Qualla: Bombing of Durango https://qualla.com/bombing-of-durango en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:18 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Bombing of Durango https://qualla.com/bombing-of-durango Bombing of Durango: Introduction https://qualla.com/bombing-of-durango/ Four weeks before Guernica, there was Durango. On the morning of March 31, 1937, as parishioners gathered for mass in two of the town's churches, German Junkers Ju 52s and Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.81s appeared overhead. The bombers came in relays. When the explosions stopped, around 250 civilians were dead, including 14 nuns and the priest who had been officiating. Durango had no air defenses. It had almost no warning. And today, it is largely forgotten.

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]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/j/bombing-of-durango-wp/ezwj-bombing-of-durango-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Bombing of Durango: Mola's Ultimatum https://qualla.com/bombing-of-durango/ The bombing came on the first day of the Nationalist offensive against the Republican-held province of Biscay. General Emilio Mola commanded the campaign and issued a blunt ultimatum: "I have decided to terminate rapidly the war in the north. Those not guilty of assassinations an...

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]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/j/bombing-of-durango-wp/ezwj-bombing-of-durango-molas-ultimatum.mp3 0:06 2 full Bombing of Durango: A Town Without Defenses https://qualla.com/bombing-of-durango/ Durango was a town of 10,000 inhabitants, a road and railway junction between Bilbao and the front lines. Bombing its infrastructure served a clear military purpose: it would prevent Republican forces from sending reinforcements and block an orderly retreat. But the town had no a...

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]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/j/bombing-of-durango-wp/ezwj-bombing-of-durango-a-town-without-defenses.mp3 0:06 3 full Bombing of Durango: Mass and Murder https://qualla.com/bombing-of-durango/ The timing of the attack compounded its horror. Two churches were hit during the celebration of mass, when they were full of worshippers. Fourteen nuns and the officiating priest were among the dead. The bombs made no distinction between combatant and civilian, between military i...

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]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/j/bombing-of-durango-wp/ezwj-bombing-of-durango-mass-and-murder.mp3 0:06 4 full Bombing of Durango: Denial and the Shadow of Guernica https://qualla.com/bombing-of-durango/ The Nationalists denied responsibility, claiming that Republican forces had killed the nuns and priest and burned the churches themselves. General Queipo de Llano stated that "our planes bombed military targets in Durango, and later communists and socialists locked up the priests...

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]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/j/bombing-of-durango-wp/ezwj-bombing-of-durango-denial-and-the-shadow-of-guernica.mp3 0:06 5 full