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So there was a good deal of innocent idealism.

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Originally posted by tin can, do you think that '95 Winchester is Russian?

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Abraham Lincoln Battalion

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Originally posted by TrapperP:
Probably not too far off, have a look at this:

.....
My, how time changes things!

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Originally posted by TrapperP:
Now, this is something I can get my teeth into. Francisco Franco used "dummy companies" to "lease" planes and tanks and recruited "volunteers" from the Luftwaffe and the Panzer Corps to serve in Spain. These "volunteers" wore no German uniforms and the planes carried no German markings and no active involvement was allowed. It soon became apparent the Spanish pilots had difficulty flying and could not maintain the planes, and at this point direct German involvement became unavoidable. It was about this point Mussolini and the Italian government sent substantial military aid and personnel to assist Franco's fascist struggle.

“THE LEGION CONDOR-AN OVERVIEWâ€

The German military presence in Spain was designated the Legion Condor and was mainly an air effort. By November, 1936, German military assistance to Franco consisted of a small naval presence, the North Sea Group (mainly 2 pocket battleships, 4 cruisers, a flotilla of torpedo boats and several U-boats); a land-based force (Army Group Imker) consisting of mainly 3 Panzer tank companies; and a substantial air force contingent. Initially this involved a bomber group consisting of three Ju-52 squadrons, a fighter group consisting of three He-51 squadrons, a reconnaissance squadron of twelve He-70 aircraft, a flak battalion, a communications battalion, a transport battalion and a supply battalion. Over the duration of the war, the German "volunteers" in Spain at any one time numbered only 5000-6000. Almost from the beginning, Hitler's policy provided sufficient military aid to Franco to prevent a Republican victory but not enough for a decisive Nationalist victory. He wanted to "keep the conflict going" and keep the world's attention focused on something other than his own territorial objectives.

THE LUFTWAFFE COMPONENT OF THE LEGION CONDOR

Kampfgruppe 88 was made up initially of 3 (and later 4) squadrons of trimotored Junkers Ju-52 bombers. Jagdgruppe 88 was made up initially of 3 (and later 5) squadrons of Heinkel He-51 biwinged fighters. A squadron was typically 12-16 airplanes with 20-25 pilots and 80-100 ground support personnel. The slow, cumbersome Ju-52 bombers and He-51 fighters were no match for the superior Russian-made planes and did not fare well in the early JU-87 stages of the conflict. Gradually these out-of-date planes were replaced with state-of-the-art Heinkel He-111 bombers, Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive bombers, and Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighters. Typically, Luftwaffe "volunteer" personnel spent 9 month tours in Spain before being rotated back to Germany.

LUFTWAFFE OPERATIONS IN THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR

Spain was used as a proving ground to test the new weapons and tactics of the fledgling Luftwaffe, a sort of "dress rehearsal" for the upcoming inevitable war in Europe. Since there were very few targets of strategic importance, the Luftwaffe's role evolved into one of mainly close support of ground operations. They regularly attacked forward enemy troop concentrations, enemy airfields and supply lines particularly with the Ju-87 Stuka dive bombers. Fighter pilots developed and refined dog fighting techniques for air-to-air combat situations as well as effective bomber escort techniques. Bomber crews experienced the difficulties of hitting targets from high altitudes and night navigation problems. The Germans experimented with massive area bombing of a civilian area when they attacked the town of Guernica in Northern Spain on April 26, 1937. Like most other subsequent terror bombing attacks on urban areas later in the war, (London, Hamburg, Dresden, Berlin) the attempt to demoralize the population failed. Ironically, legitimate military targets including a key bridge and a munitions/arms factory were undamaged by the attack.â€
[[from http://www.ww2wings.com/wings/legioncondor/legioncondormain.shtml]]

And the Germans did in fact use the Spanish Civil War to refine and develop many of the weapons that were later well known throughout the world: Such weapons as the 88MM Flak 18 and etc, the Pak 43, etc. And we know from documented text that such notables as Adolf Galland served in Spain, commanded 3 / J88, the ‘Mickey Mouse’ Squadron and was awarded the Spanish Cross in Gold with Diamonds for achievements in air warfare. The unconditional support of such notables as Galland et al, such items as the Flak 18 and the men that were there have always seemed to indicate the Nationalists were better served both in men and material than were the Republicans, or Loyalists. It would seem the Spanish actually had little to do with the ultimate outcome but rather the foreign types fighting in Spain. What a strange world. These are well documented items from recorded history.
What I do not know is the amounts and types of small arms used. As someone has posted, I’m sure everything available was used and we know this ran the gamut from the Spanish “Tigre†carbines to who knows what weapons brought in from the opposing countries that came to fight in Spain. No wonder Hemingway and others found such fertile fields of material from which to write!

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Originally posted by El Deguello:

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Originally posted by TrapperP:
Now, this is something I can get my teeth into. Francisco Franco used "dummy companies" to "lease" planes and tanks and recruited "volunteers" from the Luftwaffe and the Panzer Corps to serve in Spain. These "volunteers" wore no German uniforms and the planes carried no German markings and no active involvement was allowed. It soon became apparent the Spanish pilots had difficulty flying and could not maintain the planes, and at this point direct German involvement became unavoidable. It was about this point Mussolini and the Italian government sent substantial military aid and personnel to assist Franco's fascist struggle.

“THE LEGION CONDOR-AN OVERVIEWâ€

The German military presence in Spain was designated the Legion Condor and was mainly an air effort. By November, 1936, German military assistance to Franco consisted of a small naval presence, the North Sea Group (mainly 2 pocket battleships, 4 cruisers, a flotilla of torpedo boats and several U-boats); a land-based force (Army Group Imker) consisting of mainly 3 Panzer tank companies; and a substantial air force contingent. Initially this involved a bomber group consisting of three Ju-52 squadrons, a fighter group consisting of three He-51 squadrons, a reconnaissance squadron of twelve He-70 aircraft, a flak battalion, a communications battalion, a transport battalion and a supply battalion. Over the duration of the war, the German "volunteers" in Spain at any one time numbered only 5000-6000. Almost from the beginning, Hitler's policy provided sufficient military aid to Franco to prevent a Republican victory but not enough for a decisive Nationalist victory. He wanted to "keep the conflict going" and keep the world's attention focused on something other than his own territorial objectives.

THE LUFTWAFFE COMPONENT OF THE LEGION CONDOR

Kampfgruppe 88 was made up initially of 3 (and later 4) squadrons of trimotored Junkers Ju-52 bombers. Jagdgruppe 88 was made up initially of 3 (and later 5) squadrons of Heinkel He-51 biwinged fighters. A squadron was typically 12-16 airplanes with 20-25 pilots and 80-100 ground support personnel. The slow, cumbersome Ju-52 bombers and He-51 fighters were no match for the superior Russian-made planes and did not fare well in the early JU-87 stages of the conflict. Gradually these out-of-date planes were replaced with state-of-the-art Heinkel He-111 bombers, Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive bombers, and Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighters. Typically, Luftwaffe "volunteer" personnel spent 9 month tours in Spain before being rotated back to Germany.

LUFTWAFFE OPERATIONS IN THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR

Spain was used as a proving ground to test the new weapons and tactics of the fledgling Luftwaffe, a sort of "dress rehearsal" for the upcoming inevitable war in Europe. Since there were very few targets of strategic importance, the Luftwaffe's role evolved into one of mainly close support of ground operations. They regularly attacked forward enemy troop concentrations, enemy airfields and supply lines particularly with the Ju-87 Stuka dive bombers. Fighter pilots developed and refined dog fighting techniques for air-to-air combat situations as well as effective bomber escort techniques. Bomber crews experienced the difficulties of hitting targets from high altitudes and night navigation problems. The Germans experimented with massive area bombing of a civilian area when they attacked the town of Guernica in Northern Spain on April 26, 1937. Like most other subsequent terror bombing attacks on urban areas later in the war, (London, Hamburg, Dresden, Berlin) the attempt to demoralize the population failed. Ironically, legitimate military targets including a key bridge and a munitions/arms factory were undamaged by the attack.â€
[[from http://www.ww2wings.com/wings/legioncondor/legioncondormain.shtml]]

And the Germans did in fact use the Spanish Civil War to refine and develop many of the weapons that were later well known throughout the world: Such weapons as the 88MM Flak 18 and etc, the Pak 43, etc. And we know from documented text that such notables as Adolf Galland served in Spain, commanded 3 / J88, the ‘Mickey Mouse’ Squadron and was awarded the Spanish Cross in Gold with Diamonds for achievements in air warfare. The unconditional support of such notables as Galland et al, such items as the Flak 18 and the men that were there have always seemed to indicate the Nationalists were better served both in men and material than were the Republicans, or Loyalists. It would seem the Spanish actually had little to do with the ultimate outcome but rather the foreign types fighting in Spain. What a strange world. These are well documented items from recorded history.
What I do not know is the amounts and types of small arms used. As someone has posted, I’m sure everything available was used and we know this ran the gamut from the Spanish “Tigre†carbines to who knows what weapons brought in from the opposing countries that came to fight in Spain. No wonder Hemingway and others found such fertile fields of material from which to write!

This is really interesting because when I was in Spain in 1956 visiting a US (NATO) Air Force base (all US personnel there had to wear civilian clothes!) the Spanish Air Force was still flying the JU 88 twin-engine bomber. I suppose they had to fabricate parts in Spain, unless they had acquired a real big stockpile prior to 1945.

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Originally posted by tin can:
an error many make about Orwell is that his experience in Spain made him an anti-communist, when what it did do was make him an anti-Stalinist; Orwell's actual core politics remained intact.