September 1936: End of the Siege of the Alcazar Fortress

A photograph of Colonel José Moscardó Ituarte (left), next to General Francisco Franco after the ending of the "Siege of Alcazar" on September 27^th, 1936. Source: The State, Friday, October 2nd, 1936.

Moscardo was a semi-retired army officer who sided with the Nationalists at the outset of the Spanish Civil War which broke out on in July 1936.

He became the Commandant of the Alcazar Fortress in Toledo Province after loyalist Republicans took control of the province. They lay siege on the fortress for 71 days until they were relieved by the insurgent Army of Africa led by General Francisco Franco.

Earlier during the siege, Colonel Moscardo had recieved a phone call from a Republican officer offering to bargain Moscardo's son, who had been captured, for the surrender of the fort. When his son was brought to the telephone Moscardo instructed him to commend his soul to God and die like a patriot. Moscardo then shouted:

"Love live Christ the King!" and "Long live Spain!"
His son Luis replied, "That I can do Papa".

After the siege and conquest of Toledo, Colonel Moscardo was appointed to serve as the military governor of Toledo Province.

After the war, he was given the title of Count of the Alcázar de Toledo and made a Grandee of Spain.

Franco gave him permission to wear a black cloak over his uniform so that every Spanish officer that he encountered would know his name.

Moscardo attained the rank of Lieutenant General before his death in April 1956, aged 77. This was posthumously elevated to Capitán General del Ejército, the highest rank in the Spanish military.

© Adeyinka Makinde (2024).

Adeyinka Makinde is a writer based in London, England.

"If the night returns to test us, all glory (militia days) will return" - New Martyrs Song of the Lebanese Forces (LF) militia

I was always fascinated by songs about liberation militias and this remains the case for those produced in the age of social media by non-state West Asian military organisations.

This one by the Maronite Christian Lebanese Forces features alot of footage of its leader Samir Geagea (surname pronounced "Jah-jah"), who was once a guerrilla fighter for the Christian Phalangists, the military wing of the right-wing Kataeb Party.

Kataeb was founded by Pierre Gemayel whose song Bashir led the Phalangists during the early stages of the Lebanese Civil War and was elected as President of Lebanon before his assassination in September 1982.

Interestingly, the video provides a brief shot of Bashir Gemayel putting on a pair of sunglasses at the beginning.

Like his late colleague, the fearsome Elie Hobeika who was assassinated in 2002, Geagea is a man whose career is littered with corpses, including, it is alleged, up to 4,000 Palestinian and Shia women and Children who were massacred at the Sabra and Shatila camp in 1982.

© Adeyinka Makinde (2025).

Adeyinka Makinde is a writer who is based in London, England.