Vehicles of the armoured train captured by the forces of Fidel Castro and Che Guevera at the Battle of Santa Clara in Cuba
The Battle of Santa Clara was a series of events in late December 1958 that led to the capture of the Cuban city of Santa Clara by revolutionaries under the command of Che Guevara. The battle was a decisive victory for the rebels fighting against the regime of General Fulgencio Batista: within 12 hours of the city's capture, Batista fled Cuba and Fidel Castro's forces claimed overall victory. An armored train was sent by Batista to reinforce supplies of ammunition, weapons and other equipment Che Guevara, who viewed the capture of the armored train as a priority, successfully mobilized the tractors of the school of Agronomy at the university to raise the rails of the railway. The train was therefore derailed as it transported troops away from the Capiro hill. The officers within asked for a truce and ordinary soldiers, whose morale was very low, began to fraternize with the rebels, saying that they were tired of fighting against their own people. Shortly afterwards the armored train was in the hands of the rebels and its 350 men and officers were transported as prisoners.
Size: 4320px × 3456px
Location: Santa Clara, Cuba
Photo credit: © Niall Ferguson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: armored, armoured, batista, battle, bulldozer, castro, che, clara, communism, cuba, fidel, guerilla, guevera, railway, santa, sculpture, train, trucks, warfare
