Armor Articles in Abanderado (full version)

On July 18th, 1936 when hostilities began, armored vehicles were both few in number and of little tactical value due mainly to age and poor maintenance. The main exception to this was some f if ty *autometralladoras' MG vehicles for use by the riot police. In addition there were ton French FT-17's armed with MG's and four Schneider CA-1 M1916's at the "Artillery Depot' in Madrid and two more Schneiders at the 'Heavy Vehicle School' in Segovia. There were another five FT-17's, one Flat 3000A, four Trubia A's (a locally built FT-17variant), and two Landesa 1934's at various locations: Twenty-eight vehicles in all.

There were also approximately twenty "Camiones Protegidos" (armored trucks);survivors of the Morocco Campaign plus forty-eight "Bilbao" armored cars of the "Asaltos' (Tactical Police) and Cavalry division's "Grupo deAutometralladoras* (Mobile MG Group)

When the fighting started, these forces were divided as follows:

Tank	Loyalists	Nationalists
CA-1	4	-
FT-17	6	6
Trubia	-	3
Fiat 3000A	1	-
Bilbao	43	6
Armored truck	?	5

In addition, the loyalists produced large numbers of improvised armored trucks called "Tiziriaos'. These were of very little value!

The first actions including armored vehicles included:

2 FT-17's at the "Horse Artillery barracks' fought in Madrid on July 19th. Same 2 FT's plus 1 Schneider and 2 'Bilbaos' at 'Montana Barracks' next day. 5 FT's at 'Alto del Leon' heights supported by the arrival of "Bilbaos" from the Cavalry Division a week later.

2 Loyalist Schneider's at the siege of the Alcazar. (These were damaged by defenders with cluster grenades and returned to Madrid)

Popular Militia units used tanks at Bad4oz, Cacares, and Toledo in August resulting in damage to 3 FT's, 8 'Bilbaos", and 2 Tiznaos.

In the North, Trubia!s and Landesa!s were used by both sides at Oviedo and Gijon with 2 lost.

The Nationalists used 5 FT's effectively in the campaign in Aragon in August and September, 1936. One was lost,

On September 30th after the first foreign deliveries, both sides holdings were as follows:

Tank	Loyalists	Nationalists
CA-1	2	2
FT-17	3	4
Trubia	2	-
Landesa	1	-
Bilbao	23?	12
Armored truck	?	5

The vehicle referred to commonly as the "Bilbao 1932', was also refered to as the "Aurometralladora' (self propelled MG) It came about shortly after 14 April, 1931, when the Spanish Republic (The second of that name) saw a need to strengthen and expand its security forces.

On 30 January, 1932, the "Guardia do Asaltos" was formed to act as a combination riot police and motorised shock force. It was to be armed with a full range of infantry weapons from pistols and rifles to light and heavy machineguns, mortars, and even armored cars. It was initially organised into 14 *Assault Groups' then raised to 18 in 1934. Each group had three line companies and a supporting "Specialist Company". These Specialist Companies each consisted of an HQ element, a mortar and chemical section, and a motor section of three "Bilbao' armored cars.

The Bilbao was built by the Railway section of the Spanish National Engineering 'Yard" (SECN) in Bilbao. The design had been produced by an SECN engineer in collaboration with the Asaltos Engineer Corps. The basic vehicle was a 1930 Dodge 02 with a Chrysler motor, gearbox, and wheels. The only other parts used were the mudguards, lights and front bumper. The addition of a '7 shaped iron girder provided a framework onto which steel plates were riveted.

Although the resulting vehicle looked impressive, its armor protection proved poor. The vehicle posessed 2 doors and seven shellcled windows, as well as an extended rear hull "bin" for luggage and spares. In the center of the roof was a fully rotatable cylindrical turret with a flat mantlet for a ball-and- socket mounted 7mm Hotchkiss mod. 1924 MMG. There was an access hatch on the roof. The whole effect was that of a cheesebox on an 'Untouchables' sedan.

The first group of 36 went to the Asaltos; i The second group of 14 went to the cavalry. Today, there is one known surviving example of this vehicle. It resides at the "Escala do Logistica del Ejercito' (The army logistics school) in Spain.

DATA

Crew: 4-5
Weight: 4,800 kg.
L/W/H: 5.44m/2.07m/2.6m (to turret top)
Power Plant:6 cylinder Chrysler, water cooled 63HP
Speed: 50 km/hour
Armor: 3mm average
Armament: 1x7mm Hotchkiss MMG

Armor Articles in Abanderado (full version)