Rafael Gómez Nieto
Rafael Gómez Nieto | |
|---|---|
Free French Forces (1939–1945) | |
| Years of service | 1938–1982 |
| Unit | La Nueve |
| Battles/wars | Spanish Civil War
|
| Awards | |
Rafael Gómez Nieto (21 January 1921 – 31 March 2020) was a Spanish soldier and veteran of the Spanish Civil War and World War II.[2][3]
Biography
Born in Adra, Almería (Spain), Gómez Nieto moved to Badalona, where he was called up to the "Lleva del Biberó" and fought for the Spanish Republican Army in the Battle of the Ebro (July–November 1938).[4]
After the war, he went to France where he was interned in the
Argelés internment camp. After the invasion of North Africa by the Allies during World War II, he became part of the 9th Company (La Nueve)[5] of the French 2nd Armored Division. This company, made up predominantly of Spanish Republicans, was the first Allied military unit that entered Paris after its occupation by the Wehrmacht.[6] 146 of the 160 men in the company were Spaniards.[7] Only a dozen survived the war.[7]
Gómez Nieto died on 31 March 2020, at a nursing home in Strasbourg, France, from COVID-19 during the coronavirus pandemic.[8] He had lived in that city since 1955. He was the last living survivor of La Nueve.[9]
References
- ^ "GOMEZ Raphael". deces.matchid.io. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
- ^ Fallece el último superviviente de la compañía que liberó París de los nazis (in Spanish)
- ^ Lefebvre, Michel (5 April 2020). "La mort de Rafael Gomez Nieto, dernier soldat de la compagnie "Nueve" de la 2e DB". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- El Diario(in Spanish). 31 March 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- El Periódico(in Spanish). Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- ^ Uría, Lluís (25 August 2019). "El último de La Nueve". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- ^ a b Minder, Raphael (5 April 2020). "Rafael Gómez Nieto, Last Member of Unit That Helped Liberate Paris, Dies at 99". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
- ^ Willsher, Kim; Jones, Sam (1 April 2020). "Ex-soldier's death casts light on Spaniards who helped liberate Paris". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
- Unidad Editorial Información General, S.L.U. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
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