This Spanish cabinet card portrait, dated 1923, features a Spanish military man in uniform having completed his first term of service
This stunning cabinet card features a portrait of Spanish soldier Diego Rodriguez Sánches, dated 1923, and sent to his uncle at the completion of his first term in the military. I have no knowledge about Spanish military uniforms, so I can’t identify him as an enlisted man or officer.
Sánches’ uniform collar features a large metallic number 34. His hat sports a decorative Pickelhaube on top.
This photograph would have been taken during the Rif war between the colonial power of Spain and the Berber tribes of Morocco. That war lasted from 1921 to 1926, and eventually pulled in France on the side of the Spanish. The war is remembered for Spain’s use of chemical weapons against the Rifian soldiers, and for Spanish army atrocities.
Handwritten message on the back of the photograph
The back of the card features a handwritten message written in Spanish with a fountain pen:
“Para mi tio Don Guillermo Librero Corral
Se felisito por el dia de su santo y le remito como recuerdo este retrato de mi primer periodo militar ya cumplido, su sobrino.
Diego Rodriguez Sánches
Aznalcóllar 12 Junio 1923″
Translated to English
A rough Google translation is below (Spanish speakers, please help me if this is a poor translation) :
“For my uncle Don Guillermo Librero Corral
Congratulations on your saint’s day and I send you as a souvenir this portrait of my first military period already completed, your nephew.
Diego Rodriguez Sánches
Aznalcóllar 12 June 1923″
Aznalcóllar is a city in the south Spanish province of Seville.