digging francos trenches

8/11/2019 Digging Francos Trenches

1/32

Originally published inJournal of Conflict Archaeology6(2), 2011, pp. 97-123.

Digging Francos trenches: an archaeological investigation of a

Nationalist position from the Spanish Civil War

Alfredo Gonzlez-Ruibal.

Abstract

As part of a project on the archaeology of the civil war and dictatorship in Spain, a

Nationalist position was excavated in the village of Abnades (Guadalajara), which was

occupied between March 1937 and the end of the war. The sector that we excavated

comprised a trench, two dugouts, and a stone-and-concrete covered trench. The findings

allow us to know more about daily life in General Francos trenches, but they also offer

insights into totalitarian ideology, international involvement in the conflict and war

economy.

Keywords

Conflict archaeology, archaeology of the contemporary past, Spanish Civil War,

Nationalist fortification, fascism, Battle of Guadalajara.

1. Introduction

Since 2006, my team and I have been conducting archaeological surveys and

excavations in the vestiges of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and the early period

of the Francoist dictatorship (ca. 1939-1950). The main goal of the research is to

produce a narrative of war and fascism from an archaeological point of view, that is, an

alternative account of a historical period that has been extensively studied by historians

using written documents and oral testimonies (Thomas 1976; Beevor 2006, Preston

2007). As archaeologists, our data are all things material that have survived from that

period: from shell casings to entire landscapes. So far, we have conducted research on

battlefields, prisons, forced labour camps, concentration camps, Francoist monuments,

and settlements created after the war (Falquina et al. 2008; Gonzlez-Ruibal 2009;

Gonzlez Ruibal et al. 2010).


2/32

2

In 2008 we excavated a Republican trench in the front of Madrid, in the area of

the University City, which witnessed some of the fiercest combats during 1936 and

where the International Brigades fought for the first time (Gonzlez-Ruibal et al. 2010).

The trench and dugouts were surprisingly well preserved despite being part of the

modern university campus and surrounded by modern buildings and highways. Theexcavation allowed us to document different episodes of the war, including the violent

clashes of 1936 and the war of attrition that ensued until March 1939. The presence of

the International Brigades was recorded through the presence of particular kinds of

ammunition that were used by them during November and December 1936, such as the

old 10.4 mm bullets shot by the Vetterli Vitali rifle and the 0.303 bullets of the M1917

rifle. The general impression obtained with the excavation was of poorly armed and

poorly equipped soldiers and a front that, despite being stable, was more active than we

had thought. The dire situation of the Republican troops in Madrid is made clear in thearchaeological record through simple facts like the scarcity of shell casings. This is the

practical effect of an order that we found in the military archives: officers at the

University City were asked to collect all spent ammunition for recycling (cf. Gonzlez-

Ruibal et al. 2010).

After this intervention, the plan was to explore the other side. In the case of the

University City this was difficult to do, because, unlike the Republican lines, the

Nationalist trenches at the University were mostly destroyed by new buildings,

landscaping and roads after the war. On the other hand, I was interested in working in

the fronts around Madrid, and particularly the front of Guadalajara. As opposed to the

suburban area of Madrid, Guadalajara is a rural region that was left virtually untouched

after the war and has suffered very little from the activities of metal detectorists in

recent times. At the same time, the front of Guadalajara is directly related to the siege of

Madrid. After the battles of Madrid, La Corua Road and the Jarama (between

November 1936 and February 1937), the Battle of Guadalajara (8-27 March 1937) was

the last Nationalist attempt to break the defences of the capital (Thomas 1976: 655). As

the other offensives, it was also a failure, which took the lives of up to 3,000 Italian

soldiers and infuriated Mussolini (Thomas 1976: 652). The Republicans lost a limited

amount of terrain, although they also suffered heavy casualties. As in the other cases,

the battle ended with both armies deeply and heavily entrenched in the stabilized front.

Republicans and Nationalists constructed hundreds of kilometres of trenches and

thousands of pillboxes, bunkers, underground hospitals, shelters and other fortifications


3/32

3

(Castellano Ruiz de la Torre 2008) in what was a very traditional and sparsely

populated countryside. As it occurred in the Western Front during the First World War,

a pastoral landscape was transformed into an industrial wasteland in a matter of months.

Unlike in most of the Western Front, though, the landscape of Guadalajara remained

massively overlaid by tons of concrete, barbed wire and unexploded ordnance, withwhich the peasants of the region learned to cohabitand even benefit from. As this was

neither an area of intensive agriculture or densely populated, no great efforts were taken

to cover up the traces of the war.

2. The front of Abnades

Our excavations were carried out in the small village of Abnades, more specifically in

El Castillo Hill, an advanced and heavily fortified position of the Francoist army. The

village was on the frontline for the whole duration of the war and changed hands inseveral occasions. Thus, we know that it was under control of the Nationalist Army by

the end of 1936, but before the beginning of the Battle of Guadalajara, on March 8 1937,

it has fallen in Republican hands. The area witnessed several combats during the

months of January and February 1937. During the offensive of the Battle of Guadalajara

(8-11 March 1937), the Corpo di Truppe Volontarie (the army sent by Benito Mussolini

to fight with the Spanish fascists) advanced through the Tajua river, which surrounds

Abnades from the north and west, and captured the village (Salas Larrazbal 1973:

868). At this moment, Abnades was guarded by the 50th

Mixed Brigade, which wasstill undergoing training (Engel 1999: 56). The capture of the village by the Italians

was still remembered by 93-year old Buenaventura, a neighbour of Abnades, who

vividly narrated the artillery bombing that preceded the attack and that affected his own

house. The offensive was continued by the Nationalist troops, the Soria Division of

General Moscard (73rdDivision). However, the Republican counter-offensive (15-23

March) and the subsequent pressure on the Nationalist lines put the latter troops in a

liable position. Two months after the end of the battle, in May 1937, the high command

considered abandoning the zone and retreating north of the Tajua river. Finally,however, General Moscard ordered the 3rdBrigade of the Soria Division to hold their

positions at all costs.

For the rest of the war, those in charge of keeping the Republicans at bay will be

the members of the 75thDivision. In front of them deployed the 33rdDivision of the

Army of the Centre (Castellano Ruiz de la Torre 2008). Although consigned to oblivion


4/32

4

after the Battle of Guadalajara, the Abnades front was the object of several minor

offensives and counter-offensives. The most important episode was a Republican

offensive launched the 31 of March of 1938, which was followed by a Nationalist

counter-attack in mid-April (Martnez Bande 1981: 156). As a result of these operations,

the frontline was only slightly altered.Republican and Nationalist positions were very close in Abnades throughout

the war (FIGURE 1). El Castillo Hill, for instance, is only 400 metres away from the

Republican trenches of Rondal Hill, to the south. In fact, El Castillo was almost

completely besieged by Republican positions. The village of Abnades, seriously

affected by bombing, became a depopulated no-mans land, a half-ruined ghost village

looted by both sides. According to witnesses, furniture and curtains were reused by the

Francoist soldiers in their shelters of El Castillo Hill. The situation was reversed after

the war, when the villagers looted the position and took with them everything that couldbe recycled: from metal sheet to shell casings. For several years after the end of the war,

the neighbours made a living of selling war debris, a fact that explains that they have

paradoxically fond memories of the conflict.

3. The Nationalist fortifications at El Castillo Hill.

El Castillo Hill (1089 metres a.m.s.l.) was surrounded by a trench endowed with several

concrete elements and dugouts (FIGURE 2). The choice of this site to conduct our

excavation was motivated for two reasons: on the one hand, the mayor of Abnades wasinterested in making the place available for visitors and had already cleared the hill of

scrub, designed a tourist route, and put up some signs and posters. On the other hand,

the hill has some of the better preserved and most complete examples of Nationalist

fortifications in the entire region, which has been inventoried in detail by an amateur

association (Castellano Ruiz de la Torre 2008). The fortifications of El Castillo were

probably built between June 1937, after the Francoist high command decided not retreat,

and April 1938, when the Nationalist counter-offensive came to a halt. There is at least

one graffiti dated 1938 in one of the covered trenches. Thanks to the publishedmemories of a former war prisoner, trade unionist Eduardo Uribe (2007: 108), we know

that there was a battalion for labouring work, made up of Republican prisoners, building

the fortifications in 1937. Uribe remembers that the trenches were bombed by the

Republicans when they were being built.


5/32

5

The remains that can be seen today in El Castillo can be grouped into five

categories: trenches; covered trenches; pillboxes; a machine-gun pillbox, and

shelters/dugouts.

1) The trench surrounds the hill from east to north and has 330 metres. It is a typical

main fire trench, very narrow (80 cm) and of variable depth (120-160 cm in the area weexcavated). The protection was enhanced with sandbags, corrugated sheet and metallic

mesh. It is dug on the earth and the bedrock, which is an easily breakable limestone.

There are several communication trenches that come out of the main trench and link the

fortification with the valley of the Tajua river to the north (that is, with the rest of the

Nationalist army to the other side of the river).

2) The covered trenches are ditches lined with masonry and concrete and which were

originally roofed with corrugated asbestos and cement (a material called uralita) orcorrugated metal sheet. They have several loopholes with a steep angle, so as to shoot

the possible attackers coming up from the valley. Some, wider, loopholes are for

machine-guns. Nine elements of this kind were identified.

3) Pillboxes can be distinguished from covered trenches only in that they are not dug in

the ground, but built-up. They have the same wavy layout and loopholes of covered

trenches, but they were constructed in those places were the bedrock did not allow to

break off the ground. There are two structures of this kind in the westernmost part of the

hill. In the instructions for fortification issued in October 1937 by the Nationalist army,

it is advised that in hard surfaces, trenches be replaced by stone parapets in the shape

of a bracket or circle. The walls, made with stone and concrete, will be 60 cm thick in

those parts facing the enemy and will have a more simple wall in the part not exposed to

direct impacts (cit. in Castellano Ruiz de la Torre 2004: 68). In Abnades the rear wall

is as thick as the one facing the enemy.

4) There is only one machine-gun pillbox: a poligonal structure with two large

loopholes of the kind usually employed to place heavy machine-guns (cf. Castellano

Ruiz de la Torre 2004: 71).

5) The shelters, of varying shape and size, are dug either in the earth or the limestone

and they are always located behind the trench, that is, facing the enemy. They do not


6/32

6

often have a corridor that communicates the dugout and the trench, but open directly to

the trench. This way of making shelters had already been abandoned during the First

World War, because it made them very vulnerable to enemy fire (Robertshaw and

Kenyon 2008: 67).

El Castillo shows the typical military logic of the Francoist army, in which

isolated positions were privileged as opposed to the continuous trench (inherited from

the First World War) that predominated in the Republican side. There are other

differences between El Castillo and the neighbouring Republican positions: the most

obvious one is the materials that have been used by each side. Whereas concrete and

steel are plentiful in El Castillo and other Nationalist fortifications of the area, in the

Republican lines we find mostly dug-out trenches and trenches lined with dry stone (no

concrete or steel). This is an eloquent testimony of the shortages that the legitimategovernment increasingly suffered as the war proceeded.

4. The archaeological excavations at El Castillo

The hill is divided into two main parts: the top and a lower terrace, which are connected

through stone and concrete stairs. We choose a place in the lower terrace where three of

the mentioned types of elements were found together: a shelter (which turned up to be

two), a trench and a covered trench (FIGURA 3). The trenches and dugouts were

covered with earth and rubble, which is a good indication of a potentially well preservedcontext. We distinguished two sectors: Sector 01 comprises the trench and the dugouts

and Sector 02 includes a covered trench facing the Republican positions at the Rondal

Hill and several dugoutsthe latter were not excavated.

All artefacts retrieved during the intervention were recorded with a total station.

637 items were documented. In general, all materials appear in very good condition and

rather complete. Many tin cans, for instance, retain their labels and lettering. We used a

metal detector all the time, both for safety and to avoid losing any significant materials.

We also employed it for surveying the parapets, but with little success. The artefactsprobably rolled off down the hill.

4.1. Sector 01: trench and dugouts

The excavation here unearthed two structures (01 and 02), that we had considered a

single shelter before excavation; part of a fire trench in zigzag; the beginning of a


7/32

7

communication trench; a corridor communicating the two shelters, and stairs carved on

the earth that connect one of the shelters (Dugout 01) with another one situated in a

higher position (FIGURE 4). Interestingly, the excavation of the trenches drilled

through early medieval and late Iron Age levels, which offered a large amount of

pottery and bones. The entire sector was filled back with earth, rubble and garbage afterthe end of the war. From the disposition, composition and texture of the filling layers, it

is possible to infer that the earth with which every structure was refilled came from the

nearby area, that is, the soil and rocks used to cover the dugouts and ditches were the

same that had been extracted during the fortification works. This is only logical, as it

would be a meaningless effort to bring rubble from other places. This means that,

although the location of the archaeological materials does not give us the exact place

where they were originally used during the war, at least it permits to assert with some

certainty to which structures the materials were associated (cf. Robertshaw and Kenyon2008: 41) (FIGURE 5).

Structure 01 is an irregular space with walls dug on the geological substratum (either

limestone or a thick seam of red clay). The floor, which is terraced, was excavated in

the levelled limestone bedrock. There were probably sandbags protecting the entrance: a

short and steep corridor dug in the limestone. A groove was carved in the rock and then

partially covered with concrete to adjust a door. The structure was lined with wood

boards and corrugated metal sheet. These were reused by the neighbours after the war

(some of them can still be seen in orchards and farmyards): what are left in the site are

the nails used to fix them and the concrete negatives of corrugated sheet. The shelter

was probably only partially roofed, because the structure seems to be a communication

space rather than a proper shelter: the terraced floor indicates so, in addition to the

corridors or stairs that connect this place to two other shelters and the trench.

Structure 01 yielded a large amount of elements related to a mortar (FIGURE 6):

six fuses, four plugs, the lid that is inserted after the ignition cartridge, a load

supplement (a horse-shoe-shaped plastic container with gunpowder that increases the

range of the mortar round), two cogs, and a driving band. In the nearby shelter

(Structure 02) other mortar pieces turned up, including another cog, a spring, the ring of

a mortar head and two safety plugs. Other related items appeared in the trench and the

covered trench (part of the tail of a mortar round, a driving band, fragments of load

supplements, a spring and a fuse). The artefact scatter clearly points to the southern part


8/32

8

of Structure 01. It seems that the pieces slipped down the stairs that connect this

structure with the upper shelter (05). It is probable that this latter place was a mortar

position, at least at a certain point in time. The type of mortar that was used can be

inferred from the materials: an 81 mm Valero, which was a Spanish mortar widely used

during the Civil War by both sides (Manrique Garca and Molina Franco 2006: 142).The most significant find is a long cylindrical tin used for the transportation of load

supplements of this type of mortar that was found in the stratigraphic cut of Structure 02.

An unexploded mortar round was recently discovered in the valley south of El Castillo

Hill, which was in all likelihood shot from the place that we excavated.

Along with the mortar elements, we found several rifle cartridges, shell casings

(none fired), and stripper clips, concentrated mainly on the southern part of the shelter

(cf. figure 5). As in the case of the mortar, most shell casings and cartridges seem to

have come rolling down from a higher position. Due to the important amount of unusedammunition that we recovered here, it is reasonable to think that the cartridges were

kept in this area to be later used in the zones facing the enemy, such as the covered

trench (Sector 02). On the floor of Structure 01 we recorded several items related to

everyday life. Among the items collected, we can mention two clasps, a button, shoe

remains (fragments of four soles and a complete shoe), a hand-made clothes hanger and

a piece from a civilian suitcase (which was repainted olive drab). Items related to the

personal hygiene are a fragment of a mirror, a razor and a plastic comb. Especially

remarkable is a womans brooch made of cheap metallic alloy and fake stones. It is

probably a souvenir of the girlfriend of one of the soldiers fighting in Abnades. A

complete candle appeared in the entrance to the shelter. 25 tin cans were found among

the rubble that filled the structure after the war.

Structure 02 was completely excavated in the limestone (FIGURE 7). The entrance is

framed by a low masonry wall to the east and a packed earth wall to the west. On top of

the masonry wall it is possible to see traces of sackcloth imprinted on the concrete. This

proves that only the lower part of the wall was of stone and concrete, while the rest was

made of sandbags. As in Structure 01, we found many nails which were used to fix the

roofing and the lining of the walls. In the northeast corner there is a sort of hearth made

with solid bricks. There are no traces of burning, probably because the soldiers used a

stove or a trench brazier to make fire (Brown and Osgood 2009: 108). Over the brick

platform and close to the bedrock wall we found a fork and a German 7.92 mm Mauser


9/32

9

magazine (FIGURE 8). The shelters floor was made of gravel with packed earth, which

covered the excavated bedrock. Lying on the floor we recovered a 1.5 metre-high iron

picket of the kind used in barbed-wire fences. It was clearly thrown there after the end

of the war, during the burial of the trenches. Near the picket, a sickle turned up, also

from the postwar period. It was probably used in the burial works. This structure alsoyielded 25 tin cans of different kinds.

The trench itself was mostly dug in the limestone. The only part where this is not the

case is in front of Structure 02. For this reason, the facade of the shelter had to be

artificially made of masonry, packed earth and sandbags. The trench floor is the levelled

bedrock, in some places covered with packed gravel. We found several tin cans, shell

casings and cartridges in primary position, smashed and incrusted into the floor. A large

amount of military materials were discovered (shell casings, bullets, cartridges): twomagazines of German 7.92 mm Mauser, one with four bullets and another one with one,

appeared in situ on top of the parapet, near the communication trench. Another relevant

military find was an element of the trigger housing group of a bolt-action rifle from a

Spanish or German Mauser: it is the steel plate that holds the internal magazine spring.

Non-military items are the handle of a drawer and the lock of a cupboard. Another lock

was found in the neighbouring Structure 02. They were likely part of the furniture taken

by the soldiers from the village to make their shelters more comfortable. Other small

finds are a 10 cents coin from 1870, a button, a fragment of a pencil, a drawing pin, a

transfer-printed porcelain sherd, and part of a fork or spoon. The finding of a coin

minted in 1870 is not strange: the coin in question, known as Perra Gorda(Fat Bitch),

for the rampant lion it had on one side, was widely used until 1941. Another coin of the

same kind appeared nearby, in Structure 02.

Barbed wire and telephone and electric cable turned up in several places of the

trench and shelters. Electric cables are often tied with complex knots. Knot-tying

techniques are a traditional skill taught in the regular army, which reveals the more

professional character of the Nationalist soldiers, as opposed to the Popular Army of the

Republic. Several elements were retrieved related to the construction of the trench:

small L steel beams, uralita, solid bricks, tiles, nails, bolts and concrete. We found a

good portion of a metallic mesh in the trench of the type used to prevent the sandbags

collapsing. Part of the building materials were salvaged from the nearby houses, farms

and sheep pens: the tiles in particular are of the same kind that we can still see in


10/32

10

vernacular buildings. Novelist Ramn Fernndez de la Reguera wrote a fiction book

about a young fascist (falangista) soldier, Augusto, who fought in different scenarios

during the Civil War. One of them was Abnades. The author undoubtedly resorted to

the testimonies of a veteran (or several veterans) who fought there in order to describe

the war experience in this front. Regarding the construction of the trenches, Fernndezde la Reguera wrote:

The soldiers have to build their own shacks. They work eagerly. Sometimes they swear.

But in general, they laugh happily. They pile up stones, carry tiles from remote

parideras1, cut branches for camouflage(Fernndez de la Reguera 1969: 138).2

4.2. Sector 02: the covered trench

The covered trench (parapeto aspillerado3

) is a wavy ditch, lined with stone andconcrete (FIGURE 9) and roofed with corrugated metal sheet, uralitaor both materials.

It was also at least partially covered with camouflaged canvas, as proven by a metallic

buttonhole belonging to this kind of item (cf. Torres and Domnguez Solera 2008). This

kind of structure was very frequent in the stabilized fronts of the Spanish Civil War.

Typical examples are the loop-holed concrete galleries built by the Republican troops

who besieged Oviedo (Asturias) for three months in 1936 (lvarez Martnez et al. 2008:

108-112) or the Francoist concrete-reinforced trenches from the siege of Madrid (p.ej.

Castellano Ruiz de la Torre 2004: 190, 219).The covered trench surprised us positively for the abundance and good

preservation of war-related materials, many of them in situ. Before the excavation, we

though that, given the visibility of the concrete structure it would have been difficult

that any important items could have passed unnoticed and that either the neighbours

looking for scrap metal or the unexploded ordnance services of the Francoist army

would have collected everything on the surface. But this was clearly not the case. The

most likely reason is that the structure was buried immediately after the end of the war

under a thick layer of rubblethe stones and earth that had being previously extractedfor the construction of the trench. As in Sector 01, the covered trench received all the

materials that had been discarded from inside the structure during the war, which

returned, in this way, to where they had been previously used.

1Roofed sheep pen typical of Guadalajara.2I am grateful to Ismael Gallego for this reference.3I would like to thank Roger J.C. Thomas (English Heritage) for suggesting the English term.


11/32

11

A simple analysis renders the division of functions clear between Sector 01 and

02. In the covered trench there are very few tin cans (16% of the total) and, instead,

ammunition is plentiful: 65% of all the ammunition and, more importantly, 90% of all

fired shell casings found during the excavation: this is the reverse situation of what we

found in Sector 01 (84% of the tin cans and 10% of fired cartridges). The kind of bulletsis different also. In Sector 01 it was German 7.92 mm bullets that prevailed (57%). In

Sector 02 99% of the shell casings are of the 7 mm calibre (72 out of 73 items). 7 x 57

was the calibre of the standard Spanish Mauser (Oviedo model), which was widely used

by both sides during the war. The same cartridge, however, was also used by the

Hotchkiss M1914 machine-gun fabricated also in Oviedo under license. In fact, the

wide loophole of the eastern part of the trench was in all likelihood a machine-gun

position. Apart from the size and shape of the loophole, the earth floor is heavily

compacted here and was originally covered with wood planks (minute fragments ofwood were found all over the place), unlike the rest of the trench. Furthermore, on the

side opposite to the loophole there is an opening in the wall which has the perfect size to

store ammunition boxes. Some of the spent shell casings and stripper clips appeared in

situ here, over the floor and near the storing space. Along with the spent ammunition,

the most remarkable finding of the excavation turned up in this area: an Italian

M1915/16 helmet in almost pristine condition (FIGURE 10). It was probably kept

inside the storing space when the trench was abandoned. Another relevant military

artefact discovered inside the covered trench is a carrier for Lafitte M1921 grenades and

a piece of bandage that could have belonged to one of these grenades. This bulky

artefact was widely used by the Nationalist army (it was built in Sevilles ammunition

factory, in fascist hands from the beginning of the war) and was very dangerous, both

for the large amount of explosive material it carried and for the complex and unreliable

ignition mechanism (Manrique Garca and Molina Franco 2006: 72-75): instead of the

classic pull ring, it had a long safety pin tied to a piece of fabric (similar to a bandage)

that had to be unwrapped for the explosive charge to be activated.

The absence of shrapnel and bullets in this sector is difficult to explain. Only a

piece of shrapnel was found and not a single bullet shot by the enemy, despite the fact

that this sector was facing the Republican lines and well within range of their bullets

and artillery fire (400 metres). This is in striking contrast to the Republican position that

we excavated in Madrid, where the trench and shelters were littered with hundreds of

bullets and fragments of shrapnel (Gonzlez Ruibal et al. 2010). We could not find any


12/32

12

single bullet with the metal detector in front of the covered trench. The neighbours told

that they collected everything that was visible on the surface, but the practice of

recycling is not enough to account for the complete lack of fragments.

Although the distribution of functions between Sector 01 and 02 is logical

(resting, eating and storing in the shelters; fighting in the covered trench facing theenemy), there are some elements that distort this clear-cut division. On the one hand, we

discovered several bones belonging to a lamb: these are clearly the remains of an

unusual banquet in the trench. For some reason, they decided to celebrate the

acquisition of this meat in the line exposed to the enemy, instead of in the shelters.

Equally striking is the presence of several porcelain coffee cups, a small glass for liquor,

several pieces of whiteware (a possible fragment from a sugar bowl and two dishes) and

the handle of a coffee hand mill inside the covered trench (FIGURE 11). In all

likelihood, these pieces were looted in the village of Abnades: obviously, they werenot part of the military equipment of the Nationalist army! The finds seem to correlate

well with the material culture of the typical Spanish sobremesa, which consists in sitting

round the table after lunch or dinner, talking, drinking coffee and liquors, and smoking.

The intriguing question is why the soldiers decided to do sobremesa in the covered

trench, instead of in the safer zone of Sector 01.

5. Eating in the trench, making money in the rearguard

Glass was scant in the trench. Only twenty tiny fragments were recovered, of which onebelonged to a medicine container and two others could be identify as part of wine

bottles (but we have to bear in mind that wine bottles were widely reused for carrying

water during the war). Tin cans were much more abundant and furnished relevant

information. Food containers are usually studied in conflict archaeology as testimonies

of daily life in the trenches (Robertshaw and Kenyon 2008: 98-104; Osgood and Brown

2009: 104-110). After all, eating has always been a central issue in battlefield

experiences. However, tins can be an eloquent material in more than one sense: they tell

us about the organization of military logistics, economy and even ideology (see below).Regarding the first issue (eating in the trench), of the 82 complete and

identifiable tin cans, 38% belonged to tuna, 36% to sardines, 21% to corned beef, and

5% to condensed milk. There were a few other, larger, containers that we could not

identify because the shape and size is not diagnostic and they have no lettering. They

probably belong to cooked pulses and vegetables. The high amount of tuna is


13/32

13

remarkable, especially if we consider that there are virtually no references to it in the

published memories of Spanish Civil War veterans. For some reason, sardines are the

main character in war narratives from both sides, whereas other edibles (with the

exception of bread) are mentioned much less frequently. Interestingly, excavations in

Civil War and postwar sites always reveal large amounts of tuna, which made up to50% of the tins recovered during excavations (e.g. Gonzlez-Ruibal et al. forthcoming).

This confirms the idea that archaeology can be an important means of testing oral

testimonies, which are considered to be the best historical source for daily life in the

front. The discrepancy between the archaeological record and what veterans say brings

to mind William Rathjes garbage studies, which have exposed revealing divergences

between discourse and practice in contemporary American society (Rathje and Murphy

2001). In our case, perhaps sardines, which are tastier and easier to share than canned

tuna, were perceived more as real food than the other fish, which ended up beingcompletely erased from memory.

Regarding economic issues, the tins of Abnades tell eloquently about the war

business. Unsurprisingly, the origins of the canned food are areas of Spain under

Nationalist control: Galicia (fish), Extremadura (meat) and Cantabria (milk). What is

more revealing is the industrial history between the tins. Thanks to the fact that a large

part of the lettering is visible on the containers, it is possible to know the factories that

sold the food. One of the tin cans has the inscription Matadero de Mrida(Mridas

Slaughterhouse). This slaughterhouse in Extremadura was controlled by a Galician

company, Mass Hermanos (Martn Acea and Martnez Ruiz 2006: 459). Mass

Hermanos was a canning factory active since the mid-19thcentury in Galicia. Two cans

of sardines in olive oil marked Jos Barreras appeared during our intervention (one in

the trench, another during survey): This Jos Barreras (y Mass) was the founder of the

canning factory. The most abundant containers, however, come from the factories of

Augusto Sacco & Co and Palacio de Oriente, which specialized the former in sardines

and the latter in tuna. All three factories (Mass, Sacco and Palacio) were located in

Vigo, Galicias most important harbour and industrial town. When one thinks about war

businesses, weapon factories immediately come to mind. Although they certainly get

the lions share, many other industries thrive in war conditions. This was clearly the

case with food canning factories. Thus, Sacco & Co, in full decline before the end of the

war, was Galicias second company in terms of capital (three million pesetas) by the

end of the war (Vilar and Lindoso 2009: 160). This allowed Augusto Sacco to invest in


14/32

14

critical war industries, such as mining. This sector expanded also during the Second

World War: Galician mines, controlled by the likes of Sacco, provided tons of wolfram

to the German war machine. Palacio de Oriente (a company that still exists today) also

did extraordinarily well thanks to its contracts with General Francos army: the factory

had only 50 workers when it was founded in 1873, but grew to 1,000 in 19374

. Thecompany created by Jos Barrera y Mass also benefited from the war. The increasing

revenue allowed the Mass brothers to expand the business and provide the Nationalist

army not only sardines, but also ammunition and ships (Vilar y Lindoso 2009: 161),

which in turn multiplied their income. Archaeology exposes in a powerful and concrete

way these intricate economic relationships.

6. Killing the enemy: an international effort

Compared to the Republican trench that we excavated in Madrid (Gonzlez-Ruibal et al.2010), the Nationalist position at Abnades shows a great monotony in terms of

ammunition. In the trenches of the University City we found bullets and shell casings

belonging to French 8 mm Lebel, 7.92 mm, 10.4 mm Vetterli, 11,15 mm Remington,

Spanish 7 mm, American 0.303, Russian 7.62 mm, and even shot and cartridges from

old shotguns. In Abnades we documented only two calibres: 7 mm (mostly Spanish),

which account for 71% of all ammunition, and 7.92 mm (Germany), which make for the

remaining 29% (FIGURE 12). The same homogeneity has been recorded in other

archaeological works in Nationalist positions (Torres Martnez and Domnguez Solera2008; Martnez Velasco 2008: 390-393; Pascual Garca 2010: 160).

Most of the 7 mm bullets were made in Pirotcnica Sevillana (61%), which was

one of the main weapon factories in Spain, along with Fbrica Nacional de Toledo,

which provided 23% of the 7 mm bullets to the Nationalist soldiers of Abnades. Sevilla

was occupied by the fascist army during the first days of the coup, in July 1936,

whereas Toledo fell the 27th of September of the same year. This provided a great

advantage to Francos soldiers. The remaining 7 mm bullets (18%) were produced

either in Republican factories or abroad for the Republican army. They were probablycaptured during the advances of the Nationalist armies in 1938. These cartridges are

marked M (8%), P*** (7%),FNC MEXICO 1932 and N4 37. The M

cartridges are of unknown provenance: it is doubtful whether they were produced in

Madrid or in Hirtenberg, Austria. Those marked P*** are with certainty from

4http://www.palaciodeoriente.net


15/32

15

Hirtenberg and were made for the Republican government. Mexico is one of the few

countries that made a continued effort to provide weapons and ammunitions to the

Spanish Republic. Finally, the n4 cartridges were produced in the Munitions Factory

n4 in Barcelona in 1937. A large part of the shells has a recent date stamped. 51% of

the 7 mm cartridges have markings from the war period (1936-1938): there are 17cartridges from 1937 alone. The same can be said of the ammunition provided by Nazi

Germany. All 18 cartridges with readable markings are dated in the 1930s (between

1931 and 1936). The larger amount of bullets was produced in Magdeburg (40%). The

other centres providing bullets were Treuenbritzen, Harz, Berlin and Karlsruhe. All

except Karlsruhe were factories in the vicinities of the German capital. The finds in

Abnades are in stark contrast to the ammunition found in the Republican trench of

Madrid, where, apart from the diverse origins that have been mentioned, all imported

cartridges from France, Italy, Britain or the US were from the First World War. Thissituation eloquently talks about the difficulties of the Republic for obtaining modern

and reliable weapons (only alleviated by the USSR) (Vias 2009), as opposed to the

Nationalists, regularly supplied by the Axis powers. This fact is still denied by many

pro-Franco historians (e.g. Manrique Molina and Garca Franco 2006). Given the arms

embargo in place, neither the amount nor the date of the weapons that both sides

received is always quantifiable with precision. Archaeology can produce irrefutable

proof of what the soldiers in the frontline where actually using against the enemy.

The Germans were not the only ones furnishing war material to Francos troops.

We have also discovered some elements from Italy. I have already mentioned the

Adrian-style M1915/16 helmet from the covered trench. This type of helmet was widely

used by the Italians during the First World War and was the kind worn by the Corpo di

Truppe Volontarie during the Battle of Guadalajara. Two other elements came with the

Italian soldiers and appeared in Sector 01: a motorcyclist goggles (an Italian speciality)

and a 25 mm flare shell casing (fired), dated 1935, XIII year of the Fascist Era, and

fabricated by Camocini & Co (Como). In the book by Fernndez de la Reguera that we

already mentioned, an interesting episode is described, in which Italian and Spanish

soldiers exchange souvenirs in Abnades in 1937:

For several days, they lived together with the Italians, whom they came to replace. They soon

became friends. The Italians were warm, generous and a bit naive. They got excited with the

most unlikely objects. Since they had a lot of extra equipment, wonderful bargains were made.


16/32


17/32

17

distinguished the Nationalist and Republican soldiers, who, in fact, shared the same

immediate concerns and worries. This same idea is repeated by many veteransalbeit,

meaningfully, especially by those who fought with Franco. This fits well with the

ideology of reconciliation that has been supported by many (especially on the right)

from the democratic transition onwards. However, this ideology is based upon theoblivion of the past and the concealment of the political crimes that were perpetrated

during the war and the subsequent dictatorship (Vinyes 2010).

The ideology of reconciliation has permeated the imagination of many Spaniards

and the way in which the war is remembered. This is clearly seen in the stories about

the conflict that are recounted. During our excavations, we have been told several times

the same story, often set in different scenarios: during the war one side had tobacco but

not smoking paper, whereas the other side had paper but not tobacco. To solve the

problem, Republicans and Nationals used to meet in no-mans land to exchange thesevaluable commodities. In those occasions, soldiers asked their neighbours fighting on

the other side to deliver letters to their families, girlfriends or wives living in the

enemys rearguard. Instances of football matches played in no-mans land are also told.

Although there are cases of amiable encounters in no-mans land, they are not as

frequent as people imagine (see examples in Corral 2007: 370-380). As in most 20th

century wars, it was difficult to fraternize with an enemy that was happily killing ones

unarmed relatives in the rearguard (50,000 were killed behind Republican lines and up

to 150,000 people in the territory under Francoist occupation). Not surprisingly, most

soldiers did have strong political ideas and those who did not were subjected to

continuous political education, both explicit and subliminal.

In Abnades ideology was present in the most unsuspected places, from

fortifications to food. Regarding fortifications, I pointed out above that the Nationalist

organization of the frontline was based upon heavily defended isolated positions. This is

a typical model of fortification employed by the European armies in the African

colonies. The model was abandoned during the First World War in favour of the

continuous line, although the idea of isolated outposts was taken up again by the end of

the Great War (Robertshaw and Kenyon 2008: 64). In October 1937, the Nationalist

high command published a Instructions for the defensive organization of the terrain in

which the model of small defensive islands is recommended, so as to minimize the

effects of artillery fire and aerial bombing (Castellano Ruiz de la Torre 2004: 67). The

logic of the model was not alien to the Francoist officers, who were veterans from the


18/32


19/32

19

graffiti have initials or personal names. Of the political graffiti, only one (Viva Franco)

was inscribed in the fresh concrete. The other four were scratched by the soldiers,

probably on sentry duty, when the structures were already built and in use. The

Republican trenches in this sector have retained fewer traces of graffiti, because of the

lack of concrete, but, in turn, we have an outstanding example of trench art: twobeautiful representations of the Republic sculpted on a rock shelter and dedicated to the

Comrades fallen in the fight against fascism, 1938 (FIGURE 14). These material

documents are powerful documents against the idea that people did not have strong

political ideas. Most of them had. And they died for these ideas. It is worth noting that,

whereas the Republican art makes reference to an abstract idea (republicanism), the

Nationalist graffiti transmit both political ideals (nationalism) and the cult of the leader,

typical of fascism.

There are other material elements through which ideology permeated dailyexperience in the Nationalist trench. One of them is a large iron-forged cross in Neo-

gothic style with scenes of the baptism of Christ (FIGURE 15). It was stuck in front of

the fortifications and facing the enemy, both to commemorate the death by enemy fire

of a Nationalist lieutenant and to defy the enemy, which were regularly described as

atheistsa false generalization: we found Catholic medals in the Republican trench that

we excavated in Madrid (Gonzlez-Ruibal et al. 2010). It could even have been

perceived as a religious protective device against enemy fire. The icon fits well the

Nationalist-Catholic ideology and, more specifically, the idea that the followers of

General Franco were fighting a crusade to re-Christianize Spain.

Fin

ally, a humble category of objects turned out to convey valuable information about how

fascist ideology was being instilled: tuna cans. Those produced by Palacio de Oriente

had the text imprinted Saludo a Franco! (Hail Franco!), the Spanish equivalent to

the German Heil Hitler! and the Italian Saluto al Duce!. Given the enormous

benefits this company obtained through its commercial alliance with the Nationalist

army, it is not strange that they hailed Franco. The tuna cans represent perfectly the

capillary nature of totalitarian power, which pervades every aspect of daily life: from

monuments to public fountains (Gonzlez-Ruibal 2007: 218). Some companies changed

their logos to fit the Francoist style: this is the case with the beer bottles of the factory

El guila (The Eagle), which adopted the imperial eagle of the Francoist symbolic

paraphernalia (Falquina et al. 2008: 189).


20/32

20

8. Conclusions

The excavations in El Castillo (Abnades) have allowed us to know better how life was

in a Nationalist position of the Spanish Civil War. The sectors excavated yielded more

finds than we and the neighbours of Abnades expected: the systematic burial of the

trenches after the war helped to preserve a large amount of materials (see Robertshawand Kenyon 2008: 41), many of which, although not in situ, could be related to specific

spaces. The finds provide essential information to construct a microhistory of life in a

Nationalist trench.

In this microhistory the protagonists are a group of soldiers mainly armed with

Spanish Mausers, along with some German ones; they are well equipped and dressed,

although they also used surpluses from the Italian Corpo di Truppe Volontarie who

fought in the area in March 1937; they were supplied with abundant and homogeneous

ammunition and were well fed with tins of fish and meat from the areas under

Nationalist control. As opposed to the prevailing discourse of the war as a natural

disaster to which people were dragged unwillingly and unknowingly, many soldiers in

Abnades were politicized and convinced of their cause. Of the experiences of these

soldiers, we know anecdotes, particular episodes and everyday practices, which bring

them to life: the banqueting they had some day with a lamb; their habitude of drinking

coffee (on stolen china) in a covered trench, facing the enemy; the girlfriend one of

them had and who gave him a cheap brooch as a souvenir; the mascot of the unit

(probably a stray dog from the village) who left tracks, following a soldier, imprinted on

the fresh concrete of the machine-gun pillbox. It is also the microhistory of Abnades

during and after the war: their bombed houses; their furniture and coffee cups looted by

the Nationalist soldiers; the cartridges, shrapnel and iron pickets they collected and sold

after the war and that they still harvest, from time to time, in their fields (FIGURE 16).

The excavations of Abnades also inform us about a macrohistory, that of

General Francos army, well supplied by the Axis, in stark contrast to the Republican

troops that could never match its opponents. It is also the history of the Francoist

economic organization and the profit it supposed for some: the Galician canning

factories that concentrated all the war industry. They provided food, weapons and

vehicles to the Nationalist army, as well as space to imprison Republican soldiers, since

many factories ended up used as concentration camps (Costa and Santos 2007). Finally,

it is also the macrohistory of totalitarianism, materialized in Abnades in tin cans,

graffiti, crosses and trenches.


21/32


22/32

22

Falquina, A., Fermn, P., Gonzlez-Ruibal, A., Marn, C., Quintero, A., Rolland, J. 2008.

Arqueologa de los destacamentos penales franquistas en el ferrocarril Madrid-

Burgos: El caso de Bustarviejo. Complutum19(2): 175-195.

Fernndez de la Reguera, R. 1969. Cuerpo a tierra.Barcelona: Plaza y Jans.

Franco, F. 1986. Papeles de la Guerra de Marruecos. Madrid: Fundacin NacionalFrancisco Franco.

Gonzlez-Ruibal, A. 2007. Making things public: Archaeologies of the Spanish Civil

War. Public Archaeology6(4): 203-226.

Gonzlez-Ruibal, A. 2009. Topography of terror or cultural heritage? The monuments

of Francos Spain. In N. Forbes, R. Page y G. Prez (eds.): Europe's deadly

century. Perspectives on 20th century conflict heritage. Swindon: English

Heritage, 65-72.

Gonzlez-Ruibal, A., Marn Surez, C., Snchez-Elipe Lorente, M. y Lorente Muoz, S.2010. Guerra en la Universidad: Arqueologa del conflicto en la Ciudad

Universitaria de Madrid. Ebre 38. Revista Internacional de la Guerra Civil, 1936-

19394: 123-143.

Gonzlez-Ruibal, A., Marn Surez, C., Martn Hidalgo, P., Laio, A., Franco, A.

forthcoming. Excavaciones arqueolgicas en el campo de concentracin de

Castuera (Badajoz). Primeros resultados.Revista de Estudios Extremeos.

Manrique Garca, J. and Molina Franco, L. 2006. Las armas de la Guerra Civil

Espaola.Madrid: Temas de Hoy.

Martn Acea, P. and Martn Ruiz, E. 2006.La economa de la Guerra Civil Espaola.

Madrid: Marcial Pons.

Pascual Garca, S. 2010. La Guerra Civil Espanyola i el seu patrimoni: exemples de les

intervencions arqueolgiques a la demarcaci de Barcelona i Lleida. Ebre 38.

Revista Internacional de la Guerra Civil Espaola4: 145-162.

Robertshaw, A. y Kenyon, D. 2008. Digging the trenches. The archaeology of the

Western Front.Barnsley: Pen & Sword.

Salas Larrazbal, R. 1973. Historia del Ejrcito Popular de la Repblica. Madrid:

Editora Nacional.

Martnez Bande, J.M. 1981.La batalla de Pozoblanco y el cierre de la bolsa de Mrida.

Madrid: San Martn.

Martnez Velasco, A. 2008. Breve introduccin a la cartuchera para arquelogos.

Sautuola14: 383 - 398.


23/32

23

Preston, P. 2007. The Spanish Civil War: reaction, revolution and revenge.New York:

W.W. Norton & Co.

Rathje, W. and Murphy, C. 2001. Rubbish! The archaeology of garbage. Tucson:

Arizona University Press.

Thomas, H. 1976.La Guerra Civil Espaola. 2 vols. Barcelona: Grijalbo.Torres Martnez, J. y Domnguez Solera, S. 2008. Monte Bernorio (Palencia): siglo I

a.C. / 1936-1937 d.C. Arqueologa de un campo de batalla. Complutum 19(2):

103-117.

Uribe Gallejones, E. 2007. Un miliciano de la UGT. Bilbao: Asociacin Sancho de

Beurko.

Vias, . 2009. Franco recibi ms ayuda exterior que la Repblica. Franco recibi ms

ayuda exterior que la Repblica. Temas para el debate172: 49-51

Vinyes, R. 2010. La reconciliacin como ideologa. El Pas, 12/08/2010.Vilar, M., Lindoso, E. 2009. El negocio de la Guerra Civil en Galicia, 1936-1939.

Revista de Historia Industrial 39(1): 153-192.


24/32


25/32

25

Figure 2. The fortified hilltop of El Castillo with its diverse elements: P: covered trench;F: pillbox; E: stairs; N: machine-gun pillbox.

Figura 3. Map of the zone where the intervention was carried out, with excavatedsectors.


26/32

26

Figura 4. Sector 01: plan of the trench and shelters after the end of the excavation.

Figure 5. Distribution of tin cans, bones and glass in Sector 01 (above) and distributionof ammunition (below).


27/32

27

Figura 6. Distribution of mortar elements in Sector 01 and photograph of an unexploded81-mm mortar shell discovered in the valley in front of El Castillo.

Figure 7. Structure 02 (left) and 01 (right) at the end of the excavation. Structure 02 wasnot excavated in its entirety. It is possible to see the thick layer of postwar rubble in thestratigraphic cut in the background.


28/32

28

Figure 8. Fork and magazine in situ in Structure 02.

Figure 9. Covered trench with ammunition scatter.


29/32

29

Figure 10. Italian M1915/16 helmet and shell casings, in situ.

Figure 11. Coffe cups, dish and liquor glass from the covered trench (left) and clasps,buckles and fasteners from the trench (right).


30/32

30

Figure 12. Ammunition by calibre and sector.

Figure 13. Graffiti Franco Caudillo.


31/32

31

Figure 14. Representations of the Republic near a Republican position in Abnades.

Figura 15. Iron cross in front of a covered trench of the hilltop.


32/32

32

Figure 16. A Ferrobellum grenade decorating a house in Abnades. The Ferrobellumwas a stick fragmentation grenade made in Spain and widely used by both sides duringthe Civil War.

digging francos trenches

Documents