XVI Army Corps (Spain)

XVI Army Corps
XVI Cuerpo de Ejército
Active	April 30, 1938–March 1939
Country	Spanish Republic
Allegiance	Republican faction
Branch	Spanish Republican Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Corps
Garrison/HQ	Tarancón
Engagements	Spanish Civil War: Battle of Santander Levante Offensive
Commanders
Notable commanders	Miguel Palacios Martínez

The XVI Army Corps was a military formation of the Spanish Republican Army that fought in the Spanish Civil War. It had an outstanding performance in the Levante campaign.

History

It was originally created on August 6, 1937 from the old Asturian II Army Corps. The command fell to José Gállego Aragüés. It participated in the Battle of Santander, during which it suffered such losses that it was dissolved.

In April 1938, the XVI Army Corps was recreated again in the downtown area, with its headquarters in Tarancón. Miguel Palacios Martínez took over the command of the unit. He was soon sent to the Levante front, in support of the republican forces that resisted the nationalist offensive that was trying to take Valencia. The XVI Army Corps was located between the XIII and XIX corps, in the Teruel sector. At the beginning of July it faced a renewed offensive in the Teruel sector, suffering considerable casualties. At the climax of the Battle of Levante, the corps integrated the 39th, 48th and 52nd divisions; after the beginning of the Battle of the Ebro the Levante front stabilized. During the rest of the war, the XVI Corps did not intervene in any relevant military operation.

Command

Commanders

• Miguel Palacios Martínez;

Commissars

• Antonio Ejarque Pina, of the CNT;

Chiefs of Staff

• Francisco Arderiu Perales;

Organization

Date	Attached Army	Integrated divisions	Battlefront
August 6, 1937	Northern Army	56th, 57th and 58th	Asturias-Santander
April 30, 1938	GERC	13th, 14th, 48th	Reservation
July 4, 1938	Levantine Army	39th, 48th	Levante
August 1938	Levantine Army	39th, 48th, 52nd	Levante

Bibliography

• Engel, Carlos (1999) (in es). Historia de las Brigadas Mixtas del Ejército Popular de la República. Madrid, Almena. ISBN 84-922644-7-0. 
• Herrerín López, Ángel (2004) (in es). La CNT durante el franquismo: clandestinidad y exilio (1939-1975). Siglo XXI de España. ISBN 9788432311529. 
• Juan Navarro, Ramón (2010) (in es). Resistir es vencer. El frente de Viver en la Guerra Civil española. Lulu.com. ISBN 978-1-4466-9664-4. 
• Martínez Bande, José Manuel (1972) (in es). El final del frente norte. Madrid: Ed. San Martín. 
• Martínez Bande, José Manuel (1977) (in es). La ofensiva sobre Valencia. Madrid: Editorial San Martín.