Blue Division - Legacy

Legacy

Many of the generals that took part in the attempted coup d'état on February 23, 1981, both for it and against it, had served in this unit during World War II. Amongst them were generals Alfonso Armada and Jaime Milans del Bosch. Other Blue Division veterans, for example José Luis Aramburu Topete, at the time (1981) Director of the Guardia Civil, and José Gabeiras remained loyal to the legal democratic government under the young Juan Carlos I. Hitler referred to the division as "equal to the best German ones". During his table talks, he also said:

"To troops, the Spaniards are a crew of ragamuffins. They regard a rifle as an instrument that should not be cleaned under any pretext. Their sentries exist only in principle. They don't take up their posts, or, if they do take them up, they do so in their sleep. When the Russians arrive, the natives have to wake them up. But the Spaniards have never yielded an inch of ground. One can't imagine more fearless fellows. They scarcely take cover. They flout death. I know, in any case, that our men are always glad to have Spaniards as neighbours in their sector.

Later when Hitler considered an invasion of Spain to remove Franco and replace him with Agustín Muñoz Grandes he decided against it, saying "The Spaniards are the only tough Latins. I would have a guerrilla war in my rear."