Battle of Lopera

Overview

The Battle of Lopera took place between 27 and 29 December 1936 during the Spanish Civil War. This battle took place during the Nationalist's Aceituna offensive. On 27 December, the XIV International Brigade launched an attack in order to occupy the Nationalist-held town of Lopera, but the attack failed after two days and the Brigade suffered appalling casualties.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Lopera formed part of the Nationalist Aceituna offensive in late December 1936. The XIV International Brigade, numbering around 3,000 troops under Karol Świerczewski, launched an assault on the Nationalist-held town of Lopera but failed to take it after two days of fighting. Republican casualties were severe, reported between 300 and 600 killed or wounded against an estimated 200 on the Nationalist side. The failed attack demonstrated the limits of International Brigade offensive capacity during this phase of the war and left Lopera in Nationalist hands, sustaining the momentum of the Aceituna offensive.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (1)