Carlos Romero Giménez, sometimes misspelled Jiménez, (7 November 1890La Latina Municipal District Court – 11 September 1978)Death Certificate, Mexico City Civil Register (D. F.), Seventh Court, page 395, book 5/7a. was a Spanish soldier loyal to the Spanish Republic,Alpert, Michael; El Ejército Republicano en la Guerra Civil (Republican Army in the Civil War), Siglo XXI de España, Madrid, 1989 , p. 384. and one of the most prominent figures in the Siege of MadridRamón Salas Larrazábal, Historia del Ejército Popular de la República. Editora Nacional, Madrid (España) , pag. 1524, verbatim pag. 1579. during the Spanish Civil War. Subsequently, a member of the French Resistance, he fought the Nazi occupation from Bordeaux as part of the Maquis. He was President of the Spanish League for Human Rights.
Biography
He was born in Madrid, at 5 Carrera de San Francisco Street.Juzgado Municipal del Distrito de la Latina His father was Colonel Manuel Romero Salas, who was from an Andalusian family from Medina-Sidonia, Cádiz. His mother was María Giménez Nuñez. He joined the Spanish army on 2 December 1908. He participated in the Rif War, and received numerous awards, including the Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand.Archivo General Militar de Segovia (General Military Registry, Segovia, Spain)
Prior to the Insurrection of Jaca, he was detained as a result of his participation in the uprising of Madrid in favor of the Republic and against the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. He spent two years in military prisons under a request for death penalty. He was released thanks to an amnesty granted by General Dámaso Berenguer, and was later assigned to a Regiment stationed in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, where he remained until 14 April 1931. As soon as the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed, Romero returned to Madrid to work on policy with the new government.
Second Republic
Romero retired from the Army under the Azaña Law,By Order of 28 July 1934; Diario Oficial n° 167.See Manuel Azaña and served as Commercial Attaché for Spain in Portugal between 1931 and 1932.Portal de Archivos Españoles, Centro Documental de la Memoria Histórica, Ministerio de Cultura, Gobierno de España. http://pares.mcu.es/ParesBusquedas/servlets/Control_servlet?accion=3&txt_id_desc_ud=2210771&fromagenda=N (Documentary Center for the Historic Memory, Ministry of Culture, Spanish Government) As attaché, and subsequently back in Spain, he helped Portuguese people persecuted by the Estado Novo of António de Oliveira Salazar.
He was the founder and Director of the Hispanic-Lusitan Magazine, as well as the illustrated military technology magazine called Defensa Nacional, Revista Española de Técnica Militar, (National Defense, Spanish Technical Journal).Revista mensual. Estado Mayor del Ministerio de Defensa (Office of the Chief of the Defence Staff). Taller tipográfico de la 4a. Brigada Mixta.
As General Secretary of the National Committee for the Monument to the Martyrs of Jaca, on 20 August 1934, he dismissed Luis Romero Basart (known among the Spanish refugees as "the Evil Romero") from his post as Treasurer of the committee.Portal de Archivos Españoles. Centro Documental de la Memoria Histórica, Ministerio de Cultura, Gobierno de España. http://pares.mcu.es/ParesBusquedas/servlets/Control_servlet?accion=3&txt_id_desc_ud=4055864&fromagenda=N Later, Romero Basart was dismissed for abandoning his post while acting as a colonel of the Spanish Republican Air Force. In his book Under the Claws of the Gestapo (see below) Romero Giménez claims that Romero Basart "had offered himself and was admitted to the Gestapo for spying and reporting activities of Spanish political refugees in France", and that Romero Basart eventually turned him over to the Gestapo.
For several years, Romero Giménez was vice-president of the , an organization founded in 1922 under the presidency of Miguel de Unamuno.Later evolved to "Liga Española para la Defensa de los Derechos del Hombre y del Ciudadano". Madrid, 23 November 1913. See: After the death of Josep Puig d'Asprer he assumed the Presidency. Amongst the League's members were Azorin, Dalí, Falla, Azaña, Ortega y Gasset, Miró, Luis Simarro, Américo Castro and García Lorca.
Colonel Romero Giménez obtained a patent in 1935 for an elevated railway system that was to be driven by propellers. It was to consist of ultra-light aerodynamic cars suspended from a rolling mechanism, and travel at 300 km/h. A control and signaling system was to allow frequencies of three minutes between cars.Oficina de Patentes Históricas (Office of Historical Patents) 20 July 1935.
Civil War
At the onset of the uprising that led to the Spanish Civil War, Romero Giménez voluntarily re-joined the Armed Forces of the Republican forces - with the rank of captain - to fight the Nationalists.Diario "La Libertad", Madrid, 19 April 1938, http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/datos1/numeros/internet/Madrid/Libertad,%20La%20%28Madrid.%201919%29/1938/193804/19380419/19380419_00000.pdf He was promoted to commander on 19 July 1936, two days after the beginning of the conflict. During war, as the former Republican Army reorganized after 's death, he was assigned to head the 4th Mixed Brigade.Historia del Ejército Popular de la Republica, op.cit. Editora Nacional, pp. 607, 748, 769.
He was one of the commanders of the columns that defended Madrid (during the Siege of Madrid) from attacks led by General Varela. Starting in November 1936, following orders from Colonel Aureliano Álvarez-Coque, Romero commanded a battalion from the Bridge of the French, which was of crucial importance because of its strategic location on the Manzanares River. He effectively repelled attempted crossings and denied access to Madrid's city center. For his heroic performance he was promoted by General Miaja to Lieutenant Colonel, and was officially congratulated on the November 18 Agenda. The Government of the Republic later officially confirmed General Miaja's orders, and officially granted him such rank in April 1938.Mirta Núñez Díaz-Balart (1992). La prensa de guerra en la zona republicana durante la Guerra Civil Española (1936–1939), Madrid, Ediciones de la Torre, pag. 385 (War press in Republican Zone during the Spanish Civil War)
Because of disagreements with anarchists, Colonel Romero Giménez requested the dismissal of Ricardo Sanz, a Catalan anarcho-syndicalist, whom he accused of mistreating the soldiers and of bringing prostitutes to the trenches. He suggested to Miaja to Sanz's column (the former Durruti Column) be disbanded, and that its personnel be distributed amongst the remaining units fighting in the front.Historia del Ejército Popular de la Republica, op.cit. Editora Nacional, p. 784, note 5.
According to historian Ramón Salas Larrazábal, Romero Giménez was the "greatest hero of the defense of Madrid".Historia del Ejército Popular de la Republica, op.cit. Editora Nacional, p. 1524, verbatim p. 1579.The fact that Salas Larrazábal fought on the Nationalist side -eventually becoming an Air Force Colonel under Francoist Spain as well as a member of the Royal Academy of Moral and Political Science- suggests that his opinion of Romero Giménez's role is of relevance.
Romero Giménez headed of the 6th Division of the Republican Armed Forces From 1 May 1937, when Alzugaray left its command vacant. On July 1, he was placed in command of the Second Army Corps,Carlos Engel, (1999), Historia de las brigadas mixtas del Ejército Popular de la República (History of the Mixt Brigades of the Spanish Popular Army), Almena Ediciones, p. 263Informe C. R. G. que consta de 21 folios (Report G. R. G., consisting of 21 pages) (S. H. M., A. G. L. 670, C.6) which defended the outskirts of Madrid. He participated in the Battle of Brunete, although the performance of his unit was poor in the district of Usera. As commander of the Second Army Corps, he said, regarding forced recruitments that morale in his troops remained good amongst experienced militants but poor amongst recruits, due to their "complete ignorance of the reasons why we fight and a lack of citizen preparedness and desire for freedom".S.H.M., A.G.L.-L6. Informe de Carlos Romero, jefe del del segundo cuerpo del ejército que consta de veintiún folios.
In July 1938, when General Rojo requested that Miaja name commanders with energy and capacity for the Campaign of Levante, Romero Giménez was appointed commander of the newly created XIII Corps of the Army.Carlos Engel, (1999), Historia de las brigadas mixtas del Ejército Popular de la República, Almena Ediciones, p. 272 (Added to the Levant Army, it was previously known as the "B" Army Corps) He fought on several fronts against German forces of the Condor Legion fighting alongside the rebels."Bajo las Garras de la Gestapo" ('Under Gestapo's Claws'), Carlos Romero Giménez, Sociedad Mexicana de Publicaciones, México, 1943. For his performance fighting motorized divisions of the "Blackshirts" Italian CTV he was awarded his second "Medal of Courage".
As Commander of the 4th Mixed Brigade, and with General Miaja's effective support, he founded and directed a war material factory called "Romero Mechanical Factories", which was dedicated to the production of mortars and ammunition, mines and hand grenades, bombs with aerodynamic design, thermoses, tripods, shields for trenches, spare parts for rifles, machine guns and antitank and antiaircraft guns as well as engine repairs. Work began with the machinery that could be rescued from the Madrid workshop "Mobile Park".'Parque Móvil' works were established on November 23. in platforms of the North Station by Alfonso Reyes Moreno. Operating under enemy shrapnel, there were a large number of casualties. During the Siege of Madrid, between 800 and 1,200 people worked around the clock, under constant enemy fire.
Romero Giménez is credited with the invention of the mine that bears his name "Mina Romero", an anti-tank system first used during the Siege of Madrid. It consisted of a large cast iron metal box designed to fragment and produce shrapnel, after the explosion of 15, 35 or 60 kg. of dynamite. The devices were hidden in the floor to burst enemy tanks from below. They detonated by means of copper wires and glass tanks, either manually or automatically.El País (Newspaper)- Paseo por el campo en busca de bombas de la Guerra Civil (Walk in the fields looking for bombs from the Civil War) - Madrid - 19 March 2007 This is a technical innovation which was subsequently applied during World War II.
In the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, Romero Giménez was tried in absentia and sentenced twice to death by Garrote for fighting against the uprising, and for being a Mason.According with his file, process initiates during 1940, within the General Cause 1st. Military Region, ending with a dead sentence. Later, Colonel Romero is processed, also in absentia by the TERMEC Court (Spanish Tribunal for the Repression of Freemasonry and Communism) with summary 1278/1945 and a final decision taken in 1946 for a second death sentence.Files: AGGCE 289-B-34; 227-A-1, TERMEC nº 17.205; AGM, R-2825
Exile in France and Resistance