Listing of pre-Civil War Spanish weapons and munitions stock

[Ironmachine]

I think it is interesting the Army of Africa had the same quality of weapons that the continental army did. In the 19th century colonial forces were not equipped with the best weapons compared to their european masters. I suppose the military situation in the 1920s necessitated arming African colonial troops with better weapons than otherwise.

Well, considering they were intended to bear the brunt of the fight it would have been difficult to understand if they were armed with "inferior" weapons. Also, as the Army of Africa as a whole and the native units in particular were so small in size compared with the Peninsular Army, it was easier to have the same weapons in both.

[Leo Niehorster]

Can you tell me anything about the archive(s) where, for example, the "plantillas" are located:
— How cooperative are they? (Can they provide lists of what's available: snailmail / email ?)
— Copies (What's the policy on copying: As many as you want/limits; paper, microfiche, microfilm, electronic? Cost?)
— Accessibility (are foreigners allowed to view this material?)

Thanks for your time and attention.

Cheers
Leo

[Eugen Pinak]

Thanks for that link. I have looked at the five initial PDF's and have seen absolutely nothing relating to tables of organization, just long lists, of people being promoted, paid, etc. Do T/O&E come later? At the loading rate this site operates, (if at all) it will take me the next years to look at them all.

As TO&Es weren't changed frequently, you'll really had to download them all... or look at the tread in "El Gran Capitan" forum to find, in which diary those TO&Es were published. Main TO&Es for the Army of Morocco are present on MOD difital library (D.O #267 1934 Noviembre 18), main TO&Es for peninsular forces are not
BTW, it seems, that Spaniards had no set system of TO&E publishing, so some TO&Es could be found in "Gazeta de Madrid" - than Spanish official government gazette. You could find it here: http://boe.es/buscar/

Can you tell me anything about the archive(s) where, for example, the "plantillas" are located:
— How cooperative are they? (Can they provide lists of what's available: snailmail / email ?)
— Copies (What's the policy on copying: As many as you want/limits; paper, microfiche, microfilm, electronic? Cost?)
— Accessibility (are foreigners allowed to view this material?)

Military archive in Avila: http://www.portalcultura.mde.es/cultura ... vo_42.html
IIRC, no queries are processed online/via mail, unless they are related to personal matters (info about servicemen, etc.). But you can always try (I haven't).
AFAIK, they have copy facility.
I can't see, why foreigner should be barred access to non-classified documents.

[Ironmachine]

For the general rules regarding accessibility and copies take a look here (Chapter X: Access to Archives and Records and Chapter XI: Reproduction of Materials):
http://www.portalcultura.mde.es/Galeria ... INGLES.pdf
Regards.

[Felix C]

I think it is interesting the Army of Africa had the same quality of weapons that the continental army did. In the 19th century colonial forces were not equipped with the best weapons compared to their european masters. I suppose the military situation in the 1920s necessitated arming African colonial troops with better weapons than otherwise.

Well, considering they were intended to bear the brunt of the fight it would have been difficult to understand if they were armed with "inferior" weapons. Also, as the Army of Africa as a whole and the native units in particular were so small in size compared with the Peninsular Army, it was easier to have the same weapons in both.

Of course I meant that if colonial troops mutined then it would be less difficult for homeland forces to suppress the rebellion regarding useing lesser weapons for colonial forces.

[Ironmachine]

Well, actually the Army of Africa had more European troops than native Moroccans in its ranks, and for example all its artillery was manned by Spaniards. So the risk was not as high as you think.

[Ironmachine]

As a somewhat separate subject and based on the USA still having 1861-1865 Civil War muzzle loaders inventoried in the 1940s, I wonder if any of the excellent Remington Rolling Block single shot breech loading black powder rifles in .43 Spanish were still in storage and used. They were still being used in Mexico and LATAM at this time.

From (http://www.amonio.es/fu_remington_1871-89.htm):

En 1936, al comienzo de la guerra civil, este arma, a todas luces obsoleta, todavía se encontraba en servicio en cuarteles de la guardia civil, y almacenado en los diversos parques del ejercito, la necesidad de armamento por parte de ambos bandos, hizo que estuviese presente en los primeros combates de la contienda, pasando luego a posiciones de retaguardia, y totalmente abandonado al final de la contienda.

Which can be translated as follows:
In 1936, at the beginning of the civil war, this weapon, obviously outdated, was still in service with the Guardia Civil, and stored in the various Army depots. Due to the lack of weapons that both sides suffered, they were present in the first combats of the war, being later relegated to non-frontline positions, and completely abandoned by the end of the war.
So it's possible that some were still in storage in the 1940s, but AFAIK they were not in use by that date.
Regards.