| 88th Mixed Brigade | |
|---|---|
| 88.ª Brigada Mixta | |
| Active | March 1937 -March 1939 |
| Country |  Spanish Republic |
| Allegiance | Republican faction |
| Branch |  Spanish Republican Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Brigade |
| Engagements | Spanish Civil War |
The88th Mixed Brigade was a unit of theSpanish Republican Army created during theSpanish Civil War. During most of the war it was deployed on theCórdoba andExtremadura fronts.
The unit was created inMarch 1937, based on the anarchist battalions fighting in theCórdoba offensive,[1] as well as the formerAndalusia-Extremadura Column.[2] The command of the unit was entrusted to Juan Fernández Pérez.[3] The 88th MB became part of the19th Division of the8th Corps Army and was assigned to thePeñarroya-Pueblonuevo sector, where she intervened in offensive operations betweenMarch 27 andApril 13.[4] In August, the artillery commander Francisco Blanco Pedraza took over command of the unit. A few months later, in December, Blanco handed over command of the mixed brigade to militia major Francisco Rodríguez Muñoz, and the unit was incorporated into the38th Division, with his command post inHinojosa del Duque.[4]
In the spring of 1938 it participated in a small offensive in theAzuaga-Granja de Torrehermosa sector,[5] but the attack ended in failure. A few months later, it took part in operations related to theBattle of Merida pocket.[4] At the end of the fighting, the 88th Mixed Brigades moved to cover the defensive line of theZújar River.[n. 1] OnMarch 27,1939, with the decomposition of the front and the Republican Army, the brigade dissolved itself.[4]
In the last months of the war, the anarchistAntonio Raya was political commissar of the brigade.[7] After the end of the war, Raya became an important leader of theSpanish Maquis inAndalusia,[7] organizing rural and urban guerrillas that acted in the provinces ofMálaga,Córdoba andGranada.