<Dl> <Dt> 1939 </Dt> </Dl> <Dl> <Dd> Catalonia </Dd> <Dd> Valsequillo </Dd> <Dd> La Garriga </Dd> <Dd> Menorca </Dd> <Dd> Cartagena </Dd> <Dd> Olite </Dd> <Dd> Final offensive </Dd> </Dl> <P> The bombing of Guernica (26 April 1937) was an aerial bombing of the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War . It was carried out at the behest of Francisco Franco's nationalist government by its allies, the Nazi German Luftwaffe's Condor Legion and the Fascist Italian Aviazione Legionaria, under the code name Operation Rügen . The town was being used as a communications center behind the frontline . The operation opened the way to Franco's capture of Bilbao and his victory in northern Spain . </P> <P> The attack gained controversy because it involved the bombing of civilians by a military air force . The number of victims is still disputed; the Basque government reported 1,654 people killed at the time, while local historians identified 126 victims (later revised by the authors of the study to 153). A British source used by the Air War College claims 400 civilians died . Soviet archives claim 800 deaths on 1 May 1937, but this number may not include victims who later died of their injuries in hospitals or whose bodies were discovered buried in the rubble . </P>

Who was responsible for bombing the spanish town of guernica