THIS IS WAR ! Robert Capa at War Exhibition arrives in BarcelonaBy José Manuel Serrano Esparza. LHSA
This superb itinerary exhibition, one of the most important in history, began its march in New York and subsequently at the Barbican Gallery of London and at the Centro Internazionale di Fotografia in Milano.
Now, between July 7th and September 24th 2009, the National Museum of Art of Cataluña in
Barcelona will hold this great photographic exhibition THIS IS WAR! Robert Capa at Work,
comprising nearly 300 pictures made by Robert Capa (some of them made in Córdoba province
unknown until very recently, also including eight made by Gerda Taro with her medium format
Rolleiflex) throughout his photographic career.
The exhibition has got three chapters:
1) Robert Capa and the Rise of the Picture Press.
2) The Falling Soldier, 1936.
3) China, 1938.
4) This is War! The End of the Spanish Civil War in Catalonia, 1938-39.
5) D-Day, June 6, 1944.
6) Leipzig, 1945.
Regarding the 45 pages of The Falling Soldier, 1936 Chapter, dealing on the most famous picture ever made by Robert Capa, depicting a Republican militiaman being instantly killed because of a 7 x 57 mm bullet, among the most interesting pictures of it, appearing in the book THIS IS WAR! Robert Capa at Work, we must highlight:
- Page 67: 35 mm contact number 816 First image of the first strip of negatives on top right of the page.
Picture made by Robert Capa. Two Republican militiamen simulating opening fire with his 7 x 57 mm Spanish 1893 Mauser.
In this picture, there isn´t any combat against rebel enemy forces.
The Spanish Mauser of the republican militiaman nearest to the camera (wearing a CNT dark cap) is not ready to shoot, because the head of the firing pin is hidden inside its resting location of the bolt, id est, it is not visible, so the rifle can´t strike any cartridge. This militiaman is pretending to be aiming his gun to open fire, but there isn´t any battle. No rebel troops are attacking, because on experiencing the effect of the recoil after firing, the reaction of a soldier in actual battle is not to be quiet and aim his not ready to fire rifle, but to cock again the bolt as soon as possible to load the rifle with a new bullet and them to aim.
Only if the head of the firing pin is visible behind the bolt, a 7 x 57 mm Mauser model 1893 is able to open fire.
The other Republican militiaman in the background (whose head is immediately on the right of
the CNT dark cap of the nearest militiaman) is also simulating to open fire. Though the head of
the firing pin of his Spanish Mauser 1893 caliber 7 x 57 mm is visible outside its resting location,
this militiaman has his face excessively far from his rifle, in a very cumbersome position to be able to aim, because he is more worried about the picture. Probably there isn´t any bullet inside
his Mauser 7 x 57 mm rifle chamber.
There´s a third militiaman in the background, on top left of the panchromatic nitrate film black
and white negative, but only part of his arms and hands are visible.
Robert Capa doesn´t try to deceive future observers of the photograph into anything. The Republican militiamen are infused with revolutionary spirit and because of the great expectation
raised in them by the presence of two foreign photographers -Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, an
atractive woman who is with him-, they are making all kind of simulating of firing (both from the border of trenches and outside them with a knee on the ground, etc), runnings in different directions, jumpings over trenches, etc, as we´ll see in different pictures.
Capa is there and makes the picture.
- Page 67: 35 mm contact just on the right of the one previously quoted, on top right of the page.
There are two Republican militiamen simulating to be observing attacking enemy forces to open fire with their Mausers. The man nearest to Capa´s camera wears a big straw hat with the inscription U.A Asalto, and his Mauser rifle lies loosely on the ground border of the trench, something impossible in a real combat situation in which any soldier grabs firmly his rifle and is in a much more stressful position.
The man in the background, on top left of the contact, is the Falling Soldier, who also simulates
to be observing enemy forces before firing. But he´s excessively raising his Spanish Mauser 1893
Model caliber 7 x 57 mm rifle spotting his location and with his head being dangerously high and
unprotected.
No rebel troops are attacking.
Robert Capa doesn´t try to deceive future observers of this photograph into anything. The Republican militiamen are infused with revolutionary spirit, and because of the great expectation raised in them by two foreign photographers - Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, an attractive woman who is with him - , they are making all kind of simulating of firing (both from the border of trenches and outside them with a knee on the ground), runnings in different directions, jumpings over trenches, etc, as we´ll see in different pictures.
Capa is there and makes the picture.
- Page 67 : 35 mm contact number 818 First image of the second strip of negatives in the page.
There are two militiaman. The nearest to the camera, with his visible right sleeve turned up and occupying the vertical right area of the contact, is standing in front of the trench and grabbing with his both hands the tip of the long barrel of his Mauser 1893 Model 7 x 57 mm caliber vertically leaned on the ground with its butt resting on it.
He´s clearly posing, looking to the right of the frame, trying to appear as good as possible in the
picture Capa is taking him.
The second militiaman appearing behind him on the left, being inside the trench with full uniform and cap, his visible right arm sleeve not turned up and holding vertically his Mauser with both hands and the rifle buttock at the height of his stomach is also posing, doing his best to appear good in the picture and looking not at the camera but at a lateral point, portrait style.
As always, Robert Capa detractors and those doubting about the authenticity of his pictures, will say that Capa was a liar and there isn´t any combat in this picture. This is a non ending story.
Robert Capa doesn´t try to deceive future observers of this picture into anything. The Republican militiamen are infused with revolutionary spirit, and because of the great expectation raised in them by the presence of two foreign photographers - Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, an atractive woman who is with him - , from the moment the two photographers approach them, the militiamen begin to make all kind of simulating of firing (both from the border of trenches and outside them with a knee on the ground), running in different directions, jumping over trenches, etc, as we´ll see in different pictures.
And of course, Capa was not so idiot to try to convince any future observer into believing that there´s battle in this picture.
Capa simply is there and makes the picture to capture the special atmosphere of those moments
at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.
- Page 67: 35 mm contact number 19 Second image of the second strip of negatives in the page.
There are two Republican militiamen. The nearest to the camera (with his both sleeves rolled up and wearing dark Isabelline cap with its tassle) is simulating aiming to open fire with his Mosquetón Mauser 1916 Model (bent bolt) caliber 7 x 57 mm rifle against enemy forces, but there isn´t any real combat. His Mauser rifle is not ready to shoot, because the head of the firing pin is hidden inside its resting location, id est, it is not visible, so it can´t strike any cartridge.
No rebel troops are attacking, because on experiencing the effect of the recoil after firing, the reaction of a soldier in actual battle is not to be quiet and aiming his not ready to fire gun, but cocking again, as soon as possible, the bolt to load the rifle with a new bullet, and them to aim.
The second militiaman appearing in the background (on far left of the image, with his visible right sleeve turned up) wears a metal helmet. He´s excessively standstill for a real combat situation in which the stress and the fear to be killed would bring about high fidgety. He´s grabbing his Mauser rifle (concealed by the nearest militiaman body, and from which we can only see part of the butt under this second militiaman rolled up sleeve), his head is very high offering an easy target and the cord of his helmet is too perfectly adjusted.
Robert Capa doesn´t try to deceive future observers of this pictures into anything. The Republican militiamen are infused with revolutionary spirit, and because of the great expectation raised in them by two foreign photographers - Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, an attractive woman who is with him-, from the moment the two photographers approach them, the militiamen begin to make all kind of simulating of firing (both from the border of trenches and outside them with a knee on the ground), running in different directions, jumping over trenches, etc, as we´ll see in different pictures.
- Page 67: 35 mm contact number 20 Third image of the second trip of negatives in the page.
There are eight Republican militiamen inside the trench, simulating that they are aiming their mauser rifles against and attacking enemy.
On top left of the negative, we can see the barrel of a mauser rifle protruding, whose hypothetical
fired bullet trajectory would be towards top right of the negative, advancing in a progressively
ascending path, something completely strange if they would be really firing from an elevated
position trench -as they are- against rebel troops attacking them.
The man whose half of the face we can see on far left of the black and white negative is the Falling Soldier, whose Mauser 1893 Model 7 x 57 mm caliber is very excessively raised for a real batlle situation, and evidently, this big hoisting is not because of recoil, because besides, this militiaman pretends to be looking at enemy forces to open fire.
The second militiaman seen is simulating to fire with his Mauser rifle horizontally grabbed slightly upwards, so it will be lethal up to around 2,000 meters and will be able to reach perhaps four km, but the trajectory of the bullet will be some meters above the hypothetical rebel soldiers attacking them from bottom to top.
The same applies to the next militiaman, from whom we only hint his dark cap and his Mauser rifle overlapped by the gun of the second soldier from left (whose dark cap is utterly visible).
A bit on the right, we can see the Mauser rifle of another militiaman aiming upwards; the immediately on the right Mauser rifle grabbed by another militiaman is the only one aiming downward; the next Mauser rifle -always towards the right of the frame- ( from which we can only see the forward part of the barrel paying a lot of attention is aiming slightly upwards, and the last Mauser (faintly discernable in the farthest background on the right) is being grabbed almost horizontally by another militiaman we can´t see.
This picture is taken by Robert Capa from a very near spot to the one from which he makes the
famous picture in which there are 11 militiamen (ten of them raising their Mauser rifles) and one
loyalist officer with his cap (behind the fourth militiaman from left) standing on the trench. The same four big wood poles (three of them together) are visible in the background, along with what is possibly a dark colour tent also appearing in the quoted picture (page 61 of the book).
- Pág 67: 35 mm contact number 830 Fourth image of the second trip of negatives in the page.
Vertical picture. We see the same Republican militiaman with big straw hat appearing in the top right 35 mm contact of the page with the Falling Soldier by him.
Now, Capa photographs him from behind, being on his right. The militiaman has its Mosquetón
Mauser 1916 model rifle leaned on one ground border of the trench, pretending to be cocking the bolt again, holding the rifle with his left hand ( two fingers are visible just on the right of his
sleeve, while his right hand simulates to be reloading the gun.
Bearing in mind the stress brought about by any combat against Tabor of Regulares Moroccan or legionnaries (the best infantry in the world in 1936) it would be very difficult even for an experienced Gurkha to be able to reload a Mauser with such big tranquillity in the middle of a real battle.
So, there isn´t real combat in this picture. Another clear evidence is that under a high stress real combat context, it would be in my opinion almost impossible to attain such a sharp picture ( in this same photograph appearing in the page 76 of the book, you can even realize great level of detail in the texture of the fabric of the right not rolled up sleeve and above all on his right hand thick veins and tendons.
Bearing in mind that Capa was using black and white Kodak Panchromatic Nitrate Film equivalent to approximately ISO 40 and that all these pictures of the Falling Soldier series were taken by Robert Capa between 9:30 and 10:30 h in the morning, if this militiaman wearing big straw hat would have been really ctryng to reload his Mauser rifle as soon as possible in the middle of a battle with enemy soldiers attacking, his right arm and hand would have been rendered at least a bit blurred or more probably rather blurred, because of the quick movement.
Robert Capa doesn´t try to deceive future observers of this picture into anything. The Republican militiamen are infused with revolutionary spirit, and because of the great expectation raised in them by two foreign photographers - Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, an attractive woman who is with him -, from the moment the two photographers approach them, the militiamen begin to make all kind of simulating of firing (both from the border of trenches and outside them with a knee on the ground), running in different directions, jumping over trenches, etc, as we´ll see in different pictures.
Capa is there and takes the picture, to capture the special atmosphere lived by the militiamen, many of them the famous Alcoyanos, who know that they will have to fight against Francoist troops and simulate combat in different ways, both inside and outside the trenches, because the presence of Capa and Gerda Taro has raised in them a great expectation and high desire to be photographed.
- Página 67: 35 mm contact number 31 First image of the third strip of negatives of the page.
We can see five Republican militiamen inside the trench: the first one wears a dark cap with the CNT letters embroidered on it. He simulates to be aiming his Spanish Mauser 1893 Model caliber 7 x 57 mm rifle against a non existente attacking enemy. This is the same man who appears in the contact number 816 photograph.
There isn´t any battle in this picture. His Mauser rifle is not ready to shoot, because the head of the firing pin is hidden inside its resting location, id es, it is not visible, so it can strike any cartridge.
No rebel troops are attacking, because on experiencing the effect of the recoil after firing, the
reaction of a soldier in actual battle is not to be quiet and aiming his not ready to fire gun, but
to try to cock again the bolt as soon as possible in order to load the rifle with a new bullet, and
then to aim.
And besides, evidently, his face and eyes are too far from his gun to be able to aim properly.
He´s clearly trying to appear in the picture as good as possible.
On the other hand, we can see some wheat on his right.
The man appearing just behind him (we can only see his head clad with Isabelline cap bearing the embroidered CNT letters and the tassel, part of his shoulders revaling his white colour shirt and simulating to observe enemy troops before opening fire) is the Falling Soldier, who, in the same way as in the 35 mm contact number 20, appears holding his Mauser rifle excessively high and pinpointing his position to a hypothetical enemy, apart from having his head too high, with the risks it implies.
The third militiaman appearing in the picture (the one being immediately behind the Falling Soldier), of whom we can only see his right shoulder, approximately 90% of his right side of the face, most of his dark cap and the tip of his Mauser rifle barrel is even in a much more elevated position of thorax and head than the Falling Soldier, so he is offering a very easy target.
He´s likewise simulating to be firing his Mauser rifle against enemy soldiers. And the barrel of his Mauser is in a very horizontal position, so if he was really opening fire, the 7 x 57 mm bullet would describe a path some meters over the hypothetical enemy soldiers attacking, really non existing at this moment.
Regarding the last two men appearing in the far background behind the already quoted third
militiaman depicted in this picture, they´re also pretending to be shooting their guns.
Robert Capa doesn´t try to deceive future observers of this picture into anything. The Republican militiamen, many of them anarchists from Alcoi, are infused with revolutionary spirit, and because of the great expectation raised in them by two foreign photographers - Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, an attractive woman who is with him- from the moment the two photographers approach them, the militiamen begin to make all kind of simulating of firing (both from the border of trenches and outside them with a knee on the ground), running in different directions, jumping over trenches or wheat, etc, as we´ll see in different pictures.
- Pág 67: 35 mm contact number 843 Second image of the third strip of negatives of the page.
Vertical picture. There are three militiamen (one of them outside the frame, of whom we can only observe a little area of his Mauser rifle forward area.
The nearest militiaman to the camera (probably using a cap with the colours of the CNT), with
his sleeves rolled up, is inside the trench, holding his Spanish Mauser 1893 Model 7 x 57 mm
caliber with his left hand leaned on the ground of the front border of the trench, while his right
hand grabs the rifle on the buttock front, simulating aiming to open fire against enemy forces
attacking them from bottom to top, with his finger on the trigger.
There isn´t any real combat in this picture. The 7 x 57 mm caliber Mauser rifle of this militiaman is not ready to shoot, because the head of the firing pin is hidden inside its resting location, id est, it is not visible, so it can´t strike any cartridge.
Only if the head of the firing pin is visible, a 7 x 57 mm Mauser Model 1893 is able to open fire.
No rebel troops are attacking, because on experiencing the effect of the recoil after firing, the reaction of a soldier in actual battle is not to be quiet and aiming his not ready to fire gun, but to cock again the bolt to load the rifle with a new bullet, and then to aim.
Besides, his gun is aiming slightly upwards, so if he was actually opening fire, the bullet would describe a path some meters over the hypothetrical enemy soldiers attacking them from bottom to top.
The other militiaman in the background is also simulating to shoot, though the head of the firing
pin of his Mauser 1893 Model 7 x 57 mm caliber is visible. We can realize that he is with his knees leaned on top of the border of the trench offering an easy target from his abdominal area
to the head. This is impossible in a real combat situation where any soldier tries to survive, even
more against Tabor of Regulares or legionnaires men, excelling in accuracy with medium and long distance shots even in the middle of real battle.
This second militiaman has occupied this so excessively elevated position because he doesn´t want to be concealed by the body of the nearest man to the camera. He wants to appear in the
picture at any cost. And once more, everything is fairly sharp for a real battle context. Even the
would veins of the Mauser rifles (specially in the nearest militiaman to the camera) have been
rendered with high detail by the Leitz lens.
Robert Capa doesn´t try to deceive future observers of this picture into anything. The Republican militiamen are infused with revolutionary spirit, and because of the great expectation raised in them by two foreign photographers - Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, an atractive woman who is with him- from the moment the two photographers approach them, the militiamen begin to make all kind of simulating of firing (both from the border of trenches and outside them with a knee on the ground), running in different directions, jumping over trenches or wheat, etc, as we´ll see in different pictures, because they do highly wish to be photographed and appear as good as possible.
Capa is there and takes the picture.
- Page 67: 35 mm contact number 836 Third picture of the third strip of negatives of the page.
We see a militiaman clad in white colour garment and wearing a cap different from the ones used by the rest of militiamen.
He is simulating to open fire against a really non existing enemy.
His Mauser 1893 Model 7 x 97 mm caliber rifle is not ready to shoot, because the head of the firing pin is hidden inside its resting location, id est, it is not visible, so it can´t strike any cartridge.
Only if the head of the firing pin is visible, a 7 x 57 mm Mauser model 1893 is able to open fire.
No Francoist troops are attacking, because on experiencing the affect of the recoil after firing, the reaction of a soldier in actual battle is not to be quiet and aiming his not ready to fire gun, but to cock the bolt again as soon as possible to load the rifle with a new bullet and then to aim.
This way, there isn´t any real combat in this picture.
This militiaman also appears in the 35 mm contact number 868 and in one of the medium format pictures made by Gerda Taro in which there are six Republican militiamen running upwards the slope of the hill and simulating to attack an enemy position on top of it. He´s the man most on the right, stretching his left hand pretending to be encouraging his comrades.
Pág 67: 35 mm contact number 57 Fourth Picture of the third strip of negatives of the page.
This picture is very similar to the 35 mm vertical contact number 843, and the two nearest men
to the camera appear in both photographs in very similar position, so the commentaries on them on analysing the contact number 843 are also valid for this contact number 57 horizontal image, the most importance difference being now the presence of a third militiaman in the background on top left of the frame. He is with one knee on the ground, also simulating to open fire against a really non existing enemy, highly unprotected and offering a big surface of target for hypothetical enemy forces attacking them. It seems clear that he also yearns after appearing in the picture as good as possible.
There isn´t any combat in this picture.
- Page 67: 35 mm contact number 860 First Picture of the fourth strip of negatives.
There are two militiamen and a third one of whom we only see a little area of his body covered by dark clothes (this almost out of image man is the same militiamen appearing on the right of the picture in page 82 of the book, in which we can also see the Falling Soldier in the background, clad in white garment with his cap bearing the CNT letters embroidered, and another militiaman on middle left of the photograph, between the Falling Soldier and the militiaman most on the right.
In this number 860 contact, Capa is located on a very near point to the spot from which he makes the page 82 picture, behind the three militiamen, but more on the left.
Though the head of the firing pin of his Mauser 1893 Model 7 x 57 mm caliber rifle is visible,
the nearest militiaman to the camera is simulating to aim at really non existent enemy soldiers
attacking them from bottom to top. The logical thing under a real battle context would be to
crouch and hide the head and body as much as possible and lean the rifle on the ground border
of the trench, but top priority for this militiaman is to appear as good as possible in the picture,
trying to make things as much realistic as possible but at the same time and above all, with his
face being recognizable in the photograph.
This militiaman is not leaning his rifle on the trench ground, but holding it in the air with both
hands, with perhaps only his left elbow slightly leaned on the ground, and he would be highly
risking his life in actual combat, because he´s offering too much target with his uncovered head.
In the background, we can see the Falling Soldier once more, simulating to be opening fire with his Spanish Mauser 1893 Model 7 x 57 mm caliber rifle, which is not ready to shoot, because the head of the firing pin is hidden inside its resting location, id est, it is not visible, so it can´t strike any cartridge.
Only if the head of the firing pin is visible, a 7 x 57 mm bullet is able to open fire.
He´s excessively on top of the ground border of the trench for a real combat situation, greatly jeopardizing his life, because he´s offering a very big target to hypothetical fascist forces going up attacking them.
There isn´t any real battle or combat in this picture.
- Page 67: 35 mm contact number 61 Second picture of the fourth strip of negatives.
We can see two Republican militiamen: the nearest to the camera is simulating to be cocking the bolt of his Mauser 1893 7 x 57 mm caliber rifle before shooting against really non existing rebel soldiers going up and attacking them. It´s impossible this context in a real combat situation: the man is highly quiet and his hand perfectly in focus, the whole rifle has been rendered with detail on all of his surface and the same applies to the head.
In a real battle context, the anxiety and fidgety are high. There should be some shaking, at least a bit of blur of out of focus areas in hands, head and rifle, but everything is sharp, an odd thing, because though the day was sunny, Capa used 35 mm Kodak panchromatic nitrate black and white film equivalent to around iso 40 (the same that he used already in his report on Leon Trotsky in Copenhague during a meeting in 1932)
Under enemy soldiers attack, specially if they´re Tabor or Regulares or legionnaires men, the best infantry in the world in 1936, the survival of any defender could greatly depend on the quickness with which he was able to reload his rifle, so it´s virtually impossible such a quiet and slow operation of cocking the bolt with enemy soldiers firing against the trench defenders.
But there´s a further key element: any soldier defending a trench and under enemy fire, does his best to offer the enemy the least feasible target, mainly to avoid to be shot on head, neck or thorax area, something very different to the confidence with which this militiaman is making things with a good percentage of his body (high area of the chest, neck and head sticking out over the trench with the risk it means for his life. And besides, its rifle fairly pointing upwards and protruding over the trench also makes his position even easier to spot for any attacking rebel forces.
The logical thing would be to be as much crouched as possible, and trying to do the bolt cocking operation very swiftly to be able to shoot again as fast as possible.
There isn´t any real combat or battle in this picture.
On the other hand, we can see a second militiaman in the background, on middle left area of the frame (we can only glimpse his clear colour trousers, white slippers and his rifle), also simulating to aim or open fire against non existent enemy forces.
- Page 67: 35 mm contact number 868 Third picture of the fourth strip of negatives.
There are five Republican militiamen with one knee on the ground and simulating to aim their Mauser 7 x 57 mm rifles at a non existing enemy to open fire.
All of them make up a diagonal from left to right, in which the sizes of the militiamen bodies progressively increase depending on how near they are from the right border of the negative.
The militiamen are very close one another, offering a very easy target to the non existing enemy soldiers. They´re in the open air with one knee leaned on the slope covered with wheat.
This would be practically suicidal against Tabor of Regulares or legionnaries elite snipers up to a distance of around 800 meters.
There isn´t any real combat in this picture.
On the other hand, the first man on the right (also appearing in the 35 mm contact number 836) wearing clear colour clothes and a different cap from the rest of militiamen, hasn´t his Mauser 1893 Model 7 x 57 mm caliber rifle ready to shoot, because the head of the firing pin is hidden inside its resting location, id est, it is not visible, so it can´t strike any cartridge. Only if the head of the firing pin is visible, a 7 x 57 mm Mauser Model 1893 is able to open fire.
No rebel troops are attacking, because on experiencing the effect of the recoil after firing, the reaction of a soldier in actual battle is not to be quiet and aim his not ready to shoot gun, but cocking again the bolt as soon as possible to load the rifle with a new bullet, and then to aim.
The same applies to the Mosquetón Mauser 7 x 57 mm Model 1916 used by the second militiaman from the left, whose head of the firing pin is not visible, and to the first militiaman from the left, whose Spanish Mauser 1893 7 x 57 mm caliber rifle head of the firing pin is also hidden.
The heads of the firing pins of the Mausers 1893 Model grabbed by the third and fourth militiamen from the left are visible, though there´s a high probability that there isn´t any bullet inside their chambers.
This picture has got great depth of field from the nearest wheat ears to the mountains in the distance, and there isn´t even a trace of blur of movement in hands, arms, heads, necks or heads of any of the militiamen, a coincidence virtually impossible in five soldiers risking their lives, who should be highly anxous, fidgety and nervous, being attacked by enemy forces and compelled to shoot and reload their guns as soon as possible.
Robert Capa doesn´t try to deceive future observers of the picture into believing that there is real combat, because it is very evident that these five soldiers are very unprotected, outside the trench, in a lower area of the slope with wheat.
The Republican militiamen are infused with revolutionary spirit, and because of the great expectation raised in them by two foreign photographers -Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, an attractive woman who is with him- , from the moment the two photojournalists approach them, the militiamen begin to make all kind of simulating of firing (both from the border of trenches and outside them with a knee on the ground), running in different directions, jumping over trenches or wheat, etc, as we see in different pictures, because they do highly wish to be photographed and appear as good as possible in the pictures.
Capa is there and takes the picture.
- Page 67: 35 mm contact number 869 Fourth Picture of the fourth strip of negatives.
There are five militiamen in the trench: the first one has got the sleeves of his fatigue clothes turned up, and he seems to be speaking, explaining something or even giving some kind of harangue, doing gestures with his free hands.
This is impossible in a real combat situation, because at the same time, this man (who is the seventh militiaman from the left appearing in the picture of page 61, including the loyalist officer), has got his head fairly unprotected, protruding over the trench and offering an easy target for enemy bullets.
On the other hand, his Mauser 7 x 57 mm caliber rifle is by itself, leaned on the ground of the trench border, immediately on the right of this militiaman, and evidently put in a somewhat unsteady equilibrium for the picture.
There isn´t any real combat in this photograph.
The second militiaman is wearing a metal helmet on his head and simulates to be shooting with his Mauser 7 x 57 mm caliber rifle against rebel attacking forces. He is leaned on the ground border of the trench, but excessively high over it, with his face utterly unprotected and offering an easy target.
Just behind this second militiaman, there´s a third one (of whom we only see his Mauser rifle). He is also pretending to be opening fire against Francoist soldiers attacking them from bottom to top.
And in the background of the image, on middle left area of the negative, we can see two further
Republican militiamen also simulating to be opening fire against fascist troops.
As happens with a very high percentage of both the already known and the many not known till now existing 35 mm negatives from the Falling Soldier series, the depth of field of the image is great, with sharpness and detail from the lowest area of the image to the fathest background.
As already mentioned, this absolute absence of blur common in all the pictures is virtually impossible for a real combat context with militiamen in their trenches really firing against enemy troops attacking them with the intention of killing them.
In such a context, the stress, fidgets and fear to be killed are maximum and the soldiers are crouched to the utmost, trying to conceal their heads as much as they can while they´re shooting, and also doing their best to fire and cocking the bolts of their Mauser rifles as soon as possible to reload their guns and introducing a new bullet.
So, no rebel troops are attacking.
Robert Capa doesn´t try to deceive future observers of the picture into believing that there is real
combat. The Republican militiamen are highly infused with revolutionary spirit, and because of the great expectation raised in them by the presence of two foreign photographers - Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, an attractive woman who is with him- , from the moment the two photojournalists approach them, the militiamen begin to make all kind of simulating of firing (both from the border of trenches and outside them with a knee on the ground), running in different directions, jumping over trenches or wheat, etc, as we see in different pictures, because they do highly wish to be photographed and appear as good as possible in the picture.
Capa is there and takes the picture.
- Page 67: 35 mm contact Number 872 First Picture of the fifth strip of negatives.
There are three militiamen with one knee on the ground of the covered with wheat slope, while they´re photographed by Capa diagonally from behind.
The first militiaman is wearing a metal helmet (this is the same militiaman appearing using a
helmet in the 35 mm contacts numbers 19, 869, 875 and 879), his right knee is on the ground, and he´s simulating to be firing against really non existent enemy forces being upwards.
This picture clearly indicates that the militiamen are overjoyed, very confident and with very high morale. Many of them are the famous Alcoyanos, who were able to capture some military headquarters in August in Alcoy and other areas, having captured a lot of guns, above all the coveted Spanish Mausers 1893 Model 7 x 57 mm caliber bolt rifles and Mosquetóns Mausers 7 x 57 mm caliber rifles (the best in the world in 1936, specially the 1893 long barrel model).
It´s impossible that Capa tries to deceive future observers into believing that there is real battle and that the Republican militiamen in the trench open fire against rebel forces attacking them from bottom to top, and in the same real battle, suddenly three of those militiamen fire upwards against against enemy troops which should be on the foot of the slope trying to ascend to kill them.
There isn´t any real battle in this picture.
Robert Capa and Gerda Taro don´t want to cheat anybody into believing that there´s a real battle. They simply take advantage of the huge expectation they raise among the militiamen, all of them without exception yearn very much to be photograph and behave and make all kind of movements, leaps, runnings, simulating of firings, etc.
Even, there´s one very good medium format 6 x 6 picture made by Gerda Taro (page 79) on this same covered with wheat slope confirming this, in which there are six militiamen running upwards with their Mauser rifles, simulating that they´re attacking a Francoist trench on top of the hill, when in many of the pictures made by Capa it´s very evident that the trench on top is a Republican one full of militiamen.
Both Capa and Taro are here and make the pictures with the intention not to deceive any future observer of the photographs into believing that there´s real battle, but to capture the very special atmosphere presiding the behaviour of the militiamen, many of them anarchists from Alcoi, that know that in a matter of hours or days, will have to fight agaisnt Francoist troops, so they express their common euphoria in this way.
They´re literally crazy for being photographed, and do what they can imagine to attain it.
The second militiaman appearing in this picture (middle left area of the contact), wearing dark fatigue clothes and cap, is simulating to cock the bolt of his Mauser 7 x 57 mm rifle to reload the gun and introducing a new bullet.
Once more, it is very odd the total lack of blur in the hands of a militiaman cocking the bolt of his Mauser rifle, because in the maelstrom of an actual battle, this operation must be made at full speed, to reload the gun as soon as possible, because the life of the soldier can depend on it. However, this militiaman seems to be doing it very quietly, taking his time, and there isn´t any blur in his hands, rifle, arm, neck or head, something odd for a picture taken with b & w film of around iso 40 (though in this time the reference for sensitivity was Weston Scale and not din, iso or asa).
The third militiaman, appearing in the background, is with his right knee on the ground and
simulating to open fire with his Mauser 7 x 57 mm rifle aiming at non existing Francoist troops on top of the covered by wheat hill.
He wears a straw big hat with the inscriptions "U.A" and "Unidad de Asalto", and is the same man appearing in the 35 mm contacts numbers 830, 875 and the one being on top right of page 67 of the book, along with the picture of middle left page 78.
The three militiamen are utterly unprotected, in the middle of a slope, hypothetically firing against rebel forces on top of the hill. In a real battle situation, the three men would be easily and very quickly annihilated from an elevated point, aither by means of rifle volleys or machine gun bursts.
- Page 67: 35 mm contact number 874 Second Picture of the fifth strip of negatives.
Underexposed picture, made by Robert Capa diagonally from behind. We can see four militiamen with one knee on the ground of the covered with wheat slope and simulating to be aiming with their Mauser 7 x 57 mm rifles to open fire against non existing attacking forces.
The Mauser rifle of the nearest militiaman to the camera is pointing towards the left of the negative, while he is looking at the right.
And the fourth militiaman in the background is holding his Mauser 7 x 57 mm rifle raising it excessively for a real battle situation.
They all are very near one another, utterly unprotected outside the trench, each one offering a big target to the enemy, and would be easily wiped out by hypothetical rebel forces firing against them from below.
There isn´t any real combat in this picture.
Robert Capa doesn´t try to deceive future observers of this picture into believing that there is real combat. The Republican militiamen are overjoyed and highly infused with revolutionary spirit, and because of the great expectation raised in them by the presence of two foreign photographers - Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, an attractive woman who is with him - , from the moment the two photojournalists approach them, the militiamen begin to make all kind of simulating of firing (both from the border of trenches and outside them with a knee on the ground), running in different directions, jumping over trenches or wheat, etc, as we see in different pictures, because they do highly wish to be photographed and appear as good as possible in the picture.
Capa is there and takes the picture.
- Page 67: 35 mm contact number 875 Third Picture of the fifth strip of negatives.
There are five Republican militiamen simulating to be aiming with their Mauser 7 x 57 mm rifles at enemey forces attacking them from bottom to top.
The first militiaman appears wearing a metal helmet, his sleeves are turned up, and he is grabbing his rifle with both hands, his left elbow being leaned on the ground border of the trench, and though the head of the firing pin of his Mauser 1893 Model 7 x 57 mm caliber rifle is visible, probably there isn´t any bullet inside the chamber. He´s simulating aiming to open fire.
The second militiaman (the one with the large straw hat, also appearing in other pictures) is also pretending to be aiming just before shooting against non existing enemy troops trying to go up to kill the Republican militiamen defending the trench.
There´s a third militiaman, of whom we only glimpse the dark cap.
The fourth and fifth militiamen appearing in the background and barely visible (we can only see their caps and rifles paying top attention) are important to prove that there isn´t any real combat in this picture because the rifle of the fourth isn´t leaned on the ground of the border of the trench, but held in the air, and too horizontal on the trench border, in such a way that any bullet shot by it would describe a trajectory some meters over the hypothetical Francoist troops attacking from bottom to top.
On its turn, the rifle of the fifth militiaman in the farthest bakground protrudes very excessively over the ground of the border of the trench (instead of being leaned on it to open fire against enemy soldiers), and this is not because of any recoil (the Mauser 1893 Model 7 x 57 mm is famous among other things for its scarce recoil), apart from being dangerous, because it detects his position to the enemy.
Robert Capa doesn´t try to deceive future observers of this picture into believing that there is real combat. The Republican militiamen are overjoyed and highly infused with revolutionary spirit, and because of the great expectation raised in them by the presence of two foreign photographers - Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, an attractive woman who is with him-, from the very moment in which the two foreign photojournalists approach them, the militiamen begin to make all kind of simulating of firing (both from the border of trenches and outside them with a knee on the ground), running in different directions, jumping over trenches or wheat, etc, as we see in different pictures, because they do highly wish to be photographed and appear as good as possible in the pictures.
Capa is there and takes the pictures.
- Page 67: 35 mm contact number 876 Fourth Picture of the fifth strip of negatives.
It´s very similar to the 35 mm contact number 868 already commented, but instead of five militiamen, we´ve got only the second, third and fourth men from the left on that 868 contact.
Compared to the 868 contact, around a 9% more of landscape is included on the right of the negative in this 876 contact, along with approximately half of the wheat covered ground and a 300% more of sky.
The three make up a diagonal from left to right, in which the sizes of the militiamen bodies progressively increase depending on how near they are from the right border of the negative.
The militiamen are very close one another, offering each one a very big and easy target to the non existing enemy soldiers. They´re in the open air with one knee leaned on the slope covered with wheat.
This would be practically suicidal against Tabor of Regulares or legionnaries snipers of the rebel army, very highly disciplined and experience troops, up to a distance of approximately 800 m.
There isn´t any real combat in this picture.
The Mosquetón Mauser 1916 caliber 7 x 57 mm held by the first militiaman from the left (dark clothes and cap), has the head of its firing pin hidden, so it can´t strike any cartridge.
In this 35 mm contact 876, the heads of the firing pins of the Mauser 7 x 57 mm rifles of both the second militiaman from left (clearer clothes and cap) and the third one from the left (dark clothes and cap) are visible, but there´s a high probability that their rifle chambers haven´t got any bullet inside. In the same way as the militiaman most on the left, they´re also simulating to shoot against Francoist soldiers.
Robert Capa doesn´t try to deceive future observers of this picture into believing that there is real combat. The Republican militiamen are overjoyed and highly infused with revolutionary spirit, and because of the great expectation raised in them by the presence of two foreign photographers -Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, an attractive woman who is with him, from the very moment in which the two foreign photojournalists approach them, the militiamen begin to make all kind of simulating of firing (both from the border of trenches and outside them with a knee on the ground), running in different directions, jumping over trenches or wheat, etc, as we see in different pictures, because they do highly wish to be photographed and appear as good as possible in the pictures.
Capa is there and takes the pictures.
- Page 67: 35 mm contact number 878 First Picture of the sixth strip of negatives.
There´s a Republican militiaman with dark cap inside the trench, occupying the left half of the black and white negative.
He´s simulating to be shooting against enemy forces.
The head of the firing pin of his Mauser 7 x 57 mm caliber rifle is hidden, so it can´t strike any cartridge.
He is leaning his rifle on the ground border of the trench, holding it with both hands, which are excessively close one each other for a correct grabbing of the gun.
We can also see his rolled up sleeve.
There isn´t any real combat.
No rebel troops are attacking, because on experiencing the effect of the recoil after firing, the reaction of a soldier in actual battle is not to be quiet and aim his not ready to fire gun, but cocking again the bolt as soon as possible to load the rifle with a new bullet and then to aim.
Robert Capa doesn´t try to cheat future observers of this picture into believing that there is real combat. The Republican militiamen are overjoyed and highly infused with revolutionary spirit, and because of the great expectation raised in them by the presence of two foreign photographers - Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, an attractive woman who is with him-, from the very moment in which the two foreign photojournalists approach them, the militiamen begin to make all kind of simulating of firing (both from the border of trenches and outside them with a knee on the ground), running in different directions, jumping over trenches or wheat, etc, as we see in different pictures, because they do highly wish to be photographed and appear as good as possible in the pictures.
Capa is there and takes the picture.
- Page 67: 35 mm contact number 879 Second Picture of the sixth strip of negatives.
Underexposed picture. There are four militiamen running down the wheat covered slope, grabbing their rifles and simulating to attack enemy forces.
The nearest man to the camera is the one wearing a metal helmet and also appearing in other negatives from the Falling Soldier series already quoted. He is jumping, to add impact to the action and appear more spectacular in the photograph.
The second militiaman by him wears a dark cap and clothes fatigue.
The third man, faintly discernible in the far background, is the militiaman wearing the big straw hat also appearing in other aforementioned pictures of the Falling Soldier series.
And there´s a fourth Republican militiaman that we can barely glimpse in the distance, on the left of the three militiamen running down.
There isn´t any real combat against Francoist troops in this photograph.
Specially if we pay attention to the nearest militiaman to the camera, we realize that it is impossible that a man running down holding his rifle to attack enemy soldiers is too vertical and jumping, knowing that he can be shot by a rebel bullet at any moment.
In this kind of context, if the action would have been real, the men strive after running down as crouched as possible to offer less target to the enemy.
All the militiamen appearing in this picture, specially the three nearest the camera, are very unprotected, in the open air and the body of each one is a very big target for enemy bullets.
And besides, these three militiamen are very close one another, so the risk of death for them in a real combat situation running down against enemy soldiers would be even higher.
They all would be easily and very quickly annihilated either by accurate Mauser 7 x 57 mm from Tabor of Regulares or legionnaries professional soldiers or by machine gun bursts.
Once more, it´s evident that Robert Capa doesn´t try to deceive future observers of this picture into believing that there is real combat. The Republican militiamen are overjoyed and highly infused with revolutionary spirit, and because of the great expectation raised in them by the presence of two foreign photographers - Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, an attractive woman who is with him-, from the very moment in which the two foreign photojournalists approach them, the militiamen begin to make all kind of simulating of firing (both from the border of trenches and outside them with a knee on the ground), running in different directions, jumping over trenches or wheat, etc, as we see in different pictures, because they do highly wish to be photographed and appear as good as possible in the pictures.
Capa is there and takes the picture.
- Page 67: 35 mm contact number 881 Third Picture of the sixth strip of negatives.
This is perhaps the most important picture of the great photographic exhibition This is War! Robert Capa at War, unknown till now for the public in the same way as the page 67 35 mm twenty-one b & w contacts of the Falling Soldier series previously analyzed, and the eight pictures made by Gerda Taro (four of them included in the book) on the same slope of the Falling Soldier rest of images taken by Capa that morning of September 1936 between 9:30 and 10:30 (Gerda Taro was with Robert Capa at every moment).
This vertical picture is the last photograph of the Falling Soldier series. We see the second Republican militiaman -shot immediately after the most famous Falling Soldier - impacted by 7 x 57 mm Mauser bullet and already lying dead on the ground (this is undoubtedly the same man as the one not instantly killed captured by Capa being already on the ground and very seriously wounded in highly agonic position).
Now we know that this man died soon, probably within few minutes, because of his 7 x 57 mm bullet wound, as indicated by his dead body on the ground.
But it isn´t less certain that maybe with propagandist aims, the body of this second militiaman has evidently been moved from the real spot where he is shot (on a point very near where the first and most famous militiaman falls backwards instantly killed because of a 7 x 57 mm piercing his heart) and transported to a lower spot of the slope along with his Mosquetón Mauser rifle which somebody - perhaps a political comissar or high officer- has evidently put on his belly with the butt of the gun resting on the ground and the middle area of the Mosquetón Mauser barrel made to be grasped by the fingers of the utterly dead second Republican militiaman (it is virtually impossible to accurately ascertain how long he took to die, but bearing in mind the eerie immediately previous picture in which this same Republican militiaman appears on the ground still alive and being in agony just after being impacted by a second high velocity 7 x 57 mm Mauser bullet, I´m convinced that few minutes indeed, and probably, the Tabor of Regulares snipers allowed them to collect the bodies or perhaps a white flag was previously shown in order to get it, and Capa made this last picture of the Falling Soldier series also with propagandist aims, something very common in both sides during the Spanish Civil War.
- Page 74: 2 1/4 inches (6 x 6 cm) medium format Rolleiflex negative made by Gerda Taro. It´s the picture on the left, having a size of 7.2 x 7.2 cm in the book.
This is an until recently not known photograph.There are three militiamen: The nearest to the camera, vertically filling the right farthest area of the 6 x 6 cm negative, and showing a militiaman simulating aiming to shoot ( though we can only see his whole head, dark cap and approximately half of the rest of his body, including a leather ammunition poach on his right side, apart from being pointing to the sky with his Mauser rifle held with both hands - on the right of the negative, out of image-).
In the background, perfectly focused and some meters behind the quoted militiaman occupying the full vertical extension of the medium format negative in his farthest right area, we can see two more Republican militiamen in much smaller size: the Falling Soldier -on the left, with his right knee on the ground, his sleeves rolled up, his Isabelline cap with tassel vertically crossing his forehead and simulating to be aiming with his 1893 Model Mauser 7 x 57 mm rifle just before opening fire. His gun is also pointing to the sky.
The other militiaman in the background, being beside The Falling Soldier, has got his left knee a bit bent, his sleeves are turned up, grabs his Mauser 7 x 57 mm rifle with both hands in almost 100% vertical position and is looking towards the lower left angle of the negative, very quiet and his top priority is to appear as good as possible in the photograph. This man is the same who is immediately on the right of the Falling Soldier in the picture of page 61 showing eleven Republican militiamen standing on the trench and a Republican officer behind the fourth militiaman from the left.
It´s very obvious that there isn´t any real battle in this picture and no soldiers on earth would behave this way while being attacked by a real enemy.
Gerda Taro is not idiot. It´s obvious that she doesn´t try to deceive any future observers of this picture into believing that there is real combat. The Republican militiamen are overjoyed and highly infused with revolutionary spirit, and because of the great expectation raised in them by the presence of two foreign photographers - Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, an attractive woman who is with him-, from the very moment in which the two foreign photojournalists approach them, the militiamen begin to make all kind of simulating of firing (both from the border of trenches and outside them with a knee on the ground), running in different directions, jumping over trenches or wheat, etc, as we see in different pictures, because they do highly wish to be photographed and appear as good as possible in the pictures.
Gerda Taro is there and takes the picture.
- Page 74: 2 1/4 inches (6 x 6 cm) medium format Rolleiflex negative made by Gerda Taro. It´s the picture on the right, having a size of 7.2 x 7.2 cm in the book.
This is an until recently not known photograph. We can see four republican militiamen on the trench.
The first one, on the right of the frame, is grabbing the butt of his Mosquetón Mauser 1916 Model caliber 7 x 57 mm, wears dark fatigues clothes and a dark cap with the colours black and red of the CNT. His sleeves are rolled up and one of his leather ammunition poaches is visible just behind the butt of his gun.
He is simulating to be looking at enemy attacking forces, but there aren´t any Francoist forces going up to kill them from bottom to top.
The head of the firing pin of his Mosquetón Mauser is hidden in its resting place, so it can´t strike any cartridge.
The second militiaman on the left of the frame, also wearing dark fatigue clothes and cap of the CNT and with his sleeves turned up, is likewise simulating to aim at enemy Francoist forces attacking them from bottom to top, and though the head of the firing pin of his Mauser 1893 Model 7 x 57 mm caliber rifle is visible, there´s a high probability that the chamber of the gun doesn´t contain any bullet at this moment. And besides, he has got his left leg bent and leaned on the inner ground border of the trench in a rather cumbersome and above all risky position for his life, leaving his neck and head unprotected. In a real context battle, soldiers inside trenches being under enemy attack, do their best to crouch to the maximum and strive after offering the least possible target to enemy bullets. But if he lies and leans on the border of the trench with his elbows on the ground, he could be partially concealed by his nearest to the camera comrade, something that he wants to avoid at any cost, because it´s very important for him to be recognizable in the photograph.
The third and last militiaman in the background is highly motivated, raising his left arm with his fist closed, with both knees leaned on top of the ground border of the trench and grabs his Mauser 1893 Model 7 x 57 mm caliber resting vertically on the ground.
He is offering almost 100% of his body as target to hypothetical enemy forces attacking them from bottom to top.
This doesn´t seem to be the best way to face the Tabor of Regulares Moroccan soldiers or the legionnaries, in 1936 from a military viewpoint, the best infantry in the world.
So, there isn´t any real combat in this picture.
Gerda Taro doesn´t try to deceive any future observers of the picture into believing that there is real combat. The Republican militiamen are overjoyed and highly infused with revolutionary spirit, and because of the great expectation raised in them by the presence of two foreign photographers - Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, an attractive woman who is with him-, from the very moment in which the two foreign photojournalists approach them, the militiamen begin to make all kind of simulating of firing (both from the border of trenches and outside them with a knee on the ground), running in different directions, jumping over trenches or wheat, etc, as we see in different pictures, because they do highly wish to be photographed and appear as good as possible in the pictures.
Gerda Taro is there and takes the picture.
- Page 75: 2 1/4 inches (6 x 6 cm) medium format Rolleiflex negative made by Gerda Taro. It´s the picture on the left, having a size of 7.2 x 7.2 cm in the book.
We heve got here the same three miltiamen than in the previous picture. Now, the nearest militiaman to the camera is leaned on the ground border of the trench, simulating to be aiming his Mauser rifle at Francoist troops attacking from bottom to top to capture the trench. But the head of the firing pin of his gun is not visible, so it can´t strike any cartridge.
The second militiaman (unlike the previous image now slightly out of focus) is a bit more backwards than before, we can only see half of his body, goes on with his left leg bent and leaned on the inner ground of the trench border and is likewise pretending to be aiming at enemy forces before shooting.
The third man, though greatly exposing his body as a target for enemy bullets almost in the same way as in the previous picture, now holds his Mauser rifle horizontally, though it´s almost impossible to discern any more aspects, because it is highly out of focus and lacking sharpness and detail.
There isn´t any real battle in this photograph.
- Page 79: 2 1/4 inches (6 x 6 cm) medium format Rolleiflex negative made by Gerda Taro. It has a size of 13.65 x 13.65 cm in the book.
Gerda taro makes this picture on the slope only a few minutes before the photograph made by Robert Capa appearing on left middle area of page 7 of Regards magazine September 24th 1936.
We can see six Republican militiamen running upwards the slope towards its summit,
simulating to attack Francoist troops defending the peak of the hill.
There isn´t any real combat in this picture.
In this spectacular photograph, taken from a very low position and highly probably with this brave woman crouched and having a knee on the ground to get as much impact as possible from bottom to top), the siz quoted militiamen appear running upwards on the lower part of the 2 1/4 inches square negative: two of them (the nearest to Gerda Taro´s Rolleiflex camera) are wearing dark clothes, the militiaman on the lower right area of the frame and simulating encouraging his comrades with his left arm raised to attack a really non existent enemy position on top of the slope is clad with white garment, the two militiamen in the middle are wearing clear garments (probably in light brown colours) and the militiaman wearing white clothes second from left is the Falling Soldier, some minutes before being instantly killed with his heart pierced by a high velocity 7 x 57 mm Mauser bullet shot by a Tabor of Regulares sniper.
This image clearly reveals that Gerda Taro feels already a high passion for photography, steadfastly making efforts to obtain the best possible pictures, as clearly proved in this photograph, where she manages to get a pronounced bottom to top taking angle going even beyond the one attained by Leonard Freed in his picture made in a Wall Street Tube Station Entrance in 1955, whose photographing angle antithesis would be Death from Overdose in Harlem New York City 1972.
It´s very interesting to realize that the second man from the left, wearing white colour fatigue clothes, is the Falling Soldier.
Gerda Taro doesn´t try to deceive any future observers of this picture into believing that there´s real combat. The Republican militiamen are overjoyed and highly infused with revolutionary spirit, and because of the great expectation raised in them by the presence of two foreign photographers - Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, an attractive woman who is with him - , from the very moment in which the two foreign photojournalists approach them, the militiamen begin to make all kind of simultaing of firing (both from the border of trenches and outside them with a knee on the ground), running in different directions, jumping over trenches or wheat, etc, as we see in different pictures, because they do highly wish to be photographed and appear as good as possible in the pictures.
Gerda Taro is there and takes the picture.
- Page 78: The one in the middle of the three pictures on the left Photograph made by Robert Capa.
There are six Republican militiamen simulating to be firing. There are four men "shooting", aiming at the right of the frame (the one most on the left and the three on the right half of the negative), another one (the militiaman just behind the man wearing a straw hat) aiming a bit upwards slightly towards the left of the picture, and a last one (second from left and perhaps the Falling Soldier some minutes before being really killed) aiming his Mauser rifle upwards and towards top central area of the frame.
It´s absolutely evident that these soldiers are not really firing and there isn´t any combat against rebel forces.
The militiamen are very near one another and offering an easy target for any hypothetical Francoist soldiers, and at the same time, three of the militiamen (the one most on the left - with his Mauser more raised upwards than the three comrades on the right of the image and whose hypothetical bullet trajectory would go on progressively towards the sky - and above all the two ones behind the man wearing straw hat) are simulating to open fire aiming at very different points.
Even, the second militiaman from left, infused with overexcitement, confidence and revolutionary joy, is ostensibly aiming his Mauser rifle at the sky.
It´s very clear that there isn´t any combat against rebel forces.
There are some people saying that " in the same way as with the Falling Soldier, Robert Capa was a liar, because these Republican militiamen are not really firing and Capa was not going to risk his own life with his camera in front of these unexperienced militiamen armed with rifles ".
And they say this to accuse Capa of trying to deceive future observers of the picture into believing that these militiamen are shooting against enemy forces.
Please!
Robert Capa was not idiot. There isn´t any kind of trick, fake or stage implemented here by Capa. At every moment and in the vast majority of pictures made by Capa and Taro that September morning of 1936, the republican militiamen eagerly yearned to be photographed by two foreign journalists, something which raised in them high doses of expectation from the first moments. And it´s known the great ability featured by Capa and Taro to create empathy with a wide range of people.
Robert Capa simply takes this picture with the militiamen acting at will and performing ecelctic poses while they´re simulating to shoot with the intention of appearing as good as possible in the picture.
It´s very important to bear in mind that we´re at the beginning of September 1936, when Franco´s coup d´etat has been quelled in the biggest capitals (Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia amongst them) of Spain for one month and a half, mainly because of the CNT and FAI anarchist militiamen fighting in the streets, factories, official and communication centers, etc, as well as attacking the army barracks, getting a lot of guns, specially the coveted long barrel Spanishs Mausers 1893 Model 7 x 57 mm (the most accurate in the world then, speacially at medium and long distances) and the Mosquetón Mausers Model 1916, having greatly seized the power in the streets, so they´re highly euphoric and buzzed with enthusiasm.
Capa doesn´t need to place these soldiers to make the picture, and it is evident that he hasn´t put them in the rather chaotic way they appear with their rifles in the picture. He simply lets the militiamen simulate battle at free will and takes the picture, both in this case and many others, in different areas of the wheat covered slope.
Therefore, on making this picture, Robert Capa doesn´t try to cheat anybody into believing that there´s a real battle and the militiamen are opening fire, because during those moments, he´s perfectly aware that some of them are aiming at different directions - even one of them pointing his gun against the sky- .
Capa simply takes the picture to capture the very special atmosphere of the moment brought about by the overjoyed militiamen themselves.
Capa is there and takes the picture.
- Page 61: Picture made by Robert Capa of 11 militiamen and a loyalist officer standing on the trench.
Three of them brandish their rifles grabbing them with left hand (the first, second and third from left), while seven of them (the fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh) are holding their guns with right hand.
All the militiamen are brandishing Mausers 1893 Model 7 x 57 mm caliber rifles, with the excepction of the third man from left, who is holding a Mosquetón Mauser 1916 Model caliber 7 x 57 mm.
Five of them are also raising their closed fists (first, third, fourth, ninth and tenth). These militiamen (many of them anarchists belonging to the CNT) are overjoyed, infused with revolutionary spirit, highly euphoric, and yearning for being photographed by Capa. There´s a great expectation in them.
This is an important picture -appearing in the book in size 21.3 x 15.9 cm- , because the man on the far left is the Falling Soldier, and the third man from left is the second falling soldier who is shot immediately after the death of the most famous Republican militiaman (the picture of this second falling soldier, not instantly killed by a 7 x 57 mm bullet as the first and most famous Falling Soldier, but very seriously injured by a second 7 x 57 mm bullet fired by the same sniper, is in the page 84 of this ICP / STEIDL extraordinary book, in size 21 x 15.9 cm).
Behind the fourth CNT militiaman from the left (raising his left closed fist), we can see what seems to be a loyalist officer, and on the right of the picture we can also observe three big vertical wooden poles and perhaps a tent behind them. And we see another vertical wooden pole in the farthest background behind the tent.
Obvious saying that there isn´t any real combat against rebel forces in this picture.
- Page 80: Picture made by Robert Capa. There are six Republican militiamen with their rifles jumping over the trench.
They are simulating to be about to run down the slope towards enemy soldiers.
The Falling Soldier is the nearest man to the camera, wearing a white shirt with its sleeves rolled up, clear trousers and cap with the CNT letters embroidered on it.
Robert Capa is inside the trench while he is making this photograph. All the militiamen are in focus. Among these men, we have got once more the militiaman wearing a big straw hat seeming to be an Andalusian militiaman and also appearing in some of the 21 pictures making up the all existing 35 mm negatives from the Falling Soldier series at the ICP.
In this picture, there isn´t any real combat against Francoist troops.
- Page 81: Picture made by Robert Capa. There are five Republican militiamen landing across the trench, after having jumped on it in the previous picture.
One of the militiamen, clad in dark fatigue clothes and cap, is completely inside the trench grabbing his Mauser 1893 Model 7 x 57 mm rifle with his right arm (his sleeves being turned up) and about to go up to the top border of it.
There is a second militiaman wearing dark clothes and cap and lying on top of the trench, simulataing to aim with his Mauser rifle against attacking Francoist troops. His nose is very near the hidden head of the firing pin of his gun, so it can´t strike any cartridge.
And just behind him, also leaned on top of the trench, more unprotected and with his head and chest dangerously protruding over top of the trench, we see the Falling Soldier, who is grabbing his Mauser 1893 7 x 57 mm rifle (also known as Spanish 7 mm Mauser) pointing upwards in such a way that it´d spot his position to enemy forces in a context of real battle, something who
doesn´t seem to worry him, because top priority is to appear as good as possible in the picture and fully identifiable.
In this photograph, there isn´t any real battle against attacking rebel forces.
In the farthest background, barely discernible, we can glimpse two more militiamen: one wearing a metal helmet (also appearing in other photographs of the Falling Soldier series already quoted) and a last one with dark cap fairly out of focus and undistinguishable.
The vignetting on the corners of the Leitz lens is remarkable and adds the picture a vintage aesthetic beauty of image.
Robert Capa doesn´t try to deceive any future observer of this picture into believing that there´s
a real battle. The Republican militiamen are overjoyed and highly infused with revolutionary spirit, and because of the great expectation raised in them by the presence of two foreign photographers - Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, an attractive woman who is with him - , from the very moment in which the two foreign photojournalists approach them, the militiamen begin to make all kind of simulating of firing (both from the border of trenches and outside them with a knee on the ground), running in different directions, jumping over trenches or wheat, etc, as we see in different pictures, because they do highly wish to be photographed and appear as good as possible in the pictures.
Capa is there and takes the picture.
- Page 82: Picture made by Robert Capa. There are three loyalist militiamen on the border of the trench, simulating to aim their rifles from top to bottom against enemy soldiers.
The nearest militiaman to the camera (clad in dark fatigue clothes and cap of the CNT) is on top of the trench, with his left leg bent and his knee on the ground, while his right leg is somewhat stretched.
He´s excessively on the trench, highly unprotected against enemy bullets, offering a big target on his chest, neck and head to Francoist soldiers.
The head of the firing pin of his Mosquetón Mauser 1916 (bent bolt) caliber 7 x 57 mm is hidden inside its resting location, so it can´t strike any bullet.
No rebel troops are attacking, because on experiencing the effect of the recoil after firing, the reaction of a soldier in actual battle is not to be quiet and aim his not ready to fire gun, but to cock again the bolt as soon as possible to load the rifle with a new bullet and then to aim.
Though the head of the firing pin of his Mauser 7 x 57 mm rifle is visible, the second militiaman, on the middle left of the image (clad in dark fatigue clothes and cap and with his right sleeve turned up), is also simulating to aim at enemy forces. His face is excessively far from the sight and half of the butt is loose and not leaned against his body to minimize the effect of recoil (in the case of the other militiamen, this aspect is even more strange, because the nose of each one is just behind the bolt, and this is not evidently a correct way of aiming or opening fire, so they seem to be above all thinking about the picture and trying that their faces be recognizable in the photograph.
The militiaman in the background, wearing a white shirt with its sleeves rolled up and cap with the letters CNT embroided on it and hanging tassel, is the Falling Soldier, who is also simulating to aim with his Spanish Mauser 1893 Model 7 x 57 mm rifle at hypothetical enemy attacking forces.
But the head of the firing pin of his 7 x 57 mm rifle is hidden inside its location in the back of the bolt, so it can´t strike any cartridge, so no rebel troops are attacking him or his comrades, because on experiencing the effect of the recoil after firing, the reaction of a soldier in an actual battle is not to be quiet and aim his not ready to fire gun, but to cock again the bolt as soon as possible to load the rifle qith a new bullet, and then to aim.
There isn´t any real combat against Francoist troops in this picture and no rebel troops are attacking the militiamen from bottom to top trying to captura the trench occupied by the anarchist militiamen.
On the other hand, both the nearest militiaman to the camera and the Falling Soldier have their bodies excessively protruding over the trench - above all the Falling Soldier-, something highly dangerous in a real combat situation against hypotehtical enemy forces.
These two militiamen would be very easily and quickly annihilated by means of shots on head or
heart.
The reason for the so risky arrangement of the Republican militiamen is that none of them want to be concealed by other´s body. They all do yearn very much after appearing in the photograph
fully recognizable - specially the face-, and they have previously agreed to place themselves in the trench this way, because if they were in the logical real combat position with the three of them lying on the border of the trench, with their Mauser rifles leaned on the ground and really aiming at the enemy, crouching their heads, being mostly inside the trench and crouching to the utmost to offer as minimum target as possible to the enemy, the nearest militiaman to the camera would have greatly concealed the bodies and faces of the other two, who so wouldn´t be recognizable in the picture.
Besides, there´s also a high probability that some political comissar, loyalist officer, etc, strongly encouraged the militiamen to make all the movements, simulating of firing, leapings, etc, that they enthusiastically performed that early morning of September 1936 in order that Capa and Taro photograph them (because the pictures had a significant propagandist mission for both sides during the Spanish Civil War from the very beginning of the conflict).
Robert Capa doesn´t try to deceive future observers of this picture into believing that there´s a real battle. The Republican militiamen are overjoyed and highly infused with revolutionary spirit, and because of the great expectation raised in them by the presence of two foreign photographers - Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, an attractive woman who is with him - , from the very moment in which the two foreign photojournalists approach them , the militiamen begin to make all kind of simulating of firing (both from the border of trenches and outside them with a knee on the ground), running in different directions, jumping over trenches or wheat, etc, as we see in different pictures, because they do highly wish to be photographed and appear as good as possible in the pictures.
Capa is there and takes the pictures.
- Page 83: Death of a Loyalist Militiaman. Picture made by Robert Capa. This is probably the most famous and important photograph in history, at the same time eerie and sublime, showing a Republican militiaman at the very moment of his instant death because of a 7 x 57 mm high velocity bullet (730 m/sec) fired by a Tabor of Regulares Moroccan sniper using long barrel 1893 Spanish Mauser rifle and piercing his heart.
By pure chance, Robert Capa has just pressed the shutter release button of his Leica III (Model F 1933-1939) with carrying strap lugs and rangefinder magnification of 1.5X connected to a Leitz Summar 50 mm f/2 lens in a split second greatly coinciding with the moment of impact of the bullet on the loyalist militiaman´s heart who dies instantly because of the shock which paralyses his vital organs, since the 7 x 57 mm cartridge has got great ballistic properties including very flat trajectory, impressive penetrating effect of its 7 mm density at long distances, etc.
There are three main hypotheses on how the death happened:
a) The Falling Soldier was running down the wheat covered slope seen in the picture,when Robert Capa was waiting for him some meters ahead, with one knee on the ground, to take him the photograph from a low angle (being both the Republican militiaman and Capa outside the trench), when suddenly and in an utterly unexpected way, at the same time in which the photographer pressed the realease button of his camera, a hidden Tabor of Regulares sniper shot the Republican militiaman on his heart, killing him instantly with a 7 x 57 mm bullet fired with his Mauser 7 x 57 mm rifle from a distance of some hundred meters.
b) The Falling Soldier was running down the wheat covered slope seen in the picture, when Robert Capa, also running down the slope some meters ahead of him, put a knee on the ground to take him the photograph from a low angle (being both the Republican militiaman and Capa outside the trench), when suddenly and in an utterly unexpected way, at the same time in which the photographer pressed the realease button of his camera, a hidden Tabor of Regulares sniper shot the Republican militiaman on his heart, killing him instantly with a 7 x 57 mm bullet fired from a distance of some hundred meters.
c) The Falling Soldier was running down he wheat covered slope seen in the picture,passing by the trench, when Robert Capa being inside it, took the picture of the militiaman from a low angle (with Robert Capa and other militiamen being inside the trench), when suddenly and in an utterly unexpected way, at the same time in which the photographer pressed the release button of his camera, a hidden Tabor of Regulares sniper shot the Republican militiaman on his heart, killing him instantly with a 7 x 57 mm bullet fired from a distance of some hundred meters.
The recently made discovery by elrectanguloenlamano (May 2009, 5th Part of this
research) regarding a picture in which there are three Republican militiamen standing alive: one dressed in dark clothes and cap, grabbing a Mauser rifle with both hands and running down slightly bent the wheat covered slope towards the right of the frame, while another Republican militiaman (only partially seen, wearing clear clothes, black leather cartridge poaches and a Mauser rifle) on his left is also running down the slope even more bent that the militiaman wearing dar fatigues clothes, and with his bolt rifle grabbed in inversed position with both the rifle gunstock and the sling inadvertently pointing upwards probably because of the overjoy and euphoria of the militiaman, along with a strong yearning for simulating a downward attack against enemy forces, in the same way as his companion, without realizing that he is being greatly concealed by his comrade´s body on his right, and a third Republican militiaman (out of image, of whom only the tip of his Mauser rifle appears on the left of the image) running behind the tow
militiamen observable in the photograph, proves that there were five militiamen running down the slope and not two as thought till now (The Falling Soldier being killed instantly and the second militiaman shot immediately after the first, who appears already on the ground, very badly injured, in the following picture).
This picture with the two militiamen running down (and a third one behind them,
out of image) was made with both loyalist militiamen treading on a near stretch of the same slope, but not on the same spot than the Falling Soldier and the following shot militiaman who fall on two points very close each other.
This discovery is very significant, because there are people saying that Capa made
the picture of the Falling Soldier with his camera on a tripod and that both The Falling Soldier and the second militiaman shot fell exactly on the same spot, something which is not true (very near indeed but not exactly the same spot).
This picture, appearing on the middle left area of page 7 of Regards Magazine September 24th 1936, confirms even more something already known: Capa didn´t
use any trick, camera on tripod or any other ruse to make the picture of the Falling
Soldier, which is authentic and captures the real moment of death of a Republican
militiaman and suggests that the most probable thing is that Capa was inside the
trench when he took this photograph, but not with his arms raised and making the
pictures without being able to see (as is always said because of a statement attributed to Capa, whose graphic or recorded evidence I haven´t been ever able to
see), but clearly seeing the five militiamen as they were running down.
On the other hand, it seems clear that the second militiaman shot (not instantly killed but on the ground, very seriously injured) was running down the slope behind the Falling Soldier when the latter was shot.
Bearing it in mind, the hypothesis that the overjoyed running down Falling Soldier suddenly stopped when being near Capa in order that he made the picture has gained a lot of momentum, because it would greatly explain the coincidence between the liberation of the shutter release of Capa´s Leica rangefinder camera and the impact of the bullet on the militiaman´s heart,since apparently the enemy sniper chose the best moment to optimize hisshot accuracy, when the loyalist militiaman stopped in front of Capa.
This coincidence has been one of the most important ones making some people doubting about the autenticity of the picture, making them erroneously believe that the famous Falling Soldier photograph is a fake or that Capa used any ruse.
But the Falling Soldier picture is authentic and there´s a real instant death depicted in it.
So, this new discovery that there were five militiamen -and not two as believed till now- running down the slope, greatly confirms the statement made by Captain
Robert Franks, Chief Homicide Detective of the Memphis Police Department after analyzing the Falling Soldier photograph: he was standing flat footed when he was shot and clearly it wasn´t a pose, but a real death, because the soldier´s left hand, partially appearing under his left leg, is in a semi-closed position. If the fall had been staged, the hand would have been open to catch his fall, the logical self-preservation reflex act to keep one from being hurt).
And Captain Robert Franks also noted that the position of the fingers, somewhat curled toward the palm, indicates that the man´s muscles had gone limp and that his body was rapidly shutting down already dead. And he was right.
Captain Franks also expressed his convition that the Falling Soldier had been carrying his rifle in a way suggesting that he did not expect to use it soon.
He´s also right in this point. The rectanguloenlamano discovery that the three Republican militiamen running down in the picture of middle left area of page 7 of
Regards magazine September 24th 1936 was taken immediately before the Falling
Soldier utterly verifies that all the militiamen running down were overconfident and sure that there weren´t enemy troops in the surroundings, with which the first shot fired by the Moroccan Tabor of Regulares sniper was absolutely lethal, since the Republican militiaman was relaxed and overjoyed, simulating running down against enemy forces, when all of a sudden, a 7 x 57 mm bullet pierced his heart killing him instantly because of the shock paralysing his vital functions before the blood has begun to sprout.
Everything is very related to the stopping power and killing power featured by this high velocity type of bullet, as decisive factors provoking damage when impacting on an animal or person, the 7 x 57 mm cartridge excelling at high velocity, shock effect, diameter and expansion of the bullet, kinetic energy and lineal impulse, everything greatly enhanced by the tremendous accuracy of the Moroccan Tabor of Regulares snipers.
There are people saying that this picture is false because " only a magnum gun can throw a man backwards in the way depicted in the photographed".
That´s not true, because the shot placement and the type of bullet performance are much more important factors than the pure brute force of the cartridge.
A non magnum rifle bullet flying at a great speed penetrates through the animal or person with an effect comparable to an expansive wave, and this ´hydraulic effect´ brings about a bigger damage on the animal or person tissues, being able to provoke the death even if the shot doesn´t touch any vital organ, not to say if it impacts on the heart or head.
In a nutshell, a small non magnum rifle bullet featuring great velocity has the same energy than other bigger caliber types of bullets flying at slower speeds.
And regarding "the impossibility that a non Magnum bullet is able to throw the militiaman backwards in that way", only a further detail: many big five African hunters, above all the famous W.D.M. Bell, used it to kill elephants because of its great piercing power and accuracy...
Another frequent error (among many others) by those stating that Capa´s most famous picture is a fake and that the Falling Soldier got up again after being shot, is to think that the absence of blood on the militiaman´s shirt indicates that the photograph is false.
That´s not true.
The absence of blood in the Falling Soldier´s white shirt is because of the very high velocity of the 7 x 57 mm Mauser bullet which kills him just in the split second in which Robert Capa has just pressed the shutter realease button of his Leica III (Model F 1936-1939), so though the bullet has already pierced the Falling Soldier heart, there hasn´t been enough time for the blood to sprout.
If we think of the very short elapse of time which means 1/10 sec in an athletic competition, a speed of for instance 1/125 sec at f/8 shooting handheld on a sunny day with around iso 40 Kodak panchromatic nitrate black and white film is a much shorter time.
This is a non easy concept to understand, because we all are accustomed to watching different movies in which all kind of bullet shots have the immediate effect of presence of blood on the victims´ clothes, specially if they are using white garments, which makes even more remarkable the thing with the Falling Soldier who is wearing a turned up white colour shirt.
But in reality, things are different regarding the performance of the bullets, and it will depend on a number of factors, among which the shock effect is another absolutely decisive one.
Traditionally, everybody has thought and will go on thinking that the end of the vital functions of an animal or person which has just been shot is due to the loss of blood, which evidently has got its importance, though it is not the key factor in this respect.
The most significant element regarding the break of the vital functions of an animal or person
impacted by bullet is the shock effect when the projectile hits one of the vital organs.
That´s why the Falling Soldier dies instantly, because of the shock effect of the 730 m/sec high velocity of a 7 x 57 mm Mauser bullet, before the blood has begun to flow.
Such is the kinetic energy of this caliber, which greatly enhances its stopping power and fosters its piercing capacity, its expansion and its ability to destroy animal or person tissues.
On the other hand, the lineal impulse of the 7 x 57 mm bullet is also highly remarkable, preserving great power and a simultaneous scarce recoil, a key factor for accuracy in long distance shots.
You can be sure: just after the picture was taken by Capa, there was a lot of blood running from the Falling Soldier´s heart, with two points of blood exit.
In 1936, the Tabor of Regulares Moroccan soldiers were the best snipers in the world, shooting the most suitable 7 x 57 mm bullets for their missions, with the appropriate load in grains and using the best bolt rifle available then: the 1893 Model Spanish Mauser.
These were very hardened and disciplined troops, featuring a lot of years of real combat experience, and able to get tremendous levels of accuracy with shots made at great distances between 400 and 1000 meters impacting on enemy soldiers´ head or heart.
Bigger caliber types of bullets like Magnum, Nitroexpress, etc, are heavy projectiles with great recoil which would make the accuracy and recharge in a real combat situation much more difficult than with a non Magnum 1893 Model 7 x 57 mm Mauser rifle.
To have a Magnum or NitroExpress caliber doesn´t necessarily mean that the suitable stopping power will be attained in shots.
In order to get the most suitable stopping power, the best possible balance between velocity of the bullet, its weight and recoil effect is esential.
From a ballistic viewpoint, the two Republican militiamen killed on the wheat covered slope appearing in this picture between 9:30 and 10:30 h in the morning of September 5th 1936, were the aftermath of the optimization of a very high percentage of the previously quoted factors in the binomium long barrel 1893 Model Mauser bolt rifle + 7 x 57 mm bullet along with the amazing level of accuracy in their long distance shots attained by the Moroccan Tabor of Regulares snipers being able to put the bullets on vital organs under conditions of maximum combat stress, with which they got the necessary force to achieve the desired stopping power without needing Magnum or NitroExpress caliber bullets for it. They took advantage of a top-notch classic bolt rifle with more than 40 years of antiquity at those moments (having proved its impresive efficiency and precision in different conflicts), sporting 2,000 meters of long distance lethal range through its 73,5 cm long barrel, great power, resistance, reliability and huge accuracy, with the added benefit of a revolving bolt which is manually activated by means of a rotation and push movement, enabling both a very quick recharging and a highly short time of bullet striking.
At the same time, their real combat experience allowed these Tabor of Regulares snipers to bear in mind the wind and the dispersion factor of 30 cm of the 7 x 57 mm Mauser bullets before opening fire.
If they had any supporting base to make the shots, their long distance effectiveness was certainly lethal, which added to the quick recharge enabled by this bolt rifle, made them often being able to kill two enemy soldiers in around three seconds.
- Page 84: The second falling soldier. Picture made by Robert Capa. Though not as
famous as the first Falling Soldier (instantly killed by a 7 x 57 mm percing his heart), this photograph, taken by Robert Capa immediately after the Falling Soldier, is much more gruesome and disgusting, because the militiaman (who is another different soldier, not the previous one, there isn´t any doubt in this respect) is still alive on the ground of the same wheat covered slope, having fallen on a very near spot to the first militiaman (though not exactly the same point as stated by some people), and is very very seriously injured because of the impact on his body of a second 7 x 57 mm bullet shot by the same sniper that has just killed the first Falling Soldier, whose accuracy has not been so high as with the first shot because he has been bound to reload his Mauser rifle and open fire for a second time with the risk it implies for his life (if a sniper makes more than one shot, chances of being spotted by the enemy increase significantly).
The loyalist militiaman is in a very odd and stressful position brought about by the shot, not instantly lethal as the previous one killing the Falling Soldier, but leaving him greatly crippled.
His vital functions are significantly diminished and because of the shot that has hurled him backwards, his legs are immobilized and from waist to head his body is convulsed and trying to keep a precarious balance, while his right arm is bent backwards with his hand weakly grabbing his Mosquetón Mauser 1916 7 x 57 mm caliber (bent bolt), whose barrel tip is touching the ground.
For a long time, I thought that this second militiaman shot was standing running down the slope behind the Falling Soldier and somehow brandishing his Mosquetón Mauser when he was also shot and had slowly fallen to the ground, not instantly killed but very seriously injured. Nevertheless, the postion of this militiaman on the ground was somewhat odd for a man having been shot while being running standing and fallen to the ground.
But recently, I had the chance of reading the excellent book This is War! Robert Capa at Work written by Richard Whelan and published by ICP / Steidl, and in its page 75 is the complete account of the expert criminologist captain Robert Franks which I´m convinced resolves three "mysteries" frequently put forward by people stating that the Falling Soldier (instantly killed) picture is false, a fake, a montage using tripod, etc: a) how the second falling soldier body was when he was shot, b) why this second militiaman shot falls so very near the first Falling Soldier and c) why the body of the Falling Soldier doesn´t appear in the picture of this second falling soldier (not instantly killed but still alive on the ground, very seriously injured):
"As soon as the Falling Soldier had fallen to the ground, comrades must have dragged his body back into the gully, which would explain why his corpse is not visible in the photograph of the other falling soldier.
Captain Franks was sure that the Falling Soldier was the first loyalist militiaman to be shot.
That´s why he also wrote: " I base this upon the cloud formation that seems to be tighter in the Falling Soldier and more dissipated in the other picture".
On the other hand, on watching this picture of the second falling soldier seriously injured on the ground, we quickly realize that the image quality is far superior to the first Falling Soldier one in terms of resolving power, sharpness and level of detail.
That´s why, Captain Robert Franks makes a further statement: " The second soldier´s photograph is in focus, which indicates to me that Robert Capa had time to attend to the settings on his camera between the two shots".
And following this statement, Captain Robert Franks makes a highly interesting affirmation: " the photograph of the second militiaman shot indicates to me that the soldier was on his knees, leaning back with his buttocks resting on the heels of his feet , the rifle being held in his right hand and the rifle muzzle pointing up and slightly to the rear. As the soldier was thrown back by a bullet, gravity took over, pulling the weight of the barrel towards the ground. When the gunfire began, he was presumably standing far enough to Borrell´s right so that he was outside the left edge of the Falling Soldier. He must then have dropped to his knees, both to protect himself and to help move the Falling Soldier´s body into the gully. He probably lifted the Falling Soldier by the armpits, which would explain why the photograph shows him slightly behind the spot where the Falling Soldier had been standing. Men in the gully would have dragged the Falling Soldier by the feet toward them. The man in Capa´s second shot militiaman photograph was evidently picking his rifle up from the ground when he was shot.
I do believe Captain Robert Franks is utterly right in his explanations, including the one regarding the no presence of the Falling Soldier corpse on the ground in the picture of the second shot loyalist militiaman, a key factor to explain the events, because THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF THIS STORY ARE NOT THE LOCATION OF THE FALLING SOLDIER PICTURE AND THE IDENTITY OF THE MAN APPEARING IN IT (TWO IMPORTANT TOPICS ANYWAY), BUT THE REAL INSTANT DEATH OF A REPUBLICAN MILITIAMAN BECAUSE OF A 7 X 57 MM BULLET SHOT BY A TABOR OF REGULARES SNIPER AND THAT CAPA DIDN´T USE ANY TRICK, MONTAGE WITH TRIPOD OR RUSE OF ANY KIND, AND ABOVE ALL, THAT THE FALLING SOLDIER DIDN´T GET UP AGAIN AS SOME PEOPLE ARE STATING.
This second falling soldier (not instantly killed as the first Falling Soldier, but very seriously
injured on the wheat covered ground of the slope) appearing in page 84, is the same militiaman than the one whose corpse holding his Mosquetón Mauser 1916 Model depicted in the last picture of the Falling Soldier series, recently known to the public thanks to the ICP, because it is one of the photographs displayed in the great itinerant exhibition This is War! Robert Capa at Work which will be held in Barcelona between July 7th and September 24th 2009.
- Page 85: The corpse of the second militiaman shot holding his Mosquetón Mauser 1916 Model. There isn´t any doubt: he is the same man than the militiaman of page 84, identical gun, identical rectangular leather ammunition poaches, identical trousers, the same white slippers, identical right turned up sleeve - this can be seen paying top attention or using a magnifying glass on the middle of the shadow projected by the corpse of this militiaman over the buttock of his Mosquetón Mauser 1916 Model where we can see the inert right arm lying on the wheat covered ground of the slope lower than the point where this man was really shot.
For more information on this picture, please read the comments relative to 35 mm contact number 881.
The two Republican militiamen killed were not because of rebel troops attacking, since there weren´t any Francoist troops atacking. They were shots made by a sniper.
b) The three big white houses appearing in the aforementioned picture on top of the third Republican militiamen from the left are the so called LOS MOLINOS DEL CAMPO.
