Rare Vintage Patch - SPAIN - GUARDIA de FRANCO - 1970s Civil War Dictator Militia - Militaria

La Guardia de Franco - 1970's Patch.

Measures - 3.4 x 3 inches (8.5 x 7.5 cms)

Founded in August 1944 as a sort of substitute for the defunct FET and JONS Militia , was formed from "old shirts", ex-combatants of the civil war and the most fanatic of the falangist youths.

Organically dependent on FET and the JONS , they reported directly to the Secretary General of the Movement .

Although it was conceived as a party militia, in practice it never came to act as such; in its beginnings it stood out more for its participation in the repression, cooperating with the Civil Guard in the fight against the Maquis .

La Guardia had its own information service, as well as a newsletter of high quality that was published in Madrid.

By 1963 the organization had 80,037 members among its ranks.

However, since the mid-1960s the organization went through a deep decline, aggravated by the lack of new enlistees. Disappeared in 1977 after the death of Franco and the dismantling of the dictatorship.