However, after much effort, Enrique Líster's men were successful in repelling the rebel offensive at the Battle of Jarama,[3] where the combats in the El Pingarrón area caused a high number of casualties in loyalist ranks.

Following the bloodbath at the Jarama the 11th Division was barely being reorganized when it was sent to Guadalajara where on 8 March the Fascist Italian Corpo Truppe Volontarie had launched an offensive.

There Líster and his division resisted at the Brunete graveyard until 25 July, but ended up losing the disputed town in the face of the heavy Francoist assaults.

But Móra d'Ebre housed a large number of enemy troops and the 11th Division, not being able to dislodge them, chose to encircle the town leaving its defenders isolated.

In the early morning hours of 26 July the Republican troops reached their objectives, but after the long march and the ascension of the rocky ranges the men of the 11th Division were physically exhausted.

[21] Despite the bloodbath in the veteran Republican ranks, Modesto insisted in keeping the Pandols position and ordered the integration of all the artillery of the V Corps in the 11th Division.

[24] Following its valiant and resilient behaviour and the losses it had to bear, the 11th Division was awarded the Laureate Plate of Madrid, but the Spanish Republic had lost a great number of irreplaceable battle-hardened veterans.

Finally a massive Francoist counteroffensive began at the end of October and the much crushed 11th Division could no longer bear the avalanche of rebel attacks.

[25] Following the Battle of the Ebro debacle the 11th Division retreated to the rearguard in order to recover and reorganize, being temporarily made part of the Republican Military Reserve.

But not long thereafter, on 23 December, the rebel faction launched its final Catalonia Offensive and the 11th Division —which had been in need of a longer period of rest— was urgently deployed in the Segre Front, together with the remainder of the V Army Corps commanded by Enrique Lister, in order to close the gaps in the front where inexperienced groups of the Eastern Army had fled in panic before the fierce rebel assault, abandoning the lines they were defending at the Segre River.

[26] Enrique Lister set up his general headquarters at Castelldans[27] and with his competent, battle-hardenend troops he was able to contain the Francoist onslaught for almost two weeks in the area near Borges Blanques.

[28] But in the face of the vehement Francoist offensive all Republican units had to retreat and left the area of the Segre Front, gradually withdrawing in a northeastern direction.

Thus the Ebro Army covered the massive Republican retreat along the Mediterranean coastline until reaching Barcelona, where there had been plans to organize a strong resistance against the Fascist onslaught on the lines of the Defence of Madrid in 1936.