Francisco Xavier da Cunha Aragão (15 March 1891 – 26 February 1973) was a Cavalry officer of the Portuguese Army who reached the rank of lieutenant colonel.Fernando de Castro Brandão, Da Monarquia Constitucional à República 1834-1910. Uma cronologia. Europress, Póvoa de Santo Adrião, 2003, p. 221.http://purl.pt/26613 Francisco Aragão - herói de Naulila].http://grandeguerra.bnportugal.pt/pdf/1916/jan/1916-01-01_PP-14-V.pdf Tenente Francisco de Aragão: O heroe de Naulilla.
After World War I, Aragão moved to Military Aeronautics, having been a pioneers of military aviation in Portugal.Momentos da História. From 1923 to 1924, he was chief of staff to António Ribeiro de Carvalho. Aragão conspired against the Estado Novo from 1931 onwards; he was dismissed from the armed forces and forced into exile in France. He returned to Portugal in 1940 and settling in the Azores.
Early life Francisco Xavier da Cunha Aragão was born in Panaji (Nova Goa), then a part of Portuguese India. He was the son of Militão Constantino Aragão, an officer in the Portuguese Navy, and his wife Ana Henriqueta da Cunha Aragão.Fernando de Castro Brandão, Da Monarquia Constitucional à República 1834-1910. Uma cronologia. Europress, Póvoa de Santo Adrião, 2003, p. 221. Francisco's father was born in Povoação, Azores, and rose to the rank of vice admiral by the end of his naval career. At the time of Francisco's birth, he was a field assistant to his wife's father Governor-General Francisco Maria da Cunha, a fellow Azorean from Angra do Heroísmo. Francisco Xavier da Cunha Aragão married Georgina Pereira de Vasconcelos, also a native of Angra do Heroísmo, on 19 May 1919.António de Ornelas Mendes & Jorge Forjaz, Genealogias da Ilha Terceira, vol. I, pp. 306-307. Dislivro Histórica, Lisboa, 2007 (ISBN 978-972-8876-98-2).
Francisco was the brother of Commodore António da Cunha Aragão of the Portuguese Navy, who became famous in India.Fernando de Castro Brandão, Da Monarquia Constitucional à República 1834-1910. Uma cronologia. Europress, Póvoa de Santo Adrião, 2003, p. 221.
Military career
Francisco Aragão served on the southern border of Angola, where an incident that became known in Portuguese historiography as the "Naulila disaster" and in German historiography as the "Naulila murder" (German: Mord von Naulila), occurred. On 18 October 1914, a platoon commanded by Lieutenant Manuel Álvares Sereno, who was patrolling the border with Damaraland, encountered a small German force about from the Naulila post. It was commanded by Dr. Hans Schultze-Jena, judge and administrator of Outjo district,Namibiana: Hans Schultze-Jena. who had entered Angola without informing the Portuguese authorities and without contact with any border post. Sereno had orders to disarm German forces; he led part of the German group back to Naulila the next morning. A sudden confrontation followed, leading to the death of two native orderlies, Dr. Schultze-Jena and the two German officers who accompanied him.
German settlers met the deaths with indignation and quickly organized punitive expeditions against Portuguese posts along the border. The Cuangar post on the banks of the Cubango River was attacked, as were several other border posts in the region. As a result, the 47-strong detachment of dragoons commanded by Francisco Aragão was integrated into the forces commanded by Alves Roçadas. The combined unit included metropolitan troops of the Portuguese expeditionary force that the previous month had landed in Moçâmedes, colonial troops from Angola and a corps of Mozambicans known as "landin troops".Almanaque Republicano: Francisco Xavier da Cunha Aragão (parte II).
Aragão's detachment was the first to engage with the punitive expedition sent to Naulila by the German Southwest African government. After some clashes, intense surveillance and follow-up work, Aragão took part in a battle fought at Naulila on 19 December 1914. He distinguished himself by defending his position as long as he could, fighting to exhaustion at the front of the dragons. He was taken prisoner by the Germans and presumed dead but was released in 1915 when South African troops took possession of German Southwest Africa.http://www.momentosdehistoria.com/MH_04_03_Coragem.htm Prisioneiros de guerra. Aragão was sent to Cape Town, from where he embarked for Portugal, stopping at ports in Angola, Cape Verde and Madeira.
During his stopover in Funchal, Aragão made statements to the press in which he repudiated the Pimenta de Castro dictatorship and urged Portugal to enter the First World War to avenge the German outrage. His statements in Madeira were reported in the Lisbon press, provoking a backlash from pacifist circles and those aligned with Germany. Among the most-violent reactions was that of Fernando Pessoa, who criticized Aragão's the position.Fernando Cabral Martins (coordenador), Dicionário de Fernando Pessoa e do Modernismo Português, pp. 140-141. Editorial Caminho, Lisboa, 2008. In a text titled "Letter to a Stupid Hero", Pessoa addresses Francisco Aragão as "Your Heroicity".Fernando Pessoa: Carta a um herói estúpido.
Francisco Aragão was received in Lisbon as the Hero of Naulila and received many honours. He was one of the most effective defenders of Portugal's participation in the First World War, becoming a symbol for republicans and democrats who supported entering the war.Fernando Cabral Martins (coordenador), Dicionário de Fernando Pessoa e do Modernismo Português, pp. 140-141. Editorial Caminho, Lisboa, 2008. In a public session held at the Coliseu dos Recreios, he received a sword engraved with the caption; "To Lieutenant of Cavalry Francisco Xavier da Cunha Aragão, Commander of the 1st Dragon Squadron—Planalto da Huíla. Homage of admiration for brilliant service in the defence zone of Eval and in the combat of Naulila on 18.12.1914".Boletim do Arquivo Histórico Militar, vol. 18, p. 139. Lisboa, 1948.
Deportation to the Azores After a period of imprisonment, Aragão was released and sent to Angra do Heroísmo. He was married to Georgina Pereira de Vasconcelos, heir of the industrialist Frederico Augusto de Vasconcelos, whose family had vast properties in the region. Aragão lived on Terceira Island and was no longer politically active. For many years he was manager of Fábrica de Pirolitos FAV Lda. or "Fábrica da Rocha", a soft-drinks factory owned by his wife's family, and managed the company's interests in the União das Fábricas Açorianas de Alcool on Terceira Island. As early as 1953, at Aragão's direction, the factory was modernized with new equipment that remained in use until the earthquake of 1 January 1980, in which it was almost completely destroyed. Valdemar Mota, "A Família Frederico de Vasconcelos na Economia Açoriana e no Museu de Angra", Boletim do Instituto Histórico da Ilha Terceira, 2004, p. 262.
Joining the Military Aeronautics At this time there was no military aviation in Portugal and the progress of World War I made its inception more urgent. On 14 August 1915, the army announced a competition to recruit 10 army and navy officers to be trained as pilots, who would be sent to foreign schools, there being no piloting school in Portugal. Francisco Xavier da Cunha Aragão was selected along with Cifka Duarte, João Barata Salgueiro Valente and Carlos Esteves Beja; they were sent to California to attend a basic piloting course at the Signal Corps Aviation School, San Diego, to learn to fly seaplanes and conventional airplanes. The group formed the beginnings of the future Portuguese Air Force.
With Portugal's entry into the First World War, the student pilots were transferred to France and continued their training at Juvisy Military Aviation School at Port-Aviation (often called "Juvisy Airfield") in Viry-Châtillonhttp://albindenis.free.fr/Site_escadrille/Ecoles_Juvisy.htm Écoles de Juvisy: Port-Aviation. and then at Chartres Pilot School. Aragão received his pilot's licence from the school on 6 November 1916.École de Chartres.Edgar P. C. Cardoso, História da Força Aérea Portuguesa, 3.º vol, pp. 196-199. Comocolor, Lisboa, 1984. After passing through Portugal, between November 1917 and January 1918, Aragão was stationed at a base in Mocímboa da Praia, Mozambique. His objective was to create an observation squad to help the Portuguese forces in the fight against incursions from German East Africa (present-day Tanzania). This mission proved impractical because of difficulties with operating the planes, and a chronic lack of pilots and mechanics.
Later, Aragão was a field assistant to the governor-general of Mozambique and served in cavalry operations. In February 1918, he left Mozambique for the Azores to organize an aerodrome there at the request of the United Kingdom.http://arepublicano.blogspot.pt/2014/04/francisco-xavier-da-cunha-aragao-parte_15.html Francisco Xavier da Cunha Aragão (parte III). It was to be established in Ponta Delgada, where the United States had built facilities to house seaplanes as part of Ponta Delgada Naval Base. The project to build an aerodrome ultimately failed.Sobre o estabelecimento da Base Naval de Ponta Delgada e o papel da aviação na sua estrutura, cf. António José Telo, "A base dos Açores na fase final da guerra – aspectos operacionais" in Os Açores e o Controlo do Atlântico, Lisboa, ASA, 1993.
The League of Combatants Francisco Aragão was one of the founders of the League of Combatants of the Great War.Almanaque Republicano: Francisco Xavier da Cunha Aragão (II). The first meeting took place on 16 October 1921 at the Lisbon office of the lawyer João Jaime Faria Afonso. It was headed by a "veterans commission" composed of Francisco Aragão, Lieutenant Colonel João Maria Ferreira do Amaral, First Lieutenant Horácio Faria Pereira and Lieutenant Joaquim de Figueiredo Ministro. The League was formed to address the unjust treatment of veterans of the Great War, especially those who had suffered injuries. After fulfilling their duty and oath to give their blood for the homeland, the League believed veterans had been abandoned by the contemporaneous government, causing serious damage to the patriotism, discipline and morals of the Portuguese people.Liga dos Combatentes da Grande Guerra.
Aragão signed the "Appeal to the Nation" published in March 1923 by personalities linked to the magazine Seara Nova. Along with Ezequiel de Campos, Jaime Cortesão and Sarmento Pimentel, Aragão was part of the group that handed over the document to António Maria da Silva, who was President of the Republic at that time. Following this initiative, Aragão was also a member of União Cívica's Lisbon Directive Commission, along with António Sérgio, Jaime Cortesão, Filomeno da Câmara, Ferreira do Amaral, Quirino de Jesus and Afonso Augusto Bourbon e Menezes.
Aragão was head of the cabinet of António Germano Guedes Ribeiro de Carvalho, who served as Minister of War under Prime Minister Álvaro de Castro from 18 December 1923 to 26 February 1924.Biografias: António Germano Guedes Ribeiro de Carvalho (1889-1967). After completing his duties in the Government, Aragão returned to aviation as deputy to the Aeronautics Directorate and inspector of new weaponry. In December 1925, he was appointed to a commission reorganizing the colonial military that was presided over by General Massano de Amorim. In early 1926, in the final months of the First Republic, Aragão was appointed sub-director of Aeronautics for the Portuguese Army, serving until the coup of 28 May 1926 that ended the democratic regime.
Revolutionary activities and resignation