Battle of Mallorca

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Battle of Mallorca
Part of the Spanish Civil War
Map depicting the height of the offensive in the Baleares, with Menorca, Ibiza, Formentera, Cabrera, and eastern Mallorca all under Republican control (in gray).
Date August 16 - September 12, 1936 Location Mallorca, Spain Result Nationalist victory
Belligerents
Second Spanish Republic	Nationalist Spain
Commanders
Alberto Bayo Manuel Uribarri	García Ruiz
Strength
8,000 militia 10 guns	3,500 regulars and militia

The Battle of Mallorca, known as the Mallorca Landings in Spanish (optimistically called the Reconquest of Mallorca by the Republicans) was an amphibious landing early in the Spanish Civil War aimed at driving the Nationalists from Mallorca and reclaiming the island for the Republic. After some initial tactical success, the expedition, commanded by Captain Alberto Bayo, ended in failure when the Nationalists counterattacked with ground troops and massively superior air power and drove the Republicans into the sea.

[edit] Background

Plans for a seaborne attack on the Balearic Islands seem to have surfaced independently in various Republican militia groups in the days following the fall of Ibiza, Formentera, and Mallorca to Franco's Nationalist military rebellion. Already on July 23 bomber squadrons struck Palma de Mallorca and Cabrera, and on August 1, a Republican expeditionary force from Menorca landed at Cabrera and resisted all efforts to dislodge it.

These actions, however, and in particular the Mallorca landings, were never approved by the Madrid government and had from their conception an air of confusion and improvisation. On August 2 Bayo assembled a column of Barcelona militia on Menorca; the next day, the Republican air force dropped bombs on Palma once more. By August 6 logistical preparations, overseen by the Barcelona government and the council of Catalan militias ("Comité Central de Milicias Antifascistas de Cataluña"), were complete.

The Nationalist garrison of Formentara capitulated to Manuel Uribarri's Valencian militia on August 7. On the 13th, 400 Catalan militia occupied Carbrera in an assault apparently unrelated to Bayo's expedition. Bayo tried to coordinate the two forces but the Anarchist militias, distrustful of his Communist sympathies, refused to commit themselves to his operation.

[edit] The Battle

On August 16, with various units of the Republican fleet in support, Bayo landed his force of 8,000 militia at Punta Amer and Porto Cristo. Despite problems unloading and deploying their six 75mm and four 105mm guns, the Republicans managed to push 12km inland against the Nationalist garrison consisting of 1,200 regular infantry, 300 Guardia Civil, and hundreds of Falangist volunteers.

However, the Nationalists' fortunes improved dramatically on August 27 when supplies and aid arrived from nearby Fascist Italy. The Republican bomber forces ranging overhead were cut down and replaced by Italian aircraft. Consequently, the Republicans were unable to withstand the Nationalist counterattack on the ground and fell back in confusion, abandoning their guns and equipment. The reembarkation began on September 5; the Republicans held the beaches until September 12, when the last ship steamed off in retreat, leaving the island in Nationalist hands.

The Nationalist response was swift and, in contrast, remarkably successful. A week after the retreat from Mallorca, Cabrera had once again fallen to the Nationalists. Ibiza was captured on September 19 by the Mallorca garrison and Formentera fell on the 20th.

[edit] References

• Hugh Thomas (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Modern Library. ISBN 0-375-75515-2.