Here I posted the interior of a Spanish Civil War refuge that I excavated with AUDEMA in july 2020. The bunker was part of a major complex of trenches, domes, machinegun nests and fighting positions of the 72º francoist Division, between Fresnedillas de la Oliva and Navalagamella (Madrid). The stronghold was built by the “Cruces Negras” Batallion (a far right party unified with Falange in 1938) during 1938-39 winter, very close to the end of the war and in a secondary front. The construction of this defensive work took place in a very late moment on a relatively stablished front, but this doesn’t mean that it didn’t see some action…the goberment units noticed its strategic value and soon they began the bombardment. We found fragments of shrapnel, spanish mauser and mosin-nagant impacted bullets inside de trenches.
Moreover, we discovered remains of cans, bones and an iron stake for barbed wire fence inside the evacuation channel in the refuge. The soldiers used this structure to have some rest and eat.
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