worsened when British destroyers arrived at the port. The POUM feared that a bombardment would begin. In fact, the British feared that anarchists would take control of the situation, and talks occurred on evacuating foreign subjects from the city. At night, Federica Montseny, Minister of Health and an important member of the CNT, arrived with the purpose of mediating between all of the parties. The Communist Antonio Sesé, General Secretary of the Catalan UGT and a member of the Generalitat's new provisional council, died in a gunfight on his way to receive his new appointment. The same day, combat occurred in Tarragona and other coastal towns. There too, the Assault Guard proceeded to oust the CNT from the telephone exchanges they had occupied. Similar actions in Tortosa and Vic resulted in a final death toll of 30 anarchists in Tarragona and another 30 in Tortosa. At night, Lluis Companys and then Prime Minister Francisco Largo Caballero held a telephone conversation in which the Catalan President accepted the Spanish government's offer of assistance for restoring order. 6 May At dawn, the CNT once again asked the workers to return to their work to no avail although more out of fear than out of obstinacy. In the afternoon, however, combat resumed. Various members of the National Republican Guard died in a cinema after a shelling from a 75 mm artillery cannon, carried from the coast by some members of the Libertarian Youth. A force of about 5,000, most of them Assault Guards, departed from Madrid and Valencia towards Barcelona. Two Republican destroyers and the battleship Jaime I, coming from Valencia, reached the port of Barcelona that night. 7 May At 8:20, the expedition of the Assault Guards reached Barcelona and occupied different points of the city. Some came by road from Valencia after they had suppressed the revolts in Tarragona and Reus. Local anarchists had bombed bridges, roads and railways to prevent the passage of the column. That day, the CNT called again for a return to work by proclaiming on the radio, "Down the barricades! Each citizen takes its paving stone! Let's return to normality!" The expeditionary forces that entered Barcelona were under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Emilio Torres, who enjoyed certain sympathy from anarchists. His assignment was proposed by the CNT to promote the return to normality. Assault Guards in Barcelona, Tarragona and many other cities proceeded to disarm