Jarama

Jarama River in Titulcia

Jarama is a river in central Spain. It flows north to south, and passes east of Madrid. It flows into the river Tagus in Aranjuez. The Manzanares is a tributary of the Jarama.

During the Spanish Civil War at Paracuellos del Jarama 1000 (other sources give the number of 2000) nationalist prisoners were killed by the Republican Militia guards during the Battle of Madrid (November 8-9, 1936). Santiago Carrillo has often been claimed responsible for the massacre [link], although some historians claim his direct involvement has not been proved.

The Jarama was also the scene of fierce fighting -the Battle of Jarama - in 1937. Nationalist forces crossed the river in an attempt to cut the main Madrid-to-Valencia road and isolate the Republican capital. Nacionalist forces led by Spanish Legionnaires and Moroccan soldiers of the Army of Africa were confronted by forces from the Republic including the 15th International Brigade. The 15th Brigade contained both the British Battalion of Volunteers and American volunteers in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Despite heavy casualties (over 270 British out of 600) the nacionalists were stopped short of their objective. A period of trench warfare followed before the "Internationals" were withdrawn.

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.