14th Division (Spain)

The unit was created from the Mera Column, led by the anarchist Cipriano Mera.[1] The new division was integrated - together with the 11th and 12th divisions - in the new 4th Army Corps, under the command of Enrique Jurado Barrio.[2] The 12th International Brigade — within which the Garibaldi Battalion was integrated - was also assigned to the 14th Division.[2]

Shortly after its creation, the 14th Division faced the Battle of Guadalajara. With the support of the other republican divisions, the enemy attack was stopped. On March 18, the Mera Division, operating on the right flank of the republican front, and the 11th Division of Enrique Lister, with the support of 70 Soviet T-26 tanks, launched an attack and seized the town of Brihuega; the nationalist forces fled in disarray, leaving behind prisoners and war equipment.[3][4] By the end of March the front stabilized after the Republicans managed to recover a large part of the territory.

In July 1937, facing the Battle of Brunete, the unit was initially placed in reserve. It intervened towards the end of the fighting, after the defeat of Lister's 11th Division. On July 24 it was scheduled to relieve Líster's forces from the front line, although the fighting prevented it.[5] On the morning of July 25, the units of the 14th Division launched a counterattack to the southwest of Brunete, counting on the support of Republican aviation.[6][7] Despite the resistance offered by the 14th Division, it failed to maintain its positions. Once the fighting in Brunete ended, the division returned to the Guadalajara front, where it remained for the following months without intervening in relevant operations.

In the spring of 1938 it was sent to the Levante front as a reserve unit, acting as relief for other units broken by enemy offensives.

In March 1939 some of its units participated in the Casado coup. This was the case of the 70th Mixed Brigade of Bernabé López Calle, which on the morning of March 6 occupied various strategic points in Madrid, such as the Alameda de Osuna, the Ministry of Finance and the Telefónica building.[8] Members of the 35th and 50th mixed brigades also took part in support of the rebellious forces. The 14th Division dissolved itself shortly after, with the end of the war.

Commanders

• Cipriano Mera;[9]
• Francisco Jiménez Durán;
• Rafael Gutiérrez Caro;[10][11]
• Joaquín Martínez Sánchez[12]

Commissars

• Mariano Valle Soria, of the CNT;[13][14]

Chiefs of Staff

• Antonio Verardini Díez de Ferreti[15]

• List of Spanish Republican divisions
• Mera Column

• Alexander, Robert J. (1999). The Anarchists in the Spanish Civil War. Volumen I. Janus Publishing Company Lim. ISBN 978-1-85756-412-9.
• Alpert, Michael (2013). El Ejército Republicano en la Guerra Civil (in Spanish). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 84-3230-682-7.
• Álvarez, Santiago (1989). Los comisarios políticos en el Ejército Popular de la República (in Spanish). Ediciós do Castro.
• Bahamonde Magro, Ángel; Cervera Gil, Javier (1999). Así terminó la Guerra de España (in Spanish). Madrid: Marcial Pons. ISBN 84-95379-00-7.
• Beevor, Antony (2005). La Guerra civil española (in Spanish). Editorial Crítica.
• Castells Peig, Andreu (1974). Las brigadas internacionales de la guerra de España (in Spanish). Editorial Ariel.
• Engel, Carlos (1999). Historia de las Brigadas Mixtas del Ejército Popular de la República (in Spanish). Madrid: Almena. ISBN 84-922644-7-0.
• Llarch, Joan (1976). Cipriano Mera. Un anarquista en la guerra de España (in Spanish). Euros.
• Martínez Bande, José Manuel (1972). La Ofensiva sobre Segovia y la batalla de Brunete. Madrid: San Martín.
• Martínez Bande, José Manuel (1981). La batalla de Pozoblanco y el cierre de la bolsa de Mérida (in Spanish). Madrid: Editorial San Martín.
• Ruiz, Julius (2014). The 'Red Terror' and the Spanish Civil War: Revolutionary Violence in Madrid. Cambridge University Press.
• Salas Larrazábal, Ramón (2006). Historia del Ejército Popular de la República (in Spanish). La Esfera de los Libros. ISBN 84-9734-465-0.
• Thomas, Hugh (1976). Historia de la Guerra Civil Española (in Spanish). Barcelona: Círculo de Lectores. ISBN 9788497598323.
• Zaragoza, Cristóbal (1983). Ejército Popular y Militares de la República, 1936-1939 (in Spanish). Barcelona: Ed. Planeta.