The column was named after
Francisco Ascaso, who died fighting the
July 1936 military uprising in Barcelona, and was led by his surviving brother
Domingo Ascaso, along with Cristóbal Alvaldetrecu. It left for the Aragon front in mid-August, with fewer than the expected number of fighters. The column was stationed south of
Huesca, positioned between the
Lenin Column and the
Harriers Column. There it put out its own newspaper,
Mas Alla (). Shortly after the outbreak of the war, on 17 August 1936, Italian anarchists (led by
Camillo Berneri) and socialists (led by
Carlo Rosselli) together established an Italian Column in Barcelona. The Italian anti-fascists joined up with the Ascaso Column on the Aragon front, where they faced their first engagement on 28 August 1936, at the
Battle of Monte Pelado. By December 1936, the Italians of the Ascaso column had reorganized themselves into two battalions: the anarchists joined the International Battalion, while the socialists joined the
Matteotti Battalion; both remaining affiliated with the Ascaso column. Command of the column was later taken by
Gregorio Jover, who also commanded its successor, the
28th Division of the
Spanish Republican Army. Domingo Ascaso himself abandoned the unit after its militarisation. He and fellow Ascaso column fighter Camillo Berneri were found dead following the
May Days. == See also ==