Large picture of Franco needed

[tom_deba]

I write an article for local press about Civil War and I need very huge picture of Franco that could be placed in the half of A4 page.

Tom

[a1912dee]

Perhaps this one would do.

[gavmeister13]

Very nice! Do you know what medal he's wearing? [bottom right corner of photo]

regards

[tom_deba]

Thank you for the picture. It's excellent! What about the medals he is wearing?

Tom

[St Cir]

His medal is the Gran Cruz Laureada de San Fernando, Spain's highest gallantry award, though in Franco's case it was more of a present or homage by his subordinates than a real award for a gallantry action.
On the pic, the day he was awarded it. The man on the right is General Varela, the only one to be awarded the Laureada twice (in his case, for real combat actions).

[gavmeister13]

Ah, thank you very much.

[Balrog]

Does anyone have a photo of Franco when he was a cadet?

I read in one of his bios that he was so tiny as a teenage cadet that a special (smaller) rifle had to be made for him so that he could perform drill more easily.

[Dr. Bob]

I read in one of his bios that he was so tiny as a teenage cadet that a special (smaller) rifle had to be made for him so that he could perform drill more easily.

As a child he was called "the little match stick" by his chums.

[Booknote]

Didn't he win the Grand Cross of St. Fernando for heroism during the war in Morrocco in the 1920's? I know he wasn't a desk general.

[Dr. Bob]

Franco was nominated for the Gran Cruz Laureada de S. Fernando in 1920 for gallantry, but was denied and promoted to colonel instead. He finally got it in 1939, awarded by General Varela during the victory celebration after the end of the Civil War. Franco certainly wasn't a desk general; he performed very cooly and bravely under fire in Morocco and was usually at the front in the Civil War. This fact is undeniable despite all attempts to portray Franco as either an imbecile or a monster.

[Vulkan]

Franco certainly wasn't a desk general; he performed very cooly and bravely under fire in Morocco and was usually at the front in the Civil War. This fact is undeniable despite all attempts to portray Franco as either an imbecile or a monster.

True. That is why he was awarded the Medalla Militar Individual. But it is also just as true that he was denied the Laureda de San Fernando in all the occassions that he applied for it, his merits were judged not to be suffciently worthy. It was a frustration that he could only overcome by awarding it to himself in 1939 when he was Head of State. But the fact that he was a brave soldier does not preclude him being a sinister character as well.

[Ironmachine]

For anyone that may be have interest, here is the resolution awarding the Laureada to Franco:
http://www.boe.es/datos/imagenes/BOE/19 ... A02733.tif

[Dr. Bob]

Vulkan: thank you for your reply. I was unaware that Franco had applied for the Laureada more than once. I don't think its exactly accurate to say that he "awarded it to himself" in 1939; seems more to me that it was, in the words of St Cir above, "more of a present or homage by his subordinates." Certainly you are right, though, that Franco when in power liked to doctor his own past to fit his own ideal of how things should have been, and the award of the Laureada is a perfect example of his sort of "revenge". I am not an apologist for Franco or his regime; he had may faults, though I never really thought of him as "sinister" before.

[Booknote]

I read recently that Franco turned down many medals for heroism in North Africa and requested he be promoted instead. (I don't know if this included the Grand Cross of St. Fernando or not. I own guess is that it didn't since he really wanted that one.) The quote that went along with it was, "Medals don't give you a higher pension. Promotions do." That would explain his rapid rise to general. When he reached Brigadier Genera,l he was the youngest one in any army in Europe.

[Dr. Bob]

When he reached Brigadier Genera,l he was the youngest one in any army in Europe.

Yes, in fact he was the youngest general in any European army since Napoleon Bonaparte over 100 years earlier.