ABSTRACT
In the years between 1912 and 1921 the Spanish military in the Protectorate had, to a limited degree, extended its control over the Protectorate, but consolidating their hold over the territories gained had cost many lives and incurred huge expenditure. Between 75,000 and 85,000 Maghrebi soldiers were to see action in Spain, and it is the background to their participation in the conflict and the hospital care they received in mainland Spain that forms the central focus of this chapter. The use of the Regulares and the other predominantly Moroccan units, such as recruits from Ifni Sahara or the Mehal-la Khalifianas, as the main shock troops during many of the key campaigns of the conflict meant that casualty rates among these men were often high. It is for this reason, the chapter aims to examine the surgical and wider healthcare that the troops from the Maghreb received during this period.
