The "Requetes", also known as "Navarreans", came from the homonymous Spanish province of Navarre, having behind them a heavy tradition of centuries as warriors. The word "requet" is of French origin and translates as "hunting call" .
The "hunters", by extension Reketes, had to present excellent combat action from the Middle Ages in Spain, but also in France. The infamous mercenary company of the Navarrese of the Middle Ages is also known.
However the Requetes became more famous during the Carlist Wars (1833-40, 1847-49 and 1872-76) in Spain fighting against the Bourbon dynasty that ruled Spain. Navarre was one of the most conservative provinces in Spain. The inhabitants were faithful Roman Catholics and did not take kindly to the rise of the left in Spain.
So when the Spanish Civil War broke out they sided with Franco by joining the nationalist forces en masse. Hunters from their childhood, most of them, had familiarity with weapons. Wearing their characteristic red berets, they formed their own regiments and divisions having as their goal, beyond the defeat of the Reds, the return of the monarchy to Spain, something that Franco did not support.
The regiments (terthios) of the Reketes were organized like the rest of the nationalist forces. Each usually extended three battalions. Each battalion had three rifle companies and one machine gun company. Anti-tank guns were allocated during the war, usually one artillery piece per regiment.
The Racketeers initially formed one Infantry Division, but by 1939 four had been formed in total (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th MP). Each MP fielded two brigades, each with two regiments and one artillery regiment.
At the height of their strength the four divisions of Navarre, as they were known, fielded 42,000 men. However, due to the fact that they were used by the nationalist administration as assault troops, by the end of the war, their strength had been reduced, due to casualties, to 23,000 men.
Although the Recettes began as one of several nationalist militias, they developed into Franco's elite soldiers during the war mainly due to their fanaticism. After all, their Democratic opponents were not distinguished by their high level of education.
The Racketeers operated mainly in the Army of the North and the Army of the Center, but also in the Army of the Levant, later. During the great Nationalist attack on Aragon in 1939, the Racketeers were the first to reach the Mediterranean, eastern Spanish coast, "slicing" the democratic zone in two. Their contribution to the conquest of northern Spain and the Basque regions was also particularly important.
The racketeers wore the khaki uniform of the Spanish Army. Many times they did not sew a small flag with the red cross of Ag. Andrea. Their basic rifle was the Mauser M 1893 with the corresponding Mauser M 1895 bayonet or bayonet. They wore leather Spanish attachments, a copy of the French ones, with two cartridge cases in front and one in the back, light brown in color. Read more at the source