Bombing of Jaén


The Bombing of Jaén was an aerial attack on the city of Jaén on April 1, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, by the Condor Legion of Nazi Germany, who fought for the rebels. The bombing was ordered by the General Queipo de Llano, as retaliation for a Republican air raid on the city of Córdoba.

The bombing

On April 1, 1937, six German Ju 52 bombers of the Nationalist Air Force, escorted by six Heinkel He 51 and three CR 32 fighters, bombed the city of Jaén, which had no legitimate military targets or anti-aircraft defenses. Current estimates indicated there were 159 deaths among the civilian population and several hundred injured, comparable with the Bombing of Guernica, which occurred four weeks later.

Aftermath

As a reprisal, the local republican authorities executed 128 Nationalist prisoners.