Issue 35 / 2-2013www.international-brigades.org.ukIBMT Newsletter

INTERNATIONALBRIGADE MEMORIAL TRUST

Plus: 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Ebro

Concert in Spain remembers thevolunteers from Britain and Ireland

AGM agenda1 Chair’s opening remarks2 Apologies for absence3 Minutes of previous AGM4 Matters arising5 Executive Committee reports

a) Secretaryb) Treasurerc) Membershipd) Newsletter, website and

new mediae) Educationf) Merchandiseg) “Antifascistas” exhibition h) Irelandi) Scotlandj) Walesk) North-West

6 Election of officers and Executive Committee members

7 Any other business8 Date and place of next AGM9 Chair’s closing remarks

�Nominations for officers (Chair,Secretary and Treasurer) andExecutive Committee members (nomore than 11) must be received inwriting by 28 September 2013.

�Proposed items for “Any otherbusiness” must be received inwriting by 6 October 2013.

�Send nominations and agendaitems to: [secretary@international-brigades.org.uk] or write to: IBMTSecretary, 6 Stonells Road, LondonSW11 6HQ.

Weekend programmeFriday 11 October �Reception for IBMT members andguests at the City of EdinburghCouncil Chambers (see above)from7pm-9pm.

Saturday 12 October�12.30pm: Assemble at easternentrance to East Princes StreetGardens on Waverley Bridge tomarch to the International Brigadememorial for its rededication. �2pm-4:30pm: IBMT Annual

General Meeting at City of EdinburghCouncil Chambers(see above).�7:30pm-late: “Spanish Songsand Stories”, including Gallo Rojo,venue to be confirmed.

Sunday 13 October�1pm: Screening of “The ScotsWho Fought Franco”, venue to beconfirmed.

�For queries about the programmeof events contact Mike Arnott (IBMTScotland): [dundeetuc@hotmail.com]; tel: 07951 443 656.

International Brigade memorial inEast Princes Street Gardens

Gallo Rojo will perform on Saturday evening.

Notice of the InternationalBrigade Memorial Trust’sAnnual General Meeting onSaturday 12 October 2013from 2pm-4:30pm in the City of Edinburgh CouncilChambers, 253 High Street,Edinburgh EH1 1YJ

An online petition campaign has been launchedby the AABI International Brigades friendshipgroup in Spain to save the memorial to the Inter-national Brigades in Madrid’s University City.

By early July it had attracted 15,440 signaturesfrom around the world.

The capital’s Complutense University has beenordered by the Madrid high court to remove thememorial by the end of August. The memorial wasunveiled in October 2011 in the presence of fourBrigaders, including David Lomon from Britain.

The order by the Tribunal Superior de Justiciawas made on 3 June, on the grounds that themonument had been erected by the universitywithout planning permission. The university is insisting that it twice applied for the permis-sion, but did not receive a reply from the citycouncil, which is controlled by the right-wingPopular Party.

The IBMT donated 500 euros towards the costof the memorial. Several other InternationalBrigade associations also contributed to thefinancial appeal launched by the AABI, as did theMadrid embassies of Argentina, Canada, Cyprus,Norway, Russia, Serbia and Slovenia.

DismayThe court’s decision has been greeted with dis-

may by the AABI activists, who note that, thoughit was made on technical grounds, the originalcomplaint was lodged by a lawyer with knownfar-right connections. They also point out thatFranco’s huge Arco de la Victoria (Victory Arch)still stands at the entrance to the University City.

In a letter to the Spanish ambassador in Lon-don, Frederico Trillo, IBMT Secretary Jim Jumpsaid the decision would be interpreted by manypeople as evidence that there were institutionsin Spain that had still not come to terms with thecountry’s recent history.

“For a Spanish court to be seen to be acting in away that denigrates the memory of those whofought in Spain against European fascism and on

the side of a democratic government is highlydamaging to the image of Spain in the outsideworld,” he added.

The petition form, which is hosted by @change.org, is inSpanish but this can be changed by scrolling down to thefoot of the page and choosing a different language. Goto: [http://tinyurl.com/ke3s3uu].

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Issue 35 / 2-2013

International Brigade Memorial Trustwww.international-brigades.org.uk

Charity no: 1094928

5 Cover story Photo: Luis Brox Delgado

3-9 News � Jack Jones centenary �Nottinghamshire restoresinformation board

�New plaque in Spain forScottish volunteers

� Jarama commemoration �Differing views on GeorgeOrwell memoir

�Amnesty attacks “impunity”for Franco crimes

10-11 From the Secretary

12 Annual commemoration

13-17 Features �Meet Stan Hilton �Letter to David Lomon �Donating to the Trust �Donald Hutchison �Battle of the Ebro

18 Can you help?

18-19 Letters

20 Obituaries

21-24 Books

25 New media

26 What’s on

A motion in the House of Com-mons is calling on the Britishgovernment to intervene withthe Spanish government aboutthe threat to the InternationalBrigade memorial in Madrid. By early July the motion had 53signatures: 44 Labour MPs,three Liberal Democrats andPlaid Cymru and one Conserva-tive, Respect and SNP. A similar-worded motion in the ScottishParliament is supported by 22MSPs (13 Labour, eight SNP andone Independent).

The Commons motion reads:“That this House notes the cur-rent Spanish Supreme Court’sinstruction to the ComplutenseUniversity of Madrid to removea very modest memorial to theInternational Brigades, includ-ing its British citizens, whodied during the Spanish CivilWar; further notes that the

campus became a key theatreof war in November 1936 andthat this is the only memorial ofits kind in Madrid; and calls onthe government to make repre-sentations to the Spanish gov-ernment to ensure that thememorial remains in place, sothat future generations may bereminded of some of the moreimportant moments in theirhistory.”

See [www.parliament.uk/edm/2013-14/204].

IBMT joins campaign tosave Madrid memorial

MPs call on Britishgovernment to makerepresentations

International Brigader David Lomon at the unveiling of theMadrid memorial on 22 October 2011.

The IBMT Newsletter is published twice a yearand is sent free to all members. Back numberscan be downloaded from the IBMT website on

[www.international-brigades.org.uk/newsletter.htm]. All content is the copyright © of the IBMT and credited

contributors and cannot be reproducedwithout permission.

EditorJim Jump

6 Stonells Road, London SW11 6HQ 020 7228 6504

secretary@international-brigades.org.uk

LONDON:The IBMT was invited to lay a wreath at theSoviet War Memorial at Mary Harmsworth Park, southLondon, on 9 May, with this year’s Victory Day commemo-ration marking the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Stal-ingrad. Duncan Longstaff (pictured) laid flowers on behalfof the Trust to remember the victory over fascism in Europe.

The centenary of Jack Jones’s birth was remem-bered in Liverpool and London in March.

In London there were readings from his autobi-ography, “Union Man”, and favourite songs weresung, including “I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill LastNight”, at a celebration in words and music of thelife of the International Brigade veteran and for-mer trade union and pensioners’ leader. Scriptedby actor and IBMT member Chris Tranchell, theevent was held on 29 March – Jones’s birthday –at the headquarters of Unite, the union createdby the merger of his Transport & General Work-ers’ Union with the former engineering workers’union Amicus.

The day before saw the unveiling in Liverpool,at Garston’s York Street, of a mural depicting JackJones’s career, from the Liverpool docks to cam-paigning for pensioners’ rights. Created by localartists Alan Murray and Nicola Taggart andfunded by local Labour councillors, communityand housing groups and Unite, the mural high-lights his involvement in the Spanish Civil War, inwhich he was injured during the Battle of theEbro in August 1938. The unveiling took place fol-lowing a procession including local schoolchild-ren and residents.

Jack Jones was the IBMT’s Life President untilhe died on 21 April 2009, aged 96.

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By Ernest Walker

Greetings were sent from Austrian InternationalBrigader Gert Hoffmann to the annual anti-fas-cist commemorative event in Hamburg over theweekend of 31 May to 2 June. Organised by theKFSR – the IBMT’s sister organisation in Ger-many –the international gathering this yearremembered the 40th anniversary of the militarycoup in Chile.

There was a visit to the Ernst Thälmann Memo-rial House to remember the leader of the KPDGerman Communist Party, who was arrested bythe Nazis in 1933 and subsequently executed –and who gave his name to the Thälmann Battal-ion of the International Brigades.

A boat trip around the harbour visited sitesassociated with anti-Nazi resistance by Hamburgdockers. At the Duckdalben international sea-men’s club homage was paid to Wolff Hoffmann,seafarer and International Brigader – and brotherof Gert – who died in Gross-Rossen concentra-tion camp in 1942. The club is planning to erect amemorial to him. Among the speakers here wasIBMT Treasurer Charles Jepson.

The final day started at Ohlsdorf cemetery atthe graves of resistance fighters who died in the

anti-fascist struggle. Music was provided byPeter Schenzer and Dirk Wilke, singing “Viva laQuince Brigada”, “Bella Ciao”, “The Peat BogSoldiers” and “The Internationale”.

A talk was afterwards given on the SpanishCivil War in German literature, and our final desti-nation was the Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp,where flowers were laid and historian Ingrid Schi-borowski talked of the role of women during theanti-fascist war in Spain. Formal proceedingswere ended by Joe Mulheron from Derry singinghis song “Connolly Column”.

Our thanks go to Reinhardt Silbermann of the KFSR and all the speakers and singers whoprovided us with an emotional roller-coaster of a weekend.

Jack Jones centenary events in London and Liverpool

DUBLIN:A plaque tothe memory of six localmen who joined theInternational Brigadeswas unveiled on 4 Mayat Senan Court, EmmetRoad, Inchicore,Dublin. Pictured aboveare family and friendsof the volunteers.Among the speakers was IBMT Ireland Secretary ManusO’Riordan. Three of those named on the plaque (above),which was erected by the Inchicore Friends of the Interna-tional Brigades, died in Spain.

AMBUSH REMEMBERED:A floral tribute (inset) standsbeside the road outside the hilltopvillage of Calaceite (above left)marking the exact location where,75 years ago to the day, the British Battalion wasambushed by Italian troops at dawn on 31 March 1938. Adozen Britons were killed and 140 captured. Theremembrance at the site in Aragon was led byBarcelona-based Spanish Civil War battlefield tourguide Alan Warren, along with two of his tour party.

Hamburg’s anti-fascists honoured

LAUGHTER:Rodney Bickerstaffe (left) sharing memories of Jack Jones with (from left) Imogen Lucy,IBMT President Marlene Sidaway and Chris Tranchell.

MURAL:Sections (above and top) of the new mural inLiverpool depicting the life of Jack Jones.

MUSIC:From PeterSchenzer and Dirk Wilke.

By Jim Jump

British and Irish volunteers in the Spanish Civil Warwere remembered in a ground-breaking IBMT-sponsored concert in northern Spain.

Nearly 400 people packed the municipal audito-rium in Logroño, capital of the Rioja region, on 30April for a homage to the International Brigades byBritish and Spanish musicians.

They heard performances by Edinburgh-bornfolk-singer Ewan McLennan and the St Albans-based duo Na-mara, as well as by local Spanishsinger-songwriter Paco Marín.

The idea for the concert emerged last July whenMarín, McLennan and Na-mara sang at the IBMT’sannual commemoration in Jubilee Gardens.

In London, Marín sang his tribute to the Interna-tional Brigades, called “Brigadas Internacionales”.And he was so impressed by his fellow performersthat he returned to Spain determined to organise ajoint concert in his home town.

In Logroño, McLennan sang, among othersongs, “Jaime Foyers”, the Ewan MacColl-pennedlament for a Scottish shipyard worker killed atGandesa. Rob Garcia and Paul McNamara of Na-

mara sang “The Bite”, their song inspired by thesouth London volunteer George Wheeler.

And they played two songs about the 4,000 chil-dren who arrived in Southampton on board theHabana in May 1937 during Franco’s bombing ofthe Basque region: “Only For Three Months” and“The Silver Duro”. As Garcia, explained to theaudience in Spain, his father was one of those children who found refuge in England.

All the musicians came together for a specialversion of “Jarama Valley”, the song of the BritishBattalion in Spain, alternating verses in Englishand Spanish, with local civil war historian JesúsVicente Aguirre on harmonica.

It was a fitting climax to an evening of great emo-tion. Describing the atmosphere in the foyer afterthe concert, Paul McNamara said: “I can say withconfidence that it has been a very long time since Ihave been hugged and kissed as much… It wasclear that the performance had touched many

people and there was immense goodwill beingshown to the performers in return.”

Better known nowadays for its wines, La Riojawas the scene of brutal repression when Franco’sfascists seized control at the outset of the civil war.Some 2,000 civilians – out of a population ofbarely 200,000 – were murdered and their bodiesdumped in mass graves.

Among those summarily executed were twocousins of Cayetana Lozano Díaz, one of the adulthelpers on the Habana, who later married an Eng-lish International Brigade volunteer, James RJump. Their son is IBMT Secretary Jim Jump and itwas through his continuing links with the Riojaregion that Paco Marín was invited to play in Lon-don last year. Paco is a prominent member of thelocal association that remembers the victims offascism and Francoism in Rioja and which was oneof the sponsors of the concert, along with theregional CCOO and UGT union federations.

Speaking on behalf of the IBMT at the start ofthe concert, Jim Jump contrasted the “shameful”attitude of the British government towards theSpanish Republic with the support for the Repub-lic’s fight against fascism among a majority of peo-ple in Britain. “It is that international solidarityamong people that we celebrate with musictonight,” he added.

International Brigade Memorial Trust 5

Spanish concert pays tribute to International Brigades

On the cover (from left): RobGarcia and Paul McNamara;right: concert poster; centreright: Ewan McLennan; farright: Paco Marín.

“It has been a very long timesince I have been hugged andkissed as much.”

British volunteers are the toast of Rioja

Labour movesswiftly to restore

informationboard on Notts

Brigaders

Plans by leaders of NottinghamshireCounty Council to reinstate an informa-tion board about the InternationalBrigades (below) have been welcomedby the IBMT.The board was removed from County

Hall in Nottingham in 2009 after theConservatives won that year’s countycouncil elections. But Labour regainedcontrol of the council in May this yearand announced in the following monththat the board would be restored on 27July to its place in front of a plaque tothe volunteers from Nottinghamshire.Councillor Alan Rhodes described

the removal of the board by the Toriesas an act of vandalism. He told theIBMT: “It is my intention as leader of

the county council to keep my promiseto re-site the information board thattells the story of the sacrifices of theNottingham and Nottinghamshire vol-unteers to the International Brigade inits rightful place in front of the memo-rial to them.”The memorial and information

board – which was kept in storage fol-lowing its removal – were unveiled in1993 by Jack Jones and Spanishambassador Alberto Aza.These latest developments have

renewed a political row over thememorial.Local Tory leader Kay Cutts, who had

the board replaced with a general warmemorial to all of Nottinghamshire’s

war dead, is reported to have said thatshe would be “very offended” byLabour’s actions if she were the familyof Lee Rigby, the British soldier mur-dered in Woolwich on 22 May.Alan Rhodes replied: “To use a terri-

ble issue like that in an argument oversomething like this is outrageous.”In a letter of support to Rhodes,

IBMT Secretary Jim Jump said: “I’msure most people in Nottinghamshireare proud of the fact that these localvolunteers went to fight Franco, Hitlerand Mussolini at a time when, let usnot forget, Britain’s Conservative-ledgovernment of the day was pursuingits disastrous policy of appeasing thefascist dictators.”

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By Mike Arnott

In October 2011 Allan Craig planted an olive treeand placed a temporary plaque in the cemeteryin Tarancón in memory of his father, also calledAllan Craig, of Glasgow. He was wounded at theBattle of Jarama on 17 February 1937 and died inthe No. 1 American Hospital in Tarancón fivedays later. Research has shown that Allan’s father was

then buried in the local cemetery. Apparentlythe remains of the Republican dead wereremoved in the 1970s, but were subsequentlyreburied within its walls at the spot near wherethe olive tree was planted. Allan was keen toensure that the plaque made mention not only ofhis father, but also all the 39 Scots who fell atJarama. Just over a year later, the cemetery was visited

by the Crawford brothers, whose grandfatherWilliam from Glasgow had fallen at Jarama andwas named on the plaque. They had arranged tomeet Máximo Molina from the local Associationfor the Recovery of Historical Memory, who hadhelped Allan get permission for the olive treeand plaque the year before. They found that the plaque had disappeared,

though a photo of Allan Craig Snr and the olivetree remained. So a campaign was launched toraise money for a permanent replacementplaque. A number of individual Dundee tradeunionists and the Dundee Trades Union Council

made contributions, as subsequently did mem-bers of the Crawford and Craig families.Plans were then made to commission a new

plaque and to take it over to Madrid to coincidewith the annual Jarama commemoration in Feb-ruary 2013, organised by AABI, the Spanishfriends of the International Brigades. With help from AABI and from Máximo in

Tarancón, arrangements were made to unveilthe new plaque at an event in the cemetery on 17February, coincidentally the 76th anniversary ofAllan Craig being wounded at Jarama. A group of25 travelled from Madrid that Sunday morning,accompanied by AABI representative AlmudenaCros, arriving at noon to be met by Máximo and anumber of his comrades. I said a few words and also read Dundee

activist Mary Brooksbank’s poem “Graves inSpain”. Mary and the three Craig brothers hadbeen arrested together in Dundee in 1931 after aprotest against the Unemployed AssistanceBoard. Máximo read translations of two Spanishpoems, and Almudena and Allan also spokebriefly but movingly. The flowers in the photoshad been left by unknown local people and thesmall cross and poppy was placed by the Craw-ford family to their grandfather.

“The remains of the Republicandead were removed in the 1970s,but were subsequently reburiedat the spot near where the olivetree was planted.”

INTERNATIONAL WALL:A new mural dedicated tothe men of Belfast who fought fascism in the Spanish CivilWar was unveiled on 20 April on the city’s InternationalWall on Northumberland Street, adjacent to the so-calledPeace Line. Pictured here are local historian John Quinn(speaking) and Gerard Murray of the Teach na Fáilterepublican socialist ex-prisoners’ support group, whichcommissioned the mural.

BEN MURRAY MEMORIAL:A memorial stone andplaque to International Brigade volunteer Ben Murray(born in Enniskillen, 19 July 1895; died in Aragon, March1938) was unveiled at Moy Bridge in Aughnacloy, CoTyrone, by the local International Brigade memorialgroup, Friends of Charlie Donnelly, on 9 March.

BELFAST:There was a gathering beside the Interna-tional Brigade memorial in Writers Square, Belfast, fol-lowing the annual general meeting on 19 January of thelocally-based International Brigade CommemorationCommittee. IBCC Secretary Lynda Walker gave a shortspeech and laid a wreath. The guest speaker at the AGMwas IBMT Ireland Secretary Manus O’ Riordan, who spokeon “The Frank Ryan Enigma”.

Unveiling of the plaque (below)to Allan Craig and the 38 otherScots killed at the Battle ofJarama, with the memorial olivetree in the background.

Plaque to the 39 Scots who fell at Jarama

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By Pauline Fraser

There was a packed programme of events in andaround Madrid to commemorate the 76thanniversary of the Battle of Jarama. A recordattendance saw some 60 supporters apiece fromBritain and Ireland and more from France, Spainand elsewhere.

The programme started on the evening ofThursday 14 February with the launch of theSpanish version of Laurie Levinger’s book, “Loveand Revolutionary Greetings”, about her uncle,Lincoln Battalion volunteer Sam Levinger, whodied of wounds received at the Battle of Belchite.Largely told in his own words and those of hismother, Laurie gave a moving presentation of heruncle’s life and untimely death. Ken O’Keefe’sEnglish-language version of a guidebook, withaccompanying map, showing places in Madridassociated with the Brigaders was also launched.

A tour of the British Battalion’s positions tookplace on the following day, and started from the“Cookhouse”. Key sites were ably explained bySeve Montero of the AABI Spanish InternationalBrigades friendship group and IBMT TrusteeDanny Payne, who led the IBMT group. After-wards, the Irish contingent and others wishing topay their respects to volunteer and poet CharlieDonnelly stopped off at the memorial to him.

In the evening Claire Rol-Tanguy, daughter ofHenri Rol-Tanguy, International Brigader and heroof the French Resistance, and secretary of ourFrench sister group ACER, spoke about the Frenchand Belgian Brigaders at Jarama.

Eoin McDonald, worthy winner of the essaycompetition organised by the Friends of the Inter-national Brigade in Ireland, read out his essaycentred on Brigader Peter Daly from his own townof Monagher.

Brothers Vincent and Joseph Almudéver, from France, two of the last few Brigaders stillalive, were guests of honour at the event. Vincent brought the house down at the end of

the evening with a rendition of “¡Ay Carmela!”.Record numbers marched on the battlefield on

Saturday to commemorate the Franco-Belge vol-unteers, after which four coachloads of support-ers filled the Mesón El Cid restaurant at Morata deTajuña to enjoy a five-course lunch. They then vis-ited the cemetery outside Morata and Claire Rol-Tanguy laid flowers at the memorial plaque thatIrish-born volunteer Bob Doyle was instrumentalin getting put in place.

On Sunday, IBMT members and supporterswho did not join the trip to Tarancón (see facingpage) went on a guided walk of University City,including a commemoration at the memorialinaugurated there in 2011.

Rarescreeningof ‘Defence of Madrid’The Renoir cinema in central London was packedon 14 April – the Day of the Republic in Spain – fora rare screening of one of the most importantpropaganda films that was made during theSpanish Civil War.

Introduced by British Film Institute Non-Fic-tion Curator Ros Cranston, “Defence of Madrid”was made for British audiences with the aim ofraising funds for Spanish Aid.

Over 140 people came to see this rare screen-ing, part of the London Socialist Film Co-op’s2013 season. It was shown along with “Will theReal Terrorist Please Stand Up”, a film about UShostility to Cuba.

Cranston explained that “Defence of Madrid”director Ivor Montagu and cameraman NormanMcLaren went to the Spanish capital in theautumn of 1936 to make a film showing an alter-native view of the war than was being depictedin the commercial newsreels.

She added: “The film was shown at tradeunion and Labour Party branches, and in thehalls or other venues of co-operative movementand workers’ film societies. It’s estimated thatthe film raised £6,000 [over £1 million today] forSpanish Aid.”

Titled “The Assault on a People”, one of the34-minute film’s three sections focuses on thenewly created International Brigades and theirpart in the battles to prevent Franco’s troopsentering the city in November and December1936. Another section depicts the extent of thedestruction inflicted on civilian targets bybombers sent by Hitler and Mussolini to helpFranco. Also shown are civil defence efforts andthe creation of the Spanish Republic’s Army.

In the panel discussion after the screening,IBMT Secretary Jim Jump noted that the bombdamage footage was still powerful, in spite ofsuch images having become commonplacesince the Spanish Civil War. Pointing out that the1936-39 war in Spain was the first modern con-

flict in Europe in which more civilians were killedthan combatants, he said it was easy to imaginethe profound impact that the scenes of deathand destruction would have had on contempo-rary eye-witnesses and film audiences.

See [www.socialistfilm.blogspot.com].

Holocaust centre honours Irish nurse

Cork-born Mary Elmes (pictured above, centre), anurse in the Spanish Civil War, has been posthu-mously honoured as a “Righteous Among TheNations” for her work saving Jewish children fromthe Nazi death camps of the Second World War.

According to the Irish Times, the award wasmade in May by Yad Vashem, Israel’s officialmemorial to Jewish victims of the Holocaust.

In February 1937 Elmes (1908-2002) joined anambulance unit that left London – where she hadstudied at the London School of Economics aftergraduating from Trinity College, Dublin. In Spainshe worked at the Quaker hospital in Almería.

She continued her work in the refugee campsof southern France where, following the fall ofFrance to the Nazis in 1940, thousands of Jewsand others were arrested by the French policeand held with the Spanish Republican refugees.

Elmes and the Quakers saved as many childrenas possible by transferring them from the campsto children’s colonies and smuggling some overthe border to Spain.

After the war ended, she married a Frenchmanand settled in France.

In brief�More than 60 people attended a commemora-tion on 10 February at the International Brigadememorial in ManchesterTown Hall, wherewreaths were laid to the 130 volunteers fromManchester and the North West who died inSpain. The local Clarion Choir sang songs fromthe Spanish Civil War.

�IBMT Treasurer Charles Jepson gave a talk atNelsonLibrary on 31 January about the Interna-tional Brigaders from north-east Lancashire.Twenty people attended the event and heardabout the seven local volunteers, two of whomwere killed in action: Freeman Drinkwater andFrank Welsby, both from Burnley. Among those inthe audience were Juanita and Verna Jolly, whoremembered their mother Edith, who was thetreasurer of the Burnley Medical Aid for SpainCommittee, and their father John Jolly, an ambu-lance driver in Spain.

Record attendance at annualBattle of Jarama weekend

Some of the large contingent from Ireland who tookpart in the annual Battle of Jarama commemorativemarch on 16 February, pictured here below theInternational Brigade memorial near Morata deTajuña.

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Differingviewson Orwell’sSpanish CivilWar memoir at IBMT’s annual lecture day

By Jim Jump

The IBMT’s annual LenCrome Memorial Lecturedrew an attendance of over180 people at the Manches-ter Conference Centre on 2 March. The film-maker Ken

Loach sent a message of support, describing thevolunteers who served in Spain on the Republicanside as the “flower of their generation”.

The focus of the event was the following month’s75th anniversary of the publication of “Homage toCatalonia” by George Orwell. 

Three historians took part in the proceedings,which were chaired by Professor Mary Vincent ofSheffield University. They were Richard Baxell, aspecialist on the volunteers in the Spanish CivilWar from Britain and Ireland, Tom Buchanan, whoteaches at Oxford University and has writtenabout the British left and the war in Spain, andChris Hall, whose book on the IndependentLabour Party volunteers has been updated andwas re-published in March (see review on page22). Both Baxell and Hall are also IBMT Trustees.

From the platform “Homage to Catalonia” waspraised for its literary merits, but criticised for itshistorical weaknesses and political naivety. Ifthere was a consensus, it was that Orwell’s work isa brilliant eye-witness account of the reality of warand an important personal political testament, buta partial and unreliable record of the Spanish CivilWar as a whole.

It remains, however, the most widely read bookabout the Spanish Civil War, so retains a powerfulinfluence on public knowledge and attitudesabout the war. This fact was reflected during theconference sessions in at times heated contribu-tions from the audience about the merits andflaws of Orwell’s memoir.

ImpressionA paper presented to the conference by leading

Spanish Civil War historian and author ProfessorPaul Preston noted: “Orwell’s book in isolationgives the impression that the key events of theSpanish Civil War took place on the Aragon frontand during the May Days of 1937 and, most misleading of all, promotes the idea that theSpanish Republic was defeated because of com-munist policy.” Preston was unable to attend theconference at the last minute because of ill-healthand his paper was read out by the IBMT Secretary,Jim Jump.

Orwell was stationed on the Arragon front as amember of the militia of the Barcelona-basedPOUM revolutionary communist party – often

labelled as Trotskyist. He also witnessed thefighting in Barcelona between communist-ledSpanish government forces and the anarcho-syn-dicalist CNT and their POUM allies in May 1937.The anti-government forces were crushed, afterwhich the POUM was banned. Many of its mem-bers were imprisoned and its leader, Andreu Nin,was murdered by Soviet secret agents.

Orwell’s account of the POUM’s suppression,and likewise Ken Loach’s 1995 film “Land andFreedom”, which is largely based on “Homage toCatalonia”, fostered the belief, said Preston, “thatthe fight of the Brigaders and of the Spanish peoplewas not a fight against Spanish fascism and its Ger-man and Italian allies but rather part of aninternecine leftist civil war in which the central vil-lain was the Communist Party”. Yet even Orwelllater acknowledged in a 1943 essay that the out-come of the war in Spain had been “settled in Lon-don, Paris, Rome, Berlin – at any rate not in Spain”.

Preston argued that Orwell had failed to recog-

nise the imperatives that led the Spanish Republicto centralise and prioritise its war effort and toease food shortages by disbanding the militiasand, in the face of CNT opposition, liberalising agri-cultural production and industry.

With Hitler and Mussolini giving generous mili-tary assistance to Franco and Britain and Franceapplying their policy of “non-intervention”, thus

preventing the Spanish Republic from buyingarms on the open market, the government’smoves were supported by the Spanish commu-nists, moderate socialists and left-republicans.And they were backed by Stalin, who, as part of hisaim of securing an anti-Nazi alliance with France,wanted the Spanish Republican authorities toquash the revolutionaries who had seized localpower in Catalonia following the military uprisingin July 1936.

Richard Baxell’s talk centred on the reactions ofthe members of the British Battalion of the Inter-national Brigades to these events. During thestreet fighting in Barcelona early in May 1937 theywere at the front line in the Jarama Valley nearMadrid. Almost entirely dependent for news onCommunist Party sources and publications –which denigrated the POUM as “fifth columnists”and agents of Franco – most understandably tooka dim view of the POUM.

Baxell also described the contacts that Orwellhad in Britain and Spain with Communist Partyand British Battalion representatives. Indeed,until the fighting in May, Orwell had entertainedthe idea of joining the International Brigades.

Praising “Homage to Catalonia” as “the singlebest eye-witness account both for insight andinterest”, Tom Buchanan spoke about its recep-

Speakers (from left) Chris Hall, MaryVincent, Richard Baxell and Tom Buchanan.

“Orwell’s book … mostmisleading of all, promotes theidea that the Spanish Republicwas defeated because ofcommunist policy.”

‘Homage to Catalonia’ praised for literary merit but criticised for narrow focus

The event drew an audience of more than 180.

9International Brigade Memorial Trust

Amnesty attacks Spanish authoritiesover ‘impunity’ for Franco crimesA new report from Amnesty International hasrevealed that the Spanish authorities are rou-tinely failing to investigate crimes committedduring the Spanish Civil War and the Francodictatorship.

Published on 17 June, “Time Passes, ImpunityRemains” examines how the Spanish authoritieshave refused to investigate tens of thousands ofkillings and disappearances committed duringthe civil war (1936-1939) and under Franco’s rule(1939-1975).

The report also reveals how the Spanishauthorities are not cooperating with othercountries, such as Argentina, that have openedtheir own investigations into Spain’s historicalabuses.

Estebán Beltrán, Director of Amnesty Interna-tional Spain, said the attitude of the judicialauthorities was a “slap in the face” for all the rel-atives of those who were abused and disap-peared at the time.

He added: “We have seen a tendency for thesecases to be closed without further investigation,but the situation has worsened recently after theSupreme Court ruled that it was not for Spanishjudges to prosecute these crimes. The onlyavenue of judicial investigation available inSpain seems to be shut down.”

The Spanish judiciary is refusing to conduct

investigations, and complaints filed by the vic-tims are being closed.

In November 2008, the Spanish High Courtsaid it didn’t have jurisdiction to hear the crimi-nal complaint brought in 2006 for killings and114,266 enforced disappearances committed inSpain between 1936 and 1951, favouringregional courts taking on the cases instead.

Since then, Amnesty International has foundthat at least 38 of the 47 cases referred toregional courts have been closed.

On 27 February 2012, the Spanish SupremeCourt ruled that it was impossible to investigatecrimes committed during the civil war and underFranco’s rule saying, amongst other things, thatthey are covered by the Amnesty Law and theyare subject to a statute of limitations.

Spain has also obstructed victims from testify-ing before the Argentinean judge responsible fora case ongoing in that country since 2010 and theSpanish Attorney-General’s Office is failing tocooperate with the case.

Amnesty International urged authorities inSpain, in particular the Attorney General’sOffice, to investigate and prosecute crimes oroffences under international law and to assistfully with any request for cooperation itreceives from foreign courts that decide toinvestigate these crimes.

tion by the left in Britain on publication in 1938.The book appeared in print at a time whenreports in the Daily Workerwere equating Trot-skyism with Nazism. The book sold few copiesand it was only during the Cold War and followingpublication of Orwell’s critiques of Soviet com-munism and totalitarianism in “Animal Farm” and“1984” that his Spanish Civil War memoirbecame a best seller.

While recognising its limitations as a bookthrough which to understand the complexities ofthe civil war, both Buchanan and Mary Vincentstressed its importance in explaining Orwell’spolitical “epiphany” – the term used by Vincent –at the start of a political journey that led him towrite “Animal Farm” and “1984”.

Orwell’s political naïvety on his arrival in Spainin December 1936 was such that he believed thatall “socialists” were part of one “happy family”,said Buchanan. He hurriedly left Spain sixmonths later to escape the suppression of thePOUM and with that belief shattered.

Political journeyHowever, Buchanan acknowledged that

Orwell’s subsequent political journey was oftenuneven, with, for example, the author at first say-ing after the Spanish Civil War that any war withGermany would be an imperialist war, but chang-ing his mind in favour of a form of “patriotic”socialism during the Second World War.

Hall’s talk described Orwell’s comrades in thegroup of ILP members who joined the POUM mili-

tia, concluding that most this contingent of up to40 volunteers were similar in political outlookand motivation as those who joined the BritishBattalion – who numbered 2,500.

Among those in the audience to hear these con-tributions was Peter Blair, adopted son of GeorgeOrwell (whose real name was Eric Blair) andQuentin Kopp, son of Orwell’s commanding offi-cer in Spain, Georges Kopp. Both spoke briefly tosay how much they were enjoying the IBMT eventand to promote the work of the Orwell Society.

Named after the young GP from Blackburn whobecame head of the medical services of the Inter-national Brigades, the Len Crome Memorial Lec-ture has been held since 2002. This was the firsttime it was organised outside London.

The usual format is a single lecture by a guestspeaker, but it was decided that this year’s sub-ject matter required more than one speaker.

Richard Baxell’s talk can be viewed at the IBMT’s YouTubesite: [www.youtube.com/user/IBMTnews]; other contribu-tions will also be added.

On the same day as the Len Crome Memorial Lecture in Man-chester, the English Defence League staged a demonstrationin the city centre. The IBMT sent a message of support to theanti-fascist counter-demonstration.

“‘Homage to Catalonia’ [is] thesingle best eye-witness accountboth for insight and interest.”

MOURNING:Members of the “proactive” campaign group

London Antifascists pay tribute toClement Meric, the 18-year-old

French anti-fascist and gayactivist who was beaten to deathin Paris on 5 June in clashes with

a far-right gang. This vigil washeld four days later at the

International Brigade Memorialin London’s Jubilee Gardens.

MASS GRAVE:Despite theexhumation of victims of Franco-ism by local groups campaigning

for the recovery of historical mem-ory, Spanish courts have blockedattempts to order investigations

into the crimes.

International Brigade Memorial Trust10

FROM THE SECRETARY

www.international-brigades.org.ukfacebook.com/groups/7123291063

twitter.com/IBMT_SCW

Charity no.1094928

SecretaryJim Jump

6 Stonells Road, London SW11 6HQ 0207228 6504

secretary@international-brigades.org.uk

PresidentMarlene Sidaway

marlenesidaway@hotmail.com

ChairDolores Long

doloreslong@fastmail.fm

TreasurerCharles Jepson

clarioncc@yahoo.co.uk

Ireland SecretaryManus O’Riordan

manusoriordan@dublin.ie

Membership SecretaryMary Greening

memsec@international-brigades.org.uk

Education OfficerRichard Thorpe

thorpe.ortiz@btinternet.com

Merchandise OfficerChris Hall

christoff_hall@yahoo.co.uk

Other Executive Committee membersMike Anderson, Mike Arnott, Richard Baxell,

Pauline Fraser, Hilary Jones, DuncanLongstaff, Danny Payne, Mick Whelan.

Founding ChairProfessor Paul Preston

PatronsRodney Bickerstaffe, Professor Peter Crome,Hywel Francis MP, Professor Helen Graham,Ken Livingstone, Len McCluskey, ChristyMoore, Jack O’Connor, Maxine Peake,

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon

The International BrigadeMemorial Trust keeps alivethe memory and spirit of the

men and women fromBritain, Ireland and

elsewhere who volunteeredto defend democracy andfight fascism in Spain from

1936 to 1939

By Jim Jump

Our 2013 Len Crome Memorial Lecture on 2 March was a great success (see report onpages 8/9). This year’s topic, George

Orwell and the Spanish Civil War, remains contro-versial among many of us interested in the Span-ish Civil War, so it was refreshing that participantsfrom the podium and the floor with conflictingopinions were able to make their case in arespectful and often consensual atmosphere.

One thing that clearly emerged was the gripethat often wildly off-target conclusions are drawnby people who have read “Homage to Catalo-nia” –and sometimes little else about the SpanishCivil War. Specifically there is the notion that thedefeat of the Spanish Republic can be blamed onthe communists and the Soviet Union. By exten-sion of course, the communist-led InternationalBrigades are tarnished. This myth has becomefirmly embedded in popular perceptions of thewar. Yet, as was pointed out in Manchester, Orwellhimself accepted that “the outcome of the Span-ish war had been settled in London, Paris, Romeand Berlin”.

Typical examples of this tendency appearedsoon after our conference in two weekly left-of-centre publications. Reviewing Paul Preston’s“The Spanish Holocaust” in Tribuneon 22 March,former Labour MEP Glyn Ford said the commu-nists in Spain “set the revolution on the path ofeating itself by assassinating the POUM’s ‘Trot-skyists’ rather than focusing on Franco and theFalange”. Then in the New Statesmanon 12 AprilOrwell biographer DJ Taylor – who surely shouldknow better – said that Orwell “had taken a bulletthrough the throat from the communist andrepublican civil guard”. Not true. He received thewound on the Aragon front from a fascist sniper’sbullet while serving with the POUM militia.

Historian Adrian Smith wrote in the same issueof the magazine that Orwell disliked the indisci-pline of the militia and “was sympathetic to thoserepublicans, not least members of the Interna-tional Brigade” who were critical of their militaryinertia at the front.

Opening and unveilingIt’s good news that a Catalan production of“Goodbye Barcelona” will open in September atthe Teatre del Raval in Barcelona. The IBMT-sup-ported musical by Judith Johnson and KarlLewkovicz tells the story of East End InternationalBrigade volunteer Sammy and his mother,Rebecca, who follows him to Spain. A powerfulfusion of politics, love, heroics and tragedy, it waspremiered at London’s Arcola Theatre on 24November 2011 at the start of a five-week run.

How fitting that the musical will now be seen inBarcelona, where its climax takes place againstthe backdrop of the final parade of the Interna-

tional Brigades in the city on 28 October 1938.And the date of the opening night at the 150-seater theatre, 24 September, is also significant.This was the day, 75 years ago in 1938, when theBritish Battalion was last in action. In fact theSpanish government’s announcement of thewithdrawal of all International Brigade units hadbeen made three days earlier, but the battalionfought on, during which time 23 volunteers losttheir lives. This tragic end – which is alluded to in“Goodbye Barcelona” – will be remembered thisyear when a memorial to the battalion’s last standwill be unveiled in Corbera (see page 26).

Thatcher and the International BrigadesMargaret Thatcher’s opinions about the Interna-tional Brigades are unknown and will probablynow remain so following her death in April. Manyof us, however, could have a good guess at whatthey might have been. A pointer would be herfriendships with Chilean dictator GeneralPinochet, an admirer of General Franco, and USPresident Ronald Reagan, who infamously saidthe American International Brigade volunteershad fought on the “wrong side” during the Span-ish Civil War.

Many Brigade veterans had strong views onThatcher and her government. Several sup-ported, for example, the miners during their strike of 1984/5. But it’s worth recalling that not allwere hostile. One of the Prime Minister’s chiefspeech-writers and advisers was journalist andpolitical analyst Sir Alfred Sherman, a formermember of the British Battalion in Spain. Thoughhe changed from being a young communist to anenthusiastic Thatcherite, Sir Alfred remainedproud of his service in the International Brigades,saying that volunteering to fight fascism in Spainhad been the right thing to do at the time. Indeedhe attended International Brigade commemora-tions late into his life and, at his own request, theBritish Battalion banner was displayed at hisfuneral.

How different, however, was the attitude toThatcher of another Brigader, James R Jump (I declare an interest – he was my father). TheThatcher era was scarred by several high-profiletransport disasters, not least the sinking of thecross-Channel ferry, the Herald of Free Enterprise,and the King’s Cross fire in London. Survivorsrecovering in hospital were, to the consternationof many of them, visited by the Prime Minister herself. So Jump designed and printed a smallplastic card, similar to an organ-donor card, to becarried in a wallet or purse firmly requesting that,in the event of being injured in a disaster, thebearer did not want to be visited by MargaretThatcher. Via the weekly newspaper Tribune, thecard became a best seller and received a fair bit ofpress coverage.

As well as the miners, another of Margaret

Much consensus in Manchester, but same old myths persist

11International Brigade Memorial Trust

Thatcher’s targets was the Greater London Coun-cil. Her determination to do away with the GLCwas widely seen as a vindictive move to silenceone of her most effective political opponents,council leader “Red Ken” Livingstone. Meanwhilethe International Brigade Memorial Appeal hadbeen launched early in 1984 to raise money for anational memorial to the volunteers, to beunveiled in time for the 50th anniversary of thestart of the war in Spain in July 1986. The GLCdonated a splendid site in Jubilee Gardens, nextto County Hall itself. In the end it became a race tocomplete the project before legislation abolish-ing the GLC came into effect in March 1986, and inOctober 1985 the impressive memorial createdby Ian Walters was unveiled by Michael Foot. Inlasting gratitude, Ken was made one of ourPatrons when the IBMT was founded more than10 years ago. By then of course he was again theMayor of London.

Well done Max and MarleneCongratulations to historian Max Arthur, whowas awarded an OBE in the New Year’s HonoursList. Max wrote the “The Real Band of Brothers”.Published in 2009, it contains a chapter each oneight of the International Brigade volunteers whowere alive then (and is still on sale via our web-site). He is the author of several best-sellingbooks on modern military history and wasresponsible for David Lomon, our last British-based Brigader, who died last December, gettingin touch with the IBMT. David read an article byMax in the April 2009 issue of Saga Magazineabout Penny Feiwel and other surviving veteransand immediately contacted the Trust to say thathe too had been a volunteer. From then on he wasan inspiring presence at many commemorativeevents in Britain and Spain.

And congratulations too to our President, Mar-lene Sidaway, a fine professional actor as well asan invaluable asset to the Trust. Her latest eye-catching stage appearance was at London’sRoyal Court Theatre in a benefit for Stop the War,marking the 10th anniversary of the start of theIraq War. She joined a star-studded line-up,including Lynsey Baxter, Stella Duffy, Brian Eno,Joe Gaminara, Shappi Khorsandi, Jane Lapotaire,Roger Lloyd Pack, Kika Markham and TimothyWest. There were 10 10-minute pieces of speciallycommissioned drama, music, poetry and com-edy, each introduced by prominent anti-war cam-paigners including Tony Benn, IBMT Patron KenLivingstone, Jeremy Corbyn MP and Ken Loach.Marlene, meanwhile, writes on page 14.

Fans sing outFollowing our football thread, thanks to MaríaFernández Irísarri and Stuart Walsh for pointingout the YouTube video of Celtic FC supporterssinging “Viva la Quinta Brigada” before theirChampions League game against Juventus on 12 February in Glasgow. The song was written byIBMT Patron Christy Moore in tribute to the Irishvolunteers of the International Brigades. See:[www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqKai5-JxVg&fea-ture=youtu.be].

THREE BRIGADERS: Itwas good to see that the50th anniversary of theFranco regime’s notorioustorture and execution on20 April 1963 of commu-nist Spanish RepublicanJulián Grimau was remem-bered in the Morning Star.As a follow-up to the origi-nal article, this letter (left),including a photo of Inter-national Brigade veteransBob Doyle and TonyGilbert, appeared in thepaper on 2 May. A follow-up letter, from Ken Keable,identified a third Brigader,John “Boscoe” Jones,walking immediatelybehind Gilbert.

GOING POP:The Spanish Civil War has inspiredmany songs, and continues to do so. The Mudcat Caféfolk music chatroom lists more than 100 English-lan-guage songs, from the well-known to the obscure andephemeral. An unlikely source for a new addition tothe canon is American teenage heartthrob DylanReynolds (above), who in May released “Spanish CivilWar”. Seemingly devoid of any politics or much sense– “If I was a soldier / In the Spanish Civil War/ Flyingthrough the sky / On my BA64 / Dropping my bombs/And running for the door” (the BA64 was an armouredvehicle, not an airplane), we must at least hope thatthe love-song will be a hit and prompt a new genera-tion to want to find out more about the war in Spain.See: [www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZI5JK6IIrE] and[http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=128093].

ON THE COVER:Nice to see that the IBMT banner fea-tures on the cover of the report of the 2012 Durham Min-

ers’ Gala (the first banner in the foreground). Produced bythe Durham Miners’ Association (who generously hosted

our 2010 Annual General Meeting), the report is on sale for £2.95 plus £1 p&p and can be ordered from

[http://durhamminers.org].

ON TV:The IBMT t-shirt depicting the British Battal-ion’s original banner has sold so well that it can oftenbe spotted being worn in public. But this must surelybe the first time it has appeared on television. Thewearer is journalist Jairo Morga Manzanares and he ispictured here on the TV Rioja sports programme “Min-uto 90 y Tantos” on 29 April discussing pelota – agame like squash, only played with a hard ball andbare hands – which is popular in northern Spain. The t-shirt is available in red or grey and costs £15 plusp&p. See the inside back cover for ordering details.

International Brigade Memorial Trust12

ANNUAL COMMEMORATION

Singing “The Internationale”.

Phot

os: G

uy S

mal

lman

Speakers (from left): Jim Jump (IBMT Secretary), Marlene Sidaway (IBMT President), John Kenton, Irving Lomon and Rodney Bickerstaffe (who paid tribute to Brigaders Lou Kenton and David Lomon and to IBMT Trustee Mick Jones), Almudena Cros (AABI Spanish International Brigades friendship group), Professor Paul Preston, Jordi Palou-Loverdos (Memorial Democràtic of Catalonia) and Mick Whelan (General Secretary of ASLEF).

The Catalans UK choir sang two songs of the Battle of the Ebro, “¡Ay Carmela!” and “Si Me QuieresEscribir”, plus two traditional Catalan tunes.

Grace Petrie sang“Valley of Jarama”and two of her own

songs, “Tell Me aStory” and “TheyShall Not Pass”.

Below, the viewfrom behind theInternationalBrigade memorial.

Battle of the Ebro anniversaryremembered at Jubilee GardensOver 250 supporters of the InternationalBrigades met in London’s Jubilee Gardenson 6 July for the annual commemoration ofthe 2,500 volunteers from the British Isles. Coinciding with the 75th anniversary of

the start of the Battle of the Ebro in July1938, in which most of the fighting tookplace in Catalonia, the 2013 ceremony hada strong Catalan flavour.There were songs from the London-

based Catalans UK choir, and one of themain speakers was Jordi Palou-Loverdos,Director of Memorial Democràtic, the offi-cial agency in Catalonia that preserves thememory of the Spanish Civil War and theFranco dictatorship.More than 90 members of the British Bat-

talion were killed during the Battle of theEbro. They were among 526 British andIrish volunteers who died in Spain.Wreaths were laid at the memorial cre-

ated by sculptor Ian Walters by representa-tives of the Catalan Delegation in Londonas well as by Spanish exile and refugeegroups and the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women. For the IBMT, a wreath was laid by Ben

Crome, grandson of Len Crome, the Black-burn GP who became the head of medicalservices of the International Brigades.Another guest speaker was Mick Whelan,

General Secretary of the train drivers’ unionASLEF. He spoke about the example set bythe volunteers in the on-going fight againstracism, fascism and injustice.After the formal ceremony on the South

Bank, there was a social in the nearbyCamel & Artichoke pub. There, a group ofactors presented a centenary tribute to Jackand Evelyn Jones and to Michael Foot, theformer Labour leader who unveiled theJubilee Gardens memorial in 1985.

13International Brigade Memorial Trust

FEATURES

By David Leach

Stan Hilton was 19 when he jumped ship inthe Spanish port of Alicante and joinedthe fight against fascism.

Of the 2,500 British, Irish and Common-wealth men and women who served in Spain,Stan is literally the last man standing. He isnow 95 and lives in Yarrawonga, a small townin Victoria, Australia.

Stan was no left-wing activist, nor Cambridgepoet. A ship’s steward from Sussex, he was atough young man, an orphan who grew up incare homes and took to swimming and boxing.Not to mention ducking and diving.

“I liked mucking about,” he recalls over aglass of red wine at home in Yarrawonga. “I didn’t like being ordered around.”

On the cargo ship Oakworthheading forSpain, Stan attracted the attention of theship’s second officer. “He used to call me the‘Brighton Bastard’. The man was a bully,” hesays. “So I hit him.”

His mates suggested it would be wise forStan to “scarper”. When the ship docked at Alicante, Stan went over the side and promptlyenlisted in the International Brigade. It was 22 November 1937.

“The Spanish people needed help,” he says.“It was the right thing to do.”

After 75 years, Stan’s memories of the war areunderstandably sketchy. Early on, he had a run-

in with a Russian instructor. “Bloke had asword. Pushed me around,” he says. “So I hithim too.”

Did the sunshine and high blue Yarrawongasky remind Stan of Spain?

“No,” he says. “I arrived in winter. It wasfreezing. I was always bloody cold.”

Stan saw action with the British Battalionthat winter in deep snow on the Aragon front.Then in the spring of 1938, rebel forces brokethrough towards the Mediterranean. In thechaos that followed, Stan says: “It was everyman for himself.”

Cut off and lost, he took shelter in a remote hutwith two comrades. “I went outside for some rea-son,” he says. “I heard shots. When I got back, mymates were dead. I ran into the woods and hid.”

Joining a small group of hungry and exhaustedsoldiers, Stan retreated through southern Cat-alonia to the River Ebro. A wide, swift-flowingnatural barrier, its far bank promised safety andrespite. If they stayed put, the men faced capture

and execution. Stan volunteered to swim acrossand retrieve a rowing boat.

“I was a strong swimmer,” Stan says. “But thecurrent swept me downstream. When I cameout of the river, I was on my own.”

For Stan the war was over. He made his waynorth to the docks in Barcelona and stowedaway on a ship bound for England. He got homesafely, although the ship – the Lake Lugano,with a cargo of medical supplies – was latersunk by Italian aircraft off Catalonia.

In the Second World War, Stan served in themerchant navy. In peacetime, he moved with hisyoung family to Australia.

Stan puts down his wine glass and looks intothe distance, his blue eyes as clear as ateenager’s.” You know,” he says, “I haven’tbeen sensible in my life.”

To survive two wars and reach the age of 95, trim and fit and with faculties intact, sug-gests – to the contrary – that he has been verysensible indeed.

David Leach is a broadcaster, writer and former IBMT Trustee,now based in Melbourne. His acclaimed film, “Voices From aMountain”, about British volunteers at the Battle of the Ebro,can be viewed at [www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iUIIqn8v58] orgo to YouTube and search “Voices From a Mountain”.

Stan Hilton:Last man standing

“The Spanish peopleneeded help. It wasthe right thing to do.”

The last surviving BritishInternational Brigader, StanHilton, at home in Yarrawongawith a copy of “UnlikelyWarriors”, Richard Baxell’shistory of the British volunteers in the Spanish Civil War.

Dav

id L

each

International Brigade Memorial Trust14

FEATURES

By Cliff Kirkpatrick

The obituary of David Lomon by Jim Jump inthe last newsletter (1-2013) was very mov-ing. I had the honour of meeting and speak-

ing with David on several occasions over a 12-month period. These included the 2011 and 2012

annual Jubilee Gardens memorial gatherings aswell as at the 75th anniversary trip in Spain inOctober 2011 and the Jarama event in February2012.Each time I had a conversation with David my

admiration increased as he was such a caringand genuinely likeable person. The last time I

saw David was at Jubilee Gardenson 7 July 2012, when he was finallypresented with his personalisedRepublican flag. On that occasion I had taken a book along to showhim as it had in it a picture of thefront of an envelope that had beenaddressed to him when he was aprisoner at Palencia shortly beforehis release as part of a prisoner-exchange deal. The envelope was posted in

Bethnal Green on 11 August 1938and is illustrated in the book “ThePostal History of the InternationalBrigades in Spain 1936-1939” by

Ronald G Shelley. The envelope formed part ofthe extensive Shelley collection of InternationalBrigades philatelic material, which was subse-quently bequeathed to the British Library, whereit is now housed. The collection is well worthseeing. I have seen the original at the British Library,

but regrettably there were no notes recordinghow Shelley acquired it. Nor was there any infor-mation as to who the sender was as the back ofthe envelope, where the sender’s details nor-mally appear, had been cut away. David Lomonhimself was absolutely thrilled to see the illus-tration in the book. He remembered receivingthe letter while at Palencia and was able to con-firm that it had been sent by his mother.After being put in touch with the IBMT in 2009

David immersed himself in promoting the Trustand became extremely active. It was patentlyobvious that he enjoyed what he was doing.Equally, from the time he became a member heenriched the lives of other IBMT members whocame into contact with him and he will bemissed. As Robert Elms said in his BBC Londontribute broadcast on the day of David Lomon’sfuneral, and a recording of it was played at thefuneral: “His passing is the end of an era.”

IBMT PresidentMARLENE SIDAWAYurges fellow membersto consider giving alittle bit extra to helpthe Trust carry on itsgood work.

To take over the position of President of theIBMT after Jack Jones was an awesomeprospect – Jack was our founding Presi-

dent, and his help with fundraising and hissound, practical advice helped to start the Truston the successful road on which it continues tothis day.

From the beginning, the strength of the organi-sation has been our membership base and somany of you have helped to expand our num-bers by organising events which increase publicawareness of our cause and keep alive the mem-ory and spirit of those who volunteered todefend democracy in Spain.

We started the process of merging the mem-bers of the International Brigade Association –the veterans’ organisation – and the Friends ofInternational Brigades in 2000, soon after thedeath of Bill Alexander, the IBA Secretary. Now,13 years later, our organisation has changedcompletely; technology and modern communi-cation networks have vastly improved the waywe can get our message across to a wider public– and we must continue to ensure that we arealways abreast of new technology.

However, these improvements do not comewithout cost. The improved newsletter, the web-site, our archives, as well as the memorials, lec-tures and new books about Spain that we havefunded have all taken a toll on our finances. For asecure future, however, it is vital that our fund-ing keeps ahead of our expenditure.

I would therefore ask you all to consider waysin which you could help – by gift aiding a regularamount or a one-off donation, a legacy, howeverbig or small, or simply putting extra money intothe box when you buy our merchandise. Manyalready do give us donations and these oftenmake the difference when we want to fund anew project.

Thanks of course must go to members of ourExecutive Committee, past and present, whohave given up their time and skills to make theIBMT the vibrant organisation it is today. Theyhave always been totally united – often despitethe many shades of left politics they represent –in their determination to remember all who sup-ported the “Last Great Cause” that was theSpanish Republic.

But the IBMT will only survive and be able tocarry on the good fight with the help of all of itsmembers. So please continue to pay yourannual subscriptions, buy our merchandise and,if you can, consider donating a little bit more.

Donations should be sent to: Charles Jepson, IBMT Treasurer,Aysgaard, Beardwood Brow, Blackburn BB2 7AT; email: [clarioncc@yahoo.co.uk].

Giving a little bit more goes a long way for us

A letter to David Lomon

The IBMT has launched an appeal for dona-tions to fund a permamnent exhibition onthe International Brigades at Newhaven Fortin Sussex. Newhaven Fort (www.newhavenfort.org.

uk) is a mainly Second World War fortifica-tion maintained as a museum by Lewes Dis-trict Council under the supervision of EnglishHeritage. Open from March to Novembereach year, it is visited annually by, amongothers, some 7,000 school students fromSussex and south London.The IBMT has been offered free of charge a

large, well-lit room for the exhibition, whichwould underline the links between the Span-ish Civil War and the Second World War, aswell as those with Sussex. The IBMT has calculated that the cost of

mounting the exhibition, which would alsofeature audio recordings and contemporaryvideo footage, will come to nearly £5,500.Contributors will be acknowledged in the

permanent display, which, if sufficient fundsare raised, is expected to be finished byMarch 2014.

Send your donation to the IBMT Treasurer (see left),indicating that it is for the Newhaven Fort appeal.

IBMT appeal for permanentdisplay at Newhaven Fort

By Dr Katharine Campbell

“We found the youth, Donald, nearthe door. He was a well-educated,pleasant boy, with a fresh face. He

was rather thin and overgrown and did not look aday over eighteen. He was just such a son asmust be the pride and joy of many an English,suburban, middle-class home.” This is how thejournalist Kate Mangan described my uncle, Donald Gabriel Hutchison, as he was then, whenshe and the writer and International Brigade vol-unteer Hugh Slater found him in San Carlos, a for-mer monastery in Madrid that was used as a hos-pital in the Spanish Civil War. It was December1936, and Donald had been wounded in the rightwrist while fighting in the defence of Madrid.

Born in 1915, he was indeed the beloved son ofjust such a suburban mother, and although ourfamily has some details of his life, there are gapsabout which we know almost nothing, which iswhy I am telling Donald’s story, as much as Iknow, in the hope that it may jog the memory ofsome of those reading this article and producemore detail.

Despite a personable and good-naturedaspect to his character, which impressed bothMangan, and International Brigader EsmondRomilly (in his book, “Boadilla”, Donald is knownas “Dan”), he had a feisty and uncompromisingside. This meant that he had had to leave Peter-house College, Cambridge, prematurely, eventhough he was an exceptional student.

In 1933, he was arrested during a demonstra-tion outside the German embassy, probably inan anti-fascist protest since Hitler had come topower in that year, for obstructing and assault-ing one policeman and assaulting another.Although he pleaded not guilty, he went toWormwood Scrubs. I do not know for how longhe was in prison.

Two journeys to Spain He was a librarian in Hampstead Public Libraryfor a year, during which time he applied to Cam-bridge, where he went in 1935. He joined the Uni-versity Aero Club and qualified on the GypsyMoth. However, he did not have sufficient flyinghours to enter the Spanish war as a pilot, so, untilthe ammunition ran out, he flew in Spain as amachine-gunner. He transferred to the Fifth Regi-ment and then briefly to the Thälmann Battalion,when he sustained his wrist injury.

Although the injury was not serious at first, thewound became infected and subsequently life-threatening. He was evacuated to Alicante by theScottish Ambulance Unit and then to Paris, wherehe recovered. He then returned to England, butwent back to Spain in July 1937 and was assignedto the communications company of the BritishBattalion (enlistment no. 1176), before beingfinally repatriated to England in May 1938.

While Donald was fighting in the Spanish Civil

War, his half-brother, my father, Air CommodoreSholto Douglas (later Marshal of the Royal AirForce, Lord Douglas of Kirtleside), was Director ofStaff Duties at the Air Ministry and was watchingthe conflict with interest and concern. He wroteafterwards: “It came out later what the Italiansand Germans were up to, i.e. using it as an airweapon testing ground.” He and his colleagueswere especially affected by both the bombing ofGuernica and the Battle of the Ebro.

A name change and RAF exitNothing further is documented of Donald until December 1942, when he went to see JF Roxburgh, his former headmaster at StoweSchool, Buckinghamshire, for a reference. By thistime, he had changed his surname to his father’s,Douglas, while retaining his mother’s as a fore-name, and had developed a slight stammer.

Roxburgh relates that Donald told him that hehad joined the RAF as an air-gunner at the begin-ning of the Second World War, but was forced bythe Air Ministry to leave after three months andwas prevented from enlisting in any capacitythereafter for “no apparent reason”, although his

Communist Party membership may have con-tributed. Then he served as a steward on a cargovessel, and is listed in the Registry of Shippingand Seamen for this period. The records at StoweSchool show that subsequently he went to teachat Stancliffe Hall, a preparatory school in Der-byshire, and was recorded as being on the teach-ing staff in 1943, perhaps because Roxburgh rec-ommended him for the post.

Arrested in BerlinThe next we hear of Donald is in Berlin in August1946. He was arrested for travelling to Berlinwithout authorisation, and had been living inWarsaw while working as the Reuters correspon-dent. At that time, my father was in Germany asCommander-In-Chief, British Forces of Occupa-tion, and Military Governor of the British Zone.Apparently, when Donald was arrested, he toldthe military police that his half-brother was theirboss! This would not have gone down well withmy father, who would never be seen favouring hisown brother. In 1963, in answer to questions con-cerning his forthcoming book, “Years of Com-mand”, my father tantalisingly refers to the“Berlin incident when Gabriel (Donald’s middleand childhood name) was clapped into gaol”.

I know nothing more of what happened to Don-ald for nearly a decade, but his niece and mycousin, Erica, who met him when she was ateenager in the 1950s, told me that, althoughDonald’s right arm looked normal, his hand wasdisfigured badly and he had had to learn to writewith his left hand.

Some time after the Second World War, Donald settled in Geneva, where he worked asan interpreter for the United Nations and died in1981. I am fascinated by this story of my shad-owy uncle, whom I never met and whose lifewas intertwined with my father’s in such anintriguing way. So I would be most grateful ifanyone can add any detail.

If anyone knows anything more about the life of DonaldHutchison in Spain or Donald Douglas in later life, contact:Katharine Campbell: [katharine@quiet.myzen.co.uk].

International Brigade Memorial Trust 15

“While Donald was fightingin the Spanish Civil War, his half-brother, AirCommodore SholtoDouglas (later Marshal ofthe Royal Air Force, LordDouglas of Kirtleside), wasDirector of Staff Duties atthe Air Ministry and wasfollowing the conflict withinterest and concern.”

In search of my shadowy uncle Donald

Donald Hutchison (Douglas)with Polish-born wife Anitain the 1940s (left) and(above) in Switzerlandaround 1980.

CATHERINE TURNELL looks at the life ofLeicester volunteer Roy Watts, one of thelast Britons to die in Spain.

Roy Watts (left) arrived inSpain on Valentine’s Day1938. He had already

had a taste of the military, having spent four years as avolunteer with the Royal Naval Reserve. He was a

member of the Young Communist League and the National Union of Distributive & Allied Workers.

That October, a letter arrived safely from Roy,who before Spain had been a Co-op salesman,to Roland V Walton, a member of the board atLeicester Co-operative Society and chairman ofthe Leicester Co-operative Political Party. It hadtaken a month to arrive in the city.

“I have served and been into action with theanti-aircraft artillery, infantry and transmissionunits,” revealed Roy. “I have been in most ofthe territory in loyalist hands, and was takenprisoner once. Apart from a slight touch of feverand a small piece of shrapnel, which took me tohospital three times, I have so far comethrough it all comparatively unscratched.

“I have learnt to love this country,” he wenton. “The beauty of it is breathtaking. It is a sick-ening experience to pass through these lovelySpanish towns after the Fascist shellings andbombings. I know that such an experiencewould soon stimulate those at home to oustthose responsible for aiding aggression andwar. Since our advances, the Fascist fury seemsto know no bounds.”

Curiously, despite the fact Roy was so manymiles from Leicester, a little piece of home hadmade it to him, he revealed.

“I had the good luck to secure a copy of theLeicester Mercurythe other day and I noticedthat a Leicester Fascist had challenged you to adebate… War being what it is, one cannot makeany forecast with certainty, but I expect andhope to be back in England by Christmas.”

Death at the EbroIn September 1938 the 24-year-old was withthe British Battalion amid the whirling chaos

that was the Battle of the Ebro, in the hillrange of the Sierra Caballs. But the firepowerof the rebels proved too strong. Roy Watts’slast moments came crouched in a hillside fox-hole as the shells exploded all around.

Seven months of fighting Franco’s forcescame to an abrupt and devastating end whenin the skies above a Nationalist air forcebomber released its cargo, sending him andhis cowering comrade into oblivion.

Cut to piecesWhen the decision to withdraw the Interna-tional Brigades came on 21 September, thepolitical commissar Peter Kerrigan describedhis shock at this terrible outcome of the bat-talion’s last action up to 24 September – 23British fighters had been killed.

“I could give dozens of individual acts ofheroism but what is the use?” he said. “Thelist of citations which I enclose, tells in briefofficial terms of the acts of deathless glorywhich were played out against a backgroundof the cutting to pieces of our very bravest.”

A letter with the awful news of Roy’s deathwas dispatched to the Watts’ family home at21 Daneshill Road, in the city’s Newfound-pool. Another had been sent to Roy’s friend W Duncan, of Mere Road, and had arrived on5 October 1938.

A young woman’s griefAn hour after that letter was received a meet-ing of the city’s Young Communist League atthe beautiful Secular Hall building in Hum-berstone Gate was taking place. The chair-man of the group, a Mr A Hall, took solemnlyto the stage. He shared the news that a com-rade had been killed fighting the fascists inSpain.

Also in the hall that evening was a youngwoman called Phyllis Rowe. She lived withher family at 92 Earl Howe Street in the city.She too had recently received communica-tion from Roy – and word of his plannedreturn and intention to renew old friendships.

The Leicester Mercury reported: “When themessage was read Miss Rowe was greatlydistressed and taken home by fellow mem-bers of the Young Communist League.

“Her father, Mr George Rowe, told the Leices-ter Mercurytoday that before leaving for SpainMr Watts kept company with his daughter, andtheir engagement was expected to beannounced on his return home.”

Catherine Turnell is a feature writer at the Leicester Mer-cury. Her great uncle, George Turnill (sic), of Worksop, waskilled in January 1938 at Teruel. This is part of a longerpiece about the Leicester volunteers that appeared in thenewspaper on 20 April 2013.

16

75thANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF THE EBRO

International Brigade Memorial Trust

Killed in the final actionHere are two previouslyunpublished accounts of theBattle of the Ebro, the last greatbattle of the Spanish Civil War.

Nathan Clark’s piece reflects theearly optimism of the SpanishRepublic’s last military offensivethat began on 24 July 1938.However, the advance was soonchecked – and the reality of theensuing fierce fighting isdescribed by John Longstaff.

The British Battalion waswithdrawn on 24 September. ByNovember the Republic’s armyhad been defeated in what wasthe longest and bloodiest battleof the civil war.

Among the dead were some 90British, Irish and Commonwealthmembers of the British Battalion.

On 21 September the SpanishRepublic had announced thewithdrawal of all InternationalBrigade units in the vain hopethat Hitler and Mussolini wouldbe forced to withdraw theirtroops and aeroplanes. In thesame month came the MunichAgreement between Britain,France, Germany and Italy whenSpain’s fellow democracyCzechoslovakia was sacrificed toappease the fascist powers.

Barcelona fell to Franco inJanuary 1939 and at the end ofMarch he marched triumphantlyinto Madrid. Five months laterBritain abandoned appeasementand declared war on Germany.Not for nothing has the Battle ofthe Ebro been called the firstbattle of the Second World War.

The illustrations by Lazslo Acs first appeared in “La ofensiva del Ebro” by JR Jump (Harrap, London, 1975).

Memorial to the Leicester volunteersin the city’s Victoria Park.

This is an extract from “Any Bread Mister”,autobiography of JOHN LONGSTAFF, whowas a labourer from Middlesbrough beforegoing to Spain.

Just after midnight the battalion’ssoldiers climbed over their owndefence line. The section leaders

and platoon commanders withtheir men were in extended line oforder… only our sick and slightlywounded comrades remained to

occupy our positions. I had listened for any noise. Itwas amazing; four companies of men with riflesand fixed bayonets had climbed over that parapet.Had the fascists heard us? I was looking at a large rock fortification which

was now only about 60 feet away. I was with Paul,an English officer. No orders were given; all instruc-tions had been given prior to climbing over ourdefences. All section, platoon and company com-manders had spent some considerable timeinforming their men what was to be done and when. Then it happened, machine-guns from the

enemy fort blasted us, away on our left we couldhear men running on the rocky terrain, sparkswere flying as the bullets hit the rocks near us,Paul and myself dived right under a rock wall; allthat the entire enemy occupants needed to dowas to throw a grenade over on to us. Silenceagain prevailed along our front. Were we going? Icould see no movement. I listened. Was some-body moving backwards? Or forwards? No 2 Com-pany’s objective was the third line of the enemy’sdefences, which meant going through No 1 and 3Company’s positions, but only if they captured thefirst and second defence system. Paul the officerwas crawling towards me giving only hand signs.What was the score, I wondered? Then again allhell was let loose. Flares went up from theenemy’s first line. Grenades were exploding, menwere running, somebody was moaning, enemy orcomrade I didn’t know. We started to crawl away,explosions went off about 15 feet away, the enemyin the stone fortress had thrown grenades, but nottowards us. We crawled right back to the foot ofthat fortress. More running sounds were heard,the enemy was putting up flares and bullets werehitting the rocks. The attack had failed, we couldhear our lads clambering back over our own posi-tions. It was now getting lighter, the officer andmyself, again without speaking a word ran back toour position, which was only 25 to 30 yards away. I was over in a flash and so was he. As daybreak came, we prepared for a possible

counter-attack; the lighter it became, the safer itwould be. Lads started to light fags and settledown. Some had been detailed as sentries, I justsat and slept with a blanket over me. I had no ideaof the casualties of the battalion.

This is part of a much longer despatch byNATHAN CLARK, written in August 1938while at the Ebro front. He had gone therefrom Barcelona, having been a driver in aconvoy of aid lorries taken through France.Before that, Clark – a member of the ClarksShoes family – served for several monthsas a driver and head of transport at theInternational Brigade hospital in Huete.

Four o’clock is zero hour, andthe boats push off. The fascistguards hear us and turn on a

machine-gun sweeping the river.The bullets splash in the water,and land in the sand of our bankwith a “plop”. The light comes up

rapidly and they see what is happening. Othermachine-gun teams are roused and eight or 10begin blazing away furiously, but, in their panic,their aim is bad; so far our casualties are nil. Nowour anti-tanks come into action. They fire highvelocity 3-inch shells direct at their objective and,if one of them lands near you, that’s just too bad.With the growing light they can see the machine-gun emplacements and the shells are landing allround them. That cascade of brick, concrete andsand was a machin gun nest – it’s twisted iron anddead fascists now.

“The home wires must be red hot over there;the avions won’t be long now,” someone remarks.

The first lot are over; several fall and lie still asthey run for cover, but move steadily up the hill,from rock to rock, giving as good as they get.

The boats are back again and a fresh load goes

across; the fascists must feel a bit like King Canute,except that he knew what he was in for, and theyare totally unprepared for such an invasion.

The engineers begin their operations, andwork with speed and skill, only possible with thefiercest discipline and organisation under suchtrying conditions.

There is a distant drone; everyone strains eyesto see where they are coming from. Those Ger-mans certainly don’t waste time – five Junkers information, then three and another three. Themen in the boats blaze away hopefully with theirautomatic rifles. Suddenly bright flashes andwhite puffs appear all round them, the anti-air-craft have come into action. They twist, turn,bank, and fly off into fascist country – and reap-pear much higher. They begin to drop stuff; onelands half a mile upstream and the waves set theboats rolling. Another drops inland somewhere;another on the far bank, but the anti-aircraft arekeeping them too high for accuracy, so we don’tpay much attention.

By this time the anti-tanks have accounted for athird of the machine-gun nests, hand grenades ofour advance column for a few more, and the resthave retreated in haste to positions further back;panic seems to reign on the other side!

In what seems an incredibly short time, a tem-porary pontoon bridge spans the river. Tonight itwill be replaced by a steel and timber one, but itwill serve to take the first tanks and trucks. Thetanks lurch on first, and the great cork floats sinkdeep into the water; the trucks and artillery fol-low. The great advance has begun; everythinghas gone off better than we dared hope.

International Brigade Memorial Trust 17

Failed attackon Hill 666

4am: the great advance begins

Iam 21 and from Madrid. I study internationalrelations at university. In my degree theytend to teach us that governments and coun-

tries just want power, which is true; that thestronger will abuse the weaker, which is true.But they forget to show how against all oddspeople will bond together and stand up for jus-tice, for what they believe in. This feeling ofbrotherhood is what countries should promote.

I don’t know how many InternationalBrigaders are still alive, but please forwardthem this message. I am eternally grateful forwhat they did for my country and for my people.I and many of my friends have the SpanishRepublican flag hanging in our bedrooms. All of

these men and women are in my heart, they areSpanish. They will never be forgotten, they areheroes – even the fascists know they wereheroes, good men.

I am now in Australia, homesick of course,and I can only imagine the immense strengthand altruism it takes to leave your country andgo to another to defend their people, their free-dom and progress, no matter what your own

government says. I know I am young, but thesemen and women not only fought for my grand-mother and her family, they fought for me andthey fought for generations to come, living in aland free of totalitarianism. 

I saw a History Channel documentary thatinterviewed some of these soldiers and a nurse.I cried at the end, seeing how they returned toSpain for the anniversary of the war.

I am not so much moved by the fact that thesevolunteers came to Spain to destroy the fas-cists. I am moved and overwhelmed by theirunconditional love for others, people whomthey did not know, but they felt some responsi-bility for their fate. That is what being human isabout. These people where the first and last toshow such a commitment on that scale. 

Thank you so much, International Brigaders,thank you. You will never be forgotten. Some ofmy friends do not know enough English to writeto you, but I speak on behalf of them as well.

¡Viva la República!María DomínguezBy email

Disappointing review of a bookmarred only by some oral sources

Ifound the review of Richard Baxell’s splendidnew book, “Unlikely Warriors” (issue 1-2013)

disappointing. To suggest, as the reviewerdoes, that there was some sort of equivalencebetween Franco’s volunteers, either fascists orreligious fundamentalist united in their hatredof democracy and freedom, and the Interna-tional Brigaders is preposterous.

Of course the people involved generally heldstrong beliefs. Those who went to fight onFranco’s side fervently supported the restora-tion of a monarchist theocratic state and a mili-tary rebellion to put down a recently electedRepublican government committed to demo-cratic reforms designed to undermine thepower of the Church and the big landowners,while demagogically invoking a nonexistent redperil. The International Brigaders (communists,socialists, trade unionists and liberal democ-rats) strongly believed in peace and democracyand the right of peoples to freely elect govern-ments of their choice. Above all else they wereanti-fascists because they could see what washappening right across Europe where demo-cratic rights and workers’ freedoms were beingattacked and denied in many countries. As Com-munist Party leader Harry Pollitt said at the timeof Munich: “The appetite of the fascist tigergrows with each fresh kill. Can we be so blind asnot to see that our turn will come unless wemake a stand now?”

International Brigade Memorial Trust18

CAN YOU HELP? LETTERS

�Dr Jeffrey Sherwin is interested in trackingdown an original copy of this poster (above)that was published by the Co-op in 1937.Anyone who knows where there might be acopy should contact [js@jsherwin.co.uk].

�Five Leaves Publications is trying to makecontact with the family of Brigader WalterGregoryso they can republish his memoir,“Shallow Grave”. If anyone can help, contactRoss Bradshaw at Five Leaves: [www.five-leaves.co.uk]; tel: 0115 969 3597; BroadwayBusiness Centre, 32a Stoney Street, Not-tingham NG1 1LL.

�The IBMT’s researcher, Jim Carmody, islooking for information on John ClaudeGeorge Howarth, from Clifford Street inManchester, who was aged 24 in 1937. Hewas living in Stoke Newington in north Lon-don when he joined the InternationalBrigades and was in Spain in February1937, when he was slightly wounded at theBattle of Jarama. He returned to London inlate April or early May 1937. There is norecord of his return to Spain, but his nameappears on a list of British volunteers miss-ing or killed in action during the Aragonretreats in March and April 1938. The roll ofhonour in Bill Alexander’s “British Volun-teers for Liberty” gives July 1938 and theEbro as the date and location of the deathof “J Howarth” of Manchester. This is anerror; he probably died in March 1938. Ifanyone has further information, contact:[jamescarmody@yahoo.co.uk].

�Anthony Sparrowhawk is completing abiography of the American volunteer OliverLaw, a commander of the Abraham LincolnBattalion. He would like to hear from any-one with information about Law’s life. “Ithink I have unearthed most of which can befound but you never know!” he writes. Con-tact: [tsparrowhawk@gmail.com].

Moved to tearsThis letter was sent in to acknowledgereceipt of some IBMT merchandise…

Thank you for my order which arrived safelythis week. I wanted to let you know that some years

ago I heard two volunteers interviewed onthe Jeremy Kyle Radio 2 show, which was themost moving thing I have ever heard. I thinkone of the gentlemen was from London andthe other from Merseyside. Kyle played whatsounded like a crackly old 78rpm record, andthe Merseysider sang along. Unforgettable. Iwept.Tony TaylorBy email

“I know I am young, butthese men and womennot only fought for mygrandmother and herfamily, they fought forme and they fought forgenerations to come.”

Tell them how gratefulyoung Spaniards are

If Baxell’s book has a weakness it is a tendencyto use often quite long quotes from volunteerscritical of the conduct of the campaign. Thiswould be more acceptable if these criticismswere better contextualised and subject to morescrutiny. Writing “oral history” involves morethan selecting and repeating quotes from partic-ipants – it is more helpful to the readers’ under-standing of events if authors use their widerreading and expertise to assess and analysecontentious views and quotes.

The extensive use of Jason Gurney quotes isperhaps the clearest case in point. Gurney was agrouse with an axe to grind. In his book, “Cru-sade in Spain”, he describes most British com-munists in leadership positions in the civil waras humourless, unimaginative and verging onfools or charlatans. And he makes outrageousclaims. For example, Steve Nelson, the Americanshipyard worker and Communist Party leaderwho became a battalion political commissar(described by Gurney as “humourless anduncertain of his role”), is accused of “beingresponsible for the mysterious disappear-

ances… and secret trials of InternationalBrigaders” who did not conform. Not a scintillaof evidence was offered and the publishers lateragreed that the references to Nelson were“highly defamatory” and that the book con-tained “two inaccurate and prejudicial state-ments” relating to Nelson’s activities in Spain.

Other International Brigaders have chal-lenged aspects of Gurney’s version of events.Bill Alexander, a commander of the British Bat-talion and the author of the seminal work,“British Volunteers for Liberty”, describes Gur-ney’s book as “a highly fanciful account of hisperiod in Spain”.Tom SibleyBy email

The work of Sim

The sketch (“Can you help?”, issue 1-2013) isby José Luis Rey Vila (born Cádiz 1900, died

Paris 1983), known as “Sim”. A collection of hisdynamic portraits was published as “Estampasde la Revolución Española 19 Julio de 1936”

(Oficinas de Propaganda CNT FAI, 1937). Whilstthis particular sketch does not appear in the col-lection, it has his unmistakable style and his sig-nature, “Sim XXXVI”, can just be made out.Ian BurnsToronto (by email)

International Brigade Memorial Trust 19

SKETCH: Signed by International Brigaders and others.

Recalling the fighting in Madrid’s University City in November andDecember 1936 in which he and JohnSommerfield took part, Jan Kurzkewrote in 1965…

We [John Sommerfield and I] went to Spaintogether with 20 other English boys. Now Sommerfield had to go back to Eng-

land because his mother threatened HarryPollitt [General Secretary of the CommunistParty] to go to the newspapers and say herson was pressed to go to Spain (he was theonly son). So he was only at the front for a few weeks.

Understand, I don’t want to knock him, he wasa nice enough chap. We all felt sorry for him.Now to his story. We never had [Anarchist

leader Buenaventura] Durruti’s men with us.We were the Battalion Edgar André, French,Belgian and some English. We never saw theDurruti [Column], though they were on ourright one night and disappeared after Durrutiwas killed, leaving a gap of half a mile.We never approached the University City at

night, because it changed hands every fewdays, and one couldn’t be sure who had pos-session of it.John Sommerfield says “Fredo” came with

his head done up! His name was Alfredo andhe was our number one. Our captain was aman called Blanche (dead). Capt Dumonttook over after him and we were called “Battalion Dumont”. On the first morning, Alfredo was shot

through the head looking around some build-

ings towards Casa Velásquez. I gave him a cig-arette and he was taken away and we neversaw him again, though I think his wound wasnot mortal. Sommerfield says we sat about and sang.

We did not, because a soldier was dying onthe floor, covered by a blanket. We were hav-ing breakfast, coffee and bread.Sommerfield says sharpshooters were

called for. What for? Three of us had beenkilled and the rest of us – 18 men – had threemachine-guns to handle. He further says he found an officer’s tunic

and put it on. A brave man. We had no suchuniform and I doubt if you could have livedlong walking about in a fascist coat.We did not find decent bottles of wine, gar-

lic, onions etc. There was, however, a greatbarrel of red wine in the cellar. As we thoughtit might be poisoned, we did not drink it, untilsomeone tried it and lived.Sommerfield [says he] found oil and tools

for our guns. Great Scott! We had the old Eng-lish machine-gun (I can’t remember thename) and American Remington 33(?) rifles.The other side used Mausers.And Sommerfield went home; he wrote a

small book (I never read it) and lectured toget money for the cause. Now there is some-thing like poetic – or is it literary? – licence.Great painting and great books have beenwritten from imagination. I do not believethat reality is more real, but by God you haveto do it bloody better than this. After all Som-merfield wanted to be a writer and here washis opportunity…

Contradicting JohnSommerfield’sversion of eventsIwrite with reference to the review of Richard

Baxell’s “Unlikely Warriors: The British in theSpanish Civil War” (issue1-2013).

It concerns me that accounts of events by JohnSommerfield, for example, are still reproducedwithout question, based on his colourful writingstyle. There are accounts, published and unpub-lished, which are more truthful.

I enclose an extract [see box on right] of a letter from my father, Jan Kurzke, to Bill McGuireon 5 May 1965. Bill and my parents were hoping apublisher could be found for their accounts oftheir time in Spain before and during the civil war.

My father, a German refugee, went to Spain viaParis, Marseilles and Alicante with the first batchof International Brigaders, including the Englishgroup, and was with them until Boadilla, wherehe and Bernard Knox were wounded and myfather was rescued by John Cornford. His manu-script is a most detailed account of those earlyweeks. There is even an incident involving a dog –run over rather than feasting on fascist brains –which had to be shot.

Bernard Knox vouched for its accuracy anddescribed my parents’ manuscripts as fascinat-ing and valuable and offered to contribute theintroduction if a publisher could be found.

While the manuscript of my mother, Kate Man-gan, has been extensively mined by researchers,my father’s is largely ignored in the belief thateverything has been said, and better, already.Charlotte Kurzke Southery, Norfolk

‘He was a nice enough chap…’

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Keeping alive the memory and spirit of the men and women from Britain,Ireland and elsewhere who volunteered to defend democracy and fight

fascism in Spain from 1936 to 1939

Annette O’RiordanAnnette O’Riordan (néeHennessy) died inDublin on 4 May, the dayafter her 60th birthday.She was an active andpopular IBMT memberas well as daughter-in-

law of Irish Brigader Michael O’Riordan and wifeof the IBMT’s Ireland Secretary Manus O’Riordan.

Annette was the chief organiser of the Trust’sAnnual General Meeting in Dublin in October2005, when Irish President Mary McAleesegreeted veterans Bob Doyle, Jack Edwards, JackJones and Michael O’Riordan at her official resi-dence in the city.

In 2004 she edited the memorial booklet forthe unveiling of the International Brigade memo-rial in Waterford and in the June of the followingyear designed the memorial in Burncourt, Co Tip-perary, to Kit Conway, who was killed at Jarama inFebruary 1937. She was also the designer of thebrochure for the event.

She regularly attended meetings in Britain, Ire-land and Spain and made many friends in allthese countries. Her last major IBMT event wasthe Trust’s AGM in Newhaven last year. Her cheer-ful and gregarious presence belied the illnessthat she battled mostly in private for three years.

Dolly West-ShaerDolly West-Shaer, whodied on 1 July, aged 82,was the daughter ofBrigader Frank West anda key figure in the Inter-national Brigade com-munity.

She was the Secretary of the Friends of theInternational Brigades, which was set up follow-ing a visit to Spain by Brigaders and families in1996. The group was wound up when, at Dolly’sbehest, members of the FIB and those of theInternational Brigade Association, representingBrigade veterans, agreed to establish the Inter-national Brigade Memorial Trust in 2001. Dollyattended the meeting in London of activists ofboth organisations that decided on the mergerand was thus a founder member of the IBMT.

She was also one of the instigators of thememorial to the volunteers from Hammersmithand Fulham that was inaugurated by Hammer-smith & Fulham Borough Council and the localtrades council in south-west London’s FulhamPalace Gardens in 1997. Dolly herself worked as asenior lecturer at Hammersmith & West LondonCollege for many years, and remained politicallyactive until her sudden death.

At the IBMT’s 2010 commemoration in JubileeGardens, London, she recalled how as a seven-year-old she had waited eagerly with her motherat Victoria Station in December 1938 to welcomeher father home with the rest of the British Battal-ion. They waited in vain. Frank (who died in 1987)had been taken prisoner in Spain and was notreleased until the following year, a separation ofthree long years for father and daughter.

“Physical Resistance: A Hundred Years of Anti-Fascism” by Dave Hann (Zero Books,Winchester, 2013) £18.99*

Reviewed by Sarah Abbot

Although “PhysicalResistance” is ahistory of the anti-

fascist movement inBritain from 1924 to2010, it includes a sub-stantial chapter on theSpanish Civil War, andtestimony from Interna-tional Brigaders runsthroughout much of the

book. Howard “Andy” Andrews, Lou Kenton,Bernard McKenna and Alun Menai Williams arefour of the 20 anti-fascists interviewed by authorDave Hann between 2005 and early 2009.

The words of the participants in anti-fascism,from the communists who disrupted OswaldMosley’s open air meetings in the 1930s to theanarchists involved in blocking English DefenceLeague marches today, are at the heart of thebook. The book was completed following thedeath of Dave Hann in September 2009 (seeIBMT Newsletter 25, New Year 2010). Its editor,Louise Purbrick, calls “Physical Resistance” anactivist’s history: it is written by an anti-fascistabout anti-fascists.

Dave Hann pieced together a history encom-passing almost 100 years, using numerous left-wing pamphlets, national and local newspaperreports as well as academic texts. But it is theanti-fascists themselves who tell the story ofwell-known victories, such as the Battle of CableStreet, alongside small acts of bravery that nevermerited a headline but without which therewould have been no victories.

For example, Benny Rothman, a young northManchester communist, arrived at a Mosleymeeting in Belle Vue straight from work, still in hismechanics overalls, to be given the task of leaflet-ing it. Before he began, he observed the actionsof Evelyn Taylor**. She “…stood up on the bal-cony opposite and started barracking Mosley…So they sent some women Blackshirt stewards toget her out but she hit out at them and knockedthem down. Then they sent the men over to sorther out and it was absolute mayhem.”

It was then that Benny Rothman threw hisleaflets into the crowd. Dave Hann’s skill as histo-

International Brigade Memorial Trust 21

Continued overleaf

BOOKSBrigaders’ keyrole in inspiringthe anti-fascistmovement

“A Short History of the Spanish Civil War” by Julián Casanova (IB Tauris, London, 2012)£12.99

Reviewed by Alan Lloyd

Any book about theSpanish Civil War thatis accompanied by

glowing testimonies fromPaul Preston and HelenGraham is unlikely to disap-point, and that is certainlythe case with this latestaddition to the IB Tauris

Short History Series. As someone who, sadly,speaks no Spanish, it is also refreshing to reada lucid history of the civil war written by aSpaniard, and one with such a great pedigree.Described by Helen Graham as “one of Spain’sleading historians”, JuliánCasanova is Professor of History at the University of Zaragoza.Casanova begins by look-

ing at the roots of the conflict,and Spain’s progression froma monarchy to a republic. He points out thatSpain was the only country in Europe wherethis process led to a civil war – notwithstandingthat all the other countries, with the exceptionof the Irish Republic, ended up with some formof authoritarian dictatorship. The author also avoids simply trailing

through a chronology of the war and associ-ated events, but rather tackles the mainthemes that emerged, beginning with what hedescribes in one chapter heading as “An Inter-national War on Spanish Soil”. Casanova outlines the ideologies and

motives of the main characters and how the warwas fought by both sides, one side claiming tobe waging a religious crusade and the otherexpressing their anti-clerical hatred. Whilst

clearly sympathetic to the Republican cause,he does not attempt to dress up the failures ofthe Republic, but rather examines the reasonsfor them. There are also chapters on the “The New

Order”, and “An Uncivil Peace”, which discussthe horrors of the Franco victory and the rea-sons why he was allowed to prevail. As well as being very readable and thought-

provoking, the book is very well referenced andincludes a comprehensive index. The author’sapproach in writing what can best be describedas a series of linked mini essays worksextremely well. This is highly recommendedeven if you think there cannot be anything newto read in another short history of the SpanishCivil War.

Lucid guide throughwar’s main themes

BARRICADE:A still from Ivor Montagu and NormanMcLaren’s 1937 film “Defence of Madrid”.

ATLAS:Publishers Ediciones Dauand authors Victor Hurtado andJosé Luis Martín Ramos haveannounced the publication of a 78-page atlas (in Spanish andmeasuring 11 x 9 inches) of maps ofbattles involving the InternationalBrigades.

Barcelona-based battlefield tourguide Alan Warren has written topoint out some factual and typo-graphical errors, such as the startof the Battle of the Ebro beingmoved a month forward to June1938 and the fighting around Bel-chite pushed back a month to Octo-ber 1937. He says he has spoken tothe publishers and hopes a new

edition of “Las Brigadas Interna-cionales” will make the appropri-ate corrections to what is other-wise an attractively produced andinformative book.

The book also includes briefnotes on various famous or impor-tant international volunteers,

including some “strange choices”,such as WH Auden and WillyBrandt – both of whom visitedSpain during the civil war but werenot International Brigaders. Theatlas is priced at €28.80. See:[www.edicionsdau.com/es/t%C3%ADtulos_205/3266922].

International Brigade Memorial Trust22

BOOKS

Visionary doctor“Norman Bethune in Spain: Commitment, Crisisand Conspiracy” by David Lethbridge (SussexAcademic Press, Eastbourne, 2013) £25

Reviewed by Linda Palfreeman

Whilst much hasbeen written about

remarkable Canadiansurgeon NormanBethune, previousworks have centred onBethune’s early medicalsuccesses at home in hisnative Canada and hisheroic achievementslater as a military med-

ical officer in China. As its title suggests, “Nor-man Bethune in Spain” focuses uniquely onBethune’s accomplishments in Spain during theSpanish Civil War. In this exciting and compas-sionate new account, David Lethbridge revealshitherto unfamiliar aspects of Bethune’s life andwork that afford us new and valuable insightsinto the brilliant but volatile, erratic and some-times self-destructive behaviour of this greatman – the man behind the legendary hero thathe was later to become.

Eminent thoracic surgeon and committedcommunist, Norman Bethune challenged theCanadian medical establishment and provoked

the antagonism of his peers by proposing radi-cal reforms of the health services and advocat-ing free access to medical care for those whocould not afford it. When civil war erupted inSpain in the summer of 1936, it soon becameclear that the Republic would be unable to copewith the vast number of wounded, both militaryand civilian, and the Spanish government madea worldwide plea for help. Norman Bethune wasone of those who responded to that call. He wasconvinced of the imperious need to confront fas-cism in Spain and acutely aware that the out-come would have lasting repercussions for thefuture of Europe and America.

At the invitation of the Committee to Aid Span-ish Democracy, Bethune went out to Spain atthe end of October 1936, initially with theresponsibility of coordinating medical aid sentfrom Canada to the Republic. However, thevisionary surgeon soon had other plans in mind.

With funds from the CASD, he set about creatinga blood transfusion service in Madrid, develop-ing it into what would become known as the Ser-vicio Hispano-Canadiense de Transfusión deSangre.

Whilst the pioneering mobile blood transfu-sion service is recognised as Bethune’s singlegreatest achievement in Spain, Lethbridge alsoreveals the extent to which Bethune and histeam contributed to the scientific advancementof blood transfusion and to the development oftechniques for the extraction, storage andpreservation of blood, including experimentalwork on the use of blood from human cadavers.

In exploring the nature of Bethune’s relation-ships with his colleagues at the Blood Transfu-sion Institute, and in particular with secret Partymember, Henning Sorensen, Lethbridge unrav-els the details of the conspiracy that led toBethune’s eventual removal from Spain – a con-spiracy based largely on groundless suspicionsand personal jealousies, motivated to someextent by Bethune’s romantic involvement withSwedish journalist Kasja Rothman.

The singular events described in this particu-lar episode of Norman Bethune’s life arebrought sharply into focus by the author, withinthe coherent framework of their wider historicaland political context, providing not only a pieceof groundbreaking historical research but also acompelling read.

Linda Palfreeman is the author of “¡Salud! British Volun-teers in the Republican Medical Service during the SpanishCivil War, 1936-1939” (Sussex Academic Press, Eastbourne,2012). Her latest book, “Aristocrats, Adventurers andAmbulances: British Ambulance Units in the Spanish CivilWar” is scheduled to be published later this year.

Orwell’s comrades“In Spain with Orwell: George Orwell and theIndependent Labour Party Volunteers in theSpanish Civil War, 1936-1939” by Christopher Hall(Tippermuir Books, Perth, 2013) £12.50

Reviewed by Richard Baxell

At this year’s LenCrome Memorial Lec-

ture in Manchester, alarge audience listenedto four speakers discussthe significance ofGeorge Orwell’s famousaccount of his time fight-ing in Spain, “Homage toCatalonia”.

His colourful description of Barcelona in thewinter of 1936, with “the working class in thesaddle”, his candid account of the brutal reali-ties of warfare and, above all, his eye-witnessaccount of the infamous in-fighting in Barcelonain May 1937, have combined to make Orwell’s

rian lay in the understanding that everyday expe-riences, like arriving at a meeting in the wrongclothes to be persuaded to distribute leaflets,were part and parcel of momentous historicaloccasions. This holds true for his account of theSpanish Civil War. The formation of the Interna-tional Brigades, the training and manoeuvres ofthe British Battalion, through to their withdrawalfrom Spain, are told through the personal experi-ence of the Brigaders.

Small details reveal the humanity and dignity ofthe fight against fascism. Bernard McKennarecalled the effect of Mussolini’s North Africancampaign in his decision to go to Spain. “I wasappalled and horrified by the suffering of theAbyssinian people.” Alun Menai Williams remem-bered his concern for his mother as he made uphis mind to join the International Brigades. BobDoyle told of the heat of the rifle he used in thedefence of Belchite and the “terrific noise” of thefascist advance. Lou Kenton spoke of witnessing“a sight one could never forget” as Catalans fledinto France as the war ended – “mothers carryingchildren who were already dead”.

The actions of International Brigaders standout within the narrative of “Physical Resistance”.This is not only because of their extraordinarycommitment and exceptional courage butbecause their fight in Spain, unlike the dailyround of anti-fascist activities that took place inlocal streets and local meetings, was outsideeveryday life. However, Hann asserts the place ofthe Spanish Civil War in the history of the anti-fas-cist movement in Britain.

International Brigaders were, of course, part ofthis movement both before and after their jour-neys in Spain. In 1935, Alun Menai Williams wasbusy in London running around with his “mateBilly and his band of communists, anarchists andother assorted hopefuls” who “would heckle anddisrupt Blackshirt meetings wherever they foundthem”. Two decades later, Bob Doyle, in the firstcar he ever owned, a Ford Popular, used it to res-cue young West Indians from being assaulted byracist gangs in Notting Hill.

There are many more such examples of thecontinuous commitment of anti-fascists to thefight, often the physical fight, against prejudice,racism and nationalism. And, it is this long viewestablished by “Physical Resistance” whichmakes it possible to see how the struggles ofpast, and especially the Spanish Civil War, haveinformed, even inspired, those of the present.

•To order a copy for £15 (price includes a donation to anti-fas-cist prisoners) contact: [physicalresistance@riseup.net].

**Evelyn Taylor was the wife of George Brown, who waskilled at the Battle of Brunete in July 1937. She later marriedInternational Brigader Jack Jones, who became leader of theTransport & General Workers’ Union (and later the IBMT’sLife President).

Sarah Abott is a member of Brighton Anti-Fascists.

Inspirational BrigadersFrom previous page

“The pioneering mobileblood transfusionservice is recognised as Bethune’s singlegreatest achievementin Spain.”

Continued on page 24

International Brigade Memorial Trust 23

“Franco’s International Brigades:Adventurers, Fascists and ChristianCrusaders in the Spanish Civil War”by Christopher Othen (Hurst &Company, London, 2013) £15.99

Reviewed by Tom Sibley

This well writ-ten book tells

the story of theforeign troopswho fought onFranco’s side inthe Spanish CivilWar. The mainbody came from

Morocco, a Spanish dependency,where Franco commanded the Army

of Africa (some 80,000 troops)before the outbreak of the civil war.This was supplemented by the crackGerman Condor Legion (30,000strong) and several divisions of theItalian regular army (70,000 menunder arms) and some 8,000 armyregulars from Portugal.The main concentration of the

book, however, is on the 3,000 vol-unteers from many parts of theworld, including Ireland. These con-sisted of a ragbag of religious funda-mentalists (mainly Catholic), virulentanti-communists, fascist activists,social misfits and upper class adven-turers. Many fitted most, if not all, ofthese categories. Christopher Othenreminds us that foreign soldiers

made up only 2.2 per cent of theRepublican army, but at least 13.2per cent of Franco’s rebel forces.The author sketches the story of

the ill-fated Irish pro-fascist brigade.Led by General Eoin O’Duffy, a vain-glorious ex-IRA member turned fas-cist party leader (of the National Cor-porate Party), and spurred on by theCatholic hierarchy informed by fierceanti-communism, the 600-strongforce stumbled from one military dis-aster to the next during the Battle ofJarama. After three months the IrishBrigade was withdrawn from Spainin March 1937 on the recommenda-tion of the commander of Franco’sForeign Legion. The book’s tone is generally sober

and non-partisan except when itcomes to the communists. Othen isno fan of Franco and observes that

the foreign volunteers who fought onhis side were “men whose ideas of amodern Europe did not involvedemocracy”. However, the book ismarred by the usual anti-communistcanards. Thus, for Othen, the Inter-national Brigades were Stalin’s armyrather than volunteers recruitedmainly by national communist par-ties across some 30 countries. Andthe Popular Front government inSpain was, in the author’s opinion,Stalin’s creation, and not the result ofinternal Spanish political develop-ments over decades.

Tom Sibley’s biography of InternationalBrigader and Communist Party IndustrialOrganiser Bert Ramelson (c0-written withRoger Seifert), “Revolutionary Communist atWork”, is published by Lawrence & Wishart(London, 2011).

By Dave McCall

Amongst many other Spanish Civil War com-memorations this year, it may be interest-ing to note that July 2013 marks the 75th

anniversary of one of the most bizarre.In December 2005, Professor Sandie Holguín

from the University of Oklahoma published aunique piece of research in the American Histori-cal Review (see http://ahr.oxfordjournals.org/content/110/5/1399.extract). It was based ondocuments discovered in the Mandeville SpecialCollections Library in San Diego. They includedbrochures published by the National Spanish

State Tourist Board, which Franco had felt confi-dent enough to establish early in 1938.

The brochure carries a map of northern Spainand a row of photographs depicting soldiers ofFranco’s army, the bombed ruins of Spanishtowns and, incongruously, the mountains andbeaches of the Cantabrian coast. It begins:“National Spain invites you to visit the War Routeof the North (San Sebastián, Bilbao, Santander,Gijón, Oviedo, and the Iron Ring). See history inthe making among Spanish scenery of unsur-passed beauty.”

Franco purchased school buses from theChrysler Corporation, trained a team of guides

and, on 1 July 1938, while the war stillraged, and before the Ebro campaignhad even begun, the first of the tourstook place. The cost was £8 for a nine-day tour, including three meals a day,accommodation in first-class hotels andincidental expenses.

Franco used the tours as a straight-forward propaganda tool, to tellthe Nationalists’ version of events,

and also as a visible sign to the outsideworld that he was winning the war.Scripts used by guides helped him toredefine the identity of Spain that fittedthe images that the fascists wanted toportray – and particularly the image ofthe Nationalists’ insurrection as a “HolyCrusade”.

Holguín tells us: “The tours ran everyother day from July through October,and the following year the tour season

began in May.” By December 1938, a second routehad been introduced, in Andalusia. At the end ofthe war, two more routes were added, one inAragon, the other in Madrid. Tourists arrived inlarge numbers – from Britain, France, Germany,Italy, Portugal – even some Australians. It isthought that there were around 42 tours in 1938and 88 tours each year between 1939 and 1945.Estimates of participants vary between a mini-mum of 6,670 and a maximum of 20,010.

Icame across the report two years ago and wasfascinated by it. It struck me that the taleneeded some wider circulation and also that it

would make an unusual subject for a historicalnovel. And therefore “The Assassin’s Mark” wasborn. It’s a Christie-esque thriller set on one of thetour buses in September 1938, during the sameweek in which the Sudeten crisis was developing.British journalist, Telford – covering the journey onbehalf of Reynold’s News, the weekly paper of theCo-operative Party –finds himself travelling with aconflicted assortment of unsympathetic fellow-travellers.

As the book’s blurb says: “Driven by his passionfor peace and haunted by his father’s ghost,Telford attempts to uncover the hidden truthsbeneath the conflict… But Jack must contend firstwith his own gullibility, the tragic death of a fellow-passenger, capture by Republican guerrilleros, afinal showdown at Spain’s most holy shrine andthe possibility that he has been badly betrayed.”

Apart from the fictional aspects, the novel alsogave me an opportunity to describe the bitterstruggle of the Republican armies of the North andthe way in which the Nationalists managed, for somany years, to mask the truth of war crimes likethe bombing of Guernica.

Dave McCall, a former regional secretary of the Transport &General Workers’ Union, writes historical novels under the penname David Ebsworth. “The Assassin’s Mark” was publishedin March 2013.

Ragbag rebels and troops

Battlefield tours that servedFranco’s propaganda purposes

Right: Brochure for Franco’sbattlefield tourism

initiative.

Below: Dave MacCall’s newnovel (under his David

Ebsworth pen-name) basedon fictional events on one of

the battlefield tours.

International Brigade Memorial Trust24

BOOKSaccount many British people’s first introduction tothe Spanish Civil War.

It has also ensured that the story of the POUM(a relatively small anti-Stalinist Marxist partybased mainly in Catalonia), and the support theyreceived from their British comrades in the Inde-pendent Labour Party, has not been forgotten.However, had George Orwell not served with thePOUM militia in Spain, it is questionable whethermany people in Britain would have heard of theILP volunteers. There were only 40 or so in all, themajority of whom only served in Spain for a fewmonths. Moreover, Orwell aside, almost nothinghas been written by former members of the ILPgroup.

Acutely conscious of this lack, IBMT ExecutiveCommittee member and historian Chris Hall hasspent a considerable amount of time researchinginto and writing about the men and women in theILP group. His latest publication, “In Spain withOrwell”, has just been published by TippermuirBooks. Readers should note, however, that this isnot actually a fresh study, but a new edition of hisearlier work, “Not Just Orwell”, first published byWarren & Pell in 2009. This, sadly, seems to havevirtually disappeared from sale. It is fortunatethat Tippermuir have stepped in and publishedthis new updated edition, which adds new biogra-phical details of many of the ILP contingent inSpain.

For those who have not read “Not Just Orwell”,Chris Hall examines the role of the IndependentLabour Party in British politics, before turning toSpain; first the POUM and then the civil war itself,where he discusses “the organisation, actionsand individual members of the ILP contingent inSpain”. The book concludes with three essen-tially biographical chapters on the ILP volunteers.Clearly sympathetic to the ILP volunteers, theauthor attempts to redress what he sees as the

overshadowing of their role by accounts of theBritish volunteers in the International Brigadesand the long-standing antipathy between the twogroups of veterans.

Fortunately, many of these arguments are notas fraught as they once were and both the IBMT’sManchester event on Orwell and Chris Hall’s workon the ILP are further steps forward. Times haveclearly changed and it is surely significant that astudy of the ILP group in Spain has been writtenby a Trustee of the IBMT and dedicated “to all

British and Irish anti-fascist volunteers whoserved in the Spanish Civil War”.

Richard Baxell’s latest book is “Unlikely Warriors: The Britishin the Spanish Civil War and the Struggle Against Fascism”(Aurum Press, London, 2012, £25). He is an IBMT Trustee.

Aspects of the past“The Spanish Civil War: Exhuming a Buried Past”edited by Anindya Raychaudhuri (University ofWales Press, Cardiff, 2013) £90

Reviewed by Layla Renshaw

This is a broad interdis-ciplinary collection,

with contributions fromthe fields of history, literature, media, andvisual culture, and thereis much of interest tothose researching boththe Spanish Civil Warand its enduring legacy.

For those with a partic-ular interest in the International Brigades, thereare two intriguing chapters. The first, by John DMehta, is a delicate and personal enquiry intoGilbert Taylor, a Welshman who died in Spain inthe spring of 1938. Mehta’s article is an exampleof detective work, revealing that some Brigadersleft complicated personal and political livesbehind them when they went to fight. The secondis David Convery’s account of the testimony andmemoirs of British and Irish prisoners of warincarcerated in a Francoist prison in Burgos. Thischapter provides moving insights into the experi-ences of repression and resistance recalled by for-mer inmates.

For those interested in the British literaryresponse, Patricia Rae’s analysis of elegies to thewar dead and Edward Quipp’s piece on the poetryof Auden both reveal the extent to which Britishunderstandings of Spain were conditioned byWorld War I, which functioned as a point of con-trast and comparison for many Brigaders. JuliánCasanova’s chapter on the murder and subse-quent beatification of Spanish clerics is detailedand informative, but also powerfully written,reflecting the divisions at the heart of Spanish cul-ture that persist to the present day.

The contributions are of a uniformly high qual-ity, well-written and well-edited, and are exem-plary in their clarity and concision. The chaptersmay even be too concise, in that most have a nar-row focus on a single case study, episode or place,with little contextualising information to guidethe more general reader, and many chaptersassume some background knowledge.

The book succeeds in its aim to be interdiscipli-nary, but it does lack a really cohesive theme ordirection. And the subject coverage is neither sys-tematic nor accessible enough to function as ageneral guide or handbook. The introduction is

snappily written and historically perceptive, butmakes little thematic connection between thechapters. A conclusion could have helped to drawout the common themes and to dig deeper intothe current state of memory work on Spain, but,nevertheless, this book showcases the best ofthat work very well.

Layla Renshaw is Principal Lecturer in Forensic Science at theSchool of Life Sciences of Kingston University, Surrey.

War and football“In and Out of the Lion’s Den: Poverty, War and Football” by Julie Ryan (published by Julie Ryan:[http://inandoutofthelionsden.wordpress.com],2013) £9.99

Reviewed by Jim Jump

Written by his daugh-ter, this is the story

of John Shepherd, whoplayed football for Mill-wall, Brighton & HoveAlbion and Gillingham.His was a life alsotouched by the SpanishCivil War.

The aspiring youngfootballer from Notting

Hill met and fell in love with Esther González at the7th Feathers Youth Club in North Kensington. Andin 1955 he married into a family who had beenrefugees from the Spanish Civil War.

Esther’s father, José, fought in the SpanishRepublic’s army, eventually crossing the borderinto France as Catalonia fell to Franco’s fascistforces in February 1939. After spending time inFrench concentration camps and forced workgroups, he was eventually deported to Algeria,where he was later able to join the British PioneerCorps and then settled as a refuge in London.

This book is both an evocation of football in the1950s – when the players would travel to theground on the same trains and buses as the fans –as well as a portrayal of two families, in Englandand in Spain, afflicted by but eventually overcom-ing poverty and war.

John and Esther honeymooned in Spain. In1959 Esther’s mother Marcelina and younger sis-ter Rosita visited José’s parents in Villajoyosa,near Alicante. José never returned to Spain untilafter Franco’s death, but was “disillusioned andconfused”. As Julie Ryan puts it: “Franco’s deathhad come too late”, something that was true formany Republicans who suffered decades of exile.

Ryan is clearly proud of the family’s Spanishheritage and the impact of the Spanish Civil Waron it. One of the last photos in this finely writtenfamily history is one of her and son Nathan in 2011at the memorial at Argelès-sur-mer, the notoriouscamp in southern France where defeatedSpaniards were interned in sub-human condi-tions following the fall of the Republic.

From page 22

“Had George Orwell notserved with the POUMmilitia in Spain, it isquestionable whethermany people in Britainwould have heard of theILP volunteers.”

International Brigade Memorial Trust 25

NEW MEDIA

By Marshall Mateer

Thousands of viewers in Britain and Ireland andour friends in Australia, Austria, Canada, France,Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the USare now regular users of the IBMTnews channelson YouTube and Flickr. People from all over theworld are also having a look and a listen – fromSingapore to Puerto Rico and from Brazil toMoldova – a truly global linkup.We launched IBMT on YouTube in July last year

with my film about the 75th anniversary crossingof the Pyrenees: the climb over the mountains, thesinging, the speeches, the rain and the rededica-tion of the International Brigade memorial inFigueras. Since then we have developed the serv-ice, making photographs, videos and reports ofmajor IBMT events accessible to all. Making high quality materials freely available

for people to re-use is one of the main aims of bothchannels. The videos can be embedded into blogsand other websites and used in schools. Most of

the photographs have Creative Commonslicences, meaning they can be downloaded andre-used for non-commercial use and by Interna-tional Brigade communities all over the world.Behind the scenes we work with the guest per-formers, speakers and organisations including, aspart of this year’s Len Crome Memorial Lecturecoverage, the Orwell Society and ALBA, one of oursister organisations in the US. The IBMTnews channels on YouTube and Flickr

are part of the wider IBMT online strategy, workingbetween the immediacy of the Trust’s presence onFacebook and Twitter on the one hand and themain IBMT website on the other. We are always looking for new ways to use the

channels, for example the interactive notes onsome of the Flickr images such as the GeorgeOrwell poster for our 2013 Len Crome MemorialLecture. We’ve now begun adding archive film onYouTube, starting with the video of the event inApril 2012 to mark the 75th anniversary of thebombing of Guernica. There’s lots more to comefrom materials we’ve gathered over recent years. Next up, with some new developments, will be

the annual commemoration in Jubilee Gardensand a video report from the Ebro 75th anniversaryevents in September.

See IBMTnews on YouTube: [www.youtube.com/user/IBMT-news] and on Flickr: [www.flickr.com/photos/ibmt].

Marshall Mateer is the IBMT Film Coordinator. Contact him(feedback and questions welcome) at: [IBMTnewsfilms@gmail.com].

The International Brigade archive Cedobi, based inAlbacete at the University of Castilla-La Mancha, hasplaced part of its extensive photo collection on its Flickrsite (above). See: [www.flickr.com/photos/iea__cedobi].

Right: Portals of theIBMT’s YouTube

(above) and Flickrsites.

Left: The IBMT hasrevamped its website.It has been redesignedand reformated so itcan be more easilybrowsed on smart-phones. And there arelinks to our Facebook,Twitter, YouTube andFlickr sites. Among thenew features is a blog.Updated regularly andpacked full of informa-tion, the site can be visited here: [www.international-brigades.org.uk].

Also on view in Flickr are some highlights from the collection in the Tamiment Library of New York of materials related tothe US volunteers in Spain. See: [www.flickr.com/photos/tamiment/sets/72157612317392595].

New YouTube and Flickr sites add to IBMT’s online presence

26 International Brigade Memorial Trust

WHAT’S ON

Events are planned this autumn tocommemorate two key 75thanniversaries. This year marks the 75th

anniversary of the Battle of theEbro, including the British Battal-ion’s last stand on 24 September1938 after the Spanish Republicannounced the withdrawal of allforeign volunteers from its army. Then on 7 December, there will

be the 75th anniversary of thereturn of the volunteers fromSpain,arriving in Newhaven andLondon on that same day in 1938.The IBMT is organising a trip to

the Ebro battlefield from 20-27September, including guided toursby historians and other experts.On Tuesday 24 September amemorial commemorating thewithdrawal of the British Battalionwill be unveiled in Corbera. Theplaque on the memorial stone willbe in English, Catalan and Spanishand will include a map showing thefinal position of the battalion.All places on the organised

trip have been taken, but someevents – such as the unveiling –will be open to the public.

The 75th anniversary of thereturn of the British Battalion willbe commemorated at the RichMix arts centre located on EastLondon’s Bethnal Green Road onSaturday 7 December.There will be comedy from

Mark Steel, music from Thee Fac-tion and DJ Pandit G, a recitationof La Pasionaria’s famousfarewell speech to the Interna-tional Brigades by Maxine Peake,songs from the Strawberry ThievesChoir and “living theatre” from LaColumna. Speakers will include historian

and IBMT Trustee Richard Baxell,BBC economics correspondentPaul Mason, author DanielTrilling, activist Salma Yaqooband Olga Abasolo of Spain’s LosIndignados movement.The event is being organised by

Philosophy Football in associa-tion with the IBMT. Tickets will goon sale this autumn (see adverton our back cover).

For more details about the trip to the Ebrobattlefield contact Duncan Longstaff:[duncanlongstaff@btinternet.com].

2 August BELFAST:“From Belfast to the Ebro” talkhosted by International Brigade CommemorationCommittee on the 75th anniversary of the Battleof the Ebro; Ciaran Crossey, IBCC chair, will explorethe contribution of the International Brigadersfrom the Belfast area; Shankill Library, 298-300Shankill Rd, BT13 2BN; 12 noon-2.30pm; furtherinformation from IBCC secretary: 07751 951 785;web: [http://irelandscw.com]. 24 September- December BARCELONA:Catalanproduction of the musical “Goodbye Barcelona”at the Teatre del Raval, at least until December;première night it 26 September; it is hoped tohave subtitles; for more information see: [www.teatredelraval.com] or contact: [contact@goodbyebarcelona.com].24 September GANDESA:Commemoration of75th anniversary of the final day of action by theBritish Battalion in the Battle of the Ebro; seeabove for more information, or contact DuncanLongstaff: [duncanlongstaff@btinternet.com].5 October MANCHESTER:Day-long event to cele-brate centenary of birth of Jack Jones (IBMT’s LifePresident) organised by People’s HistoryMuseum, Left Bank, M3 3ER (www.phm.org.uk;tel: 0161 838 9190); speakers include IBMT Chair

Dolores Long and historian and IBMT TrusteeRichard Baxell.12 October EDINBURGH: IBMT’s Annual GeneralMeeting (AGM to be held at 2pm); plus associatedevents over the weekend; see notice on insidefront cover for more information.15-19 October BOURNEMOUTH:Première of“¡No Pasarán!” musical by Roy Gaynor and DougGould; 7.30pm-10.30pm (plus 2pm matinée on19th) at the De La Salle Theatre, St Catherine’sRoad, Southbourne BH6 4AH; tickets from £11;more information and booking: [www.nopasaran-musical.com].7 December LONDON:Gala evening to mark the75th anniversary of the return of the British Battal-ion from Spain; from 7pm at Rich Mix arts centre,35-47 Bethnal Green Road, E1 6LA (www.rich-mix.org.uk); organised by Philosophy Football inassociation with IBMT; tickets to go on sale fromSeptember from [www.philosophyfootball.com]or by post from PO Box 105, West Wickham, KentBR4 9EZ; more information on back cover.

NB: Events not organised by the IBMT are theresponsibility of the individuals and organisa-tions concerned.

POSTER:“¡No Pasarán!” is described as a new musicalthat tells “a story of love, friendship and selflessness andthe heroism of the Spanish people on both sides and ofthe volunteers of the International Brigades who went toSpain to fight fascism”. See listing for 15-19 October.

The plaque (above) to be unveiled on 24 September in Corbera and (below) the scene atLondon’s Victoria Station on 7 December 1938 when the volunteers returned from Spain.

Two 75th anniversaries to be rememberedatthe Ebro battlefield and in London

philosophyfootball�comsporting outfitters of intellectual distinction

Philosophy Football presents

NO PASARÁNA Night To Remember75th Anniversary of theInternational Brigade'sBritish Battalion Return Home

Saturday 7 December

Rich Mix35-47 Bethnal Green RoadLondon E1£9.99 Tickets from www.philosophyfootball.comor call 01273 472721

In Association with International Brigade Memorial TrustSupported by Thompsons

Mark Steel

Thee Faction

Maxine Peake

Francesca Beard

Lydia Syson

Maddy Carty

DJ Set PanditG

With

Bob Crow

Paul Mason

Salma Yaqoob