Spanish Civil War: Day-by-Day: 16th August – 3rd September 1936

THE REPUBLICAN INVASION OF MAJORCA

On 9th August a Republican expeditionary force of Catalan and Valencian troops, commanded by Air Force Captain Alberto Bayo and Guardia Civil Captain Manuel Uribarri, landed on Ibiza. With the help of local people the expeditionary force quickly overcame the Nationalist garrison, and the island returned to Republican control. Seven days later, at dawn on 16th August, the Catalan troops, led by Captain Bayo, landed on Majorca, and by the evening they had advanced eight miles inland from their landing place at Porto Cristo.

The Nationalist garrison on Majorca was commanded by Colonel Garcia Ruiz and proved to be much stronger than that on Ibiza. With the help of Italian fighter aircraft and bombers the Nationalists were able to contain any further Republican advance, and on 3rd September they mounted a counter-attack on the Republican bridgehead. The Catalan troops rapidly withdrew to the beaches and re-embarked aboard the ships that had brought them whilst under cover of the guns of the battleship Jaime I.

Republican troops coming ashore in Majorca.

Happy 247th Birthday, Napoleon!

On 15th August 1769, in Ajaccio, Corsica, Maria Letizia Ramolino – the wife of Carlo Maria di Buonaparte – gave birth to a son, whom they named Napoleone di Buonaparte. Napoleone was their fourth child (but only the second to survive into adulthood) and he was born a year after Corsica had been transferred from the Republic of Genoa to France.

The Buonapartes were descended from minor Tuscan nobility, and had moved from Liguria to Corsica during the sixteenth century. The family were reasonably prosperous, and this enabled them to send Napoleone to the military academy in Brienne le Château when he was nine. He remained there until he was fifteen, when he was admitted to the elite École Militaire in Paris to be trained to become an artillery officer. Due to the death of his father, he was forced to complete the two-year course in a year.

Napoleone graduated in September 1785, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the La Fère artillery regiment. He remained with his regiment until the outbreak of the French Revolution, at which point he returned to Corsica. Initially he gave his support to Pasquale Paoli, the Corsican nationalist, but when the latter decided to split Corsica away from France, the two men became bitter enemies. It was as a result of this that the entire Buonaparte family had to flee Corsica and go to Paris.

By this time he adopted the more French-sounding Napoleon Bonaparte, and had been promoted to the rank of Captain. He had also come to the notice of some of the more important leaders of the revolution, and as a result he was appointed artillery commander of the republican forces at the Siege of Toulon. During the assault that led to the recapture of Toulon, Napoleon was wounded in the thigh. Soon afterwards he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and he was put in charge of the artillery of Revolutionary France's Army of Italy. In April 1794 the Army of Italy used his battle plan to win the Battle of Saorgio, after which it advanced upon Ormea. This enabled them to outflank the combined Austro-Sardinian force in Saorge, and the resulting battle ended in a defeat for the Austrians and Sardinians.

Napoleon then undertook a mission to the Republic of Genoa on the orders of Augustin Robespierre, and this association with Robespierre may have been a contributory factor in Napoleon’s house arrest after the events of July 1794. His imprisonment only lasted two weeks, and he was soon back in action, both preparing plans for a French attack in Italy and taking part in an abortive expedition to recapture Corsica.

His career then entered a period of hiatus, and after pleading ‘ill health’ in order to avoid service with the Army of the West, which was fighting a royalist counter-revolution in the Vendée, and failing to get an appointments to the Bureau of Topography or to Constantinople, he was removed from the list of active generals.

Matters changed rapidly in the aftermath of the Paris Rebellion of 3rd October 1795. Napoleon was called upon to defend the Convention that was taking place in the Tuileries Palace, and with the assistance of a young cavalry officer – Joachim Murat – he was able to seize some cannon with which he could defend the palace. He used them to good effect on 5th October when he opened fire on a large crowd of royalist supporters, killing nearly one and a half thousand of them. This action brought him to even greater prominence, and soon afterwards he was given command of the Army of Italy. On 9th March 1796 he married Joséphine de Beauharnais, which further cemented his place as a rising star of the revolution.

From this point onwards Napoleon’s career flourished. After successful campaigns in Italy – and a less successful one in Egypt – he became First Consul as a result of the coup d'état that took place on 9th November 1799. This overthrew the existing government and saw the introduction of the new ‘Constitution of the Year VIII’, under which France was ruled by a First Consul and two Second Consuls. In 1802 – after a plebiscite – Napoleon was made Consul-for-Life, and after a further plebiscite in 1804 he assumed the role of Emperor of France. He was crowned Emperor on 2nd December 1804 at a ceremony in Notre-Dame de Paris.

TMS and the art of renovating toy soldiers

Over the past few weeks I have been making steady progress with the renovation, varnishing, and basing of my collection of pre-painted Napoleonic figures. To help me concentrate I like to listen to the radio or recorded books, and thanks to the recent series of Test Matches between England and Pakistan, I have been able to listen to the Test Match Special (or TMS) radio broadcasts.

Now for people who don't love cricket, I am sure that TMS is a total waste of time and broadcasting resources, but for those of us who love the sport and the programme, being able to listen to TMS is something wonderful. It isn't like any other form of sports commentary that I have ever come across anywhere else in the world, mainly because it isn't just a commentary; it is much more like listening to a conversation in a pub or bar. The commentators and summarisers are almost all extremely knowledgeable ex-professional cricketers, but more than that, they are characters with real personality.

Thanks to the likes of the late Brian Johnston and Henry Blofelt (better known as 'Johnners' and 'Blowers'), TMS has developed its own unique style. The 'conversation' one listens to not only covers the action that is taking place on the pitch, but also playing techniques and styles, past matches, famous players, passing buses, pigeons, what fancy dress some of the spectators are wearing, cakes people have sent up to the commentary box, and numerous other extraneous subjects.

Today is my last opportunity to listen to TMS until next year ... and I am thoroughly enjoying it.

Spanish Civil War: Day-by-Day: 14th August 1936

Nationalist forces, drawn from the Army of Africa and led by Colonel Juan Yague, captured Badajoz. The two parts of Nationalist Spain were now linked.

Soldiers of the Queen (SOTQ): Issue 164

The latest copy of SOTQ (Soldiers of the Queen, the quarterly journal of the Victorian Military Society) was delivered this morning, and I have spent a couple of very relaxing hours reading it.

The articles included in this issue are:

• 'War Horse' Revisted: British Cavalry on the Western Front 1914-1918 by Dr Rodney Atwood
• 'Bwab': A Portrait of Major-General John Palmer Brabazon CVO, KCB (1848-1922) by Dr Andrew Winrow
• Mildred Dooner and The Last Post by Meurig Jones
• 'Viva Cuba!': General Jordan's 1869 Filibuster Expedition by Frank Jastrzembski
• Book Reviews
• About the VMS

As usual this magazine covers a range of topics, some of which I would not normally have considered as being of interest to me. On reading them – however – I have yet to find an article that was not very informative and well-written.

Spanish Civil War: Day-by-Day: 13th August 1936

The Republican battleship Jaime I was damaged by a Nationalist air attack off the coast at Malaga.

A (not so) Grand Review

Having finished renovating, varnishing, and basing the Dutch-Belgian, Brunswick, and Hanoverian figures in my Napoleonic collection, I had to reorganise their storage. I therefore took the opportunity to photograph each contingent as I did so.

Dutch-Belgian Army
This comprises:

• Three units of Carabiniers
• Five units of Infantry
• One mounted officer
• Four officers on foot

Brunswick Army
This comprises:

• Four units of Infantry
• One mounted officer

Hanoverian Army
This comprises:

• Five units of Infantry
• Five officers on foot

At some point I would like to add a few additional units to each of the above (e.g. a minimum of one Artillery unit to each and at least one Cavalry unit to the Brunswick and Hanoverian armies).

A small batch of Hanoverians

I have just finished the next batch of figures that will be added to my Napoleonic Hanoverian army. It comprises six Infantry (i.e. one new unit) and two officers on foot.

At this point I had planned to take a short break from renovating, varnishing, and painting more figures, but whilst I still have the enthusiasm I intend to move on to a somewhat larger group of figures ... the additional Prussians that I have acquired!

Spanish Civil War: Day-by-Day: 11th August 1936

The Nationalist gunboat Eduardo Dato was sunk at Algeciras by the Republican battleship Jaime I.

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The Eduardo Dato was one of the three gunboats of the Antonio Canovas del Castillo-class that were seized by the Nationalists at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.

Eduardo Dato after modernisation.

Eduardo Dato was salvaged in late August 1936 and taken to Cadiz. She was modernised and returned to service in February 1937.

I have been to ... Scotney Castle, Kent

Last Sunday Sue and I visited Scotney Castle, which is located near Lamberhurst in Kent. The property belongs to the National Trust, having been bequeathed to them by Christopher Hussey, who died in 1970. It was not – however – opened to the public until 2007, a year after the death of its last resident, Elizabeth Hussey.

The property consists of two main buildings – Scotney New Castle and Scotney Old Castle – which are separated by a series of lawns and gardens. We began our visit with a tour of the New Castle, after which we walked downhill to the Old Castle.

The New Castle – which is usually referred to just as Scotney Castle – was built between 1835 and 1843 as a replacement for the Old Castle, which was felt to have become too derelict to remain in use as a practical family home. The replacement was designed by Anthony Salvin in a style that has become known as ‘Tudor Revival’.

We entered via the main doorway ...

... and our tour began in the main entrance hall, ...

... which was dominated by a magnificent fireplace.

From there we went into the library, ...

... and then back across the main entrance hall and along a corridor ...

... which gave access to the main dining room.

From there we went through the small dining room ...

... and into the kitchen, which was one of the more modern rooms in the castle.

We then retraced our steps along the corridor and back into the main entrance hall, whence we made our way upstairs using the wide wooden staircase.

As one would expect, most of the upper floor rooms were bedrooms ...

... although one room had been used as a drawing room by the last resident.

We then descended the stairs ...

... and exited the building.

After completing our tour of the New Castle, we made our way downhill towards the Old Castle.

The Old Castle is situated on an island, and the moat is crossed by a stone bridge.

The original building was deliberately ruined in order to make it into a garden feature or folly, although what remained was made secure, and for a time it was used to house some of the estate workers before being used as storage for some of the older equipment that had been used around the estate.

The rooms inside the Old Castle were empty, ...

... although its windows did give an interesting view of the surrounding moat and gardens.

Having finished our visit to the Old Castle, we returned uphill to the main building, and after a brief visit to the shop and the café, were returned to our car and made our way home.