Tank combat in Spain

My pile of books to read continues to grow! The latest addition is Anthony J Candil’s recently published TANK COMBAT IN SPAIN: ARMOURED WARFARE DURING THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR 1936-1939.

The author is a former Spanish Army officer who now lives and works in the United States, and it is a welcome change to read a book by someone who served in the armoured arm of his country's army, and who has the technical and historical background to write a comprehensive history of armoured combat during the Spanish Civil War.

The book has twenty-one chapters and an epilogue:

1. Overview of Military Operations
2. Foreign Intervention
3. The Beginning: The Early Days of Tanks in the Spanish Army
4. Organization and Structure of Armor in the Spanish Army on the Eve of the Civil War
5. Soviet Participation
6. Italian Aid and the Volunteer Corps
7. Germany Enters the Arena
8. The Cost of Foreign Air
9. Organization and Structure of the Nationalist Armored Forces
10. Organization and Structure of the Republican Armored Forces
11. The Opening Rounds: The "Franco-Style" Blitzkrieg
12. On the Move: Republican Armor is Never "Enough"
13. Stalemate and Attrition
14. The End: The Battle of the Ebro and the Catalonia Offensive
15. Antitank Warfare
16. Logistics
17. Tank Maintenance of the Nationalist Faction and the War Equipment Recovery Service
18. Tank Combat Service Support in the Spanish Republic's People's Army
19. A Ket Feature: The Republican Tank School at Archena
20. The Experience Reconsidered: Conclusions
21. A Reappraisal of Equipment and Armament

• Epilogue

I have yet to read this book from cover to cover, but just dipping into it was very informative and I certainly read things that made me think about my understanding of the topic.

I suspect that this may well become one of the standard texts for anyone with an interest in the Spanish Civil War, and especially for those who have a particular interest in tank warfare.

---

TANK COMBAT IN SPAIN: ARMOURED WARFARE DURING THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR 1936-1939 was written by Anthony J Candil and published in 2021 by Casemate Publishers (ISBN 978 1 61200 970 4).