Bombing of Cartagena, 25 November 1936

One of the first demonstrations that the Non-Intervention agreement was a farse came in Cartagena on 25 November 1936. The port city was the principal point of entry for Soviet arms shipments to the Republic and the main Republican naval base. This was also the combat debut of the German Condor Legion in Spain. 

On 23 November, a German reconnaissance plane flew over the city. This is marked “1” on the map. The Heinkel He-70 did two passes, observing such potential targets as the port, the arsenal, and the coastal and anti-aircraft batteries. A little later, in one of his notorious radio broadcasts, Gonzalo Queipo de Llano threatened the inhabitants of the city: “People of Cartagena, you will remember my name” – 25 November is the day of Saint Gonzalo – “you will run like rabbits to your burrows”, presumably referring to the refuges. This was the prelude to the “four-hour bombing” that took place that day and which the map illustrates.

In preparation for the attack, the Nazi planes moved from their usual base in Seville to Melilla. This was closer to the target and meant that they would not have to fly over the Sierra Nevada. They flew over the Mediterranean to Almería and then followed the coast northwards to Cartagena. The flight took two hours each way.

The first attack, marked “2” on the map, which was carried out by ten Junker Ju-52s, began at 17:30. They were looking for the Republican fleet, but it had set sail only a one hour before and they didn’t find it. As a result, using an inverted U formation, they dropped bombs of up to 250 kilograms on the port and the lower part of the city. The second attacked, marked “3”, began at 18:03. Another ten Junkers dropped numerous incendiary bombs at twenty-minute intervals for three hours.

The bombing did not have any significant military impact, but it did kill at least 58 civilians.