Another Basque Mystery

Once I told a group of friends that the life of José Antonio Aguirre, the lehendakari of the short lived Basque Republic, should be made into a movie.

Well made, it could easily rival Schindler's List.

At some other time I will talk more in depth about this idea, now let me show you what a the newspaper Addis Tribune published:

The Spanish Civil War, one of the most painful events between the First and Second World Wars – don’t forget Gernika! - partially coincided, it will be recalled, with the Italian Fascist invasion of Ethiopia.

An important event of that time in Spain in those days was the rise of a short-lived Basque Republic – to whose tragic story – remember Gernika!- we must turn our attention this week.

The Basques, and their Republic, were then the allies of the Spanish Republic, which was under attack by the rebel General Franco, who had the support, it will be recalled, of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.

The article talks about a plane, known to the Basques as The Negus, which is the plane that spirited the lehendakari Aguirre to safety when the Falangists and their Fascist allies closed on Santander.

Well, as it happens, seems like the plane was bought from Haile Selassie, right after the defeat of Ethiopia by Mussolini's forces.

Read on:

Testimony to the ‘plane’s Ethiopian history is provide by none other than Antonio de Aguirre himself. Recalling, in his above-mentioned book, that this aircraft was “the only one we [i.e. the Basques] had”, he writes:

“This audacious plane had its history. It had belonged to Haile Selassie during the Abyssinian War. The Basque Government had acquired it for five thousand pounds. It was a pursuit plane, Curtiss type, fitted out for rapid trips, and without armament. It had its back painted with coats of arms and emblems of the countries where it had served. I recall those of several of the states of the U.S.A., the Lion of Judah, and finally the coat of arms of Euzkadi [i.e. the Basque Republic]… The plane was baptized by the people with the name of ‘The Negus’ and as ‘The Negus’ we all knew it”.

And the ‘plane was used for other, more routine missions for the Basque Republic’ detailed in Aguirre’s book.

The whole article is quite interesting, and the author, Richard Pankhurst, promises more.

*If you wish to read the article, you can do so at Artxiboak.

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