"POUM Uniforms and Flags..." Topic

…Or, in the words of Orwell; "Multiform".

I prefer to reference photos and primary accounts if possible, rather than colour plates in books, although most photos of this era being b&w a bit of educated guesswork is needed. Many of these photos were taken by the amazing Agustí Centelles.

Peaked cap and mono combination reminiscient of plate 212 in the JM Bueno uniform book

Juan Moner Albeciano of the POUM in 1937. Possibly khaki mono?

Farewells, Barcelona July 1936

August 1936, Aragon Front

Orwell, Bob Edwards and Hotchkiss M1914 MMG

POUM military committee, Lleida/Lérida, Catalonia. The guards standing at the back are possibly members of the POUM "Batallón de Choque". Orwell mentions these were amongst the best Republican troops he came across and was formed around a nucleus of German refugees in the Spartacus
Centuria in November 1936. Brought up to battalion size of 400, according to Andy Durgan (historical advisor on Land and Freedom) "The Shock Battalion was given special training, the best arms available and its own dark green uniform. Rovira's aim was to use the new unit as the vanguard in raids and assaults on heavily defended sectors of the enemy lines. Its members also were paraded at "official ceremonies" and guarded the party's headquarters…" link

Militia of the small POUM unit on the Madrid front. Interesting for the Schneider CA1 they've got their hands on with slogans suggesting a strong Trotskyist tendency. The artist Eugenio Granell was a member of this unit.

Ponts is a town in Catalonia

Members of the International "Column" (actually originally of approx centuria strength). Note French rather than Spanish spelling of "column" on the flags.

POUM cavalry unit, Aragon Front – also see rare film on youtube

YouTube link

Alcubierre, Aragon front.

MikeO

Wow! just wow! Thanks

Those are great pictures. In the US (and maybe the UK), the "mono" is called coveralls or overalls. They were (and still are) used by workers who tended machinery or worked where the conditions were dusty or dirty. They could be easily donned and easily laundered.

We are having a new museum complex built next to our archives building and I see many of the construction workers wearing overalls, especially those doing dirt or concrete work or when it is cold outside.

Jim

Excellent – thanks for that…!

Doug

Very nice and very useful. Thanks for posting.

Fatman

Yes thanks for posting.

Glad it's of use!

Those are great pictures. In the US (and maybe the UK), the "mono" is called coveralls or overalls. They were (and still are) used by workers who tended machinery or worked where the conditions were dusty or dirty. They could be easily donned and easily laundered.

Yes, in Britain it's overalls or "boiler suit". Medium to dark blue are the most common colours both now and for Republican workers' militias at the start of the Spanish Civil War in the summer of 1936. Overalls in khaki or green shades began to gain more favour as time went on for a more "military" look (even some Nationalist militia wore this style).

Also, as the weather grew colder on the Aragon front-line, warmer clothing came into use leading to the introduction of the "multiform" across the militias as described by Orwell;

"Everyone's clothes followed the same general plan, but they were never quite the same in any two cases. Practically everyone in the army wore corduroy knee-breeches, but there the uniformity ended. Some wore puttees, others corduroy gaiters, others leather leggings or high boots. Everyone wore a zipper jacket, but some of the jackets were of leather, others of wool and of every conceivable colour. The kinds of cap were about as numerous as their wearers. It was usual to adorn the front of your cap with a party badge, and in addition nearly every man. wore a red or red and black handkerchief round his throat."

"I hate to think of what the militiamen must have gone through in the earlier months before anything was organized. I remember coming upon a newspaper of only about two months earlier in which one of the P.O.U.M. leaders, after a visit to the front, said that he would try to see to it that ‘every militiaman had a blanket'. A phrase to make you shudder if you have ever slept in a trench."

Bob Edwards (later a Labour MP) describes the first time he met Orwell at the front:

He came striding towards me – all six foot three of him – dressed in a grotesque mixture of clothing – corduroy riding breeches, khaki puttees and huge boots caked in mud, a yellow pigskin jerkin, a chocolate-coloured balaclava helmet and a knitted khaki scarf of immeasurable length..

Much of this can be seen in the photos. The waist-length suede or leather jacket is the "cazadora" and various headgear – gorillo sidecaps, leather peaked caps with fold-down sides, woollen pasamontaña/balaclava caps, berets and the M26/M34 helmet.

If that photo of the POUM HQ does show Shock Troops then their special uniform seems to resemble the regulation Assault Guards one but in dark green rather than blue. Their lower legs can't be seen so can't be sure if loose trousers or puttees unfortunately. In an assault they would probably wear grenade and bullet bandoliers like other Shock Troop units – these from the Durruti Column (also wearing the general militia "multiform"):