Omaha - Photo #2

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spain1
The Spanish Civil War seen from the USS Omaha. My dad's caption:
This is the village of Caldetas, in Spain, approximately twenty kilometers north of Barcelona. Picture was taken on morning of the 25th of January, 1939, shortly before the fall of Barcelona and almost two months to the day from the civil war's end. The small ship at the far right is the French destroyer "Le Tigre". The ship at the far left, of which only the stern may be seen, is the USS Badger, a destroyer, which followed close on the heels of the "Omaha" in making this hurried run to Caldetas. It was the "Badger" which transported the consulate staff of Barcelona to Marseilles. Both survived a severe storm enroute, although the weather-beaten condition of the ships and crew is, of course, not apparent. At right center is a large volume of smoke caused by a direct his on what appeared to be an ammunition truck, judging by the tracer bullets which flew out at all angles. The Capronis [Italian aircraft] which wrought such havoc are far overhead — invisible. They were nine in number, flying north from Barcelona, cicling twice and returning. It was the French "Le Tigre" which mustered up enough courage to use her anti-aircraft, but she, unhappily, did no damage. The "Omaha" motor launch was close inshore at the time.
Caldetas is called Caldes d'Estrac or Caldetes in Catalan. I note with some surprise from the next-to-last sentence that my dad seemed to favor the Republican side. I found a web page saying "During the Spanish Civil War, Caldetes was considered an open city, having several embassies in the municipality, which meant it could not be bombed." For this reason diplomats of many countries moved from Barcelona to Caldetes during the war.