Army of Galicia Photography Unit

In early 1937, as it appeared that the war was going to last longer than expected, the rebel army was reorganized to adapt it to the new needs of total war. The result was the creation of the Army Corps of Galicia and the Army Corps of the Centre. In the context of mass conscription and the bloody repression in the rearguard, the rebels felt a need to legitimize their actions. For this task, in August 1937, the Francoist Military Intelligence Service created a photography unit within the  Army Corps of Galicia and assigned a reporter to explain the course of the Civil War to the public in Francoist territory.

Although they are not well known, something similar existed in each Army Corps as part of the Propaganda Service of the rebel army. They had a two-fold mission. On the one hand, take photographs to be sent to the press on the home front; on the other, many of their photos had military uses, analyzing combat situations and the locations of artillery batteries and trenches. The men involved were photojournalists, but they were different from the well-known ones who covered the conflict, and this gives their experiences and their photographs great significance. Many of their photos appeared in the press, but others show their experiences in battle. After they were demobilized, most of these men returned to their profession in civilian life, although few of the photos they took during the war remain.

The photograph shows José Longueira, Ángel Llanos, Mario Blanco Fuentes, Jaime Pacheco, Faustino López, and José Lombardía Bargos, the members of the Photography Unit of the Army of Galicia. They were conscripts who were charged with taking photos of everything that happened in the forces commanded by General Aranda. 

FLC