 More than 20,000 were evacuated to 'temporary' safety on chartered boats, most of them to permanent exile.The Republican government tried to send fighters to the Basque country across France, but the French government returned the aircraft after confiscating its machine guns.The commander of the "Spanish Republican Air Force", Hidalgo de Cisneros, decided to send 50 fighters and bombers to the Basque Country, across the Nationalist held territory, 45 reached Bilbao.