In July and August 1936, anarchist, POUM and socialist militias marched from Catalonia into Aragon to retake Zaragoza and Huesca from the Nationalist rebels. The advance stalled, and a static front ran through the Sierra de Alcubierre, where volunteers such as George Orwell served in the trenches. The militias were folded into the Republican army in 1937, and the Nationalist Aragon Offensive broke the front in March 1938.
Here in the story
Front line
By chance he joins a POUM militia, where men and women fight side by side and argue fiercely about the revolution.
Front line
He returns to his old comrades just as a government unit arrives to disarm them.
Here in the story
Front line
The women join the columns marching on Zaragoza and insist on fighting in the line rather than cooking behind it.
