XVI Army Corps (Spain)

XVI Army Corps
XVI Cuerpo de Ejército
ActiveApril 30, 1938–March 1939
Country Spanish Republic
AllegianceSecond Spanish Republic Republican faction
Branch Spanish Republican Army
TypeInfantry
SizeCorps
Garrison/HQTarancón
EngagementsSpanish Civil War:
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Miguel Palacios Martínez

The XVI Army Corps was a military formation of the Spanish Republican Army that fought in the Spanish Civil War. It had an outstanding performance in the Levante campaign.

History

It was originally created on August 6, 1937 from the old Asturian II Army Corps. The command fell to José Gállego Aragüés.[1] It participated in the Battle of Santander, during which it suffered such losses that it was dissolved.

In April 1938, the XVI Army Corps was recreated again in the downtown area, with its headquarters in Tarancón. Miguel Palacios Martínez took over the command of the unit.[2] He was soon sent to the Levante front, in support of the republican forces that resisted the nationalist offensive that was trying to take Valencia. The XVI Army Corps was located between the XIII and XIX corps, in the Teruel sector.[2] At the beginning of July it faced a renewed offensive in the Teruel sector, suffering considerable casualties. At the climax of the Battle of Levante, the corps integrated the 39th, 48th and 52nd divisions;[3] after the beginning of the Battle of the Ebro the Levante front stabilized. During the rest of the war, the XVI Corps did not intervene in any relevant military operation.

Command

Commanders
  • Miguel Palacios Martínez;[4]
Commissars
Chiefs of Staff
  • Francisco Arderiu Perales;[2]

Organization

Date Attached Army Integrated divisions Battlefront
August 6, 1937 Northern Army 56th, 57th and 58th Asturias-Santander
April 30, 1938 GERC 13th, 14th, 48th Reservation
July 4, 1938 Levantine Army 39th, 48th Levante
August 1938 Levantine Army 39th, 48th, 52nd Levante

References

  1. ^ Martínez Bande 1972, p. 33.
  2. ^ a b c Martínez Bande 1977, p. 152.
  3. ^ Juan Navarro 2010, p. 69.
  4. ^ Engel 1999, p. 190.
  5. ^ Herrerín López 2004, p. 137.

Bibliography

  • Engel, Carlos (1999). Historia de las Brigadas Mixtas del Ejército Popular de la República (in Spanish). Madrid, Almena. ISBN 84-922644-7-0.
  • Herrerín López, Ángel (2004). La CNT durante el franquismo: clandestinidad y exilio (1939-1975) (in Spanish). Siglo XXI de España. ISBN 9788432311529.
  • Juan Navarro, Ramón (2010). Resistir es vencer. El frente de Viver en la Guerra Civil española (in Spanish). Lulu.com. ISBN 978-1-4466-9664-4.
  • Martínez Bande, José Manuel (1972). El final del frente norte (in Spanish). Madrid: Ed. San Martín.
  • Martínez Bande, José Manuel (1977). La ofensiva sobre Valencia (in Spanish). Madrid: Editorial San Martín.