Whilst on National Service with the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers REME and being stationed at REME Headquarters GIBRALTAR it enabled me to travel to various locations in my spare time such as:
Madrid
On my visits to Sevilla I met an Italian Journalist Ernesto in a restaurant at lunch, we started talking, he told me he was based in Madrid and had a suite in the Hotel Mediodia, in those days the railway station Estacion Del Mediodia existed, it was very conveniant. My first visit to Madrid was on the train from Algeceiras, it was called the Rapido.
We arranged to meet, the Hotel Mediodia being very nicely located also close to the railway station Atocha, the Prado (Museo del Prado) is just a very short walk along the Paseo del Prado, further along will bring you to the Calle de Alcala, there were many very nice coffee bars in the Alcala and on the corner of the Alcala there is a very nice building the dome of which is all picked out in Gold Leaf,the Alcala is one of the most important streets in Madrid.
LaPorte d'Alcala
a short walk along the Alcala will bring you into Puerta del Sol, with many shops it is also the gateway to many streets including that of the Calle Mayor which takes you to the Plaza Mayor with all its beautiful buildings.
Ernesto and I went out and about, as a Journalist he knew all the places to go we had a number of meetings in the Castellana Hilton, in the Avenida del Castellana and he seemed to have an "open door" so to speak every where we went, especially in the night clubs. He covered many of the major Corridas (Bullfights), in Madrid, Valencia, Cordoba, Avila, Sevilla, and the very small Bullring of Ronda high up in the mountain, it is a privilege for bullfighters to be invited to Ronda, the road up there was very precarious in the fifties he met and interviewed the well known bullfighters.
I only had casual civilian clothes whilst in Gibraltar, and since we were going out and about in the evenings in Madrid and meeting people I needed a decent suit, so I paid a visit to the well known Sastreria in Madrid VELASCO.
One of the favourite restaurants of Ernesto was La Romeria Andaluza he interviewed many Matadors and it was a nice restaurant to meet in Madrid, we had some very enjoyable evenings at this Restaurant with it's very nice typical curved arches and decorative tiling in the Andalucian style.
Another Hotel which we used for entertaining was the well appointed Hotel Wellington, this had air conditioning in 1953!! it was extremely comfortable, with a very nice lounge area, the double beds in the rooms, were just right, with telephone just at the side of the bed to order drinks etc, the service was terrific.
This was a very nice hotel in those days
offering stylish accommodation and first class rooms and service.
We shopped in the very first store of El Corte Ingles, in Madrid purchasing gifts for our lady friends especially perfume, now they have a number of stores throughout Spain, the plan below shows the layout of the store in 1953, many years later I visited the store and a senior executive told me they did not have one of the original plans as shown here and would have liked to acquire it for their records as it is in such good condition.
Whilst on my Visits to Madrid I was interested in the history of the civil war and the ultimate SIEGE OF THE ALCAZAR in Toledo also to explore the history of the Toledo sword and rapier, due to their fame, Toledo swords were chosen by Hannibal for his army. The swordsmiths of Toledo perfected the art of real 22ct gold leaf inlay an example of what was once the most noble art in the world is no doubt the gold inlaid hunting dagger of King Charles the Fourth, with the mark and the name of the actual blacksmith who created it engraved on it. Toledan craftsmen can be rightfully proud of such a fine blade and it's splendid finish.
El Cid was a master of the sword also it was the excellence of his weapon, a Toledan sword.
In 1953 one swordsmith demonstrated to me how flexible the steel of the rapier was, this was a very fine rapier with 22ct gold inlay and his name was etched into it, this rapier could be virtually bent right round so that the tip of the rapier could touch the hilt. Some say that the tempering of the steal is due to the quality of the waters around Toledo.
Very much like the tempering of Germany's Solingen Steel with it's waters.
I purchased a very small Toledo (Picture below) with a long thin blade inset in brass handle inlaid with wood. I found this very useful for pealing fruit, melones and nuts, also for cutting pastries and a variety of other uses like cutting serrano jamon y pan tapas.
Generalissimo Francisco Franco
When it became apparent that the Rising in Madrid had failed, the Nationalist supporters in Toledo, which is approximately 40 miles to the Southwest of the capital, occupied the Military Academy in the Alcazar
General Franco's rebel troops at that time were controlled by Col. Jose Moscardo his troops were inside the Alcazar, along with women and children. The Alcazar withstood 70 days of very heavy bombardment. On July 23rd a Republican officer reached Moscardo by telephone within the Alcazar and the Colonel was informed that Republican forces had kidnapped his 16 year old son, Luis and unless he surrendered immediately, Luis would be executed.
To prove that they had his son, he was put to the phone to speak to his father. 'Surrender or they will shoot me' he said. His father replied 'then commend your soul to God, shout 'Viva Espana' and die like a hero.' The Republicans then shot Luis in the head. The fortress held out until it was relieved by General Franco's forces in September 1936. On October 1st, 1936, General Franco took over as Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. On the 1st April 1939 General Franco announced that the Civil War was over. The Spanish State embarked on a period of forty years' dictatorship under General Franco, during which the political life of the country was characterized by the illegality of all the political parties with the exception of the National Movement.
General Franco died in 1975, bringing to an end a period of Spanish history and opening the way to the restoration of the monarchy with the rise to the Throne of the present King of Spain, Juan Carlos I de Borbon y Borbon.
The Military Academy was housed in the Alcazar Toledo at the outbreak of the Civil War, and at the end of the conflict it was completely destroyed. Later on it would be completely reconstructed, and today it houses the Army’s offices and a museum. I visited the Alcazar in 1953, it was not in a good state with clear evidence of the siege, there were old beds and bloodstained blankets were people slept and of course died throughout the heavy bombardment and struggle that ensued, the telephone from which Moscardo spoke to his son Luis, could also be seen.
Travel to TANGER