Editing Mequinenza (section)

=== Spanish Civil War and the Battle of the Ebro in Mequinenza ===
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[[File:Monumento a los caídos en la Batalla del Ebro (Mequinenza).jpg|thumb|Alto de los Auts Monument]]

In the course of the Spanish Civil War in 1936–1939, Mequinenza and its municipal area were the scenes of bloody combats of the [[Battle of the Ebro]], between June and November 1938. The [[Auts]] were the scene of violent fighting during the initial phase of the [[battle of the Ebro]], where the 42nd Republican Division began to cross the [[Ebro]] river in this area on the morning of 25 July. The plan of the operation of the Mequinenza-Fayón by the Republican Army was to cross the Ebro river and the conquest a [[bridgehead]]. The balance of the battle of the [[Auts]] was one of the bloodiest in the entire [[battle of the Ebro]]. On the [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|republican]] side, 817 dead and 1,328 prisoners, not counting the wounded and disappeared (about 3,000 casualties), and by the [[Francoist Army]], 135 dead and 1284 wounded. The objective of the republican offensive was to fix the enemy's reserves and cut the road from Mequinenza to [[Maella]]. This knot, however, was never conquered. To the initial effort of the 226 Brigade and part of the 227 Brigade of the 42nd Republican Division, the [[Francoists]] replied with the progressive arrival of reinforcements. The offensive continued day after day with no significant progress despite heavy fighting. On 1 August, a double aerial and artillery bombardment preceded a first counterattack by [[Francoists|Francoist forces]]. The [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|republicans]] would attack again two days in a last attempt to conquer the long-awaited 'Gilbert Crossing', while on 6 August there was a definitive counterattack by the [[Francoist Spain|Francoist army]], forcing the [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|republican army]] to defend itself, avoiding the collapse of the entire division. Finally, the survivors of the 42nd Republican Division had to cross the Ebro again in the opposite direction. As a consequence of the [[Battle of the Ebro]], the bridge over the Ebro in Mequinenza was destroyed.

Six decades after the events, on 8 August 1998, the group of republican survivors of the "Quinta del Biberón" inaugurated the monument erected on the hillside of [[Auts|Alto de los Auts]], a key position, the highest and most strongly defended by the Republicans. The monument, designed by Javier Torres, is presided over by two plates, in Catalan and Spanish, and two helmets on each side. The plaque says: 'To all those who lost, who were all'. Up to 250 combatants accompanied by their families participated in the homage. After depositing a wreath at the foot of the monument, the veterans recalled the thirst, heat and diseases they suffered during the combats.