Lost
in La Plana de Castellón
Expohistórica,
Castellón, Spain
October
2006 |
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Having
said we would be
back, the 'La Columna Expeditionary Force' made its way cunningly
past Non Intervention Border Guards to reinforce the Republic forces
at Castellón.
The routes
chosen were cunning and varied. Chris and Charlotte posed as sun seekers,
landing in Alicante and heading north. David crossed the frontier
in the guise of an eccentric water bottle collector with a desire
to walk round Belchite. The Thorpe-Ortiz collective spent a week at
Corinto, forcing decent wine and food inside themselves before the
Fasc were convinced they were humble tourists.
Friday came
and Kev landed. Having switched planes at Barcelona his arrival at Valencia
was not uneventful. Delayed in baggage reclaim, he finally made it out,
although it appeared the T-26 he had in his case had been confiscated.
He was taken away for the 7 euro menu of the day [that’s three
courses, coffee and drink - always eat where the workers do - you know
it makes sense]. Then Sarge bravely fell asleep on the beach at Playa
de Canet, serenaded by lapping waves and the creeping feeling that with
a temperature in the high 20’s and perfect sand, the near empty
shoreline really ought to be heaving with Brits.
We arrived
in Castellón around 10.00 on the Saturday. The centre of activity
was the Hotel Golf. This large structure, which had skipped redecoration
and gone straight for 70’s retro chic, housed the re-enactment
fraternity. A market was in full swing. Lots of WW2 stuff, but with
some nice SCW items. I resisted until I saw a drill book of 1935 - The
Aspiring Corporal - well a boy can dream.
We finally
strolled over to the front line. Comrade Isles had already been hard
at it teaching the art of Yorkshire trenching. The Republican lines
were organised and neat, equipped with an anti-tank gun and Maxim. The
Anarchist section had fewer sandbags and more doors. Over the way were
the Fasc lines: anti-aircraft gun, mountain 105mm, not a patch on the
plain and honest Republican trenches.
Click on thumbnails for larger image
Spain is
abroad. They do things differently. A stall by the trenches was set
up but the public don’t expect so much interaction. People took
photos and both sides wandered in an out of view. The battles of Saturday
were all World War Two affairs so we drifted in and out. Lunch was communal
paella. Kev and David, arriving at the end of the queue, were forced
to eat several platefuls.
It was fantastic
to see Juan, Kristian and our other comrades. Juan was looking very
tired towards the end of the day. We also met (Ex Pat Brits) Nick and
John, who live in Gandesa and were perfect companions for the weekend.
The Thorpe-Ortiz
collective retired to siesta. More was sought from the market and money
seemed to leak away. Thoughts of the swimming pool were discouraged
by the fact the water was emerald green.
The evening
was a pleasant one. Dinner at the Golf, followed by pleasant drinks.
Martin was finally persuaded to go to bed, mainly as an excuse for his
ageing father to go to sleep.
Next day
we breakfasted and divided our forces. Martin and Abs went to the beach,
while we mooched about. The Battle will be at 12.00 but this is Spain,
came the advice. So we expected 12.30+ having gone to clear the room
we arrived back to see surly Carlists assaulting our lines. It was before
noon. We rushed to our anti-tank gun. Our involvement mainly consisted
of moving the barrel from side to side and shouting at an officer who
insisted in standing in front of it.
Anti-Tank
gun battery in action |
Anti-tank
crew in action |
Panzers
beware! |
Anti-tank
Crew |
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This seemed
to do the trick, as the Fasc retreated. Soon it was all over and we
all shook hands with the enemy and hoped another war would never break
out. Mind you, the UN Blue caps insisted on standing between us and
them for the photo.
By 1.00pm
the camp had been demolished. Martin, who was rivaled by a Uniformed
Carlist child, scored heavily by helping to collect up sand bags and
continued to find himself the centre of the attention of older women.
We thought
of the lunch on offer, army rations, and headed down to the port for
paella and calamari. It was a peaceful and splendid end to a wonderful
weekend.
We went
our separate ways. Many thanks to Juan and all the ¡Ay, Carmela!
team for their warm welcome.
We will
be back...
Report By
Richard Thorpe
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Carmela!
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of the event....
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