When a picture paints a thousand words

Our view of Historical Recreation starts from composing a scene from the past as if it were a painting, staging it as something we can appreciate in our present days, and based on modesty and credibility. Our aim is to capture a given moment and bring it to the public in a credible way. Modesty is an essential foundation for earning credibility, as we do not intend to go beyond our own capacity and resources.

Away from fame and individualism

Composing a character or a display requires privacy and a great deal of work, so we tend to walk away from fame and individualism. We do not reenact history to satisfy our ego and vanity.

Recreation as a cultural element

We believe in historical recreation as a cultural element and therefore, choosing what, where and when to recreate becomes as essential as previous work. Reenacting is not an end in itself, but a means for us to come closer to History, and we only recreate History when we do have something to contribute to it. As an association, we have been bringing in elements of Basque culture since 1998, and since 2006 as a recreation group.

The "red lines" of Recreation

There is a very thin line between historical recreation and looking foolish and it is quite hard to avoid crossing it. Since we are aware that this activity may not be always understood by society, we must act out of respect, especially when interacting with the public. All cultural expressions, particularly the most rooted and traditional ones, are invariably respectable, although our proposals may not be necessarily related to popularity, an element that may be (or not) complimentary to other proposals, although this is something we will see over time.

Avoiding sectarianism

Obviously, we do not discriminate against anyone, or stand for any political movements or interests whatsoever. The principles we defend are exclusively those that gave birth to the Asociación Sancho de Beurko, extended to the participation of Basques in World War II through its historical recreation group.

Rigour and friendship

We strive to do things the best we can, and rigour is for us a synonym of respect, both to us and society and, of course, to all those men and women who represented that period of our History, always from a non-discriminatory perspective. Friendship in our group becomes as important as that, or even more, and it is a friendship we want to extend to others through a sincere collaboration offer. We believe in adding, not dividing.

An open proposal

You do not need to be a member of Sancho de Beurko to take part in the project; all we ask is that you want to collaborate in the composition of the different displays, characters, or in any other ways you desire or can make. This project is open to historical recreators and to any individual and legal persons. Sancho de Beurko will act as coordinator and will make available to the project the association's own resources.

Our corporate image

Our corporate image, which is also our better letter of introduction, consists of an illustration designed for this project by Koldo Ruiz de Aguirre, Sancho de Beurko's son. Koldo, who studied architecture and currently lives in Caracas, is a renowned artist that, apart from giving life to very different projects including the illustrations of a set of books written by his father, as for instance "Viento y agua en los caminos" (Wind and water on the roads), "Pido un monumento" (I ask for a monument) and "Vascos por el mundo" (Basques around the world), is also the author of the famous poster "Euzkadik behar zaitu", which would become a symbol during the last years of Francoism.

Jesús Valbuena, photographer for the Fighting Basques Project

And now that we are talking about our corporate image, we must say this project is also based on a careful selection of the materials we want to show to the public and, for that purpose, we only trust our photography director -although we also have some other photographers who collaborate with us. His name is Jesús Valbuena "Tejeval", and he brings all his expertise and knowledge to the world of historical reenactment, contributing a unique and very recognisable style that is also flexible and creative enough for us to grow in all our efforts to maintain this recreation project. His blog is http://tejeval.blogspot.com.es/. we also want to thank the photographers who have accompanied us on this and other projects, especially in recent years: José Luis Revuelta, Carlos Luengo, Sergi Suhigarai and Jesus Quintero, we apologize for those who have been inadvertently omitted. The Basques Fighting Project is also his son; the result of all these experiences and the evolution of an idea that seeks to fuse memory, photography and historical reenactment.

The Basques fought in all World War II scenes, from the Libyan Desert to the beaches of the Pacific Coast, mainly with France (Resistance, Gernika battalion, 13th DBLE and other Foreign Legion Units), the United States (US ARMY, USAAF, US NAVY, USMC, guerrilla forces in the Philippines, etc.) and the USSR (partisans, militia, the regular army, aerial forces). They also had a considerable representation at the Spanish Volunteer Division, better known as the Blue Division. It was in any event a modest participation, although quite a representative one if we bear in mind it was a small people who had just been through a harsh civil war that left a terrible aftermath of misery and death. In fact, in 1939, the majority of the Basques who lost the war and were not in prison or victims of reprisals -for instance, those who joined the sorrowful community of exiled people and were crammed in the French concentration camps- remained psychologically demobilised before the possibility of a new European conflict that seemed far away from them, even if it was against a common enemy. But this was not the case of the hundreds of Basque Americans who joined the US Army and were so highly motivated to fight for their host country, or of a given number of indomitable men who never yielded the field. We would love to recreate all those characters, but in principle we must think of undertaking a feasible project that stays within our means and resources.

Fighting Basques is a Memory project created by Sancho de Beurko Association that is aimed at presenting the participation of Basques in World War II (1939-1945) through historical reenactment and scenography composition, and that is to be materialised in a set of photo sessions that are highly rich in historical contents. The idea was born in Autumn 2013 with the creation of the Gernika battalion group, which was to participate in the commemoration of the battle of the Pointe de Grave (April 1945). The project's main aim is bringing in Basque cultural elements while focusing on its own historical facts, but also adding any resources that may be required for the composition of displays or characters relating the Axis units, as long as they interacted with Basques. The idea of "supporting groups" is thus born.

Given the difficulties we faced in the composition of German soldiers during the photo sessions made at the historical scenarios where the Gernika battalion fought (an issue that exclusively concerns the French and that ought not to be judged by us), we see the need to create supporting groups for staging the Fighting Basques project. Here we refer to Axis units. For instance, the Gernika battalion is supported by the Narvik battalion of the Kriegsmarine, the Coast Artillery corps and other units it fought in 1945. The concept can also be extended to those who fought together with the Basques, as the Libertad battalion. These supporting groups can be created either by members of Sancho de Beurko or by any non-member groups or individuals wanting to be part of this project, even if on a temporary basis.

But above all, this project aims to heal the wounds respecting the memory of all that generation, including those who fought against the Basques in World War II. So, supporting groups are also Memory Groups in order to seek a sincere reconciliation among men.

Groups included in the "Fighting Basques" project

The "Fighting Basques" project comprises the following groups, although some other groups may be created in the future:

1. The Gernika battalion (Foreign and Moroccan Mixed Regiment, Carnot Brigade, French Forces of the Pointe de Grave)



Supporting groups: riflemen battalion 1059, the Narvik battalion of the Kriegsmarine, the 618 coast artillery group of the Kriegsmarine – M.A.A. 618 (all of them belonging to the Festung Gironde Süd, the Pointe de Grave 1945).

2. The 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade (13th DBLE, 1st Free France Division)


3. The Leningrad´s People Militia (Leningrad Narodnoe Opolcheniye Army), in preparation.


4. The Mighty Eighth (U.S. Army 8th Air Force), in preparation.

Basic bibliography on Basques in World War II

• Uriarte Zamacona, Higinio, “A basque among the guerrillas of Negros”, Civismo Weekly, Bacolod City (Philippines), 1962.
• “Le front du Medoc, une brigade FFI au combat”, Federation des associations d´anciens combattants du front du Medoc et de la Brigade Carnot, Bordeaux, 1985.
• Jiménez de Aberasturi, Juan Carlos, “Los vascos en la II Guerra Mundial: El Consejo Nacional Vasco de Londres. (1940-1944)”, Eusko Ikaskuntza/Sociedad de Estudios Vascos, Donostia/San Sebastián,1991.
• Jiménez de Aberasturi, Juan Carlos, “Vascos en la II Guerra Mundial: La red “Comète” en el País Vasco (1941-1944)”, Txertoa, Donostia/San Sebastián,1996.
• Jiménez de Aberasturi, “El camino de la libertad. Florentino Goikoetxea y otros hernaniarras en la lucha contra el nazismo durante la II Guerra Mundial”, Ayuntamiento de Hernani, 2006.
• Talón, Vicente, “Los vascos en la Segunda Guerra Mundial”, Extras de la revista Defensa nº 27, Edefa, Madrid, 1992.
• Larronde, Jean Claude, “El batallón Gernika, Gernika batallun euskalduna”, Bidasoa, Bayona, 1995.
• Romaña Arteaga, José Miguel, “La segunda Guerra Mundial y los vascos”, Mensajero, Bilbao, 1998.
• Kurlansky, Mark, “The Basque History of the World: The Story of a Nation” Walker & Company, New York, 1999.
• Rodríguez, Mikel, “Maquis, la guerrilla vasca”, Txalaparta, Tafalla, 2001.
• Rodríguez, Mikel, “Memoria de los vascos en la Segunda Guerra Mundial. De la Brigada Vasca al batallón Gernika”, Pamiela, Pamplona, 2002.
• Eizaguirre, Paco e Iribarren, Txus, “Gudari baten oroitzapenak”, Pamiela, Pamplona, 2003.
• Rodríguez, Mikel, “Espías vascos”, Txalaparta, Tafalla, 2004.
• Oiarzabal, Agustín M. y Oiarzabal, Pedro J, “La Identidad Vasca en el Mundo: Narrativas sobre Identidad más allá de las Fronteras”, Erroteta, Bilbao, 2005.
• Arasa, Daniel, “Los españoles de Stalin. La historia de los que sirvieron al comunismo durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial”, Belacqva, Barcelona, 2005.
• San Sebastian, Koldo, “El exilio vasco en América”, Eusko Jaurlaritzaren Argitalpen Zerbitzu Nagusia, colección Urazandi, 2014.
• San Sebastian, Koldo, “Basques in the United States” (2 tomos), Center for Basque Studies, 2015.

Queremos We thank Mikel Rodríguez, Pedro Oiarzabal, Koldo San Sebastian and Jon Ander Prieto their cooperation and assistance.

Bibliography specific on uniforms and equipment

• Enjames, Henri Paul, “Government Issue G.I. Vol. 1 (Collector Guide). U.S. Army European Theater of Operations Collector´s Guide. Histoire & Collections, París, 2003.
• Mainier-Schall, Fabrice, “Uniformes et équipements des Chantiers de la Jeunesse française 1940-44”, Batailles Hors-série 5, Histoire & Collections, París, 2005.
• Enjames, Henri Paul, “Government Issue G.I. Vol. 2 (Collector Guide). U.S. Army European Theater of Operations Collector´s Guide. Histoire & Collections, París, 2008.
• Brayley, Martin y Ingram, Richard, “Khaki Drill and Jungle Green : British Tropical Uniforms
• 1939-45 in Colour Photographs”, The Crowood Press Ltd, Ramsbury UK, 2009.
• Jouineau, André, “Officiers et soldats de l'armée française de 1940”, Histoire & Collections, París, 2010.
• Bellec, Olivier, “1940, le soldat français. Uniformes, coiffures, insignes”, Histoire & Collections, París, 2012.
• Rio, Philippe, “The soviet soldier of World War Two”, Histoire & Collections, París, 2012.
• Jouineau, André, “Officiers et soldats de l'armée française de la libération de 1941 à la victoire”, Histoire & Collections, París, 2013.