Siege of Madrid
By early November, the Siege of Madrid was underway and the need for men was great. The 600-man strong Dabrowski Battalion, along with the rest of XI International Brigade were the first units of the International Brigades to go into action.
| “ | The first intervention of the International Brigades, in the siege of Madrid on 8 November 1936, would become legendary. The first Brigade to arrive was the XI with 1,700 men, mainly Germans, French, Belgians and Poles, followed by the XII four days later with another 1,550. The CNT press in the capital reported their arrival in the early hours of the morning 'in silent and damp streets: Marching firmly, their footsteps echoing on the cobblestones... singing revolutionary songs in French, German, Italian... The people ran out to cheer them,' convinced these strangely uniformed men had been sent by Russia and 'if their powerful ally Russia...intervened on their side anything was possible...the cry rang out from many a balcony--Long live the Russians !' After two days of combat half the XI were dead. ***CITATION*** | ” |
The Dabrowski Battalion was in the thick of the action - at University City and Casa de Campo - losing two thirds of its men. It was subsequently reinforced by new volunteers arriving from Albacete and by Spanish volunteers, and regorganised into three Polish/Balkan companies and one Spanish company.
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“One likes people much better when they’re battered down by a prodigious siege of misfortune than when they triumph.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
“One likes people much better when they’re battered down by a prodigious siege of misfortune than when they triumph.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)