Mediana 

For a few days after the capture of Quinto the XV Brigade was in 
reserve near Fuentes de Ebro. All was quiet. Even our old friends 
the Fascist planes passed by without locating us. An irrigation ditch 
gave us a chance to keep cool in the blazing August sun, and to get clean. 
New clothes were issued. Only the nights were uncomfortable; the mo- 
squitos made fiesta on our faces. 
One night, at the end of the month, we got the order to move. We 
arrived eventually at Codo, which had just been captured after a brief 
fight, by another Brigade. The inhabitants had been driven before 
them to Belchite by the retreating garrison. With the exception of mi- 
litary patrols, there was no sign of human life. Half-starved dogs prowl- 
ed the streets. Dark shapes, lying here and there, and the smell of 
death that impregnated the town showed that the war had flowed this 
way. 
The other Battalions of the Brigade were moving south-west to attack 
Belchite, the spires and factory-chimneys of which were silhouetted 
against the sky, a few kilometres away. The British Battalion swung 
north towards Mediana. Its task was to keep off any Fascist force that 
might attempt to relieve Belchite. 
The Republican front had been advanced during the previous week, 
and now stretched along a range of hills approximately seventeen miles 
north of Belchite. The line ran from Fuentes de Ebro to Mediana, and 
a few miles further to the west curved back towards Puebla de Al- 
borton. At both of the latter towns the Fascists were endeavouring to 
break through. If they once established themselves on that range of 
hills, they could dominate the plain that spread down to Belchite, and 
be in a fair position to raise the siege of that town. 
Soon, word was received that the Fascists had broken through at 
Mediana and had captured hills which dominated that town. The Brit- 
ish Battalion moved up in trucks, by night. The convoy ran into long 
range fire. Luckily casualties were slight. Dismounting, the men ad- 
vanced along the road. About 3 a.m., the Battalion almost collided with 
a column of advancing Fascists. Taken by surprise, the latter retreat- 

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