Security and Assault Corps

The Assault Guards, officially known as the Security and Assault Corps (Spanish; Cuerpo de Seguridad y Asalto), were the riot police units of the urban police force of Spain under the Second Spanish Republic. The Assault Guards were special paramilitary police units created by the Spanish Republic in 1931 to deal with urban and political violence. Most of the recruits in the Assault Guards were ex-military personnel, many of them veterans. It was dissolved in the loyalist zone on 27 December 1936 and its personnel and equipment transferred to the newly created Cuerpo de Seguridad Interior while the Francoist regime would go on to disband them in 1941 as part of a broader reorganization of the regime's internal security. The remaining personnel would be subjected to internal purges to ensure loyalty and transferred over to the newly created Policía Armada. At the onset of the Spanish Civil War, there were 18,000 Assault Guards. About 12,600 stayed loyal to the Republican government, while the other 5,400 defected to the rebel faction. Many of its units took part in front line actions on both sides, often being used as shock troops due to their high degree of training, discipline and specialised equipment.