Kelvin Hughes

Fields of Aragon Kelvin Hughes

After the loss of Teruel during the freezing winter of 1937-38, the British Battalion was at its base in Tarrazona de la Mancha. Here they hoped for some much-needed rest and a chance to recover from the hardships they had endured. Little did they know that things were about to get worse, a lot worse. At the beginning of March 1938, Franco launched a massive offensive on the Aragon Front, with the aim of driving a wedge into the remaining Republican zone and cutting it into two by reaching the Mediterranean. If he could achieve this, he would separate Catalunya from the Republican government in Valencia. It had been assumed that the Nationalist forces would be just as exhausted as their Republican counterparts after the Battle of Teruel, and therefore a further attack on the Aragon Front was considered unlikely. However, Franco had quickly amassed a new army and attacked using blitzkrieg tactics, along a front running from the Pyrenees down to Teruel. Several early breakthroughs were made in the Republican defences and the Rebels advanced deep into Government territory in a matter of days. The Republican army was soon in full retreat. This is the story of two young Englishmen, who are thrown into Republican Spain's desperate fight for survival. With hardly any training, they take their places with other members of the International Brigades in a running battle across the fields of Aragon.