Fifth Regiment

Fifth Regiment Quinto Regimiento
Active	1936 (1936)–1937 (1937)
Disbanded	20 January 1937
Country	Spain
Allegiance	Second Spanish Republic
Branch	MAOC
Type	Elite corps
Role	Model military unit
Size	20,000 (est. November 1936)
Headquarters	Madrid
March	El quinto regimiento
Engagements	Siege of Cuartel de la Montaña Battle of Guadarrama Battle of Talavera Siege of the Alcázar Defence of Madrid
Commanders
Notable commanders	Enrique Castro Delgado Vittorio Vidali Enrique Líster Juan Guilloto León
Insignia
Emblem
Badge

The Fifth Regiment (Spanish: Quinto Regimiento, the full name Quinto Regimiento de Milicias Populares) was an elite corps loyal to the Spanish Republic at the onset of the Spanish Civil War. Made up of volunteers, the Fifth Regiment was active in the first critical phase of the war and became one of the most renowned units loyal to the Republic.^[1]

The number of soldiers in the Fifth Regiment quickly rose from about 6,000 in August to over 20,000 in November 1936. This loyalist elite corps lasted only until the Spanish Republican Army was reorganized in the second year of the civil war, but in barely half a year it had managed to become one of the most famous units of the whole conflict.^[1]

The Fifth Regiment used the desecrated building of the Church of San Francisco de Sales in Madrid as its headquarters. The mouthpiece of this military unit was the Milicia Popular newspaper^[1] and its anthem the El quinto regimiento song.^[2]