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Sunday 23 September 2012

Paper Soldiers ... of the Spanish Civil War

Until relatively recently (the last fifteen years or so) information about the Spanish Civil War was limited. Therefore when I was doing the research that culminated in my book, LA ULTIMA CRUZADA, I used whatever resources I could lay my hands on ... including a set of paper soldiers produced in Spain in 1979.

These were not any old paper soldiers; they were drawn by José María Bueno, who was (as far as I know) the greatest authority on Spanish Military uniforms. They paper soldiers (they were printed in full colour on thick card) were sold in sets of eight sheets, and as far as I known there were six sets. The whole series was entitled EL EJERCITO ESPANOL EN PARADA and showed troops as they would have appeared during the Victory Parade in 1939.

I own three of the six sets, Numbers 1, 3, and 4.

Set 1
  • Infanteria
  • Tiradores de Ifni-Sahara
  • Mehal-la Jalifiana
  • Bandera de F.E.T. y de las J.O.N.S.
  • Infanteria de Marina
  • Escolta mora de S.E. el Generalissimo
  • Policia Montada de Sevilla
  • Caballeria de las Milicias del Requete
Set 3
  • Artilleria de Montana
  • Artilleria de Montana, Escalon de Municionamiento
  • Primer Tercio del Requete Navarro
  • Grupo de Regulares de Melilla Numero 2
  • Tabor de Caballeria de la Mehal-la
  • Marina
  • Servicio de Trabajo de F.E.T. y de las J.O.N.S.
  • Bandera de Camisas Negras del la Division 'XXIII de Marzo'
Set 4
  • Guardia Civil de Infanteria
  • Guardia Civil de Caballeria
  • Infanteria
  • X Bandera de la Legion
  • Mehal-la Jalifiana Infanteria
  • Bandera de Falange Espanola
  • Compania de 'Bersaglieri' Motorizados
  • Compania de Carros Ligeros del C.T.V.
I found these paper soldiers to be invaluable when I was doing my research, and they have pride of place in my collection of books and documents relating to the Spanish Civil War.

4 comments:

  1. I'll echo the comments for pics.

    Also- is your book still available Bob?

    Cheers,

    Pete.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Spprojectblog,

    My book is supposed to be still available from Partizan/Caliver Books ... but if not, I understand that can be found on sale second-hand.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete

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