This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic.

D-Day was approaching and France’s 2nd Armored Division was ready to take part. Rafael Gómez Nieto, a veteran of the Spanish Civil War, and the division’s mostly Spanish “Nueve” unit shipped off from North Africa to England.

The division, led by Gen. Philippe Leclerc, then crossed the English Channel and La Nueve made its way through the French countryside. Mr. Gomez’s unit narrowly survived a German encirclement in a French village.

He and his comrades forged on, reaching the southern edge of Paris on Aug. 24, 1944. In an armored vehicle named Guernica, he wound his way through side streets to avoid German soldiers and then raced at full speed toward City Hall.

His unit turned out to be the first Allied force to take part in the liberation of Paris.

“I entered Paris with the Guernica, we were Spanish and voilà!” Mr. Gómez recalled in a documentary aired by Canal Sur, a regional Spanish channel. “People were surprised to see French troops speaking to them in Spanish.”