http://imgur.com/a/pz87a
This is the only picture I have of my Great grandfather who fought in the Spanish civil war.
I'm interested to know if he fought on the side of the communists or the fascists. My family have a big dislike for Franco so i'm inclined to believe he fought for the communists though i'm not certain.
He died in 1963/64 when my grandmother was only 17 so i don't have much information about him other than this photo.
I'm not expecting an answer because there isn't much to the photo but i thought it was worth a try.
Thank you.
First question — bear with me on this one: was he of North African descent, or was he Spanish?
My strong suspicion is that he served in the Army of Africa, in one of the locally-recruited Moroccan regiments called the Fuerzas Regulares Indigenas ('Indigenous Regular Forces', generally known as the Regulares.) The fez, called a tarbuch, is an obvious clue, as are the lapel badges: they appear to show a crescent motif, which was common to these indigenous units.
This is the description of the standard Regulares uniform from the Osprey guide to nationalist forces:
The standard pre-war uniform of the Regulares in Morocco was a sand-khaki military shirt; a sand-khaki version of the four-pocket guerrera tunic, and baggy zaraguelles trousers gathered at the knee; dark blue puttees; and white canvas alpargatas boots with hemp soles [...] The branch collar badge was a silver, upwards-pointing crescent bearing the Grupo number set on brass crossed rifles with fixed bayonets. A waistsash was tied at the left hip, under the leather equipment, in the Grupo colour [...]
That describes the uniform of an enlisted man, and seems very close to what we see in the photo. A red tarbuch was "regulation for native officers, and often worn in the field by Spanish officers of the Regulares", but wasn't exclusively reserved for officers; as time went on, it was commonly worn by enlisted personnel as well. I can't make out any rank insignia — they would be on the epaulettes, which aren't visible in the photo. If I had to guess, I'd say he was an officer: enlisted rank insignia are generally worn on the sleeve, rather than the epaulettes.
If he was an Africanista, it's overwhelmingly likely he fought on the nationalist side. Franco, like many of the senior commanders on the nationalist side, was a veteran of the Rif War, and had briefly held command in Africa prior to the start of the civil war. The Army of Africa — a mixture of regular army units, locally-recruited Regulares regiments and the Spanish Legion — were a key component of the rebel army, and in fact the rising of 17-18 July began in Spanish Morocco.
Paging AH's other SCW experts, /u/tobbinator and /u/domini_canes — they may be able to offer more insight/tell you if I'm way off-base...