Corbera rebentada / Crushed town - a photo on Flickriver

IN ENGLISH BELOW THE LINE

Fotografies de la zona de combats de la Batalla del Ebre (1938).

Foto presa amb una Graflex Combat Graphic de 4x5 polzades, fabricada el 1944, i potser veterana de la US Navy o el USMC; objectiu Kodak Anastigmat Special f4,7/127mm; Fomapan 100, revelat en un tanc SP-445.

Corbera d'Ebre fou el poble més damnificat per la batalla, pràcticament arrasat. Per això fou reconstruit a la seva part baixa, arran de carretera. La part més antiga, al turó, fou abandonada i ha pràcticament desaparescut (crec que més per acció del temps sobre les ruines que pel propi bombardeig, tantmateix). Just en el limit on acaba la part habitada del poble hi ha encara aquest edifici supervivent del poble medieval, recordant-me cert gratacels de fama mundial (en faig col·lecció).

La batalla de l'Ebre (25 juliol - 16 novembre de 1938) fou la més important i mortifera de la guerra civil espanyola. Hi ha que també la consideren també la més decisiva, però crec que per desgracia la guerra ja estava decidida de molt abans, com a minim des del trencament del front d'Aragó el 9 de març del mateix any.

Tot i que l'exèrcit republicà creuà l'Ebre el 25 de juliol del 1938 per molts punts entre Mequinensa i Amposta, la major part dels combats de la batalla es donaren a la Terra Alta, a la zona entre Vilalba dels Arcs, La Fatarella, Camposines i Gandesa, a més de la Serra de Pandols.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLeClt23DxI

ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poble_Vell_de_Corbera_d%27Ebre

batallaebre.org/

ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batalla_de_l%27Ebre

ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corbera_d%27Ebre

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This is part of the Ebro battlefield (1938), in Southern Catalonia.

Picture taken with my Graflex Combat Graphic 4x5 camera, made in 1944 and maybe veteran of the USN or USMC; Kodak Anastigmat Special f4,7/127mm lens; Fomapan 100 film, developed in a SP-445 tank.

Among all the towns in the former battlefield, Corbera d'Ebre was the most destroyed of them all (although Vilalba, La Fatarella, Flix, Garcia and Benifallet were also quite damaged). All the upper, medieval, town was utterly bombed by the fascist artillery and even the nazi Legion Condor. It was after the war rebuilt only arround the lower road side. The top of the hill remains mostly empty now, because almost all the houses were destroyed and have even been razed afterwards to prevent dangers for the visitors. Only the mighty baroque church remains, although it lost it's roof.

Here are some aerial images:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLeClt23DxI

This is the bombed and destroyed village of Corbera d'Ebre, in Republican hands from the 25th of July to the 3dr of September of 1938. Then it was utterly bombed alongside that sector of the front. Not only the fascist artillery was used, but also the German Legion Condor. Here it could be seen from the Coll del Moro viewpoint, the place from where Franco observed the battle several times. It had until several years ago a monument to the bloody dictator, but now it has been cleaned, moreover as it's an Iberian archaeological site.

The Battle of the Ebro (July 25 - November 16, 1938) was the most important and deadlier of the Spanish Civil War. There are those who also consider it the most decisive, but I think that unfortunately the war was already decided long before, at least since the breaking of the front of Aragon on March 9 of the same year.

The battle began with the greatest offensive made by the Republican forces, when they crossed the river Ebro between Mequinensa and Amposta (especially between Riba-roja and Miravet), and advanced to the line La Pobla de Massaluca -Vilalba dels Arcs -Gandesa - Serra de Pandols . But in just 48 hours, the dazzling advance was stopped short. Then Franco decided to crush the republican forces hill by hill (with massive artillery and bomber barrages), in a battle of attrition identical to the First World War for which the Republicans had no resources or alternative, especially with the river behind them. The main assaults, which lasted from August 10 to October 29, were concentrated in a very small and devastated area: the triangle Vertex Gaeta - Corbera - Camposines.

Finally, a final offensive on October 30 occupied the ridge of the Serra de Cavalls, making the entire Republican bridgehead unsustainable, which managed, however, to withdraw in an orderly manner until November 16. But the damage was already done, and there were no forces left for a proper defense of Catalonia, which fell three months later. Then, fascist darkness.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxQZ_gKCHtk

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Ebro

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corbera_d%27Ebre

Taken in: Spain / Catalonia / Gandesa / Corbera (show map)

Taken on: December 6, 2021

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Camera: EPSON Perfection V800/V850 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	EPSON Perfection V800/V850
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	SilverFast 8.8.0 r25 (Jun 25 2021) d6df961 25.06.
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