He led a column of La Nueve of the 2nd Armoured Brigade, which consisted of Spanish combatants, and was the first Allied military unit to enter Paris after being occupied by the Wehrmacht.

[2] Amado Granell Mesado was the son of a woodsman from Burriana, Spain, and enlisted in the Spanish Legion in 1921; he reached the rank of sergeant.

[1] In Orihuela, Granell joined the Comité de Enlace Antifascista and in September, the Volunteer Army, which was formed to defend the Second Spanish Republic.

[4] After spending time in camps that were created by the French colonial authorities, Granell and other ex-combatants were released by Anglo-American forces at the end of the Western Desert Campaign.

He then enlisted in the French Foreign Legion; he first joined the Marching Regiment of Chad, which was later integrated into the 2nd Armored Division under General Philippe Leclerc.

[5][nb 1] After the liberation of Paris, La Nueve was transferred to the German front, where Granell actively participated in taking the Eagle's Nest, the holiday retreat of Adolf Hitler in the Bavarian Alps.

For this reason and on behalf of Francisco Largo Caballero, Granell met with José María Gil Robles Sr. in Lisbon on 4 April 1946, but the operation to find Prince Juan failed.