Battle of Santander

Battle of Santander
Part of the Spanish Civil War
Machine gun nest in Santander.
Date August 14 - September 17, 1937 Location Cantabria, Spain Result Decisive Nationalist victory
Belligerents
Spanish Republic	Nationalist Spain Corpo Truppe Volontarie Condor Legion
Commanders and leaders
Mariano Gamir Ulibarri Adolfo Prada	Fidel Dávila Arrondo José Solchaga Ettore Bastico
Strength
80,000 infantry 50 artillery batteries 44 airplanes	90,000 (25,000 italians) infantry 126 guns 220 aircraft
Casualties and losses
60,000 captured	Nationalist: 30,000 dead, wounded, captured Italian: 486 dead 1,546 wounded one missing

The Battle of Santander was fought over the summer of 1937 in the War in the North campaign in the Spanish Civil War. Santander's fall on August 26 assured the Nationalist conquest of the province of Santander, now Cantabria, and marked the last stand of the Republic's "Army of the North," which was destroyed and captured in the fighting.

After the fall of Bilbao on 16 June and the end of the failed Republican offensive at Brunete on 25 July, the Nationalists decided to continue their offensive in the North and occupied the Cantabria Province.

The Nationalists' Army of the North had 90,000 men (of which, 25,000 Italian), led by general Davila. The Italian force, led by General Bastico, comprised Bergonzoli's Littorio Division, Frusci's Black Flames Division and Francischi's 23 March Division. The Nationalists had also six Navarrese brigades led by Colonel Solchaga, two Castilian brigades led by General Ferrer, and one mixed Hispano-Italian division, the Black Arrows, led by Colonel Piazzioni. The Nationalists had also 220 modern aircraft on this front (70 of the Condor Legion, 80 of the Aviazione Legionaria and 70 Spanish), including many Me-109 fighters.

Opposing them, the Republicans had Prada's 14th Army Corps and José García Vayas's 15th Army Corps, under the overall command of General Mariano Gámir Ulíbarri; a total of about 80,000 men. The Republicans had also 44 aircraft (mostly slow and old, except 18 Soviet-built fighters). Furthermore, the morale of the Republican trops was low and Basque soldiers thought that they might surrender to the Italians, in return for their lives.

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