F.A.R.E (Fuerzas Aéreas de la República Española: Air Forces of the Spanish Republic) 

After the 18th July 1936, and the coup d’ état resulting in the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, the organisation of the Military Aeronautics had to necessarily undergo some changes during the development of the War. Therefore, the situation advised the grouping of the two aviations, that of the Air Force and the Naval Aeronautics, depending on the Navy, and even though each of them kept their identity, they were integrated in the Navy and Air Force Ministry. Later on, these two bodies joined to make just one body, forming the new Aviation Army, the FARE (Fuerzas Aéreas de la República Española: Air Forces of the Spanish Republic), consisting of all aeronautical services, integrated on the 16th May 1937 in the DECA (Defensa Especial Contra Aeronaves: Special Defence Against Aeroplanes). The personnel grouped in three bodies: the General Aviation Body, the Auxiliary Aviation Body and the “Maestranza de Aviación”. The first of these bodies consisted of the navigating personnel, and it was divided in “Air Step” (Escalón Aéreo) and “Earth Step” (Escalón de Tierra). The second body integrated the Aeronautical Engineers, the Quartermaster Corps, the Mechanics and the Armers (Armeros). The third group integrated the workers of all categories. However, regarding the DECA, we must specify that the officers and the superior officers in general continued to form part for a long time of their respective origin arms, in general of artillery. The rest of them were definitely incorporated to the Aviation Arm. On the 4th January 1938, the former decree that was not wholly applied, was modified, creating the following bodies with different characteristics:

• General Body, divided in Air Step and Earth Step.
• Mechanics Body
• Radio-telephonists and Meteorologists Body
• Armers Bodies
• Body of Aeronautical Engineers and Aeroplane Specialists
• Quartermaster Corps
• Health Body
• Troops and Services Body
• Drivers Body
• “Maestranza de Aviación”

   

During all the war, the republican zone was divided in Air Regions. In July and August, the geographical division of each Flight was kept; this way of division was no longer logical, and it was correctly replaced in September by a division in eight Regions, which were subdivided in a certain number of sectors according to their importance. The following table indicates the regions, the sectors included in each of them, and the aviation fields initially foreseen.

TERRITORIAL ORGANISATION OF THE REGIONS

• 1st Air Region. Madrid and its province, Toledo and Guadalajara.
• 2nd Air Region. Murcia and its province and Almería.
• 3rd Air Region. Barcelona and its province, Tarragona, Lleida, and the republican part of the Zaragoza zone. The aviation field of La Senia was here.
• 4th Air Region. Valencia and its province, Castellón, Alicante and the republican zone of Teruel.
• 5th Air Region. Ciudad Real and its province, together with the republican zone of Badajoz and Córdoba.
• 6th Air Region. Province of the Basque Country and Asturias.
• 7th Air Region. Albacete and its province and Cuenca.
• 8th Air Region. Baeza, province of Jaén and the republican zone of the province of Granada.

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