The 61st Mixed Brigade was a unit of the Spanish Republican Army that took part in the Spanish Civil War. Throughout the war, the brigade was present on the Teruel, Aragon, Levante and Extremadura fronts. History The unit was created in January 1937, on the Teruel front, from forces of the Rosal Column. Most of the members of the new 61st Mixed Brigade were anarchist militants. The first head of the brigade was the Bernabé López Calle, and the brigade was integrated into the 42nd Division. A few months later the unit was located in the Bezas-Royuela sector, together with the 60th Mixed Brigade. Front of Teruel The unit took part in the Battle of Albarracín. On July 5, it broke the enemy front, and two days later managed to occupy the urban area of Albarracín; the nationalist garrison was besieged in the Cathedral and the Civil Guard barracks, after the 61st MB took the “Vallejo Largo” Vertex and the town of Monterde. However, the arrival of a nationalist relief force thwarted all the advances made up to then and the brigade had to return to its initial positions. By July 17, the unit was defending the Lomas del Calarizo-La Cañadilla-Chaparrales-Vértice Barranco defensive line. At the beginning of 1938, when the nationalist counteroffensive against Teruel began, the 61st Brigade was located in the republican vanguard, in Sierra Palomera, a position in which it had remained since the beginning of the Battle of Teruel. The nationalist attack took place at the meeting point between the 61st Mixed Brigade and the 132nd Mixed Brigade; the 61st MB was completely overwhelmed by the enemy attack in this sector, and as a consequence had to retreat disorderly towards the rear to avoid the enemy encirclement. The Republican command withdrew the 42nd Division from the front, proceeding to dissolve it and dismiss a good number of brigade officers, as was the case of the brigade commissar, Antonio Rodríguez Saravia. For his part, Bernabé López Calle ceded command to Francisco García Lavid. Fighting in Aragon At the beginning of March 1938, while it was undergoing a reorganization, the nationalists launched the Aragon Offensive through the Belchite sector. The 61st MB, still not fully equipped, was sent urgently to try to plug the enemy gap. It was temporarily attached to the 18th Army Corps, a formation that would end up retreating before strong enemy pressure. During this