a of Grupo N^o 21, which were flying above them.
The CR.32 pilots engaged the monoplane fighters and Maggiore Zotti described the well-tried tactics adopted by the enemy in his after-action report:

“The Ratas tried to fragment our compactness into a widespread battle, reduce our operational height and bring the broken formation down into the “Curtiss fighters’” engagement zone - a restricted combat zone that would have put us in a disadvantageous position.”

“Having seen off the Ratas, which suddenly vanished, our CR.32s turned their attention to the “Curtiss fighters” that had dived down low in order to engage us in close combat. This tactic left us with no room for a diving attack. In the second action, which lasted a good 20 minutes, we resisted the temptation to make individual attacks. Instead, we remained in formation, thus forcing the Republicans to fight us as a unified mass that dominated the battle from a higher altitude. During this second combat five “Curtiss fighters” were shot down.”

“Personally, I had fired 745 rounds during the 30-minute combat. Initially, I had attacked three Ratas without success, before going after six or seven “Curtiss fighters”, two of which I abandoned [one was the I-15 chasing Vestrini’s CR.32] after I saw that they were trailing dark smoke. I landed at Teruel airfield at 1355 hrs when I ran low on fuel.
Nationalist intelligence deciphered a “Red” air force signal during the evening of the 18th saying that following the day’s fighting about 15 of their aircraft were missing and no news had been heard of them. From the accounts of pilots that had taken part in the battle it emerged that eight Ratas and five “Curtiss fighters” had certainly been shot down, with the probable destruction of a further two Ratas.”

“… I was looking above and below to avoid surprises. I spotted, higher at right, a formation of “Ratas” which was diving on us. I immediately turned into to chase them, while at lower height the combat against “Chatos” was going on. I shot on the first “Rata” that went in front on me, but I was attacked at the rear by three “Ratas”, that went away as another CR.32 intervened. Then I shot at two other “Ratas” and I reached 3000 m, where I spotted a “Curtiss” below me. I attacked, shooting at it by close distance quite until the ground […]
I fought with another “Rata” that however dived to escape. After returning in combat area, I saw no more enemies. I landed to Teruel with two other CR.32s, having no enough fuel to reach Puig Moreno.”

Bombers from K/88 attacked enemy positions at Algimia de Almonacid.

19 July 1938
3.J/88 was despatched from La Senia airfield as escort to bombers of the Legion Condor. They encountered three escuadrilla of I-16s. In the ensuing combat between Segorbe and Viver, just east of Valencia, they claimed four victories by Oberleutnant Werner Mölders (west of Villar del Arzobispo), Leutnant Horst Tietzen, Obergefreiter Willibald Hien and Leutnant Karl Ebbighausen. A fifth was claimed as an unconfirmed by Leutnant Rudolf Goy (Bf 109D 6-75) between Segorbe and Viver, east of Valencia.

The Republicans reported intercepting 14 bombers from the Legion Condor (which had already dropped their bombs) escorted by 16 Bf 109s as close escort and a further nine as top-cover in the evening over the El Toro area, Valencia.
In the ensuing air combat, one Bf 109 was claimed by starshiy leitenant Nikolai Romanov the 5^a/21 (I-16) when he came to the aid of a Spanish pilot before he was severely wounded by an explosive bullet in the leg. He was escorted back to his airfield where he successfully managed to land. He was hospitalized but following release from the hospital he prematurely returned to the Soviet Union.
According tho Russian sources, the Spanish fighters also claimed a Bf 109 but neither of these claims are verified with Legion Condor records.
Two Republican fighter pilots were killed when their I-16s were shot down and the Soviet volunteer kapitan Il’ia Grigor’evich Shugorov and the Spanish pilot Eduardo González Cassola (1^a/21) were both killed.
An additional I-15 was lost but this was probably to ground-fire since it was attacking ground targets.

Capitán José María Bravo Fernández, CO 3^a/21 (I-16), claimed a shared CR.32 together with sargento Francisco Tarazona Torán during the Levante campaign.

20 July 1938
The Bf 109s of 1.J/88 claimed three I-16s when Oberleutnant Wolfgang Schellmann claimed two and Unteroffizier Helmut Brucks claimed one. Leutnant Walter Oesau (Stab J/88) claimed an unconfirmed I-15.

P. Téllez Rivas of 4-E-3 suffered an accident at Mérida and CR.32 3-103 was destroyed.

Starshiy leitenant Sergey Gritsevets of the 5^a/21 (I-16) claimed a shared Bf 109 over Alcublas.
This claim can’t be verified with Legion Condor records.

21 July 1938
K/88 had 30 aircraft available to flatten roads and bridges in the sector of Segorbe in support of the Valiño Army Corps.

Leitenant Mikhail Fedoseyev (5^a/21) suffered an accident when landing his I-16 at his field as the starboard outer wing panel broke loose when a support bolt broke. The aircraft was damaged but Fedoseyev was uninjured.

22 July 1938
Around noon, starshiy leitenant Sergey Gritsevets of the 5^a/21 (I-16) claimed a shared Fiat CR.32 over Viver in the Valencia area.

21 aircraft from K/88 bombed the Republican positions at Algimia de Almonacid again, starting numerous fires on the ground, in the face of heavy flak.

23 July 1938
Feldwebel Robert Menge of 1.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-16.

Unteroffizier Georg Braunshirn of 2.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an unconfirmed I-16.

3.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed one I-16 by Leutnant Wolfgang Lippert and one unconfirmed I-15 by Unteroffizier Günther Böer.
Boer suffered an accident at La Cenia with his Bf 109 and it’s possible that it had been damaged in combat.

The 5^a/21 (I-16) was in combat with Bf 109s in the Valencia area. Leitenant Iosef Sidorovich Khotelev claimed two destroyed but was wounded together with his two Patrulla comrades; Filippchenko and Nikolai Romanov.
All three pilots managed to return to base but where all three hospitalized. Khotelev was badly wounded but was able to return to base with his fighter, aided by a Spanish pilot who flew alongside him. 85 bullet holes were counted in his fighter and upon release from hospital, he returned to the Soviet Union on 26 October. He had arrived on 10 June 1938, flew 25 combat mission and had taken part in six air combats in Spain.
17 bullet holes were counted in Filippchenko’s I-16.
While landing his I-16, leitenant Viktor Zyuzin from the same unit suffered an accident and the fighter was damaged.

K/88 flew bombing missions.

24 July 1938
Starshiy leitenant Sergey Gritsevets of the 5^a/21 (I-16) claimed a shared Ju 52/3m together with two other pilots.

K/88 flew bombing missions.

25 July 1938
Unteroffizier Franz Jaenisch of 3.J/88 crashed with Bf 109B 6-6.

K/88 operated against Sagunto jointly with A/88.

26 July 1938
Sottotenente Ranieri Piccolomini of the 65^a Squadriglia Assalto destroyed the Ascò Bridge over the Ebro with 100kg bombs together with Capitano Miotto (who at this time was the new Squadriglia commander) and Maresciallo Marinelli.
Two hours later he and five other Ba.65s were back to strafe roads around the bridge, but his aircraft was hit by AA fire. With the engine out of order, Piccolomini crash-landed near Gandesa, destroying Ba.65 "16-16", but suffering only minor wounds.
This was probably Piccolomini’s last combat mission in Spain.

Soria, October 1937. From left to right:
Sottotenente Ranieri Piccolomini, Tenente Leopoldo Sartirana, Capitano Desiderio, Capitano Duilio Fanali and Sottotenente Torquato Testerini.

Three missions were flown by K/88 with respectively 30, 27 and 20 He 111s. First against Benifallet and Mora la Nueva, then against Ginestar, Miravet and Rasquera and finally against Corbera. In each case the flak was very serious.

27 July 1938
Unteroffizier Franz “Francisco” Jaenisch of 3.J/88 had to crash-land his Bf 109 southwest of Tortosa. His aircraft was a complete wreck, but Jaenisch was not injured and in a few days was back in the air with another fighter.
Leutnant Walter Oesau (Stab J/88) claimed an unconfirmed SB.

K/88 flew six missions. First, nine aircraft attacked the crossing points on the Ebro between Mora la Nueva and Rivarroja, while twelve others bombed the enemy positions between Pinell and Corbera.
Next another formation of nine He 111s smashed the sector between Fatarella, Corbera and Venta de Camposines, where an intense flak barrage shook the formation at 11:25.
Another Staffel bombed the roads on the axis Flix-Camposincs, and a third the pontoon bridges on the Ebro to the north of Ginestar.
Finally, twelve He 111s operated against the roads between Gandesa and Pinell and concentrations of troops to the north of Ginestar and to the west of Asco.

Starshiy leitenant Petr Nedelin CO of the 2^a/21 (I-16) made a forced-landing due to engine failure about 10km from his base. The aircraft was damaged but Nedelin was only slightly injured.

28 July 1938
Capitán Heraclio Gautier Larrainzar (CR.32 3-116) of CO 7-E-3 was shot down and killed by small-arms fire at the Ebro.

A seized engine (after only 202 hours of service) caused a He 111 from K/88 to land outside the airfield at Sanjuro, the machine being 80% destroyed but without loss to the crew.

29 July 1938
30 aircraft from K/88 attacked the crossings of the Ebro between Asco and Miravet, destroying fuel reserves. The operation was repeated a little while afterwards with the same number of aircraft against the bridges between Vinebre and Ginestar. hitting at least one bridge and a flak battery.
Later, the same formation succeeded in breaching one of the bridges at Flix.

30 July 1938
J/88 provided fighter cover for five bomber and Stuka missions, as well as undertaking two search-and-destroy missions in the Flix area, but without success.

K/88 flew six missions with nine to 21 aircraft.

31 July 1938
K/88 flew two missions.

August 1938

Fuerza Aérea de la República Española - Republican Air Force

Early in August, the Republicans received 90 improved I-16 Type 10 fighters, which enabled additional escuadrillas to be formed. This was the last shipment of I-16s to Spain.

The total number of Polikarpov I-16s shipped to Spain in 1936-38 amounted to 276 I-16s and four UTI-4 trainers. Monthly shipments of I-16s were 31 in October 1936, 62 (and four UTI-4s) in May 1937, 62 in August 1937, 31 in March 1938 and 90 in August of that same year.
Within three months of the last examples of the I-16 had been delivered to the Republicans, all Soviet pilots had been withdrawn from Spain on direct orders from the Kremlin and returned to the USSR.

The Republicans in Catalonia had around 120 Polikarpov fighters split between two escuadrillas of I-15s and seven of I-16s.

Mayor Luis Alonso Vega’s staff of the Escuadra de Caza N^o 11 was based at Valls airfield, in Tarragona, from where he participated in the first phase of the battle of the Ebro in August-September.

From August, capitán Andrés García La Calle operated with his Grupo N^o 28 (Grumman GE-23 Delfin) at Lérida.

In June capitán Leopoldo Morquillas Rubio was selected to head up a group of four I-15 pilots, one I-16 pilot and two SB pilots that were to be sent to the USSR for training at the Tactical High School in Lipetsk. The aviators sailed for the USSR on 23 August, and while there Morquillas was promoted to mayor. Because of the length of the course the group was still in the Soviet Union when the Spanish conflict ended in late March 1939.

In early August, the 1^a/26 was moved to Sabanell.

On 23 August the commander of the Escuadra N^o 11, mayor Isidoro Jiménez, recommended capitán Ladislao Duarte Espés (CO 4^a/26) for the Medalla del Deber (Medal for Duty), commending him for his ”extremely high morale and fighting skills” and for being ”highly admired by his comrades for his determination in combat and great leadership qualities”.

After seeing action on the Levente front the 3^a/26 moved again on 10 August to take part in the Battle of Ebro.

Capitán José María Bravo Fernández handed over the command of 3^a/21 (I-16) to sargento Francisco Tarazona Torán on 27 August and was appointed deputy CO of the Grupo N^o 21 under Manuel Zarauza Clavero. He remained in this position until the end of the campaign in Catalonia, flying up to four sorties a day as he led his grupo throughout the battle of the Ebro.
On 3 August, sargento Tarazona had collected I-16 No. 19, which was newly arrived.

On 9 August the 1^a/21 (CO teniente José Redondo Martín) collected 12 brand new Type 10 Moscas (coded ‘CM-211’ to ‘CM-226’) from Celrá and took them to Vendrell airfield, where the unit was based for Ebro operations.
On 21 August the 1^a/21 received reinforcements in the form of four new Moscas from the 3^a Escuadrilla. The following day the unit was ordered to fly to the Central-South area, where its pilots operated from Liria airfield (known as Aeródromo 424) before moving to Almodóvar del Campo.

In August the 6^a/21 was reformed and Teniente Francisco Meroño Pellicer was appointed CO.
The new unit included veterans like teniente Juan Huertas Garcíafrom and Primitivo Pérez Gómez, as well as the newly qualified sargentos José Carbonell Balaguer, Manuel Fernández Ferreiro, Antonio García Cano, Francisco Ortega Casado, Juan Cebrián Motada, Fernando Morales Escamilla, Francisco Castelló Poveda, Antonio Cano Cano, Rafael Izquierdo Pascual, José Ramón Fernández González and Manuel Morató Arias. All had been on the second year flying course in the USSR. They were joined by sargentos Francisco Arroyo Adarbe and José Serrato Serrato.
The 6^a Escuadrilla played an active role in the battle of the Ebro and recorded notable success during the bitter fighting.

Romulo Negrin Mijoilar was sent to the USSR to take part in a higher command course. It seems that he was still in the USSR when the war ended and he later took part in the Second World War with this country.

Known Soviet aviators leaving Spain in August 1938

Departure	Name	Arrival	Comment
1938-08-05	Anashchenko, Ivan Semenovich	1938-03-26
1938-08-05	Andreyev, Vasiliy Dmitriyevich	1938-04-28
1938-08-05	Asaulov, Sergey Pavlovich	1938-03-26
1938-08-13	Bobrov, Vladimir Ivanovich	1938-03-26
1938-08-13	Chugunov, Vasiliy Dmitriyevich	1938-03-26
1938-08-13	Danilov, Stepan Pavlovich	1937-01-14
1938-08-13	Yemel'yanenko, Mikhail Ivanovich	1938-03-26
1938-08-23	Bashmakov, Petr Dmitryevich	1938-03-26
1938-08-27	Belitskiy, Andrey Vasil'yevich	1937-03-20

Fuerza Aérea Nacionales (Arma de Aviación) - Nationalist Air Force

On 25 August, to contain the Government counter-offensive in the bend of the Zújar, fighter Groups 2-G-3 and 3-G-3 returned to Mérida, where they remained until 18 September.

The Nationalists could field 180 fighters in total (including the Aviazione Legionaria and Legion Condor).

Aviazione Legionaria

In early August there were ten Italian CR.32 Squadriglie present on the Ebro front, namely the 24^a, 25^a and 26^a Squadriglie of XVI Gruppo (CO Maggiore Armando François) at Caspe; 18^a, 19^a and 20^a Squadriglie of XXIII Gruppo (CO Maggiore Aldo Remondino) at Sarinena; 31^a, 32^a and 33^a Squadriglie of VI Gruppo (commanded by Maggiore Rossi) at Puig Moreno; and the Squadriglia Autonoma Caccia Mitragliamento (CO Tenente Ferruccio Vosilla at Caspe.

Maggiore Armando François left the command of XVI Gruppo on 10 August 1938 to Tenente Colonnello Arrigo Tessari.

Tenente Ferruccio Vosilla was replaced as commanding officer of the Squadriglia Autonoma Caccia Mitragliamento on 15 August by Tenente Zannetti.

Legion Condor

On 6 August K/88 received for the first time some operational Spanish crews, nine men taking their places in aircraft two and three of the Kette of the Staff formation.
On 14 August 2 Staffel, then commanded by Hauptmann Wolfien, left to attack the sector of Gandesa in the company of the Führungskette of the Staff HQ, also called ‘5.K/88’. It is noted that the aircraft of 2 Staffel were numbered 25-26, 25-42, 25-46, 25-47, 25-49, 25-50, 25-51, 25-52, and 25-53, and that those of ‘5.K/88’ were 25- 3, 25-24 and 25-28. During this time, 1 Staffel, under the command of Hauptmann Heyse, attacked the bridges at Mora de Ebro with aircraft 25-1, 25-2, 25-6, 25-9, 25-10, 25-12, 25-15 and 25-22. 25-17 was under repair after a forced landing. During this mission 25-9 was hit and returned with a dead engine, while 25-6 suffered damage to the fuselage but arrived at Sanjurjo. At the time of this campaign the normal load of the He 111s was a bomb of 250kg and 20 of 50kg, plus four packets of incendiary bombs (BSK 36); a well mixed load capable of "treating' any target.
The principal objectives of the He 111s during the battle of the Ebro were the crossing points, notably the bridges to the north of Flix, at Mora de Ebro and to the north of Ginestar; the footbridges launched across the river to the west of Ginestar, at Miravet and Benifallet. and the ford at Asco.
The bridge at Mora de Ebro was attacked 34 times between 25 July and 18 September. It thus received in the course of the campaign 671 tonnes of bombs, being cut five times.
The bridge situated to the north of Ginestar was a good second with 32 attacks between 26 July and 6 September, receiving 545 tonnes of bombs and eight breaks.
The infantry foot bridge at of Miravet was attacked six times by He 111s and 32 tonnes of bombs and was cut three times. But the Republican engineers and bridge-builders worked quickly and well, using the nights to repair the damage made during the days.

Operations

The Bf 109s of 3.J/88 claimed three I-15s during the day. These were claimed by Unteroffizier Franz Jaenisch, Unteroffizier Josef Bauer and Oberleutnant Karl Ebbighausen.

During the night between 1 and 2 August, sargento José Falcó Sanmartín of the 3^a/26 (I-15) claimed an unconfirmed He 59 over Vinaroz.
It is possible that this was a He 59 (WNr. 532) of of AS/88 piloted by Unteroffizier Herbert Euen, which was on a mission in the Paitrosos sector on 2 August when it was reportedly hit by Republican ground fire. Unteroffizier Euen was forced to make a violent forced landing in the sea near Vinaroz. Fortunately for the crew, they were rescued by a Nationalist armed trawler and only Euen was slightly injured.

2 August 1938
Oberleutnant Hubert Kroeck of 2.J/88 claimed an I-16.

3 August 1938
Leitenant Viktor Zyuzin’s (5^a/21) I-16 was completely destroyed in a landing accident.

5 August 1938
In the morning, the XVI Gruppo was led into action by its CO, Maggiore Armando François when its three squadriglie, comprising some 30 CR.32s, intercepted six SBs from the 3^a Escuadrilla “Katiuska”, escorted by 21 I-16s, approaching Nationalist positions from the northeast and crossing the river line over Cherta. During the battle that ensued Maggiore François and a section of Italian pilots shared in the destruction of an SB, whose crew escaped by parachute and landed in the Republican zone. Capitano Roberto Fassi (CO 25^a Squadriglia) also shot up the I-16 flown by leitenant Konovalov, who had to force-land at the Republican airfield of Reus.
No CR.32s were lost.

Starshiy leitenant Sergey Gritsevets of the 5^a/21 (I-16) claimed a shared Fiat CR.32 in the Ebro area.

Sergey Bykovskiy of the 5^a/21 crash-landed with his I-16 CM-209 after running out of fuel and the aircraft was destroyed.

12 August 1938
The Bf 109s of 1.J/88 claimed four victories during the day. These were claimed by Unteroffizier Helmut Brucks (one SB), Hauptmann Wolfgang Schellmann (two SBs) and Leutnant Otto Bertram (one I-16).

13 August 1938
Starshiy leitenant Sergey Gritsevets of the 5^a/21 (I-16) claimed a shared He 111 together with Luis Vernet Margalef. The He 111 was forced to land in Republican territory near Barcelona.

Teniente Antonio Arias Arias, CO 4^a/21 (I-16 CM-260), claimed a Bf 109 in the Ebro area.

14 August 1938
In the morning, Grupos 2-G-3 and 3-G-3 attacked a formation of Ratas, which were pursuing some He 111s over Gandesa. Other Chatos and Ratas later joined in the battle. Totally the Spanish pilots reported 52 I-16s and 28 I-15s (!). This massive formation of Polikarpovs was also targeted by ten Bf 109s.
Group 2-G-3 claimed three Ratas (teniente Miguel García Pardo (2-E-3), teniente Carlos Bayo (2-E-3) and teniente de Hemricourt (2-E-3)) and 3-G-3 claimed two more (comandante Joaquín García Morato and teniente Emelio O’Connor Valdivielso (4-E-3)). 2-G-3s record of operations described the combat:

“García Pardo attacked some Ratas which were pursuing an He 111, shooting down one of the which fell near to Mora de Ebro … Teniente Bayo attacked three Ratas and succeeded in destroying one which fell on the edge of the Blanerías mountains. Later he attacked a Chato, but was unable to ascertain whether it was destroyed as damage to his engine forced him to land at Horta…
Teniente de Hemricourt fired at one Rata without any result; and then attacked some Ratas engaged with other Fiats, hitting one which fell in a wood to the north of Reus.”

Sargento Francisco Tarazona Torán of the 3^a/21 (I-16) claimed an unconfirmed He 111 during the Levante campaign.

At 17:40, the 1^a/21 (CO teniente José Redondo Martín) engaged a force of 12 He 111s and 30 CR.32s, and although the Republicans claimed several victories they lost two I-16s and sargentos Rubén Gómez Redondo and Sirio Martín González to landing accidents at Vendrell.

Starshiy leitenant Sergey Gritsevets of the 5^a/21 claimed a shared Bf 109 together with Mikhail Semenovich Sapronov (2^a/21) over Gandesa.
This claim can’t be verified with any Legion Condor losses.

Teniente Francisco Meroño Pellicer, CO 6^a/21 (I-16), claimed a CR.32 over the Ebro area.

Leitenant Sergey Lukovnikov (I-16) claimed one Fiat CR.32 by a ”taran” ramming attack over Ebro.

15 August 1938
The Bf 109s of J/88 claimed one I-16 and two I-15s when Leutnant Otto Bertram (1.J/88) claimed a ’Rata’ while Unteroffizier Gustav Küll (2.J/88) and Leutnant Walter Oesau (Stab J/88) claimed one ‘Curtiss’ each.

Republican fighter pilot Eduardo Fernándes Prada was killed in combat in the Ebro area.

18 August 1938
Starshiy leitenant Sergey Gritsevets of the 5^a/21 claimed two shared CR.32s in the Ebro area.

19 August 1938
The Nationalists counter-attacked towards Fatarelle, with strong support from the Legion Condor. Although J/88 claimed four Ratas, little success was achieved on the ground. The claiming Bf 109 pilots were Unteroffizier Gustav Küll (2.J/88), Oberleutnant Lothar Keller (1.J/88), Oberleutnant Werner Mölders (3.J/88) and Leutnant Günther Scholz (3.J/88). Oberleutnant Mölders’ I-16 was claimed in the Flix area.

20 August 1938
The Bf 109s of J/88 claimed two I-16s when Leutnant Walter Oesau (Stab J/88) and Hauptmann Wolfgang Schellmann (1.J/88) claimed one each.

He 111 25-41 from 3.K/88 was shot down over Gandesa by Flak.
The crew baled out, but the pilot Leutnant Heinz Willer crashed into the tail unit of the aircraft and was dead upon reaching the ground. Unteroffiziers Schwarz and Frishling fell wounded in their parachutes while Unteroffizier Naumann became PoW.

21 August 1938
During the night, sargento José Falcó Sanmartín of the 3^a/26 (I-15) claimed an unconfirmed He 59.

Sargento Álvaro Muñoz López of 3^a/26 claimed a CR.32 over Ebro.

Teniente Antonio Arias Arias, CO 4^a/21 (I-16 CM-260), claimed a Bf 109 in the Ebro area.

23 August 1938
Sottotenente Claudio Solaro of the 26^a Squadriglia claimed a Polikarpov I-16 “Rata”.

Sergente Aldo Buvoli of the 19^a Squadriglia claimed a shared I-16.

The Bf 109s of J/88 claimed four aircraft when Leutnant Otto Bertram (1.J/88) claimed an I-16, Oberleutnant Kurt Müller (1.J/88) an I-16, Leutnant Wilhelm Ensslen (2.J/88) an I-15 and Oberleutnant Werner Mölders (3.J/88) a SB (in the Albi area).

Around 15:00, starshiy leitenant Sergey Gritsevets of the 5^a/21 claimed a shared Bf 109 over Villalba Saserra, 12km north of Mataró.
This claim can’t be verified with any Legion Condor losses.

24 August 1938
The XVI Gruppo, led by its CO Tenente Colonnello Arrigo Tessari, together with the Squadriglia Autonoma Mitragliamento “Frecce”, was patrolling over the Gandesa front. The 25^a Squadriglia was covering at 7,000m.
At 08:50 they spotted a formation of six Martin Bombers, followed by an escort of about 30 Ratas. The 24^a and 26^a Squadriglie attacked the bombers, and the 25^a Squadriglia chased the fighters. The combat lasted 15 minutes, and at the end the Italians claimed seven I-16s destroyed, plus two more probably destroyed and a probable Martin Bomber. Sottotenente Mario Visintini (25^a Squadriglia) claimed a Rata which crashed in the Montblanc valley (it seems that the combat occurred between La Palma-Margalef).

Capitán José María Bravo Fernández, CO 3^a/21 (I-16), claimed a CR.32 while sargento Francisco Tarazona Torán claimed a second during the Levante campaign.

José Andrés Lacour Macia claimed an I-15 over Mora del Ebro.

CR.32s 3-135 flown by Joaquín Chapaprieta Inglada (3-E-3) and 3-97 flown by Fernando Arrechea Belzunce (4-E-3) were lost in combat in the Ebro area.

Republican fighter pilot José Gascón Yuste was killed in a collision.

Starshiy leitenant Sergey Gritsevets, 5^a/21, claimed a shared CR.32 in the Ebro area.

While returning from combat, Leonid Boguslavchik, 2^a/21 (I-16), found out that his undercarriage had been shot up and was no longer working, forcing him to make belly landing at his airfield.

25 August 1938
2-G-3 shot down two Chatos (Ángel Salas and Julio Salvador) and lost José M.^a Etayo Elizondo (2-E-3), who died of injuries after trying to land his burning Fiat (3-63) at Campanario. It seems that Elizondo possibly was credited with one victory at the time of his death.

26 August 1938
Around 12:00, starshiy leitenant Sergey Gritsevets, 5^a/21, claimed a shared He 51 over Villalba Saserra.

In the evening, three I-16s from the 2^a/21 were to take off on a patrol. On take-off, an undercarriage cable snapped on starshiy leitenant Petr Nedelin’s I-16 and he had to make a belly landing. The landing was so bad that his face struck the gun sight and he suffered severe trauma and never flew again in Spain (he returned to the Soviet Union on 4 October 1938).

31 August 1938
CR.32s from the XVI Gruppo was indirectly escorting S.79 and BR.20 bombers to the front of Gandesa. At the end of the bombing, the fighters stayed in the area for interdiction. As in the previous week, the 25^a Squadriglia had the duty to cover at 7,000m while the fighters from 26^a and 24^a Squadriglie flew at 5,500m.
The XVI Gruppo had taken off from Caspe at 16:30 and the eight CR.32s from the 25^a Squadriglia flew in four sections of two aircraft:
1st section – Capitano Roberto Fassi (CO) and Tenente Pietro Raimondi
2nd section – Sottotenente Mario Visintini and Sergente Giuseppe Marini
3rd section – Sottotenente Bongiovanni and Sottotenente Mario Pinna
4th section – Sottotenente Emilio Marchi and Maresciallo Luigi Acerbi
Around 18:00, Capitano Giuseppe Majone (CO 24^a Squadriglia) spotted six SBs in two formations of three each heading from the Segre river towards Villalba.
They were soon attacked by the Italian fighters. Suddenly, a dozen of escorting I-16s dived on the CR.32s of the 24^a Squadriglia, but they were in turn jumped by the 25^a Squadriglia, which soon was joined by all the Fiats. In the ensuing dogfight Italians claimed two Ratas destroyed and one probable, that were officially shared among the three Squadriglie, though one of the kills was unofficially credited to Capitano Fassi. Sottotenente Visintini (25^a Squadriglia) shot at four I-16s, one of which “effectively and by short distance” and saw a Rata falling in flames, which considering the place and the time should be the one shot down by Capitano Fassi. Visintini’s Fiat was however damaged in the action.
As a result, the commander of the XVI Gruppo, Tenente Colonnello Arrigo Tessari, proposed that each Squadriglia should be creited with one shared destroyed I-16.

An SB piloted by leitenant Aleksandr Nakonechnikov (with leitenant Kirill Pavlovich Kolomiets as navigator) lost power one one engine (hit by fighters?) during a mission over the Ebro and began to fall behind its formation and was attacked by CR.32s (XVI Gruppo?). The detachment commander, Kalachikov, noticed what was happening and slowed the formation down so that Nakonechnikov could keep up, thus saving it from the CR.32s.

After a mission at Gandesa, Leonid Boguslavchik, 2^a/21, crash-landed his I-16 (CM200). The aircraft flipped over and was wrecked.

Unteroffizier Willibald Hien of 3.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an unconfirmed I-16.

Francisco Gómez Trenor of 8-E-3 was shot down by small-arms fire in the Extramadura area and CR.32 3-145 was destroyed.

September 1938

Fuerza Aérea de la República Española - Republican Air Force

Gradually, all the government fighter escuadrillas with both I-16s and I-15s eventually came under wholly Spanish control during the battle of the Ebro. A 7^a Escuadrilla was even established within Grupo N^o 21, commanded by teniente José Puig Torres, which operate overhauled Type 6 I-16s. The other escuadrillas of the Grupo N^o 21 were re-equipped with 90 Type 10 Moscas from the last batch of l-16s to arrive in Spain via France. The 2^a and 5^a Escuadrillas of this grupo (at least the 5^a with Soviet crews) were merged in September 1938 and placed under the control of Spanish officer teniente Julio Pereiro Pérez. The new Escuadrilla became the 5^a/21 and was manned by second year Soviet-trained Spanish pilots.

Manuel Zarauza Clavero CO Grupo N^o 21 was promoted to mayor in September.
He flew extensively during the battle of the Ebro (fought between July and November 1938), taking it in turns with deputy CO capitán José María Bravo to lead the escuadrillas., Zarauza remained continuously on duty without taking leave throughout the key battles of 1938. And during the 500 flying hours of operational flying he clocked up that year he avoided being shot down or even wounded.
Short in stature, Zarauza was one of the youngest Republican squadron COs - he was barely 22 when he was promoted to comandante. Fellow high-scoring ace Francisco Tarazona Torán wrote that Zarauza would hunch down in his cockpit, thus earning himself the nickname of piloto fantasma or ’ghost pilot’. He was irascible, but also liked to play tricks with his pistol. It has been said that when teniente coronel Valentín Gonzalez (commander of the 46^a Division) moved his headquarters to a country estate that the grupo had been ordered to vacate Zarauza threatened to take off and strafe it. He was dissuaded from doing so by his comrades. Zarauza also tossed a smoke canister into the mess during a dinner in the presence of Aviación Militar ‘top brass’ and Soviet commanders. Yet many, including his subordinates, considered him to be both a good leader and a valiant pilot.

On 6 September the 4^a/26 moved to La Señera airfield, in Valencia.
Capitán Ladislao Duarte Espés (CO) was wounded in combat the following day and he was replaced as CO by teniente Emilio Ramírez Bravo. By his own account, Duarte’s unit had shot down about 30 enemy aircraft during his time as CO.

Fernando Romero Tejero was promoted to capitán on 1 September.

On 24 September Mayor Luis Alonso Vega handed over command of the Escuadra de Caza N^o 11 to mayor Isidoro Jiménez García, after which Alonso Vega headed up the Fuerzas Aéreas staff of the Central-Southern area, based at Finca de Los Llanos.
Based at Valls, Isidoro Jiménez led several sorties over the front in one of two I-15s assigned to the staff flight of Escuadra N^o 11.

On 24 September, during the battle of the Ebro, mayor Juan José Armario Álvarez departed as CO of the Grupo N^o 26 to join the Jefe de Estado Mayor de Fuerzas Aéreas in Barcelona.
For a time Armario was attached to the headquarters of the Ejército del Ebro as an aviation adviser to the commander of the army, coronel Modesto.
Armario’s replacement as CO of the Grupo N^o 26 was capitán Juan Comas Borrás, who now was fully recovered from his accident on 15 May 1938 when he took command of the unit on 22 September. On that same day, whilst flying Chato ‘CA-190’ of the grupo staff, he was forced to land at Reus.

Teniente Gerardo Gil Sánchez remained until September 1938 as aerobatic instruction at La Ribera airfield when he was posted to the Escuela de Alta Velocidad at El Carmolí, initially serving under mayor José González Montero and later mayor Isidoro Jiménez. He flew the school I-16 Moscas in defensive patrols over Cartagena.

Álvaro Muñoz López (3^a/26) was promoted to teniente.

On 11 September, capitán Manuel Aguirre López was appointed deputy commander of the Escuadra de Caza N^o The I-16s of 1^a/21 (CO teniente José Redondo Martín) remained at Liria, then known as Aeródromo 424, until 9 September when 15 aircraft departed for Reus airfield for operations over the Ebro front.

Francisco Tarazona Torán, CO 3^a/21 (I-16), was promoted to teniente and confirmed as escuadrilla CO.

José Falcó Sanmartín of the 3^a/26 (I-15) was promoted to teniente.

Known Soviet aviators leaving Spain in September 1938

Departure	Name	Arrival	Comment
1938-09-03	Anisimov, Viktor Alekseyevich	1938-03-26
1938-09-03	Brudnitskiy, Mikhail Yefremovich	1938-03-26
1938-09-15	Bogdanov, Boris Sergeyevich	1938-06-10	Returned home early due to illness.

Fuerza Aérea Nacionales (Arma de Aviación) - Nationalist Air Force

As operations in Extremadura ended, Grupos 2-G-3 and 3-G-3 returned to Aragon, taking up station at Escatrón on 18 September taking over the equipment which had belonged to the Italian VI Gruppo ’Gamba di Ferro’, which had then been disbanded. All the frontline fighter units fielded by the Nationalists in continental Spain were now gathered together close to the Ebro theatre of operations. These included 18 CR.32 squadriglie and escuadrillas and three Messerschmitt staffeln, with serviceable totals of about 180 CR.32s and 30 Bf 109s, respectively.

On 20 September a series of daily battles began, culminating in fierce combats on 2 and 3 October. Groups 2-G-3 and 3-G-3 fought jointly in all these battles, achieving a total of twenty-five victories (17 by 2-G-3). Ángel Salas claimed one of these victories.

Aviazione Legionaria

Capitano Ettore Foschini was replaced as CO of the 19^a Squadriglia by Capitano Giulio Crosara.

On 7 September, Capitano Roberto Fassi left the command of the 25^a Squadriglia, XVI Gruppo.

Maggiore Mario Rossi left the command of the VI Gruppo Capitano Giuseppe Baylon. The Gruppo was at the time based at Puig Moreno.

On 20 September, Sottotenente Mario Visintini (25^a Squadriglia) returned to Italy and 4^o Stormo, having claimed at least two individual and one shared victories, one shared probable and eight enemy aircraft damaged during his duty tour in Spain.
For his service in Spain he was decorated with the Medaglia d’argento al valor militare.

On 27 September, VI Gruppo was ordered to disband, along with other units of the Aviazione Legionaria, in accordance with wider commitments made by the major powers that signed up to the Münich agreement. This document, which was meant to avert the growing crisis in Europe, called for the removal of all foreign soldiers from Spanish soil. VI Gruppo’s CR.32s were duly handed over to the Spanish Nationalist air force at the end of September.

Legion Condor

On the 10 September, Major Mehnert passed command of Gruppe K/88 to Major Haerle.

Operations

2 September 1938
In the morning, a formation of nine R-Zs, escorted by a similar number of I-15s, were attacked by 18 Spanish-flown CR.32s near Monterrubio de la Serena as they returned from a bombing mission. Minutes later nine SBs from 4^a Escuadrilla of Grupo N^o 24, escorted at a distance by 11 I-16s Type 10, hove into view too. The CR.32s concentrated on the Tupolev bombers and their monoplane fighter escorts. In a single attack, capitán Ángel Salas (2-G-3) destroyed three Katiuskas, and then capped this by damaging the I-16 Type 10 flown by the leader of the 1^a Escuadrilla Grupo de Moscas N^o 21 that was escorting them. This pilot, teniente José Redondo Martín (the son of the former mayor of Madrid, Cayetano Redondo Aceña), took to his parachute and was guarded by Salas until he had almost reached the ground. Salas, before flying away, raised an arm in the Fascist salute, and Redondo (I-16 ‘CM-214’) responded in a similar manner with a clenched fist.
Salas noted in his logbook:

“After 50 minutes on patrol I spotted nine “Martin bombers” that were a little higher than us heading in the direction of our lines. I gained height as I flew towards them, cutting off their escape route. As they returned after bombing Monterrubio, I attacked the bomber on the left in the first section, setting his left engine on fire. I then hit the left engine of the leader’s aircraft, setting it on fire too, and the third bomber suffered the same fate. Then I fired straight up at the leader of the second flight, and his aircraft started trailing white smoke. It was then that I noticed some Ratas, so I attacked one. After a long fight it also started to trail smoke, and the pilot took to his parachute. He landed close to his aircraft, north of Belalcázar. During his descent I saluted him and he saluted me back.”

“The part played by the group under your command in today's operation has filled me with pride and it gives me great satisfaction to have people under my command who know how to make the best use of prevailing circumstances. It gives me great pleasure to congratulate you personally, and the whole of your unit, to whom I hope you will convey this message.”

Republican fighter pilot Antonio Nogueira Gordaliza was killed in combat in the Ebro area.

5 September 1938
In the morning, CR.32s from both Aviazione Legionaria gruppi, as well as the Comando di Stormo, escorted S.81 bombers sent to attack Republican targets on the Gandesa front. XXIII Gruppo, in particular, stuck closely to the three flights of Italian tri-motors, thus deterring formations of I-15s and I-16s from attacking the S.81s. Some 50 Polikarpov fighters in two formations circling above were then spotted below the CR.32s by pilots from XVI Gruppo (which had taken off from Caspe at 09:00), which was indirectly supporting the operation. A large-scale engagement involving more than 100 fighters then broke out, lasting over 30 minutes, this swirling mass of aircraft drifting east over Republican territory beyond Falset.
Pilots of XVl Gruppo were subsequently credited with shooting down four “Curtiss fighters” and four Ratas, while six other fighters were classified as probably destroyed. Individual victories were awarded to 24^a and 25^a Squadriglie commanders, Capitani Giuseppe Majone and Roberto Fassi. Sottotenente Mario Visintini (25^a Squadriglia), whose aircraft was again hit, was credited with a I-15 destroyed, which fell in the Sierra de los Caballos, and three more I-15s and an I-16 as damaged.
It seems that the XXIII Gruppo claimed five “Curtiss fighters” and two Ratas.
The Republicans lost five I-15s and four I-16s, including a Type 10 from 2^a Escuadrilla. Three more Type 10s returned to base with varying degrees of battle damage, the Spanish pilot of a 3^a Escuadrilla machine making a wheels-up landing at Pla de Cabra airfield when wounds to his arm prevented him from manually lowering the fighter’s undercarriage. It is possible that one of the I-16 was flown by Ivan Galaktionovic Saulo who was killed on 5 or 6 September (Saulo had flown 13 missions and taken part in 6 combats at the time of his death).
Other known Republican fighter pilots killed in the Ebro area during the day were Manuel Araza Sabaté (killed in combat), José Correa Antón and Antonio Pascual Gaset (disappeared).
No losses were suffered by the CR.32s, although several pilots from XVI Gruppo returned with bullet holes in their aircraft.

Leutnant Wilhelm Ensslen of 2.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-15.

A machine gunner from a He 111 claimed the destruction of an I-16.

7 September 1938
Leutnant Otto Bertram of 1.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed two unconfirmed I-16s.

Capitán Ladislao Duarte Espés (CO 4^a/26) was shot down by anti-aircraft fire while he was making a strafing attack on the Teruel front. His I-15 was set on fire but Duarte managed to bail out behind friendly lines. Although suffering burns, he was rescued by Republican infantrymen and spent the next three months in Valencia's El Vedat hospital.
Duarte was promoted to mayor shortly after being wounded.

9 September 1938
Oberleutnant Werner Mölders of 3.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-16 in the Flix area. Mölders reported that his claim was made in a one-sided air battle against 60 (!) enemy aircraft that required every measure of his skill as a fighter pilot.
It is possible that this was I-16 CM-242 of 4^a/21, which was destroyed during the day.

13 September 1938
Oberleutnant Werner Mölders of 3.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-16 in the Flix area.

Four I-16s were lost; CM-125, CM-154 and CM-178 from the 7^a/21 and CM-192 from the 1^a/21.

Republican fighter pilot Jaime San Colom disappeared over the Ebro and was lost.

18 September 1938
Leutnant Josef Fözö of 3.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an unconfirmed I-16.

A He 111 from K/88, which had been hit in the wing by flak, came back over the base but, probably because it was incapable of dropping either its flaps or its undercarriage, the pilot ordered the crew to bale out, without problem, and the aircraft crashed into the ground.

20 September 1938
A series of daily battles began, culminating in fierce combats on 2 and 3 October. Groups 2-G-3 and 3-G-3 fought jointly in all these battles, achieving a total of 25 victories (17 by 2-G-3). Of these Carlos Bayo claimed four and Esteban Ibarreche two.

Grupo 3-G-3 escorted bombers over the Manzanera front. Polikarpov fighters were encountered, and a probable kill was claimed by teniente José Larios y Fernández from Escuadrilla 6-E-3. He later recalled:

“A large formation of Ratas suddenly appeared above us, flying high in the blue sky as if they had just come out of the sun. Pilots from our escuadrilla above us waved to signal the alarm, after which we all flew directly at the enemy at full throttle in an attempt to prevent them from reaching our bombers. I desperately tried to position my section above the Ratas before attacking them but I did not succeed, as they fell on us like an avalanche and we had little choice other than to defend ourselves.
Four Ratas in formation dived like lightning straight towards me in a frontal attack. I rapidly raised the nose of my “Fiat” and pointed it directly at the leading Rata. I had just enough time to fire a couple of bursts before the “Red” aeroplane dived straight down towards the ground and the others passed by at high speed over our heads, before banking around tightly so as to attack us from the rear.
Things now took a turn for the worse, as they held all the advantages - a superior number of aircraft, height and greater speed with which to manoeuvre. I had no option but to turn as tightly as possible. The enemy seemed to be everywhere, and again I could hear the classic chatter of gunfire behind my shoulders. Instinctively, I threw my aeroplane into a sharp spin towards the River Ebro, knowing this to be my sole chance of survival. It worked, as the Ratas immediately gave up chasing me, probably thinking that I was on my way to the other world. I recovered from the violent dive upon seeing that I wasn’t being chased and started to climb once again with my engine flat out, attentively observing the sky in all directions. I was impatient to regain height and rejoin the battle.
On reaching 13,000 ft I felt secure once more. I could see that fierce fighting was still going on. A lonely Rata crossed the brilliant sky some 700 ft above me. I was in his blind spot, and it flew on without attempting to take any evasive action. Seizing my opportunity, I was able to fire several bursts right into its belly - one of the Rata’s most vulnerable spots. The fighter trembled with the impact and appeared to swing for a second, before dropping on a wing, lowering its nose and entering a spin. I followed for a while, stuck to the Rata’s tail, still firing. Climbing back up again, I lost sight of the aircraft as if it had been swallowed up by the uneven ground. I never did find out whether the Rata had indeed hit the ground or not. It remained another combat uncertainty.
I turned towards our lines low on fuel. On landing, Rossi and I examined the aeroplane and could count a good number of bullet holes in the fuselage - fortunately no vital parts had been hit. The Fiat was strong and could take great punishment. It would soon be parked, fully serviced and prepared to take off again as part of the next flight.”

The Bf 109s of J/88 made a number of claims when Leutnant Wilhelm Ensslen (2.J/88) claimed an I-16, Leutnant Wilhelm Keidel (2.J/88) claimed an unconfirmed enemy aircraft and Leutnant Horst Tietzen (1.J/88) claimed two unconfirmed I-16.

I-16 CM-257 from the 3^a/21 was destroyed during the day.

21 September 1938
Tenente Vittorio Minguzzi of the 25^a Squadriglia claimed a probable I-15 was claimed over Venta de Camposines at 16:30.

VI Gruppo was involved in combat near Flix on the Ebro Front during the afternoon. Two Ratas from 3^a/21 were shot down and five claimed as probables with three CR.32s being damaged in return. The claims were collectively credited to all pilots that had participated in the action.
Teniente Francisco Tarazona Torán, CO 3^a/21 (I-16), claimed a CR.32.

Teniente Francisco Meroño Pellicer, CO 6^a/21 (I-16), claimed two CR.32s over the Ebro area.

A damaged SB piloted by leitenant Aleksandr Nakonechnikov (with leitenant Kirill Pavlovich Kolomiets as navigator) crash-landed at the Valls fighter field (possibly BK-19, which landed at Reus).

Leonid Boguslavchik, 2^a/21, was shot down and killed in combat with CR.32s near the Ebron. It is possible that he was flying I-16 CM227.

22 September 1938
Joaquín García Morato (3-51) claimed an I-15.

Rodolphe de Hemricourt of 2-G-3 claimed one I-15 and one I-16 over Corbera.

CR.32 3-122 flown by Pedro Martínez de Irujo (KIA) of the 5-E-3 was lost in combat in the Ebro area.

Teniente Francisco Tarazona Torán, CO 3^a/21 (I-16), claimed a shared CR.32.

Republican fighter pilot Manuel Vega Gómez disappeared over the Ebro and was lost.

23 September 1938
VI Gruppo was involved in combat near Falset on the Ebro Front. A ‘Martin bomber’ and three I-16s were destroyed, with two more claimed as probables. These were collectively credited to all pilots that had participated in the action. One of the CR.32s returned to base with minor battle damage. The VI Gruppo diary entry following this final clash with the enemy read as follows:

“The Ratas fought bravely, although they displayed defensive rather than offensive tactics, notwithstanding their superior aircraft.”

At 16:00, Tenente Vittorio Minguzzi of the 25^a Squadriglia claimed a shared I-16 over Corvera.

The Bf 109s of J/88 claimed heavily during the day when the claimed eight Republican aircraft and two more as unconfirmed.
Hauptmann Walter Grabmann (Stab J/88) claimed one SB, one I-15 and one I-16, Oberleutnant Werner Mölders (3.J/88) claimed one I-16 south-west of Ginestar and one more unconfirmed I-16, Unteroffizier Walter März (3.J/88) claimed one I-16, Unteroffizier Georg Braunschirn (2.J/88) claimed a SB, Leutnant Rudlf Goy (2 or 3./J88) claimed two I-16s while Leutnant Otto Bertram (1.J/88) claimed an unconfirmed I-16.
Six SBs, escorted by I-16s from 2^a/21, were reportedly attacked by Bf 109s. The SBs had problems with the ShKAS machine-guns on four of the bombers and two of the group were badly damaged and had to land at Valls and Reus. One of the six SBs included navigator kapitan Pavel Chernyavskiy. Starshiy leitenant Boris Sharonov was the pilot and starshiy leitenant Pantelei Nechiporenko was the navigator in the SB (possibly BK-25), which had to land at Reus fighter base.

Teniente José Falcó Sanmartín of the 3^a/26 (I-15) claimed a Bf 109 over Ebro between 13:15 and 14:30.

Three I-16s were lost; CM-148 (2^a/21), CM-190 (3^a/21) and one from 5^a/21.
The one from 5^a/21 was probably flown by leitenant Viktor Vasil’evich Zyuzin (born 1917), who was killed in a large combat with CR.32s in the afternoon.

Republican fighter pilot Luis Margalef Vernet disappeared over the Ebro and was lost.

24 September 1938
Unteroffizier Herbert Schob (2.J/88) claimed an I-16 in his Bf 109.

During the day, the I-16s of Grupo N^o 21 claimed four CR.32s (one by 5^a/21 and three by 6^a/21) and one Bf 109.

Teniente José Falcó Sanmartín of the 3^a/26 (I-15) claimed an unconfirmed SM.79.

27 September 1938
The Bf 109’s of 1.J/88 claimed four I-16s during the day. These were claimed by Leutnant Otto Bertram, Oberleutnant Rudolf Unger and Leutnant Horst Tietzen (2 I-16s).

During the day, the I-16s of 4^a/21 and 5^a/21) claimed two Bf 109s. One of these was claimed by starshiy leitenant Sergey Gritsevets, 5^a/21, who reportedly claimed a shared Bf 109 in the Ebro area.
These claims can’t be verified with any Legion Condor losses.

CR.32 3-96 flown by G. Queipo de Llano Martí from 3-E-3 was lost in an accident in the Ebro area.

October 1938

Ground Operations

Fuerza Aérea de la República Española - Republican Air Force

On 3 October 1938, capitán Fernando Romero Tejero was appointed CO of the 6^o Sector Aéreo at Hellín, in Albacete.

On 26 October, Ramón Puparelli Francia was appointed chief-of-staff of the Estado Mayor de Fuerzas Aéreas in the Northern Zone.

In October, two SBs (tactical numbers “21” (reg/n BK-083) and “26”) were used for carrying bomb containers which could accommodate 48 12-kg bombs or 436 0.76-kg bombs.
During the final stage of the Spanish Civil War, given the insufficient number of Republican fighters, the SBs saw limited action and operated in small groups. Starting in autumn 1938 the airplanes were flown only by Spanish crews. At that time the total number of SBs was maintained at about two dozen aircraft. This was possible partially due to on-going maintenance and repair of the aircraft and their engines. In 1938 alone the Barcelona- based SAF-9 factory repaired 169 M-100 engines. The SBs were also repaired at the SAF-3/16 factory in Reus and the SAF-21/23 factory.

In the end of October, all Soviet volunteers were recalled to the Soviet Union.

From October 1938 capitán José Riverola Grúas assumed command of Grupo N^o 71 of the Zona Aérea Centro-Sur. This unit, consisting of two squadrons (namely the mixed 4^a Escuadrilla and the 5^a Escuadrilla operating bombers only), took part in the defence of the Cartagena area.

Capitán Juan Comas Borrás moved with the staff flight of the Grupo N^o 26 to airfields at Sabadell and Monjos, in Barcelona, from where he flew sorties over the Ebro front in October in Chato ‘CA-166’.

Capitán Andrés García La Calle handed over command of the Grupo N^o 28 (Grumman GE-23 Delfin) to mayor Antonio Saluela Lucientes, having been appointed deputy CO of the Escuadra de Caza N^o 11, replacing mayor Manuel Aguirre López.

On 28 October mayor Juan José Armario Álvarez was appointed Jefe de la 3^a Sección (Operations) of the Estado Mayor de las Fuerzas Aéreas de la Zona Norte (Barcelona).

Antonio Arias Arias, CO 4^a/21 (I-16) was promoted to capitán.

Known Soviet aviators leaving Spain in October 1938

Departure	Name	Arrival	Comment
1938-10-26	Bykovskiy, Sergey Dmitriyevich	1938-06-10
1938-10-26	Gritsevets, Sergey	1938-06-10
1938-10-17	Dan’ko, Il’ya Ivanovich	1938-05-29

Aviazione Legionaria

Operations

2 October 1938
Rodolphe de Hemricourt of 2-E-3 claimed one I-16 flown by Sergeant Alvaro Pitarch Escorituella over Corbera.

Teniente José Sarrió Calatayud of the 1^a/26 (I-15 ‘CA-188’) was shot down over the Ebro. Although he managed to bail out of his stricken biplane over no-man’s-land, Sarrió was apparently killed in the crossfire between Republican and Nationalist troops once on the ground.

During the day, the I-16s of Grupo N^o 21 claimed two CR.32s destroyed and three probably destroyed.
One of these are probably CR.32 3-140 flown by Antonio Olivera Fernández (CR.32 3-70) from 4-E-3 (2-E-3?), which was lost in combat in the Ebro area (according to some sources, he was killed in an accident).

3 October 1938
During the morning, comandante Joaquín García Morato led 24 CR.32s from Grupos 2-G-3 and 3-G-3 on an escort mission for Ro.37s on the Ebro front. They encountered 28 I-16s escorting 24 I-15s that had been undertaking strafing attacks, comandante Morato and 12 fighters from 3-G-3 attacking the biplane fighters at low level, two of which were claimed shot down by Tenientes Medizabal and Emelio O’Connor Valdivielso (4-E-3). Twelve other fighters from 2-G-3 tackled the I-16s at a higher altitude, but they soon found themselves badly outnumbered.
As the I-15 escuadrillas withdrew towards Republican lines, Morato and his pilots broke off their attacks and gained height in order to aid their compatriots in the struggle against the I-16s. Morato attacked a Rata from the rear, quickly setting it on fire, but at the same time another CR.32 pilot targeted the same I-16 from an acute angle. A 12.7 mm bullet fired by the second Fiat hit the engine of Morato’s fighter, knocking it out. Still some 12 miles behind enemy lines, but at medium altitude, he used all his skills to glide the engineless CR.32 to within sight of the frontline, before he was forced to perform a dead-stick landing in a vineyard. His aircraft suffered no further damage when he landed. This was the only time that Morato was shot down in combat, albeit not through enemy action but accidentally by his wingman during the heat of battle (according to other sources, Morato was shot down by teniente Sirvent Cerrillo).
The fighter shot down by Morato (although not credited to him) was an I-16 Type 10 from 3^a Escuadrilla, and it was seen to explode in mid-air. Another I-16 (CM-061), this time from 7^a Escuadrilla was destroyed over Corbera by teniente de Hemricourt (2-E-3), de Hemricourt seeing its pilot bail out over Republican territory. A third I-16 Type 10 was hit in the propeller and main-wheel doors by bullets from a CR.32 and its pilot crash-landed near Reus, from where it was recovered.
Republican pilots, in return, claimed nine CR.32s shot down, although in actual fact only one had been lost. However, the pilot downed was none other than the commander of Escuadrilla 1-E-3, capitán Julio Salvador (CR.32ter NC 753/3-69), who was shot down after claiming two enemy aircraft. According to Republican witnesses, his CR.32 had been hit near Fayón early on in the engagement with the I-16s. Salvador’s opponent was the second-in-command of Grupo N^o 21, José Maria Bravo Fernández (according to other sources, Salvador was shot down by teniente Francisco Meroño Pellicer, CO 6^a/21, who claimed a CR.32 during the day). The nationalist pilot was taken prisoner by soldiers of the 46th Division of the Popular Army, commanded by the famous communist leader Valentin Gonzalez.
Salvador was eventually set free in France along with other pilot detainees held by the Republicans after four months in prison.
The I-15s of Grupo N^o 26 claimed four CR.32s (three by 1^a/26 and one by 3^a/26) during the day while the I-16s of Grupo N^o 21 claimed nine CR.32s (three by 4^a/21, two by 7^a/21, three by 1^a/21 and one by 6^a/21).
I-16s CM-261 and CM-263 (both from 3^a/21) were destroyed during the day.

Starshiy leitenant Sergey Gritsevets of the 5^a/21 claimed a shared CR.32 in the Ebro area.

4 October 1938
The Bf 109s of J/88 claimed three Republican aircraft during the day when Leutnant Otto Bertram (1.J/88) claimed one I-15, Leutnant Wolfgang Lippert (3.J/88) claimed an I-16 and Unteroffizier Willi Szuggar (1.J/88) claimed an I-15.

J. R. González Fdez of the 6^a/21 (I-16) claimed a Bf 109 during the day.
The I-16s of Grupo N^o 21 claimed an additional Bf 109 and a He 111 during the day.

5 October 1938
Republican fighter pilot Enrique Tébar Pérez disappeared over the Ebro and was lost.

7 October 1938
The Bf 109s of 1.J/88 claimed two I-16s during the day when Leutnant Hans-Jürgen Ehrig and Feldwebel Robert Menge claimed one each.

The I-16s of Grupo N^o 21 claimed three Bf 109s during the day (one each by 3^a/21, 5^a/21 and 6^a/21).

Republican fighter pilot Huerta disappeared over the Ebro and was lost.

8 October 1938
Tenente Vittorio Minguzzi of the 19^a Squadriglia claimed his first victory when he claimed an I-16 over Fatarella at 15:30.

The 3^a/21 (I-16) and Grupo N^o 26 (I-15) claimed a shared damaged He 111 while the I-16s of Grupo N^o 21 claimed three destroyed CR.32s and one probable (as set on fire); one by 4^a/21 and two and one probable by 5^a/21.

9 October 1938
At 16:00, Tenente Vittorio Minguzzi of the 19^a Squadriglia claimed a shared I-16 together with three other pilots over Ascò.

The 6^a/21 (I-16) claimed a He 51.

10 October 1938
The Bf 109s of J/88 claimed two SBs and one I-16 during the day when Oberleutnant Werner Mölders (3.J/88) claimed one I-16 while Hauptmann Walter Grabmann (Stab J/88) and Oberleutnant Johann Gamringer (3.J/88) claimed one SB each.
Oberleutnant Gamringer subsequently force-landed his Bf 109 and from Republican side it was stated that he was shot down by the gunners on three SBs; leitenant Nikolai Trofimovich Tertychnyi, Il’in and Kozhemyako.
One SB was lost when one flown by Soviet volunteers were shot down by Bf 109s. The pilot Trubitsyn and the navigator Utkin were able to bail out, but said that their repeated calls to the radio/gunner Zakhar Savel’evich Skutov (born 1912) went unanswered. Undoubtly he was either dead or unconscious at the time and he was killed when the SB crashed in enemy territory.
Skutov was the last Soviet airman to die in Spain.
The SB flown by starshiy leitenant Boris Sharonov was badly shot up with all the crewmembers wounded. Sharonov brought the bomber back to his airfield but as he attempted to land, it crashed and caught fire. Fortunately, the bombs did not explode.

13 October 1938
Unteroffizier Herbert Schob of 2.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-16 during the day.

14 October 1938
The I-16s from the 5^a/21 claimed two destroyed CR.32s and another as a probable (set on fire) while the 4^a/21 (I-16) claimed a probable CR.32 (set on fire) (there is some uncertainties on which unit that made this claim).

15 October 1938
Four squadrons of Fiats made a combined sortie, three from 2-G-3, and one from 3-G-3. They succeeded in destroying two Ratas (Carlos Bayo and González Guzmán), one for each group. Capitán Ángel Salas, Manuel Vázquez Sagastizábal and Bayo each damaged another.

The Bf 109s of J/88 claimed four I-16s during the day when Hauptmann Walter Grabmann (Stab J/88) and Leutnant Walter Oesau (Stab J/88) claimed one each while Oberleutnant Werner Mölders (3.J/88) claimed two (these were claimed west of La Figuera and in the Sierra de Montsant area).

The I-16s of Grupo N^o 21 were heavily involved in combat during the day:
3^a/21 claimed four CR.32s.
4^a/21 claimed one and two probables (both set on fire) CR.32s.
5^a/21 claimed a Bf 109 and two probable CR.32 (both set on fire).
6^a/21 claimed a Bf 109.

1^a/26 (I-15) claimed a SM.79 (?) during the day.

16 October 1938
The patrulla led by teniente Francisco Tarazona Torán, CO 3^a/21 (I-16), claimed two shared CR.32s.

30 October 1938
Sottotenente Claudio Solaro of the 26^a Squadriglia was shot down over enemy territory. He parachuted successfully but was taken POW. He was released from prison in February 1939.

Teniente Francisco Tarazona Torán, CO 3^a/21 (I-16), claimed a CR.32.
According to some sources, the 3^a/21 claimed a probable (set on fire) CR.32 during the day. Whether this is the same claim or another one is not known.

The 4^a/21 (I-16) claimed a probable (set on fire) CR.32.

Escuadra N^o 11 claimed two and one probable (set on fire) CR.32s.

31 October 1938
The patrulla of teniente Francisco Tarazona Torán, CO 3^a/21 (I-16), claimed a shared He 111.

The I-16s of the 6^a/21 (I-16) claimed a Bf 109 when teniente Francisco Meroño Pellicer (CO) and A. García Cano shot one down over the Ebro area.

The Bf 109s of J/88 had a field day and claimed nine and one unconfirmed during the day. Hauptmann Werner Mölder (3.J/88) claimed two I-16s (one of them north-west of Flix), Leutnant Josef Fözö (3.J/88) one I-16, Feldwebel Georg Fleischmann (3.J/88) two I-16s, Leutnant Martin Lutz (2.J/88) one I-16, Leutnant August-Wilhelm Schumann (2.J/88) one I-15, Unteroffizier Georg Braunshirn (2.J/88) one I-15 and Unteroffizier Kiening (3.J/88) one I-16. The unconfirmed I-16 was claimed by Leutnant Theodor Rossiwall (3.J/88).

Republican fighter pilot Beltrán was killed in combat over the Ebro.

November 1938

The ground war

15 November 1938
The Battle of Ebro came to an end during the night of 15-16 November when the Republican army completed its withdrawal beyond the northern banks of the River Ebro.

Fuerza Aérea de la República Española - Republican Air Force

Andrés García La Calle was promoted to mayor.

In November, teniente José Redondo Martín handed over command of the 1^a/21 to teniente Enrique Vilatela Soria.
Redondo was to remain without a command until war’s end.

Francisco Meroño Pellicer, CO 6^a/21 (I-16), was promoted to capitán. Little is known about his subsequent career from late 1938 except that he fled to the USSR after the war ended and died in Moscow on 17 July 1995.

In late 1938 the Patrulla de Caza Nocturna was established, equipped with the versatile I-15 Chato. The unit’s Polikarpov biplane fighters were progressively modified over coming weeks through the fitment of landing lights and special exhaust pipe collector rings. The squadron, who’s first CO was teniente Walter Katz, was given the task of defending the Catalan coastline from bases at Canudas (El Prat de Llobregat) and Sabadell airfields.
After teniente Katz’ death on 11 November, command of the nightfighter patrulla passed to teniente José Falcó Sanmartín.

The last Soviet volunteers left Spain in the end of November (SB crews).

Known Soviet aviators leaving Spain in November 1938

Departure	Name	Arrival	Comment
1938-11-11	Belousov, Nikolay Vasil’yevich	1938-06-29
1938-11-11	Chernyavskiy, Pavel Mitrofanovich	1938-05-30
1938-11-27	Agalt’sov, Filipp Aleksandrovich	1937-04-30

Fuerza Aérea Nacionales (Arma de Aviación) - Nationalist Air Force

In November, Joaquín García Morato was named the leader of the Fighter Squadron.

During the Battle of Ebro, Grupos 2-G-3 and 3-G-3 participated in a total of 16 aerial engagements between 18 September and 15 November 1938. Pilots from these units claimed 58 ‘Curtiss fighters’ and Ratas destroyed, with 15 more as probables, and one SB destroyed and a second as a probable; only ten of these victories could be historically verified, however. Three CR.32s were lost in return, with two pilots killed and one taken prisoner.

Aviazione Legionaria

Legion Condor

Hauptmann Werner Mölders was also posted back to Germany at this time, his place as commander of 3.J/88 being taken by Oberleutnant Hubertus von Bonin.

Operations

The 3^a/26 (I-15) claimed seven CR.32s during the day. These were claimed by teniente José Falcó Sanmartín, Álvaro Muñoz López, Esteban Corbalán Marín, José Garre Solano, Francisco Sánchez Matos, José Santander Menéndez and J. Tremosa Arnavat.

Emilio Ramírez Bravo of the 4^a/26 (I-15) claimed a CR.32.

The 1^a/21 (I-16) scored a confirmed victory over a Nationalist CR.32 when teniente José Redondo Martín (CO) and teniente José María Cano Arnáiz of the 5^a/21 (I-16 ‘CM-198’) were given shared credit for downing the Fiat fighter near Fatarella Hill, the machine crashing in flames.
J. Santamaría (1^a/21) claimed a shared CR.32 during the day. This was possibly shared with P. Dosta Fossá (5^a/21), who claimed a shared CR.32 during the day.

The 3^a/21 (I-16), which claimed a shared CR.32 during the day.

The 6^a/21 (I-16) claimed three CR.32s.

Feldwebel Robert Menge of 1.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-15 during the day.

2 November 1938
During two missions the two Spanish Nationalist fighter Groups claimed 17 enemy aircraft. De Hemricourt claimed one of these, an I-15, over Pinell.

The 1^a/21 (I-16) claimed a Bf 109, which crashed on the sierra at Tirisa.
J. Simón Valverde of the same unit claimed a CR.32 during the day.

The 6^a/21 (I-16) claimed two CR.32s. One of these were claimed by M. Fernández Morales.

Teniente José Falcó Sanmartín of the 3^a/26 (I-15) claimed a CR.32 over Ebro.

Unteroffizier Walter März of 3.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an unconfirmed I-16 during the day.

Republican fighter pilot Paredes was killed in combat over the Ebro.

3 November 1938
Rodolphe de Hemricourt of 2-G-3 claimed one I-15 over Salvatierra.

The Bf 109s of J/88 claimed three I-16s, two I-15s and one additional unconfirmed I-16 during the day. Hauptmann Werner Mölders (3.J/88) claimed an I-16 in the Mola area as his last and 14th claim in Spain, Leutnant Walter Oesau (Stab J/88) claimed an I-16, Unteroffizier Georg Braunshirn (2.J/88) claimed an I-15, Obergefreiter Günther Freund (2.J/88) claimed an I-15, Unteroffizier Herbert Schob (2.J/88) claimed an I-16 and Hauptmann Walter Grabmann (Stab J/88) claimed an unconfirmed I-16.

Capitán José María Bravo Fernández, deputy CO Grupo N^o (I-16), claimed a Bf 109 as his last victory.

The 1^a/21 (I-16) claimed a shared Do 17.

The 3^a/21 (I-16) claimed a Bf 109.

P. Rueda Hernández of the 4^a/21 (I-16) claimed a Bf 109.

P. Dosta Fossá of the 5^a/21 (I-16) claimed a CR.32.
The Escuadrilla also claimed a shared Do17.

The 6^a/21 (I-16) claimed a shared Do 17.

Vicente Lliveria Grau of the 1^a/26 (I-15) claimed a Bf 109.
The Escuadrilla also claimed a twin-engined bomber.

The 4^a/26 (I-15) claimed a twin-engined bomber.

4 November 1938
Unteroffizier Walter März of 3.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-16 during the day.

5 November 1938
While based at Monjos airfield capitán Juan Comas Borrás (CO of the Grupo N^o 26) received serious shrapnel wounds in his left leg during a raid by Savoia-Marchetti SM.79s. Comas was taken to hospital at Villafranca de Penedés, where his leg was amputated.
Whilst recuperating he was promoted to mayor de Aviación.
Comas was replaced as CO of the Grupo N^o 26 by capitán Miguel Zambudio Martínez.

Oberfeldwebel Robert Menge of 1.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed one I-16 during the day while the Bf 109s of 2.J/88 claimed two victories; Leutnant Karl-Wolfgang Redlich claimed one I-16 while an unknown pilot from the same unit claimed another unconfirmed victory (unknown type).

6 November 1938
The Bf 109s of 2.J/88 claimed two I-15s during the day. These were claimed by Leutnant Heinz Bretnütz and Unteroffizier Georg Braunshirn.

Escuadra N^o 11 (?) claimed a Bf 109.

P. Dosta Fossá of the 5^a/21 (I-16) was killed in combat in the Ebro area.

7 November 1938
Teniente Francisco Tarazona Torán, CO 3^a/21 (I-16), claimed an unconfirmed Do 17 set on fire.

8 November 1938
Leutnant ‘Antek’ Bolz of 3.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an unconfirmed enemy aircraft.

The 6^a/21 (I-16) claimed a He 51.

9 November 1938
The 1^a and 6^a Escuadrillas of Grupo N^o 21 (I-16) attacked enemy twin-engined aircraft, forcing them to break formation and dive for their own lines. One of the bombers crashed in flames after being attacked by teniente Enrique Vilatela Soria south of Fatarella, while sargento J. Santamaría downed a CR.32. But these successes were not without cost, as the 1^a/21 lost Mosca ‘CM-238’ of teniente Juan Sayós, while ‘CM-244’ sustained a damaged propeller.
The pilots from the 6^a/21 claimed one CR.32 in this combat.

The 3^a/21 (I-16) claimed a CR.32.

Alberto Vallés Gateu of the 1^a/26 (I-15) claimed a CR.32.

11 November 1938
Teniente Walter Katz (CO of the Patrulla de Caza Nocturna) was shot down and killed by anti-aircraft fire during a night attack on the Serós bridgehead on the left bank of the River Segre. He had been accompanied on the mission by sargento López Fernández, who escaped the intense flak unscathed.
Katz was posthumously promoted to capitán with effect from 1 September.

12 November 1938
The Bf 109s of J/88 claimed four enemy aircraft during the day when Unteroffizier Karl Kolb (1.J/88) claimed an I-16, Feldwebel Georg Fleischmann (3.J/88) an I-15, Unteroffizier Norbert Fischer (1.J/88) an I-16 and Unteroffizier ‘Willi’ Szuggar an I-16.

18 Fiats of 2-G-3 and six from 3-G-3 took off under the leadership of Ángel Salas, to escort Ju 52/3ms and He 70s in the Segre sector. Six Katiuskas were encountered, escorted by two formations of Ratas. de Hemricourt succeeded in destroying one Rata, and one Katiuska was shot down by the combined attack of about five machines.
As the Fiats landed back at base from this sortie - one, which had been damaged in combat, collided with machine No 3-61, Salas’ aircraft, damaging the lower wings. This latter machine, one of the first to serve with the group, was repaired by the middle of January and Salas finished the war in it.
This combat marked the end of air operations in support of the battle of the Ebro, which ended on 16 November with the retreat of the XV Army Corps.

16 November 1938
Unteroffizier Herbert Schob (2.J/88) claimed an SB flying a Bf 109E while 3.J/88’s Leutnant Helmut-Felix Bolz (Bf 109) claimed an unconfirmed.

18 November 1938
During the night, teniente José Falcó Sanmartín, CO Patrulla de Vuelo Nocturno (I-15), claimed a He 59.

Republican fighter pilot Arrés was killed in combat in the Cataluña area.

20 November 1938
Republican fighter pilot Terol was killed when he was shot down by AA-fire in the Cataluña area.

27 November 1938
While making a routine patrol on 27 November, Ángel Salas suffered a sudden hernia and was taken immediately to hospital for an operation. He was discharged from hospital in the middle of January 1939.

December 1938

Ground Operations

Fuerza Aérea de la República Española - Republican Air Force

Promoted to teniente coronel de Aviación on 11 December 1938, Luis Alonso Vega served under coronel Antonio Camacho, Chief-of-Staff of the Zona Aérea Centro-Sur.

On 22 December, during the battle of Catalonia, mayor Isidoro Jiménez García handed over command of the Escuadra de Caza N^o 11 to mayor Andrés García La Calle and returned to the Escuela de Alta Velocidadat El Carmolí as Jefatura (CO) where he remained until the end of the war.

Capitán Vicente Castillo Monzó was appointed CO of the Grupo de Chatos N^o 26, succeeding capitán Miguel Zambudio Martínez, who had been wounded in combat.

In December, teniente Francisco Viñals Guarro was appointed CO of the 2^a/26 shortly before the start of operations in Catalonia. The unit also saw action over Extremadura and Pozoblanco in 1939.

Returning from a month’s leave on 24 December, teniente Álvaro Muñoz López was confirmed as the 3^a/26 CO after teniente Antonio Nieto Sandoval-Díaz.

Capitán José María Bravo Fernández accompanied teniente coronel Juan Quintana Ladrón de Guevara to the international airshow in Paris to view the Polish PZL P.37 Los bomber that had been ordered by the Republican government.
Upon his return to Spain, Bravo took part in the campaign in Catalonia

Known Soviet aviators leaving Spain in December 1938

Departure	Name	Arrival	Comment
1938-12-??	Desnitskiy, Petr Pavlovich	1936-09-??

Fuerza Aérea Nacionales (Arma de Aviación) - Nationalist Air Force

Legion Condor

“Things at J/88 are just about tolerable. The Verbandsführer of J/88 are at the present time quartered far away from their people. Too many personnel were to be seen running around without wearing uniforms, playing during celebrations with priests’ hats and they have no communal dining facility. It does not please me at all. It will be remedied and J/88 will soon be relocated.”

By the time of the Battle for Barcelona, the first Bf 109E-1s had been delivered to J/88 at La Sénia.

By December, Oberleutnant Alfred von Lojewski was the new CO of 2.J/88.

Operations

8 December 1938
Teniente Francisco Tarazona Torán, CO 3^a/21 (I-16), was injured when his I-16 (‘CM-249’) suffered engine failure while taking off from Valls. After a short spell in hospital, Tarazona returned to Catalonia.

17 December 1938
During the night, teniente José Falcó Sanmartín, CO Patrulla de Vuelo Nocturno (I-15), claimed an unconfirmed He 59.

19 December 1938
Due to unknown causes CR.32 3-155 flown by R. Bartolomé Chávarri of 4-E-3 was destroyed in Cataluña.

20 December 1938
Leutnant Theodor Rossiwall of 3.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-16 during the day.

21 December 1938
Leutnant Horst Tietzen of 1.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-16 during the day.

The 6^a/21 (I-16) claimed two CR.32s as probably destroyed (set on fire).

CR.32 3-76 flown by José Romagosa Durán 1-E-3 was destroyed in an accident at Caspe and Romagosa was killed.

24 December 1938
During the morning, 22 CR.32s from XVI Gruppo clashed over the Lérida front with 26 I-15s and eight I-16s. Capitani Giuseppe Majone and Travaglini, leading 24^a and 26^a Squadriglie, dived headlong at the I-15s, which in turn fled towards the northern bank of the River Segre. The aerial battle continued between Serós and Castelldáns following the intervention of eight CR.32s from Capitano Meille’s 25^a Squadriglia just as three I-15s that were hit as the combat commenced abandoned the fight. The I-16s also fled at this time, leaving close to 40 biplane fighters locked in a series of bitter duels from a height of 3500 ft all the way down to the ground between Castelldáns and Borjas Blancas.
The battle lasted more than 30 minutes, and upon returning to base the Italians claimed 14 ‘Curtiss fighters’ destroyed and four more as probables - two victories were awarded to Capitano Majone.
In reality, just five I-15s had actually been shot down by the CR.32s, including the fighter flown by the veteran commander of Grupo N^o 26, capitán Miguel Zambudio Martínez, who had been leading the Grupo N^o 26 on a sortie over the Serós bridgehead. Despite having suffered a serious bullet wound to his right leg including damage to the sciatic nerve, he managed to force land his aircraft in Republican territory and admitted to hospital in Barcelona. The remaining aircraft destroyed came from 1^a and 4^a Escuadrillas, and four more I-15s returned to base with battle damage.
In return, two CR.32s from 25^a Squadriglia were shot down by I-15s between Castelldáns and Borjas Blancas. Sergente Giuseppe Marini was killed, while Sergente Giovanni Accorsi crash-landed in Nationalist territory and emerged from the wreckage of his CR.32 with only a slight wound following the explosion of his fighter’s fuel tank.

Several hours later, 20 km north of Balaguer, 18 CR.32s from comandante Joaquín García Morato’s Spanish units intercepted a formation of nine R-Z light bombers from 2^a Escuadrilla of Grupo N^o 30, escorted at a distance by 19 I-16s from the 6^a and 7^a Escuadrillas of N^o Grupo 21, near Fontllonga. Initially diving head-on at the bombers, the CR.32s then made a second attacking pass from the rear before the escort fighters could intervene. The Spaniards claimed nine R-Zs destroyed, three of which (plus a probable) were attributed to Morato, two to teniente Joaquín Velasco (7-E-3) and one each to teniente José Larios y Fernández (6-E-3), José Andrés Lacour Macia, Alfonso Rubial and José Recasens.
Of the nine R-Z, three returned to their own side's airfields (two to La Garriga and one to Vic). Six were shot down, of which three were lost, while the remainder managed to land with varying damaged inside their own lines. Overall, the R-Z escuadrilla suffered three dead, eight wounded and two taken prisoner. I-16s from 6^a Capitán Amézaga took to his parachute and landed near Camarasa, where he was soon captured. Following six weeks in captivity, Amézaga was executed. Another Fiat had to land because of damage at Almenar.

Republican fighter pilot Almodóvar was killed in combat in the Cataluña area.

26 December 1938
The 7^a/21 (I-16) claimed three CR.32s during the day. These were claimed by M. Fernández Ferreiro, P. Jiménez Ruiz and P. Pérez Gómez.

28 December 1938
At 12:00, Tenente Vittorio Minguzzi of the 19^a Squadriglia claimed two I-15s over Aspa.

The Bf 109s of 2.J/88 claimed three SBs and three I-16s when Leutnant August-Wilhelm Schumann claimed an I-16, Leutnant Wilhelm Ensslen one SB and one I-16, Feldwebel Georg Schott an I-16, Leutnant Heinz Bretnütz a SB and Leutnant Karl-Wolfgang Redlich a SB.

Teniente José Redondo Martín and J. Ramoneda Vilardaga of 1^a/21 (I-16) claimed a shared Bf 109.

Escuadra N^o 11 claimed three CR.32s and three more as probables during the day.

Republican fighter pilot Corral disappeared in the Cataluña area and was lost.

29 December 1938
The Bf 109s of J/88 claimed four Republican fighters when Leutnant Wolfgang Lippert (3.J/88) claimed an I-15, Oberleutnant Hubertus von Bonin (3.J/88) an I-16, Unteroffizier Günther Freund (3.J/88) an I-16 and Leutnant Horst Tietzen (1./J88) an I-16.

José María Cano Arnáiz of the 1^a/21 (I-16) claimed a probable CR.32 (set on fire).

The 3^a/21 (I-16) claimed two Bf 109s.

P. Pérez Gómez of the 7^a/21 (I-16) claimed a Bf 109.

30 December 1938
Capitano Giuseppe Majone (CO 24^a Squadriglia) claimed two I-15s near Montblanch, Catalonia.

The Bf 109s of J/88 claimed six Republican fighters when Oberleutnant Alfred von Lojewski (CO 2.J/88) claimed an I-15, Unteroffizier Herbert Schob (2.J/88) an I-16, Leutnant Kurt Hörmann (Stab J/88) an I-16, Leutnant Wilhelm Ensslen (2.J/88) an I-16, Feldwebel Georg Schott (2.J/88) an I-15 and Leutnant August-Wilhelm Schumann (2.J/88) and I-16.

N. J. Fernández Díaz of the 1^a/21 (I-16) claimed a Bf 109.

Teniente Francisco Tarazona Torán, CO 3^a/21 (I-16 ‘CM-193’), claimed a Bf 109.

The 6^a/21 (I-16) claimed a Bf 109.

Juan Lloréns Bonet of the 3^a/26 (I-15) claimed a CR.32.

Francisco Alférez Jiménez of the 4^a/26 (I-15) claimed a CR.32.

31 December 1938
During the night, teniente José Falcó Sanmartín, CO Patrulla de Vuelo Nocturno (I-15), claimed a He 59.

Feldwebel Georg Schott of 2.J/88 (Bf 109) claimed an I-16.

Capitán Antonio Arias Arias, CO 4^a/21 (I-16 CM-260), claimed a shared Bf 109.