! I learned something about basques from patients, emigrees, and from my own ancestry. And it is true, the blood in this corner of Europe is surprisingly high in Rh - factor (almost 45% of the basques are Rh negative, in Spain is 5-8%, in South America is even stranger, around 3%). The language (euskera) is very, very hard to lern. I only know how to pray Our Father (Gure Aita) in basque (but like a parrot, without knowing the grammar rules) 
. Thee SCW was a trap for the basques, between the anti-clerical republican autonomy, and the centralism of a catholic francoism. In Navarre, the hard line tradicionalists were the crack infantry (alongside the Legion and Regulares), but only a generation later, the marxist and atheist ETA (one of the worst terrorist gang of the western world) emerged in the Basque Country. Thanks for your input! Cheers!Hi, B! Thanks for your input. Yes. Unfortunately, this is the final chapter
. I learned a lot of history and of how to "read" a photograph and try to draw it. It was a pity, but some of the vessels with a protagonice role in this saga, had no pictures, or even a record with the specs (for example, the steam tug Arango was an elusive ship for 2 years, not only for me, but also for my spaniard pals). Cheers!The closing chapter of the Spanish Civil War, the Republican Exile.
After the fleeing of the Republican Fleet to Bizerte in Tunisia, the Francoist Fleet was the indisputed master of the Spanish Coast, reduced to the Levant, and parts of Andalusia. In many ways, in the republican port cities, it was a real "sauve qui peut" specially in the last month of the war.
The maritime exodus begun with the surrender of Minorca en February 9th 1939. Although the republican naval, military and political leaders of the island were evacuated in a Royal Navy ship (the cruiser HMS Devonshire), many were left behind and fleed in the available hulls found in Mahón. One of the few vessels found was a 1869 french built schooner converted to diesel engine Carmen Picó (in the first half of the XX century, this kind of sailing vessels "motoveleros" were an important form of trading in the Balearic and Canary islands), she left Mahon to Oran (Algeria) the same February 9th with 75 refugees.
The real massive republican flight begun with a francoist decree March 6th 1939 closing the coast between Sagunto and Adra to all navigation, despite flag or size. One of the first vessels that was able to evade the blocading ships around Cartagena was the cargo vessel SAC No. 2. A seized spanish ship of the Cros Line, was used as a vessel under direct command of the Naval Staff at Cartagena. Without naval chiefs, SAC No. 2 left the main republican naval base to Oran the same March 6th 1939 with 82 refugees.
The next day, SS Plouzbazlanec a steamer from the communist line France navigation left Alicante to Oran with nearly 100 refugees.
From the same harbour, Alicante, one of the naval auxiliaries left behind, the water tanker Buque Aljibe No. 2 sailed to Oran with only 38 refugees, mostly naval personnel and their families.
A week later, March 12th 1939, also from Alicante SS Ronwyn, a british steamer of the Dillwyn Line, went to Tenes (Algeria) with 650 men. women and children.
3 days later, SS Stancor left Valencia to Oran with 111 refugees.
The second and third weeks of the month, were of mild negotiations between the new republican government and the francoists military, but the talks were unfruitful, as the Nationalists claimed an unconditional surrender of the republican forces (almost 500,000 men strong), and the republican high ranking officers expected an "honourable surrender" and certain warranties (at least for top military and politicians).
In March 19th, SS African Trader, left Alicante towards Oran with a full load of 850 refugees.
Towards the end of the 3rd week, in land in almost every front, the francoists armies begun an unstopable advance.The main cities in the southern Castilian Plateau were conquered by March 28th. In Madrid the underground francoist resistance (the "fifth column") occupied the main buildings and the city surrendered in March 28th too. March´s final week saw also the advance in the coast, conquering the few harbours still available. The last steamers (smaller ones) that left republican ports were the french SS Lezardrieux and the british SS Stanbrooke, the former from Valencia with nearly 500 refugees, the later from Alicante, both left Spain to Oran in March 28th 1939 with the francoist troops only few miles away from the docks.
The departure of Stanbrook was of great drama, because the Nationalist army was ad portas, Stanbrook was the last and only ship available and the docks were full of people. Stanbrook left Alicante crowded with more than 3000 refugees
! So crowded was the ship, that she left the harbour listed to one board.
The last republican vessel left Cartagena, in March 29th was the fleet oiler Campilo (qv) with more than 400 refugees. But the last refugees did not left Spain in steel ships, they fleed in small wooden fishery vessels, from equally small fishery harbours. One example of this minor vessel fleet was the fishery boat La Guapa, a motor fishing sloop of only 17 meters long. She left Santa Pola (near Alicante) crowded with 92 refugees, in a dramatic 30 hour voyage to Oran.
Not all the republican vessels were used to rescue people. The yacht Vita was bought by the republican Navy minister Indalecio Prieto for the transport not of refugees, but for a tresure of confiscated gold, foreign currency and jewels from France to United States, more than 50 million pounds in 1939. The yacht was renamed as Abril, but the name Vita was clearly visible in the sides and in the stern. The purpose was (at least in theory) to rise funds to help to the republican exile in Mexico and anywhere. The vessel was crewed by loyal basque and cantabrian sailors and left Le Havre, arriving Tampico in March 23th 1939. As the cargo was completely ilegal, neither Prieto or Juan Negrin were able to demonstrate the ownership of the tresure and the final destiny of it is rather obscure. The captain, suggested the american authorities the embargo of the yacht, and Vita/Abril was seized, and later she was armed and equiped by the US Navy and renamed as USS PY-31 Cythera II.
With the end of the war, and many thousands of republican refugees in France, Daladier's government had an accute humanitarian problem. It was solved in a rather sad way for the ones in French Africa: forced labour in the transaharian railway or enlistment in the Foreign Legion. Many spaniards choose the later, and that was the origin of some names written on the tanks and armored vehicles (Ebro, Brunete, Jarama, Belchite, Guernica, even Don Qixote!) of General Leclerc´s 2nd Armoured Division during the Liberation of Paris.
The refugees at continental France (nearly half a million) were much more problematic, so the republican government in exile and the president of Mexico Mr. L. Cardenas hired french ocean liners to move the refugees form french soil to Mexico. One of these liners was SS Mexique, two funneled vessel of the French Line (Cie Generale Transatlantique), in July 1939 she transported more than 2000 refugees to Veracruz.
Well. C´est fini! Thanks to all the fellow bucketeers that gave me a hand in this saga (specially Colombamike, I owe him a lot). Lot of thanks also for the feedback (specially B, who was helping me since my first drawing here in SB! and Hood)! Cheers!
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