Jump to content

Amado Granell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Emplexis (talk | contribs) at 16:31, 2 May 2021 (style changes). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Amado Granell, during the Spanish Civil War.

Amado Granell Mesado (November 5, 1898 – May 12, 1972) was a Spanish military officer in the 20th century. He served in the Spanish Civil War and later joined the French Foreign Legion in France. It was in France where he fought against Nazi Germany during World War II. He headed a column of the 9th Company "La Nueve" of the 2nd Armoured Brigade, which consisted of Spanish combatants and was the first Allied military unit to enter Paris after its Wehrmacht occupation.[1] As such, he appeared on the cover of the newspaper Libération after the Liberation of Paris and met with the leader of French Resistance, Georges Bidault.[2]

Early life

Amado Granell was the son of Wood Tradesperson from Burriana, Spain. Amado Granell was enlisted in the Spanish Legion in 1921, reaching the rank of sergeant.[2][3] While in the service, his father's boat sank during a cruise and Granell returned to the family home for economic reasons. After he married Aurora, the couple operated a motorcycle shop in Orihuela until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936.[1]

Spanish Civil War, 1936

In Orihuela, Granell joined the Comité de Enlace Antifascista and in September, the Volunteer Army, formed to defend the Second Spanish Republic, where he was assigned to the Columna de Hierro.[3] In 1937, partly based upon his experience in the Legion, Granell was promoted to major, receiving the command of Regimiento Motorizado de Ametralladoras, composed of about 1,200 men,[3] and participated in the defense of Madrid.

Later, he was made commander of the 49th Mixed Brigade of the Spanish Republican Army (Ejército Popular Republicano), which defended the city of Castellón, but by June 15, 1938, forces of the army withdrew and retreated south. On March 29, 1939, with the collapse of the besieged Republic, and along some 2700 people including civilians and soldiers, Granell embarked at the port of Alicante on the merchant ship Stanbrook and sailed to Oran in French Algeria.[4]

World War II

The 2nd Armored Division victory parade in Paris on the Champs-Élysées, near the Arc de Triomphe on August 26, 1944.
Main article: Invasion of Normandy

After a stay in the camps established by the French colonial authorities, Granell and other ex-combatants were released by Anglo-American forces at the end of the Western Desert Campaign. He then enlisted in the French Foreign Legion; first, in the Marching Regiment of Chad, which was later integrated into the 2nd Armored Division under General Philippe Leclerc.[3]

The 2nd Armored Division was transferred to England and after a period of training, it was moved to France following the Normandy landings. On August 1, 1944, the 9th Chad Regiment composed of Spanish fighters organized by Granell landed on Utah Beach. After bumpy progress toward Paris, and having met German resistance at Écouché, the regiment arrived at the gates of Paris on August 24, 1944. Without waiting for orders from the Allied command and as a matter of honor, General Leclerc ordered Captain Raymond Dronne, commander of the 9th Company, to enter the city in anticipation of U.S. forces. At 9:00 pm, two sections of 9th Company, one headed by Dronne and the other by Granell, composed of 120 men and 22 vehicles, entered the French capital advancing to the city hall. Granell met with resistance leader Georges Bidault who had already been stationed there. Their image was captured by a photographer and the next day appeared on the front page of Libération.[5][nb 1]

After the liberation of Paris, La Nueve was transferred to the German front, where Granell actively participated in taking the Eagle's Nest, the holiday retreat of Adolf Hitler in the Bavarian Alps. Of the 144 men who composed the first La Nueve that landed in Normandy, only 16 survived the war. Ninety-six of the deceased were former Spanish Republican soldiers.[3]

Post-war life

After the war, Granell received the Legion of Honour from Philippe Leclerc and rejected an offer of promotion to commander of the French army, which would have required him to have become a French citizen.[3]

Significantly, in France, he acted as an intermediary between monarchist politicians and Spanish Republicans in a program sponsored by the U.S. and the U.K. trying to locate Juan de Bourbón, who was heir to the Spanish throne before the war. For this purpose and on behalf of Francisco Largo Caballero, Granell met in Lisbon on April 4, 1946, with José María Gil Robles (senior), but the operation to find Prince Juan failed.[6] An agreement was made between Don Juan and General Franco that Prince Juan Carlos was to be made the future head of state.[1] After this failure that undermined all hopes of Granell to overthrow the Spanish State, he completely abandoned life of politics.[7]

In 1950 he opened a restaurant in Paris, which became a meeting point for the Spanish Republicans. He later returned to Spain, where he lived in Santander, Valencia, and finally Alicante.

Death

Granell died in a traffic accident near the town of Valencia on 12 May 1972,[1] while heading to the French consulate in Valencia to manage the payment of a grant for his service as one of the many French army officers.[8]

Notes

  1. ^ Erroneously, the newspaper reported that the soldier who appeared in the picture was a Frenchman named "Drome" referring to Captain Raymond Dronne who led the other column of the 9th Company into Paris.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Rafael Torres presenta el libro en el que narra la vida de nuestro paisano Amado Granell". El periodista. Archived from the original on June 4, 2017. Retrieved May 31, 2013. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; July 4, 2017 suggested (help)
  2. ^ a b "Trilles: "Amado Granell fue un hombre libre y utópico que luchó por sus ideales hasta las últimas consecuencias"". El Periodic. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Amado Granell Mesado, El Burrianense Que Libero Paris". Aula Militar. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  4. ^ "Supervivientes republicanos rinden homenaje a los hijos del 'Stanbrook'". El Mundo. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  5. ^ Alvarez, A. "El misterio del hombre que liberó París". Público. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  6. ^ Luis de Llera Esteban, José Andrés Gallego (1992). CSIC (ed.). La España de posguerra: Un testimonio. CSIC Press. ISBN 8400072421.
  7. ^ Julio Arostegui (2013). Largo Caballero: El tesón y la quimera. Debate. ISBN 978-8499922980.
  8. ^ "Trilles reivindica al ´héroe de la historia´ Amado Granell". Levante. Retrieved 6 June 2013.

Cyril GARCIA - "Amado Granell libérateur de Paris"-L'Harmattan-Paris-2016.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Amado_Granell&oldid=1021047746"