The Day Guernica was Bombed A Story Told by Witnesses

by William L. Smallwood

Twenty-one percent of the bombers and fighters of Franco's air force in the whole Iberian peninsula took part in the attack on Gernika. As a result of this fabulous display of power, 85.22 percent of the buildings in town were completely destroyed during the bombing of Gernika on Monday, April 26, 1937. It was market day and, as reported by the Basque Government, 1,654 deaths were recorded between April and June 1937, as a consequence of the attack. The authorities of the Francoist regime tried to erase all evidence of the bombing and made no effort to recover the bodies of the victims and to register the deaths. This book is the result of a person who started learning Basque in the sheep camps of Idaho in order to research the story of the Gernika bombing. In Mountain Home (Idaho) William Smallwood was baptized ?Basilio Egurtxiki? by Dr. John Bideganeta, a second-generation Basque and a distinguished citizen of the town. ?Egurtxiki? is the literal translation into Basque of Smallwood and the Basilio came from the man who was more of a father than any other man in his life, Basilio Yriondo, an ?amerikanua??a Basque sheepherder in the American West. In September of 1971 Egurtxiki came to Gernika to research his book on the bombing and, after earning the trust of the people, in the spring and summer of 1972 he managed to conduct seventy-four interviews with survivors of the bombing. The following fall and winter, primarily through the efforts of Maria Angeles Basabe, the number of interviews was increased to one hundred and twenty-four. They both risked much, for a person could be arrested and tortured for mentioning the bombing. All the interviews had to be conducted in absolute secrecy. Hitherto unknown, we are honored to publish the story, written in the words of the survivors, forty years later, and seventy-five years after the bombing.

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

An experienced pilot, William L. Smallwood served in the Air Force during the Korean War and is the author of Strike Eagle: Flying the F-15E in the Gulf War and the highly acclaimed Warthog: Flying the A-10 in the Gulf War.

Reviews

[vanessa ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so educational and important, as well as being emotional and personal. My only complaint was the choronological formatting, which made it difficult to follow or invest in any one character's story, as perspectives switched back and forth so abruptly and often. However I understand the decision to portray the day itself in chronological order rather than splitting it up into several narratives, and the information and story told was valuable and I'm glad to have read it.

[Christian Butcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving this five stars, because if you know what this is (it's a bunch of interviews compiled into divisions of time surrounding the bombing of Guernica on April 26, 1937), then it delivers with mind blowing personal stories. If you want to learn about the tragedy, or are interested in personal and emotional accounts of people trapped in a war, then this is exactly what you want.