Auts

During the Spanish Civil War Auts were the scene of violent fighting during the initial phase of the battle of the Ebro, where the 42nd Republican division began the passage of the Ebro river through this area on the early morning of July 25, although it was surrounded by Francoists forces.

The operation of Mequinenza-Fayón, secondary in the Battle of the Ebro respect to the main objective - the advance towards Gandesa-, began on July 25 with the crossing of the river and the conquest of a bridgehead between the towns of Fayón and Mequinenza. Its balance was one of the bloodiest in the battle of the Ebro, for the Republican side, 817 dead and 1,328 prisoners without counting the wounded and missing (about 3,000 casualties), and by the Franco army, 135 dead and 1,284 wounded. Finally, the survivors of the 42nd Republican Division had to cross the Ebro in the opposite direction.

The objective of the Republican offensive was to set the enemy's reserves and cut the road from Mequinenza to Maella at precisely the height of the "Gilabert Crossing." This knot, however, was never conquered. To the initial effort of the 226 Brigade and part of the 227 Brigade of the 42nd Division, which quickly conquered the Alto de los Auts, the Francoists replied with the progressive arrival of reinforcements. The offensive continued day after day without significant progress despite the heavy fighting. On August 1, a double air and artillery bombardment preceded a first counterattack by Franco's forces. The republicans would attack again two days in a last attempt to conquer the 'Gilbert Crossing' while on August 6th there was the definitive counterattack of the defenders, who withdrew until midnight of the same day, avoiding the collapse of the entire division.

The parts of war from the Francoist side explain:

"The punishment inflicted on the enemy has been very hard, since more than 900 corpses of the Reds have been collected, including that of the head of a Brigade and many officers. In addition, 1,600 repetition rifles, 56 machine guns, 180 rifle-machine gunners have been collected and a lot of material, which in their defeat they have not been able to withdraw."

Among the Francoists, the units that split the most casualties were the 3rd, 17th and 18th Flags of the Legion, the 9th Tabor of Alhucemas and the 9th of Tetuán.

Six decades after the events, on August 8, 1998, the "Quinta del Biberón", a group of survivors inaugurated the monument erected on the hillside of the Alto de los Auts, a key position, the highest and most strongly defended by the Republicans of the Mequinenza-Fayón battle. The monument, designed by Javier Torres, is chaired by two plaques, in Catalan and Spanish, and two helmets on each side. The plaque says: 'To all those who lost, who were all'. The event involved up to 250 "biberones" accompanied by their families. After making a floral offering at the foot of the monument, the veterans recalled the thirst, heat and illness they suffered at those spaces.

The Monument is located next to the Mequinenza road at the end of the port of Fayón, where a sign indicating the access to the monolith has been overcome.

The name "Auts" comes most likely from an ancient Catalan word for "heights", "alts" in modern Catalan. Referring to hills this name appears, for example, in Ramon Llull's following text:

«Los cavaliers veem que fant castells i forces en los auts munts, per tal que si son vensuts ni sobrats en los píans, que fugen en los munts».[1]

Map of the Battle of the Ebro .

• Battle of the Ebro
• La Franja

• Jaume Aguadé i Sordé, El diari de guerra de Lluís Randé i Inglés; Batalles del Segre i de l’Ebre i camps de concentració (abril 1938 - juliol 1939), El Tinter ISBN 84-9791-082-6

• Atles de la Guerra Civil a Catalunya
• La Batalla del Ebro - Mequinensa.com