Joaquín García Morato

Who was Joaquín García Morato?

Joaquín García-Morato y Castaño, 1st Count of Jarama was the leading Nationalist fighter ace of the Spanish Civil War. He is credited with 40 air victories, four gained while flying Heinkel He 51s and 36 with the Italian Fiat CR.32.

An accomplished prewar pilot, excelled in aerobatics, and instructed instrument flying. He was on holiday in England when the Civil War broke out. Hastening home to join the Nationalist cause, he gained his first victory on 12 August 1936 in a Nieuport-Delage 52, shooting down one of three Vickers Vildebeest over Antequera. He then flew one of the first Heinkel He 51s received from Germany. Flying this aircraft, on 18 August, he shot down a Republican NiD 52 and a Potez 540. He downed another NiD 52 on 2 September. He then began flying an Italian Fiat CR.32, shooting down another NiD 52 on 11 September: it was his fifth victory. Then he formed the Patrulla Azul of three CR.32 and during the early autumn 1936 he added six more aircraft of French manufacture, plus a British built Hawker Fury, to his score. He gained his 12th victory on 5 November, followed by his first kill of a Soviet-built Polikarpov I-15 fighter. On 13 January 1937, he managed to shoot down two Tupolev SB-2 bombers - that outperformed the Fiat in terms of speed - attacking them from a superior height: they were his victories number 16 and 17.