On August 26, 1936, a small Republican plane took off from the Lasarte-San Sebastian airfield with the mission of attacking a battery of Schneider 105/11 guns harassing Republican troops from an elevated position in Pikoketa.
The aircraft was the former D-1856 that had been acquired in 1931 by the Spaniard Pedro Balbás and later registered as EC-AAP.
At the beginning of the Civil War in July, the Basque government seized the plane to use it against the Nationalists in reconnaissance and bombing missions... with hand-launched mortar shells by the pilot!
At the time, the plane was covered with aluminized paint and a civilian identification code in black letters, with no military identification markings.
The attack failed to destroy the guns and was repelled by the gunners of the 2nd Mountain Artillery Regiment using Mauser rifles.
The Nationalists suffered two casualties. The regiment's trumpeter, only 16 years old, was killed by shrapnel from the first bomb, which wounded him in the throat, and Sergeant Manuel Miranda, 21 years old (the author's father), who was slightly wounded in the leg by the second bomb.
The name of the pilot is not known, although at the time rumours circulated that it was a Belgian woman.
Messerschmitt M 23b: around 53 built with a wide range of engine choices
-- 50 hp BMW X, 82 hp Sh 13, 86 hp A-S Genet, 95 hp ADC Cirrus III, 115 hp ADC Cirrus Hermes, or 115 hp Siemens Sh 14.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BFW_M.23
https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/messerschmitt-m-23-manual.5560/
The aircraft was the former D-1856 that had been acquired in 1931 by the Spaniard Pedro Balbás and later registered as EC-AAP.
At the beginning of the Civil War in July, the Basque government seized the plane to use it against the Nationalists in reconnaissance and bombing missions... with hand-launched mortar shells by the pilot!
At the time, the plane was covered with aluminized paint and a civilian identification code in black letters, with no military identification markings.
The attack failed to destroy the guns and was repelled by the gunners of the 2nd Mountain Artillery Regiment using Mauser rifles.
The Nationalists suffered two casualties. The regiment's trumpeter, only 16 years old, was killed by shrapnel from the first bomb, which wounded him in the throat, and Sergeant Manuel Miranda, 21 years old (the author's father), who was slightly wounded in the leg by the second bomb.
The name of the pilot is not known, although at the time rumours circulated that it was a Belgian woman.
Messerschmitt M 23b: around 53 built with a wide range of engine choices
-- 50 hp BMW X, 82 hp Sh 13, 86 hp A-S Genet, 95 hp ADC Cirrus III, 115 hp ADC Cirrus Hermes, or 115 hp Siemens Sh 14.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BFW_M.23
https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/messerschmitt-m-23-manual.5560/
