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I am looking at page 1 of this Civil Guard record (Spanish) and most of it is clear because it is typed text. But I have two questions concerning this page. They might warrent distinct questions?

Issue 1

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The above is the title for the document. I read this to be:

  • Spanish: 4º TERCIO DE LA GUARDIA CIVIL
  • English: 4th THIRD CIVIL GUARD

But that doesn't make sense to me: "4th Third". Can you please shed light on this?

Issue 2

enter image description here

The above states where my Great Grandfather transferred from and when. At the moment I have:

  • Spanish: Tuvo entrada en este Cuerpo procedente de la XXX Artillería de Menorca en 1º de Septiembre de 1906.
  • English: He joined this Corps from the XXX Artillery of Menorca on 1st September 1906.

Any clarification about both of these and perhaps even links to information about those units would be appreciated. I did try searching.

Related questions

Andrew Truckle
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1 Answers1

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According to the DLE, one of the meanings of tercio is

  1. m. Mil. Cada una de las divisiones del instituto de la Guardia Civil.

In this case, tercio does not mean 1/3 nor third but a kind of military unit. More info about what a tercio is in the Spanish militia can be found here.

The word that you're looking for in the second image is Comandª that stands for comandancia.

  1. f. Edificio, cuartel o departamento donde se hallan las oficinas del comandante.

I'm no expert in English nor USA military terminology but in Spanish it is the headquarters where is located the commanding officer.

There is a Military Museum located in Menorca placed where once was the Artillery Academy. I don't know if the Artillery Headquarters was located there in 1906 but maybe you can contact them and get additional information.

There is a letter from the Comandancia Artillería de Menorca in 1919 that indicates that it was located in the fortress of La Mola (it has its official site: La Mola Fortaleza Isabel II en Mahón (Menorca)).

Letter to Comandancia de Artillería de Menorca

fedorqui
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RubioRic
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    I think we would use headquarters as you suggest for comandancia (at least in the UK it is standard). – mdewey Aug 06 '21 at 15:21
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    Since the OP seems unfamiliar with Spanish armed forces, a nitpick: the Comandancia of Artilleria would have been part of the army, not of the Civil Guard. The Civil Guard was sort of a rural policing force and as such it had (and still has) a semi-military component, but not to the point of having artillery units. What the paper says is that the subject was serving in the artillery branch of the Army and was then transfered into the Guardia Civil. – SJuan76 Aug 06 '21 at 18:38
  • @SJuan76. Yes, I understand that much and do realise he transferred from this unit to Civil Guard. This will become clearer on my next question about page two where it chronicles his service. A list of a handful of positions. – Andrew Truckle Aug 06 '21 at 19:17
  • @SJuan76 I understand that my Great Grandad was first most likely doing national service, in the army and then transferred as you say. This is stated on page one. – Andrew Truckle Aug 06 '21 at 19:19