IBMT Newsletter www.international-brigades.org.uk Issue 21 / Autumn 2008 INTERNATIONAL BRIGADE MEMORIALTRUST MembersoftheClarion CyclingClub1895celebrate theirarrivalinBarcelonaon 19August,having completeda1,000-mile ridethroughBritainand northernSpain.The purposeoftheridewasto honourtwoclubmembers whowerekilledinSpain whilefightingwiththe InternationalBrigadesand tocommemorateafund- raisingridetoBarcelona whichthecluborganisedin 1938tohelpthevictimsof Franco.Seereportand morepicturesonpage5. ‘Pasionaria’nightsforLondonandManchester

By Jim Jump rate the withdrawal of the volunteers from Spain. £9.99; full programme details and ticket sales Compered by actor Maxine Peake, among those from: [www.philosophyfootball.com] or 020- Two star-studied celebrations marking the 70th who will be performing are the poet and author of 8802 3499. anniversary of the departure of the International the novel “Trumpet” Jackie Kay and the Glasgow The Manchester celebration begins at 7.30pm Brigades from Spain in 1938 are scheduled for groupTheWakes, one of the most exciting bands at the Mechanics Institute, Princess Street, London and Manchester. on the new folk scene. Manchester M1 6DD; tickets will be available on In London, Philosophy Football is organising, in For the London event, which is supported by the door for £10 (£5 concessions); for more infor - association with theTUC and the public sector the IBMT, music will come from modern folk mation, phone: 0161-224 1747 or 0161-226 2013. union Unison, an evening entitled “Viva La superstar Eliza Carthy, together with legendary The weekend before the London event will see Pasionaria!” which will pay tribute to the women ska diva Rhoda Dakar.There will be poetry from surviving International Brigade veterans from of the Spanish CivilWar. It will be held onTuesday Jackie Kay and contributions from Maxine Peake, around the world, including several from Britain, 28 October – the exact 70th anniversary of the ZoeWilliams of and Frances travelling to Barcelona for a 70th anniversary passing out parade in Barcelona when “La O’Grady, deputy general secretary of theTUC, reunion. In 1938, La Pasionaria told them: “You Pasionaria”, Dolores Ibárruri, made her never-to- among others. can go proudly. You are history. You are legend. be-forgotten speech in tribute to the Internation- With film and visuals, a tapas bar and special You are the heroic example of democracy’s soli - al Brigades. guests, the organisers say it promises to be a darity and universality in the face of the vile and In Manchester on Saturday 8 November, the night to remember.The venue is theTUC’s accommodating spirit of those who interpret IBMT is staging, under the title of a quote from La Congress Centre, Congress House, 23-28 Great democratic principles with their eyes on hoards Pasionaria’s speech, “You are legend”, an Russell Street, LondonWC1B 3LS. Doors open at of wealth or corporate shares which they want evening of poetry, music and prose to commemo - 6pm and the event starts at 7pm.Tickets cost to safeguard from all risk.”

Comperingbothevents willbeMaxinePeake(far left),withTheWakes (centre)amongthose performingin ManchesterandEliza Carthy(right)inLondon. IBMT FROM THE SECRETARY

Keepingalivethememoryand By Marlene Sidaway spiritofthemenandwomenwho Looking forward to Barcelona volunteeredtodefenddemocracy The 70th anniversary commemoration of the inSpainfrom1936to1939 October 1938 farewell to the promises to be a very moving event. On Friday 24 October there will be a visit to the InternationalBrigade Barcelona monument to the International Brigades and wreath-laying at the Fossar de la MemorialTrust Pedrera. In the evening the Catalan government will host a reception at the Palacio de la General - www.international-brigades.org.uk itat. Saturday will be spent in Sitges, where the Charity no: 1094928 Brigaders and friends and families will be Patrons :Ken Livingstone and Paul Preston lodged during their stay.There will be a ceremo - CongratulationstoBrigaderLouKenton(left),1o0on ny of homage to the International Brigades and LifePresident: JackJones 1September,whocelebratedhisbirthdaywithwifeRafa a dinner with musical entertainment in the (pictured)andfamilyandfriendsinChiswick,west Chair: SamLesser evening. Anyone who plans to go who has not London.Aphotodisplayputtogetherbysonand Secretary: MarleneSidaway yet done so should contact me on 020-8555 daughterJohnandJudyillustratedLou’slife,fromhis 37ReginaldRoad,LondonE79HS 6674 or [[email protected]]. anti-BlackshirtstrugglesintheEastEnd,wherehewas Tel /fax: 020-85556674 born,andhistimeinSpaintodecadesofpostwar Email: [email protected] Searchlight calendar politicalactivism. Treasurer: MikeAnderson TheJulypageofthe2009calendarproducedby 16MeadowWay,Heathfield,EastSussex anti-fascistgroupSearchlightfeaturesthewon - TN218AL derfulMarkReadphotoofsurvivingBrigaders. spirit of those who volunteered in support of the Tel: 01435-864978 Phone020-76818660toorderyourcopy. Spanish Republic. Since then the Trust has Email: [email protected] grown beyond our wildest dreams, with a mem - Thank you, ambassador bership of 800 people, many of them very active MembershipSecretary: PaulineFraser WearesadtolearnthatCarlosMiranda,theSpan - in promoting events and raising money. This is 90RodingLaneNorth,WoodfordGreen, ishAmbassador,isleavingtobecomehiscoun - wonderful, and exactly as I hoped it would be – a EssexIG88NG try’sambassadortoNato.Butwewishhimwellin grassroots organisation united in admiration of Tel: 020-85060088 hisnewpost.Hepaidaverymovingtributetothe what the people of Britain did to support their Email: [email protected] Brigadersandlaidawreathatthisyear’sJubilee comrades in Spain. Othercommitteemembers: GerryAbrahams, Gardenscommemoration(reportonbackpage). It would be wrong to curb that enthusiasm. MikeArnott,RichardBaxell,GeoffCowling, WreathswerelaidtoobyKatieGreen(IBMT), But we all need to be aware of the wording of our JackEdwards,MaryGreening,MickJones, MartinSugarman(AssociationofJewishEx-Ser - constitution and consider well before we involve JimJump,DoloresLong/HilaryJones vicemenandWomen),NataliaBenjamin(Basque the name of the Trust in support of causes which (jobshare),ManusO’Riordan,Richard Childrenof’37AssociationUK),JoeSistoforhis we as individuals might rightly be very passion - Thorpe(co-opted),AlanWarren fatherandallSpanishRepublicansandonefrom ate about but which might cause offence to Annual membership rates are £15 standard theWaterlooNineElmsBranchoftheAslefrail other members and have dire consequences in and £7.50 for concessions; affiliating union.(“Thetruthofthedefeated”:page7.) our relations with other organisations. Similarly, organisations by arrangement. Further it is important that those who write or speak details and membership forms are avail - Sponsored run for the IBMT about events in Spain or the volunteers and their able from the Membership Secretary, along Chris Hall finished the 10k Great Yorkshire Run families should check their facts and not spread with standing order and gift aid forms. in Sheffield on 7 September to raise money for false information – enough of that goes on in the the IBMT. In doing so he beat his best time by media as it is! two minutes but missed out on running under the hour by just three minutes. Well done Chris! Time for me to step down Members who sponsored him should now send Next year will mark my 10th year with the IBMT their sponsorship money to Dolores Long at 3 and I give notice that I will not seek re-election at IBMT NEWSLETTER Rufford Road, Manchester M16 8AE or to me. the annual general meeting in 2009.This will give us a chance during the coming year to plan The IBMT Newsletter is published three Protecting the good name of theTrust what future path theTrust will follow. It is an times a year and is sent free to all members of When the IBMT was formed in 2000, its constitu - exciting time and new ideas and energy are the IBMT. Members living overseas can tional aims were to keep alive the memory and needed to carry it forward to greater things. I access the current issue by using a password shall be very sorry to leave. I have made some on the IBMT website. Back numbers can be wonderful friends and have been proud to serve downloaded from the IBMT website on theTrust in memory of my late partner, David [www.international-brigades.org.uk/ Marshall, and his comrades, and hope I can con - newsletter.htm]. For information about tinue to be involved in some way. receiving the IBMT Newsletter on tape, con - tact the IBMT Secretary.

Send all items for the next issue to the editor Left:TheIBMTranastallforthefirsttimeatthisyear’s by 31 December 2008 at the latest. TolpuddleMartyrs’FestivalinDorset.TheJulyevent Editor: JimJump attractedsome8,000people–manyofwhomvisited 6StonellsRoad,LondonSW116HQ ourstall.PicturedareIBMTSecretaryMarleneSidaway Tel: 020-72286504 (centre)withIBMTTreasurerMikeAnderson(right)and Email: [email protected] IBMTmemberChrisTranchell.

2 International Brigade Memorial Trust NEWS FROMTHE PRESIDENT

ByJackJones

Rememberingthe17Sussexmen hadthepleasureon1Septemberofopen - inganexhibitionatthePeople’sCentrein ByMikeAnderson ILiverpoolabouttheInternational It was standing room only as Jack Jones, IBMT Brigades,inparticularaboutthevolunteers Life President, welcomed nearly 150 people who fromMerseysidewhowenttoSpaintofight had come to hear the story of “Sussex and the theforcesofreaction. Spanish CivilWar” in Lewes on 21 June. “As the Itwasamarvellousevent,attendedby years pass, it becomes more and more important morethan200people,includingfellowveter - to learn from history and to honour those who anJackEdwards,aswellasmanyfamily volunteered to make the stand against fascism,” membersofBrigadersnolongerwithus. he said. Some180MerseysidersfoughtintheInter - The connections between Sussex and the nationalBrigadesanditisfittingthattheir Spanish CivilWar were then explored in song, partintheanti-fasciststruggleinSpainis verse and prose to an enthralled audience. At recognisedwhileLiverpooliscelebratingits StandingroomonlytohearthestoryoftheSussexmen. least 17 men who lived in or hailed from Sussex statusasEurope’s“CapitalofCulture”. made the arduous journey to Spain between the movement to aid the Basque refugees. Myhomecityhasarichandproudheritage 1936 and 1938. Six of them were killed in Spain. The event, which was sponsored by the IBMT ofradicalandworking-classactivism,not JimJumpreadpoemswrittenbyfatherJames,a and Lewes and DistrictTrades Union Council, leastthecommitmentofmanyMerseysiders journalistwhohadleftWorthingforSpainand also heard contributions from Marlene Sidaway, tohelptheSpanishRepublicduringthe returnedtomarryCayetanaLozanoDíaz,a IBMT Secretary, who read poems by her partner SpanishCivilWarof1936-39. BasquerefugeewhomhehadmetinSussex. David Marshall, one of the first volunteers to go TheexcellentLiverpoolexhibitionisonly BillThornycroft, fromWorthing, now in his 80s, to Spain. oneofmanyeventstakingplacethisyear.A told the audience how as an 11-year-old school - In addition, there was a specially written con - fewweeksearlier,Iwasalsohonouredto boy he had witnessed the arrival in Southamp - tribution aboutWorthing’s Edmund Updale by unveilthememorialtoGeorgeBrowninInis - ton by boat of 4,000 refugee children fleeing the his daughters Eleanor and Frances. tioge,Ireland.LiketheLiverpoolexhibition,it bombing of their homes in the Basque Country The narrator was actor ChrisTranchell, with wasanothereventwithwhichIhaveastrong by Franco’s German and Italian fascist allies. His help from James Biddlecombe, Dave Brinson and personalattachment. elder brother, Chris, had gone off to fight in Spain David Nicholson. ThisautumnseesourIBMTannualgeneral secretly, fearing that their mother would try to Music from the period was played by Mary, meeting,whichwillbeheldinDundee.We dissuade him despite being an outspoken David and Michael Motley, who are well known willremembertheBrigadersfromthatcity, opponent of Franco and a leading light in performers in Sussex folk clubs . whowereamongmanybraveScotsvolun - teersinSpain. ThenaweeklaterIhopetobeabletotravel eventswereBrigadersJackJones,whounveileda toBarcelonaandjoinmyoldcomradesfrom GeorgeBrownhonoured plaquetoBrown,andBobDoyle. aroundtheworldinmarkingthe70thanniver - Brown’sparentshadmovedtoManchesterto saryofthefarewelltotheInternational inhisnativevillage findworkanditwastheexperienceoflifeinthat Brigades. ByPaulineFraser citythatledtohimtobecomeaworkingclass Wehavelosttwomorecomradessinceour activistandtojointheCommunistPartyduring lastnewsletter.Theywillbemissedbut,with On27/28June,Inistioge,CoKilkenny,paidhom - theGeneralStrikeof1926.Hebecamethefull- yourhelp,notforgotten.Aslongaspeople agetooneofitssons,GeorgeBrown,whovolun - timeManchesterorganiserofthepartyandwas fightbigotry,oppression,militarismorfas - teeredtofightfordemocracyinSpainandwho electedtoitsexecutivecommitteein1935. cism,inwhateverguisetheyappear,Ihope wasborninthevillageon5November1906and Hiswidow,EvelynTaylor,wrotetotheDaily theywillremembertheexampleofinterna - killedbyafascistbulletwhilelyingwoundedby Worker afterhisdeath:“HewenttoSpain tionalsolidaritywhichwassetbytheInterna - theroadsidenearthebattlefieldatBruneteon7 becauseheknewthatifweallowedfascismto tionalBrigades. July1937. conquerinSpain,verysoonweshouldbehaving ¡Saludysuerte! Amongtheseveralhundredwhoattendedthe tofacethegunsoffascisminEngland.” In1938,JackJonesmarriedEvelynandthey stayedtogetheruntilherdeathin1998. Theevents,centeredonthelocalAnglican church,includedlecturesbyManusO’Riordan andHarryOwens.Thereweredisplaysinthe foyerofthechurch:aphotoexhibition,“The DefendersoftheSpanishRepublic”,byPablo VázquezBorragaandbiographicalinformation ontheSpanishveteranscompiledbyOwens,as wellasaselectionoforiginallettersandphoto - graphsaboutBrown.Plansarenowbeinglaidto organiseanannualGeorgeBrownMemorialLec - tureeachyear. JackJonespointstooneoftheexhibitsatthe People’sCentre,Liverpool,wherethestoryofthe A full report of the events can be viewed at [www.geocities. MerseysidevolunteersinSpainisondisplay.(See JackJonesunveilstheplaquetoGeorgeBrownat com/irelandscw/ibvol-GBComm.htm]. See [www.rte.ie/ page6forexhibitiondetails.)HisBBCinterviewfor Inistioge,withBobDoyle,thelastsurvivingIrish news/2008/0628/6news.html] for an Irish TV interview theopeningceremonycanbeseenat:[http://news. InternationalBrigader,alsoinattendance. with Jack Jones on 28 June. bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7599162.stm].

International Brigade Memorial Trust 3 OBITUARIES

technician at the International Brigades’ main After training in signals, Bernard was wounded base at Albacete. on his first day of action at the Battle of Brunete From Albacete he was sent toTeruel during in July 1937. He recovered and saw more action fighting in and around the city in the winter of on the Aragón front, where he was wounded 1937/38, working in makeshift hospitals that reg - again by shrapnel, and then badly shell- ularly came under attack from German and Italian shocked. He almost died in hospital, but recov - planes. ered sufficiently to fight again. In 1939 he rejoined the British army and was In the spring of 1938, along with a group of US sent to France with the Royal Artillery. At Dunkirk, Brigaders, he was captured by the fascists at awaiting evacuation in May 1940, he was once Calaceite and taken to the infamous San Pedro again strafed by German planes. de Cardeña concentration camp near Burgos In 1955, Andrews settled in Somerset, where where he was interrogated by the German he worked as an assistant in the pharmacy of Gestapo. At one point he was led out of the camp Musgrove Park Hospital,Taunton. He became a and taken to the outskirts of town. “I was con - union shop steward, helped establish a branch of vinced I would be shot. That was the fate of most the Cohse health workers’ union and was its sec - International Brigaders caught by the fascists,’ Above:Andy retary for many years. he recalled later. However, he was instead ran - Andrewsatthe domly selected for a prisoner exchange and was 2007Glastonbury released in October 1938. He retained until his festival. death the Foreign Office repatriation bill for £4. BernardMcKenna He never paid it. Left:Andrewswith ByAntonioDíez When the SecondWorldWar was declared, DorothyRutteron Bernard joined the RAF within two days. He theTeruelfrontin BernardMcKennawhodied,aged92,on31July wanted, he said, to have another go at the fas - thewinterof wasborninHulme,Manchester,intoanAnglo- cists. He spent six and a half years in the forces 1937/38, Irishfamily.Thefamilywaspoor;formostofhis and fought in North Africa, the Middle East and emergingfroman childhood,hisfatherwasunemployed. Italy. ambulancewitha Though he had won a scholarship to St In 1946, Bernard successfully applied for emer - pressurecooker Gregory’s Grammar School in Ardwick, at 14 he gency teacher training and found a new voca - containing was forced to leave school and earn his keep – tion, specialising in teaching the educationally sterilisedsurgical working as a clerk in a textile mill. Politics were disadvantaged and those who had fallen behind instruments. part and parcel of Bernard’s family life and he first in learning. He is survived by his five children. joined the Labour League of Youth, then, aged 17, AndyAndrews the Young Communist League. ByJimJump When the Spanish CivilWar broke out in 1936, Alsoremembered… he spent evenings and weekends collecting Howard“Andy”Andrewswasuntilhisdeathon7 money for food and medical aid to Spain.Then in GBetty Papworth , who has died aged 94, May2008,aged100,theoldestBritishveteranof February 1937, without telling his family, he dedicated her life to campaigning for social theInternationalBrigades.Untilonlyafew bought a weekend train ticket for Paris and made justice and peace, writes Dan Carrier . Born in monthsbeforehisdeath,hecouldstillbeseenon contact with the International Brigades recruiting Stepney to a large Jewish family, as a young thestreetsofTauntonsellingtheMorningStar , office. woman she helped man the barricades at the collectingsignaturesagainstTridentnuclear in 1936. As war broke out weaponsoropposingtheIraqwar. in Spain, she helped organise public meetings At the age of 16, Andrews joined the Royal Army and fund-raising events.Through this, she Medical Corps and was posted to India, where befriended the US singer Paul Robeson and the poverty and injustice shocked him. “I became even put him up for a night at her East End home a red from the first time I set foot in India,” he when he was in London. After the SecondWorld said. War, Betty worked in the rag trade. Her political After discharge from the army in 1931 he activism never dimmed. She even went to Israel worked at Queen Charlotte’s Maternity Hospital, in 2004 to see the release of peace campaigner west London, became active in his local branch of MordechaiVanunu. It was her 90th birthday and the National UnemployedWorkers’ Movement. she stood at the gates of the prison despite First he joined Labour Party, right-wing protesters hurling eggs and insults then the Communist Party, which was organising at her. street protests against the fascist Blackshirts. On GThe broadcasting executive and journalist Sir one occassion, in March 1936, he helped disrupt Geoffrey Cox , who covered the Spanish CivilWar one of Mosley’s rallies in the Royal Albert Hall, for the News Chronicle , has died aged 97. A New though he ended up being kicked and thrown Zealander, Cox joined the newspaper after down several flights of stairs. completing his studies at Oxford. He was sent to Andrews was one of the first Britons to volun - Spain to replace the paper’s celebrated teer to help the Spanish Republic. He travelled by correspondent Arthur Koestler, who had been ambulance through France, arriving in Barcelona BernardMcKenna’slastpublicoutingwasinMarch flung in jail by Franco. Back in London in 1937, he at the end of August 1936, and remained in Spain thisyearwhenheattendedtheunveilingofablue speedily wrote a book, “The Defence of until March 1938. As part of the newly-formed plaquetoInternationalBrigadenurseLilianUrmstonat Madrid”. He later joined the Daily Express and British Medical Unit, he first served at a field hos - StPaul’sPrimarySchool,Stalybridge,near afterwards was a pioneering influence in the pital at Grañén on the Aragón front, then from Manchester,whereshehadbeenapupil. Heispictured growth of television news in Britain, launching January 1937 he worked as an operating theatre herewithLilian’ssister,Hannah. “News atTen” in 1967.

4 International Brigade Memorial Trust NEWS

Above:Armonarm,Ted Ward(left)andGeoff Jacksonwithsupporters inLeicesteron16May 1938whileontheirway toBarcelona. AtthememorialtoFranco’svictimsinLogroñoinnorthernSpain. GlasgowtoBarcelona1938and2008

ByColinCarritt battlefieldsoftheEbrovalley.Sotheridestarted attheGlasgowInternationalBrigadesmemorial RayCoxandRoyWattswerejust22and23when andtravelledsouthtoPortsmouthvisiting theydiedfightingforthelibertyoftheSpanish memorialsandothersitesatBolton,Rotherham, peopleasmembersoftheInternationalBrigades. Leicester,Bristol,SouthamptonandPortsmouth. Theywereordinaryworkingmenwholikednoth - ThecycliststhencaughttheferrytoBilbaoand ingbetterafteraweek’sworkthantoclimbon continuedtheirpilgrimagethroughGernika, TheriderssetofffromGlasgow’sPasionariamemorialto theirbikesonaSundaymorningandgoforaspin Logroño,theEbrovalley,theSierraPandolsand theInternationalBrigades. inthecountrysideinthecompanyoflike-minded theirultimatedestination,Barcelona.Sevenrid - menandwomenfromtheClarionCyclingClub. erswithtwosupportdriverscompletedthefull ItwasintheirhonourthattheClarionCycling distanceofover1,000miles,butmanyothers Club1895chosetore-enactthisyearthe1938 (includingmyselffromStow-in-the-Woldto bikeridebytwootherClarioncyclists,TedWard Barcelona)rodepartsoftherouteandtherewere andGeoffJackson,whobikedfromGlasgowto usuallyatleast15ridersonanyoneday. BarcelonathroughFranceandoverthePyrenees Ifthepurposeoftheeventwastoraiseaware - toraisemoneyforSpanishchildrenwhohad nessoftheInternationalBrigadesandtheirrolein becomevictimsofthewar.Holdingpublicmeet - Spaininfrom1936-39,thenitwasspectacularly ingsandcollectingmoneyfromunionbranches successful.Thetripreceivedextensivecoverage andothersympatheticgroups,theirtargetwas inregionalandnationalTV,radioandnewspa - £70buttheyraisedcloseon£400–asignificant persinSpain.Atalmosteverystoptheriderswere Thesevenridersplustwohelpersinthesupportvanwho sumin1938. receivedbycivicdignitariesandsmalltokensof completedtheentireridefromGlasgowtoBarcelona; The2008re-enactment,backedbytheIBMT friendshipwereexchanged. fromleft:CharlesJepson,AlanWarren(helper),Merce andtheBasqueChildrenof’37AssociationUK, Lluveras(helper),ChrisGoode,StuartWalsh,TerryLynch, choseadifferentroute,astheriderswantedto Colin Carritt’s full account of the ride can be viewed at: RuthCoates,MartinPerfectandAnnaMarti. paytributetothevictimsofFrancoandtovisitthe [www.westoxlabour.org/Hominaje.pdf].

atedtheassaultonQuijornabyRepublican VillanuevadelaCañadaand,ashefinished,he Brunetebattlefieldwalk forces,a1-16MoscafighterinRepublicancolours kissedhisgrandfather’s1937diarywhichhehad flewoverheadtothedelightofallthoseonthe broughtwithhimforthemarch.TheTVcreware ByAlanWarren ground. intheprocessoffilmingaprogrammeforeventu - ThesecondannualBrunetebattlefieldmarch AtVillanuevadelaCañada,themayor,Ana alreleaseconcerningRichard’sexplorationofhis washeldon5July2008.Over70people,includ - LuisaDelcauxBravo,welcomedthegroupand, grandfather’sexperiencesinSpain. ingaTVcrewfromtheUK,followedtheoriginal eventhoughsheisaPPmember,embracedInter - SeverianoMontero,ErnestoViñasConstantino advanceoftheRepublicanarmytowardsQuijor - nationalBrigaderBobDoyle.Itwasannounced andÁngelRodríguezPérezactedasguidesfor na.AtGeneralModesto’scommandpost,the thatastreetinthetownwouldbenamedafterthe thegroup. panoramawasimpressivetobeholdandabrief LincolnBattalioncommanderOliverLaw,who Viñassayshewouldbedelightedtoguidevisi - descriptionwasgivenbyourguide,whopointed waskilledatBruneteonMosquitoRidge. torsaroundtheBrunetebattlefieldandarrange outVillanuevadelaCañadaandQuijorna,aswell Asafinaletothewalk,theBBCactorRichard tailor-madetourstosuitindividualrequirements. asBruneteinthefardistance. Harrington,whosegrandfatherTimHarrington Hisemailis[[email protected]]. AtQuijorna,belowthetrenchesmannedbythe waswoundedatBrunete,readthepoemto HehasalsopointedoutthatlargeFrancoist FrentedeMadridreenactmentgroup,whorecre - GeorgeBrownwhowaskilledintheassaulton Continued overleaf

International Brigade Memorial Trust 5 DIARY DATES NEWS

BrigaderBobDoyle (centre)withfriendsat theBrunetewalkinJuly.

From previous page andinJulythisyearthegraveswerefinally stoneplaquesarestillinthePlazaMayor, repaired.CoordinatedbythenewConsulGeneral Brunete(builtbytheforcedlabourofRepublican inBarcelona,DavidSmith,theworkwascarried prisoners),despitetherecentLawofHistorical outbysailorsfromHMSBulwark ,whichwasona MemoryandhefeelsthatitcouldhelpifIBMT visittoBarcelonaatthetime.ThelocalTarragona membersprotestedtotheAyuntamientode councilalsoprovidedinvaluablehelp. TheA2-sizedposterfortheLiverpoolexhibitionon Brunete(theBrunetetowncouncil). FromtheTarragonacemeteryregister,the theInternationalBrigadesisonsalefor£5plus detailsoftheseamen(name,ageandhome postageandcanbepurchasedfromthePeople’s It is intended to continue the Brunete walk (as well as the town),allkilledwhentheirshipswereattacked Centre(seedetailsbelow). Jarama walk each February) next year on the weekend fromtheairinTarragonaharbour,are… closest to the July anniversary. For more information contact GKilledonthe Thorpenesson20January1938: G3-23 September 2008: Exhibition Seve Montero on [[email protected]]. GeorgeSydneyMogg(26,Grimsby),Harryde “Merseyside and the International Brigades”; Klerk(17,Grimsby),ArthurFrankJerrot(40, People’s Centre, 50-54 Mount Pleasant, Liver- Barry),WalterJones(42,Bristol),Claude(Fred) pool L3 5SD; weekdays 9am-5pm; contact Welsh(47,Chester),JohnJamesWalker(22, [[email protected]] or 051-709 3995. Seamen’sgravesrepaired SouthShields)andThomasTaylor(27,Grimsby). G18 September 2008: Screening of ByJimJump GKilledonthe Stanwellon15March1938:JMul - “Memories of a Future”, a documentary about holland(52,Aldershot),TKing(45,Ayrshire)and the 70th anniversary of the formation of the TheSpanishgravesofnineBritishmerchantsea - CaptMadsen(Danish“noninterventionofficer”). International Brigades; plus poetry and prose menwhowerekilledintheSpanishCivilWar TheBritishsteamshipThorpeness wasreport - readings; Rich Mix Arts Centre, 35-47 Bethnal whiletheirshipsweretakingsuppliestothe edlylaterbombedandsunkbyfascistaircraft Green Road, London E1 6LA; [www.richmix. Republichavebeenrepairedthankstotheefforts onemileoffValenciaon21June1938,carryinga org.uk]; 6.30pm; £5.50 (£3.50 concs). ofIBMTCommitteememberGeoffCowling. cargoofwheatfromMarseilles. G28 September 2008: Talk “The Legacy of the Theyareburiedinwhathadbeenthenear- Cowlingcomments:“Thisbegsthequestion: International Brigades” by IBMT Secretary derelictBritishCemeteryinTarragona.Cowling howmanyBritishmerchantseamenwerekilled Marlene Sidaway; organised by the Leicester visitedthecemeteryduringhistimeasConsul duringtheSpanishCivilWarandunderwhatcir - Secular Society; 6.30pm;The Secular Hall, 75 GeneralinBarcelonaandwiththeaidoftwocol - cumstances?Ihavefoundnorecordoftheeven - Humberstone Gate, Leicester LE1 1WB. leaguescarriedoutsometemporaryrepairsto tualfateoftheStanwell .” G9-12 October 2008: Series of events centred thetwonichesinthecatacombscontainingthe Headds:“IamaskingmycontactsinBarcelona on the IBMT’s annual general meeting in seamen’sremains.Atthetimetheywereopento tocheckiftherewereanyburialsofBritishmer - Dundee; see back page for details. view. chantseamaninValenciaduringtheSpanish G23-26 October 2008: Commemoration in Cowling,whoisnowretiredfromtheDiplomat - CivilWar.” Sitges and Barcelona of the 70th anniversary icService,putinarequesttotheembassyin of the farewell to the International Brigades; Madridforthegravestobeproperlyrestored. more information on page 2. Withthecatacombsconsideredtoodangerous NewIBMTbadge G28 October 2008: “Viva la Pasionaria” toenter,hisappealwasinitiallyignored.Buthe evening in London; see front page for details. persistedinhisbehind-the-scenescampaigning, An enamel badge of theTom Mann Centuria G6-9 November 2008: A week in honour of banner has been commissioned by theTrust. the International Brigades at Benissa Many members will be familiar with the iconic (Alicante); see [http://xrl.us/ooq4z] for pro - photo (see facing page) of the banner taken in gramme (not available in English). September 1936 at the Karl Marx Barracks in G8 November 2008: “You are legend” concert Barcelona. Among those holding the banner is in Manchester; see front page for details. David Marshall, partner of IBMT Secretary Mar - G8 November 2008: Rededication of the lene Sidaway, andTomWintringham, a future memorial to the International Brigades, commander of the British Battalion. Writers’ Square, Belfast; more details from The badges – approximately 30mm in size – Ciaran Crossey: [[email protected]] should be ready in October at the price of £5 G8-9 November 2008: Els Guiamets; remem - plus postage and packing. If you would like to bering the withdrawal of the International reserve a badge or badges, get in touch with Brigades from the Priorat, Catalonia; details IBMTTreasurer Mike Anderson (contact details from [[email protected]]. RestorationworkattheBritishCemeteryinTarragona. on page2).

6 International Brigade Memorial Trust TESTIMONY

ByCarlosMiranda WhenIwasinmylateteensmyfathergaveme Thetruthofthedefeated HughThomas’s“TheSpanishCivilWar”toread. ItwasatthispointIdiscoveredtherewasnoone AnindicationofmyignorancethankstoFranco, defenddemocracyandwhoweresteppingfootin truthaboutwhathadhappenedinSpainduring butalsothatofmanypeopleinSpain,wasthe theembassyforthefirsttime.Iwillneverforget theSecondRepublicandthecivilwar.Therewas factthat,whenIarrivedherein2004,Ididnot whatoneofthemsaidtome:“Forme,thewar thatofthevictors,theofficialandwidely-known knowthatinJersey,around1,500ofmycompatri - hasendedtoday”.LastyearIwasinvitedtopre - truth,buttherewasalsoanotherone,thatofthe otshadbeenmistreatedduringNaziGermany’s sideoverthecommemorativeceremonyofthe defeated,whoknewoftheofficialonebutalso occupationoftheChannelIslands.Thoseslave- 70thanniversaryofthearrivaloftheBasquechil - hadtheirowntruth. workerssufferedgreathardshipandsomedied. drenintheHabana ,whichwasagreathonourfor Inordertohealpastwounds,bothnearandfar, In2006Ipaidhomagetothemduringtheannual me. andtobeabletoenjoyasincerereconciliation,it 9MaycommemorativeceremonyinJersey.Itwas InalltheseoccasionsIhavesaid,andwilldoso isnecessarytoknowbothsidesofthetruth.Iam thefirsttimearepresentativefromtheSpanish againtoday,thatwhatwehavetodayinSpainis notspeakingabouthavingtotakesideswith embassyinLondonhadattended. whatthosewhowereforcedintoexile,liketheir thosehavingmostcause,whichmightbebetter.I Iunderstoodthenthatnosatisfactoryrelation - families,hadfoughtforintheirday:ademocracy. amonlyspeakingaboutsheddinglightonwhat shipexistedbetweentheembassyofSpaininthe Theirsacrificeswerenotinvain;thememoryof theothersidesuffered. UKandthoseSpaniardswho,fordifferentrea - theirhistoriesandtheirownfightcontributedto FortyyearsofdictatorshipinSpaincrushed sons,hadalinkwiththeSpanishRepublican Spainbecomingademocraticcountryagain. anddrovetooblivionnotonlytheRepublic’sside exileafterthecivilwar.Sincethen,Ihavetried,as Inthisendeavour,inthisdetermination,Ihave ofthetruthbutalsotheknowledgeofitsexis - Ibelieveditwasmyduty,forthoseofuswhonow beenabletocountontheinvaluablehelpof tence. cometotheUKfromSpain,becausewewantto, manypresentheretoday,like:GaryFont[from Undoubtedly,thelawknownastheLawofHis - togetclosertogetherwiththoseaswellastheir Jersey]andMarleneSidaway[IBMTSecretary]. toricMemory,whichwasapprovedon26Decem - familieswholeftSpainyearsago,havingbeen However,amongthesefriends,therewasalways ber2007“sothatcertainrightsmaybe forcedintoexile. onepersonwhowasaconstanthelp:Manuel recognisedandbroadenedandmeasureswillbe Inthesamevain,afterJersey,Ialsohadthe Moreno,whohasmadeanexceptionaleffortin establishedinfavourofthosewhosufferedper - opportunitytoaddressthemembersoftheInter - recuperatingfactsfromthepastoftheSpanish secutionorviolenceduringthecivilwarandthe nationalBrigadesthatsameyearinJuly.Ialso exileandbringingthemintothepresentday. dictatorship”,setsouttohealthosewounds. participatedintheinaugurationofamosaicenti - Afterthedeathofthedictator,therecuperated tled“EchoesofSpain”.OnanotheroccasionI This is the speech given by Carlos Miranda, the Spanish democracyfailedtohealthem,forthosewho,in offeredareceptionforthecourageousSpaniards Ambassador, when presenting the decoration of “Oficial de SpainandlaterinEurope,foughtagainstfascism who,duringtheSecondWorldWar,hadenrolled Merito Civil” to Manuel Moreno, President of the Basque andNazismorsufferedbecauseofit. intheBritisharmytocontinuefightingand Children of ’37 Association UK in London on 13 May 2008.

home and, when he returned, the streets of the My Pyrenees East End turned out. He was pictured in the being greeted by hundreds of people, with his new Spanish wife Ramona. Later Arnold crossing inspired Wesker wrote about him in his seminal play “Chicken Soup with Barley”, which contains the line: “That Nat Cohen is a terror”. by Nat Cohen In the Pyrenees I was retracing the route taken by Laurie Lee, author of “Cider with Rosie”, who and Laurie Lee had as a 23-year-old travelled through France to join in the fight. By Dan Carrier The British and the French governments had set up a non-intervention pact. It meant volun - They came out of the mist and were as sur - teers, such Lee, had to sneak over the border. prised to find me as I was to run into them. I Lee describes his time in Spain in the book “A was 1,500 metres above sea level, on the cusp DanCarrier’sgreatuncle,NatCohen(secondfromleft), Moment OfWar”. Where the Spanish police of a rocky outcrop. The Spanish border police besideRamonainBarcelonainSeptember1936. stopped me was the same area Lee was taken to fired rapid questions: I understood little, but my by French shepherds under the cover of night. I dishevelled state spoke volumes. precursor to the larger conflict that would soon had been walking for three days, a similar length After explaining why I was wandering through engulf Europe. He left Stepney on a bicycle in of time it took Lee to do the same stretch. the Pyrenees, and after they had checked I was June 1936 to take part in theWorkers’ Olympiad. I was following well-marked paths on a route in a fit state to reach my destination, they point - Due to be held in Barcelona, it was an alternative map: Lee had tried, and failed, to find a guide. ed into the fog behind them and told me it would competition for those who did not want to go to Instead, he writes: “I knew I simply had to go up, take around six hours walking. the Berlin Olympics. He arrived just a few days over and south. “Behind me, as I climbed the I had set out on a week-long journey. My aim before General Franco’s coup: instead of turning gentle slopes, the foothills fell away to Perpig - was to retrace the steps taken by the British vol - round and going home, he joined a workers’ mili - nan and the sea, while the steep bulk of the unteers who joined the Spanish Republican tia and was in a small group who tried to re-take Pyrenées Orientales filled the sky with their sun - army to fight fascism during the country’s civil the island of Mallorca from Italian troops. lit peaks.” war of 1936 to 1939. He then helped set up an English-speaking His journey started on 5 December 1936 and I had been inspired by my family’s involvement unit, called theTom Mann Centuria, which was to was to face some bitter weather. I walked out in – my great uncle Nat Cohen was one of the first of become a precursor to the International June 2008 and my admiration of his achieve - 40,000 volunteers who saw that the war was a Brigades. He was shot in the knee and invalided Continued overleaf

International Brigade Memorial Trust 7 TESTIMONY

From previous page ment increased. Even in summer, the Pyrenees WhyIjoinedthe can be unforgiving to the single traveller.When I was greeted by the border guides, I had not seen a soul for 48 hours. I was cold, stricken by bouts International of vertigo, and worried I had got hopelessly lost in the mists. I had taken one wrong turn when I was at the Brigades top of a peak.The map proved to be little help: the paths on the paper did not seem to marry ByBobDoyle those on the ground in front of me. I decided to I was born in 1916 in the Dublin slums, and turn back. joined the IRA in my teens. In 1934 I left the I found the spot where I had taken a turning – IRA to join the Republican Congress set up by instead of heading upwards my path sent me DanCarrieratthememorialtotheInternational Peadar O’Donnell, Frank Ryan and Kit Con - along the side of a mountain, through a beech - BrigadesinFigueras. way.The time had come to support the fight wood, and as I came out the other side, I saw the knees were agony, and the weather, for the of tenants against landlords, of workers town of Las Illas nestling in a valley, which was morning and much of the afternoon, atrocious. It against anti-union employers and to take on my first stop. Las Illas is a tiny hamlet that saw was here I met the Spanish police and was given the Blueshirts in the streets.We were still nearly 500,000 refugees pour through it at the the fillip of knowing I was nearly there.Then, the republicans but now we were social revolu - end of the war. I stayed in an inn that hosted the wind got up more fiercely than before and the tionaries too. Catalan president during the Spanish Republic, skies cleared. I was still a good three hours away, Had we stayed in the IRA as it was then, Lluís Companys, as he fled. I reached the inn and with a valley to scramble down, but I could see many of these employers and landlords crashed out, exhausted. Lee’s first night was less the sun shining on my destination. would have still supported us and the IRA’s comfortable. He slept outdoors, and he was I took a train to Figueras and laid flowers at a purely nationalist policies.We had to form caught out in a December blizzard. memorial to the Brigaders who stayed there. Lee coalitions with groups who might have dif - “Looking down, the foothills had disappeared eventually made it to the Spanish border, but fered from us in the past but now shared our and been replaced by a blanket of swirling was greeted with suspicion. He too made it to campaigns for social justice and fighting the vapour,” he writes. “The shining peak of Figueras, but it was not long before he was rising tide of fascism. Canigou began to switch on and off like a light arrested. No one believed he had walked over In 1936 we realised that this struggle was house… then the wind rose to a thin-edged wail, the Pyrenees in winter carrying just a violin and a being fought even more brutally elsewhere, and I felt the first stinging bite of snow.” Lee saucepan, as his memoirs suggest. After a 50- especially in Spain.This is what led me and stumbled, fortuitously, across a “rough little odd mile walk of my own, without having to my ex-IRA comrades to join the International stone built shelter. It was half in ruins, and there dodge border guards, my respect for Lee and the Brigades.We were with volunteers from 53 was nothing inside it but straw, but I suppose it sacrifice he and his comrades were willing to countries who also saw that their fight was may have saved my life.” make for the progressive political philosophy the same as the Spanish people’s; our slo - The last day on the mountains was tough. My they believed in was underlined. gan was “Bombs on Madrid means bombs

LETTERS InternationalBrigadesdoctoris100 anyone know where they are now? I have a From 1940 onwards I was taken into forced IhavejustreceivedtheIBMTNewsletterNo.20 photo of my dad, FrankWest, standing in front labour camps by the German-Austrian- andIhastentoaddonegoodpieceofnews, of one of them. Hungarian Nazi fascists. After 35 months of whichIthoughtyoushouldhave.Oneofthe It would be good to trace them as they would hard labour I succeeded in escaping with one of doctorswholookedaftertheInternational make a magnificent display. I do hope someone my closest friends and colleagues from the BrigademembersduringthecivilwarwasDr can help – they are real history. Carpathian mountains. MoisesBroggi.Thenewsisthathewas100years DollyWest-Shaer During this time our parents were deported to oldon18Mayandweallcelebrated,familyand [email protected] Auschwitz. Our concierge in Szombathely, 1 friends,inagrandmanner.Therewere425ofus Hungary, a war prisoner for 2 ⁄2 years, had joined attheluncheonparty.DrBroggiisaverybusy Happy birthday Penny the Red Army underTrotsky. He was not Jewish. man,withasplendidmemorywhichhasenabled Many thanks for Newsletter no.20 – truly Back in Hungary he witnessed the occupation of himtowritehisfantasticmemoirsintwo fantastic! Hungary from March 1944. According to him, volumes.Ofcourse,theyareinCatalan. Please pass on my many happy returns to everything of ours was taken away in a big Nazi AmèliaTrueta Penny Fyvel for her very young-looking 99th lorry which included all my father’s Barcelona birthday. A few years ago she sent me as a gift correspondence with Miguel de Unanumo, José her autobiography, entitled “English Penny”. Ortega y Gasset and Pablo Neruda. Hammersmithbanners On the other hand I was very sad to read of the The fascists treated us as “criminal left-wing When the International Brigade memorial on death of MiltonWolff. He too was very generous intellectuals”.They made no distinction the South Bank was unveiled in 1985 there was to me and the library. between socialists, communists or humanists. a reception in the Queen Elizabeth Hall.When Prof. Juan Carlos Cesarini Anyone who expressed sympathy with the we got there there were a number of banners on Buenos Aires Spanish Republic was considered criminal in display from the time of the 1936-1939 Spanish the regime of Hungarian dictator Admiral war. Wewere“criminalleft-wingintellectuals” Horthy, faithful ally of Mussolini and Franco. Many of them were from Hammersmith. I Many thanks for your latest newsletter, which Pierre Mosonyi have, somewhere, photos of them. Does arrived this morning. London N17 6TP

8 International Brigade Memorial Trust CAN YOU HELP? on London” and, as I saw for myself, this slogan GIBMT researcher Jim Carmody is looking for 21, he could not have qualified yet, but was was proved all too true. more information on the following three used as a cartographer and observer; killed at With the betrayal of the Spanish Republic by volunteers: Segovia in early June 1937. Britain’sTory government and their French and – Stanley Flanagan : Prior to leaving for Spain – GeorgeWilliam Palmer : probably born in American allies of big business, Hitler, Mussoli - in January 1937, he lived at 32 Byron Street, London, but was registered, firstly as a ni and Franco won the war in Spain. Six months Longsight, Manchester; apparently he did service voter in 1934 and then probably as a later the SecondWorldWar began and bombs not return from Spain, though he is not listed lodger or friend for a couple of years, with the began to fall on cities everywhere, as they still on any of the British Battalion’s casualty lists O’Briens at Enham, Andover. do today. or on the Roll of Honour; no relation to – Charles James Simmons : painter, ex British Yet despite the Allied victory in 1945, we now Andrew Flanagan of Birmingham. army, his parents lived at 5 Berkeley Street in find that fascism, raw capitalism, is thriving, and – James Greenwood : His address was given Southsea in 1938; nothing else is known; using spin doctors instead of racist speeches, as 27 Gerrard Street, Ashton under Lyne; also killed at Arganda Bridge in February 1937. while more powerful weapons are being devel - apparently did not return from Spain, though – Robert Arthur (Ronnie) Symes : born in oped supposedly to protect us and our environ - not listed anywhere. Saltford, Keynsham, Somerset, in 1905; the ment is in crisis.This crisis cannot be solved by – John Howarth : He was from 29 Clifford Hampshire connection is suggested in a capitalism, because capitalism is now its cause. Street, Manchester; listed on the Roll of poem by another Brigader but nothing else is My generation’s vision of a world without Honour as killed at Gandesa in July 1938; known; killed at Casa de Campo, November exploitation, where we live in harmony with our most likely he was killed in the March-April 1936. environment, seems as distant as ever, while 1938 Aragón retreats. Anyone who can help should contact Alan globalisation, which is the worldwide triumph If you can help, contact: [jamescarmody@ Lloyd at [[email protected]] or write to of money over organised workers, undermines yahoo.co.uk]. editor Jim Jump (see address on page 2). our democracies.The fight today is as vital as it was in Spain, but remember we are fighting for G Alan Lloyd has written to say that he GEamonn O’Neil is researching his uncle an idea, and though we must at times defend intends to find the “time and energy” to write Eamon (Edward) McGrotty , originally from ourselves, guns cannot impose an idea: the four the “long-promised” book on the men and Derry, and his short and tragic time with the weapons of victory today are: education, organ - woman with Hampshire (and Isle ofWight and International Brigades in Spain. He was a isation, civil disobedience and unity. Bournemouth) connections who went to fight committed socialist and Irish republican From my lifetime of struggles, these are the fascism in Spain.There are still some minor activist and a very strong Irish language lessons which I have learnt.Take up the fight, gaps in the lives of some, but an almost total advocate. He was killed at the Battle of and let us fight together, for the liberation of lack of information on a handful. Can anyone Jarama in February 1937, probably the 27th. mankind. La lucha continua. help Alan by providing more information or Eamonn believes that his uncle arrived in ¡Viva la República! leads about the following: Spain some time in December 1936. He was – Harry Abbott : repatriated after being for a while thought to be attached to the Speech made by Bob Doyle at Inistioge on 27 June 2008 at wounded at Jarama, a member of Nalgo trade British Battalion and later the Lincoln the unveiling of a memorial to fellow International union, his wife worked at Coldeast Hospital at Battalion. He had been a member of the Irish Brigader George Brown. Sarisbury, near Southampton. Christian Brothers (a Catholic teaching – WilliamThomas George Beales : born in order) from the age of 15 to 21, during part of Cambridge in 1910; a “road locomotive this time he was a Christian Brothers teacher driver”, he gave as his contact address the who taught classes through the medium of landlady of a pub in the Isle ofWight; missing, the Irish language. He left the Christian MEMBERSHIP presumed killed, during the retreats through Brothers in November 1932.The remaining Aragón – nothing else is known. four years to his death are what nephew – George Robert Greig Burton : from Landport Eamonn is trying to research. in Portsmouth; worked for Portsea Island Anyone who can help should contact Eamonn 300stillowe2008 Coop; served in the Palestinian Police during at [[email protected]]. the SecondWorldWar, then disappeared; membershipsubs believed to have emigrated to Canada. GKarin Ingram writes: “My cousin and I are – Henry Stuart Johnson (known in Spain as looking for information about our uncle, ByPaulineFraser Lionel Lesley East): born in Aldershot in 1907, Robert Macdonald from Glasgow.We believe Thanks to all those members who have the son of a master baker living in Cargate that he died when the Ciudad de Barcelona promptly paid their 2008 IBMT subscription Avenue in 1938; taken prisoner, repatriated, was torpedoed in May 1937. My cousin after receiving the spring Newsletter, or who and nothing further known. remembers hearing of the existence of a letter have set up a standing order to do so. About a – Margaret Duncombe Finlay : born on the of condolence sent by the Communist Party to third of cheque and cash payers responded to Isle ofWight in 1913, a nurse who returned Robert’s mother (our grandmother). Another the call. with the British Battalion’s wounded in cousin remembers hearing that he was buried This leaves about another 300 members December 1938; went on a countrywide tour in Spain – I would presume in Malgrad de Mar. who still owe theTrust their subs. If you need with other Brigaders to raise money and There are no members of Robert’s generation to check whether you have paid this year or support for Spain – then nothing further in our family still alive, so we’re really working not, please contact me, preferably by email. known. with very little information. My cousin and I Subscriptions and donations are the life- – Michael Edward John Livesay : born in 1915, intend to travel to Malgrad later this year, but blood of any organisation, but particularly of a the son of a Royal Navy paymaster we would like to know as much as possible small, organisation such as ours, run entirely commander living in Bury Road, Gosport; he before we set off.We intend to do some by volunteers. So please renew your subscrip - came from a noted line of architects in the research in the Marx Memorial Library, but tion as soon as possible. Hampshire and Isle ofWight area; nothing would be most grateful for other avenues of else is known except that he left from a exploration.” Pauline Fraser’s email is [paul.balf.paul@googlemail. London address to go to Spain, giving his Karin’s email is [[email protected]] if com]. Her other contact details are on page 2. occupation as an architect although, still only anyone can help.

International Brigade Memorial Trust 9 WORDS & IMAGES & MUSIC

Spanish Civil war in the context of the newly ByJimJump Inbrief… passed law of Historic Memory. Reporter MikeWilliams visited an exhumation of hisyearmarksthe70thanniversaryofthe Republican victims of Franco’s terror and publicationof“HomagetoCatalonia”,George asked the families concerned why keeping T Orwell’seyewitnessaccountofthe“MayDays the memory of the civil war is important.The of1937”,whensupposedalliesagainstGeneral programme can be accessed on FrancointheSpanishCivilWarfoughteachotheron [http://xrl.us/ooto6]. thestreetsofBarcelona.Itwasadefiningmoment forOrwellandhismemoir GAlice Mellalieu-Campbell has written a retainstothisdayconsid - book about her experiences living inWhalley erableinfluenceonpopu - Range, Manchester, where her mother kept a larperceptionsofthe GNa-Mara are the folk duo who entertained boarding house – “The Mad Hatter’s Castle” SpanishCivilWar. the audience so superbly at the IBMT’s Jubilee – which became home to refugees from Thecentralmessageof Gardens commemoration in July. Rob Garcia many nations during and after the Second thebookandthelesson (above, right), who plays guitar and mandolin, WorldWar. Alice remembers Brigader Sam drawnfromitbymany and Paul McNamara (left), guitar and vocals, Wild, the last commander of the British readersisthatStalin’s also performed at the “Viva la República” Battalion, pleading with her mother, Mabel, alliesinSpainwere celebration in April. At both events they to take “just one more”. Mellalieu- engagedinablatantbid played “The Bite”, a song inspired by the life Campbell’s book, “My Story”, can be found forpowerthatrequired of International Brigader GeorgeWheeler, and in the libraries of Manchester, Middleton, theiropponentstobecrushed.Thetreacheryand “Sólo porTres Meses” [“Only forThree Haywood andTrowbridge inWiltshire; or ring mendacityofthecommunistsfatallyweakenedthe Months”], which tells the story of the Basque her on 0161-202 6162. SpanishRepublic,leadingtoitseventualdefeat. refugee children who arrived in Southampton However,noteveryone–especiallyexpertson in May 1937. Rob is the son of one of the niños GJonathanWhitehead has written in to point theSpanishCivilWar–agrees.OnesuchisPaulPre - vascos . Na-Mara have released two CDs, “The out that the Spanish Ministry of Culture has ston,IBMTpatronandhistoryprofessorattheLon - KingshillValley” and “Only forThree Months”. released an excellent archive of photos donSchoolofEconomics.“Iwouldrank‘Homageto More information can be found on their taken by Republicans during the Spanish Catalonia’alongsideSpikeMilligan’s‘AdolfHitler: website: [www.na-mara.com] . CivilWar.The Archivo Rojo, named after MyPartinHisDownfall’,anotherinterestingbook Vicente Rojo, one of the generals who led the bysomeonewhowasafoot-soldierplayingatiny GThe BBCWorld Service broadcast “Spain – defence of Madrid, includes several photos partinamuchwiderconflict.” The Legacy of the Disappeared” , on 28 of the International Brigades. See [http:// Headds:“Theproblemisnotthat‘Homageto August, a programme which examined the pares.mcu.es/ArchivoRojo/inicio.do]. Catalonia’isabadbook.Itisn’t.Thetroublewithitis thatit’softentheonlybookthatpeoplehaveread abouttheSpanishCivilWar,andonthatbasisthey formjudgementsaboutanimmenselycomplexset Caudwell’stributetoScotsvolunteers ofevents.YetOrwellspentmostofhistimeonthe Aragónfrontwhennotmuchwashappeningand This poem was written for Spain: British and Irish International thenhewasarooftopspectatortothefightingin the British Battalion’s Brigaders on the Spanish CivilWar” (edited Barcelona.” Burns Night celebration at by Jim Jump, Lawrence &Wishart, London Madrigueras on 25 2006). notherhistorianwillingtotakeaswipeat January 1937 by OrwellisJuliánCasanova,aprofessoratthe Christopher Caudwell UniversityofZaragozaandtheauthorofsev - FromanEnglishGuest A (pictured), the name used eralstudiesofSpanishanarchismandthecivilwar. by Christopher St John O wad some pow’r the giftie gie us DeliveringtheIBMT’sannualLenCromeMemorial Sprigg. Born in Putney in To read your Burns, at least in parts. LecturelastyearatLondon’sImperialWarMuseum, 1907, he worked as a reporter for the But we are simple Sassenachs, hebemoanedOrwell’sclichéddepictionofRepubli - Yorkshire Observer before becoming a full- We do not understand your cracks – canSpain.“HomagetoCatalonia”,heremindedhis time author, writing poetry as well as books For instance, what the hell are ‘airts’? audience,claimsthatintheegalitarianfervourthat on physics, aeronautics and Marxist literary And then we’d understand your lingo – lasteduntilMay1937“practicallyeveryonewore criticism as Christopher Caudwell and Give ‘stane’ for ‘stane’ and ‘hame’ for ‘hame’. roughworking-classclothes,orblueoverallsor several detective novels under his real name. Instead we smile or shake the head somevariantofthemilitiauniform”. He joined the British Battalion in December And trust it fits with what you said. Casanovaproceededtoshowanewlyrestored 1936 and was killed less than three weeks Of course we know you do the same. newsreelofthefuneralofBuenaventuraDurrutiin after Burns Night, on 12 February 1937 during November1936–onlyafewweeksbeforeOrwell the Battle of Jarama. But never mind – we’re anti-Fascists: arrivedinBarcelona–inwhichanestimatedhalfa The poem has been sent in by Cornish We tread the same grey Spanish dust. millionpeoplethrongedthestreetstowatchthe historian JamesWhetter, who organised the We know you’re fighters, like your ways – anarchistleader’scoffinbeingtakenforburial.For placing of a plaque at the Atlantic Inn in And though we don’t know what he says some10minutesthecamerapansslowlyoverthe Porthleven, Cornwall, where Caudwell We’ll take your Rabbie Burns on trust – crowdsandweseeamassofconventionallyattired stayed for several months in 1935.The poem As soldiers’ poet – full of failings, menandwomen,mostoftheminsuits,hats,ties is understood to be found in the Caudwell And of your famous Scottish pride, andcoats. archives held at the University ofTexas in Poet clear as Highland spring Arelativelysmallpoint,maybe,butifOrwellwas Austin and is published here probably for the Through whom ten million Scotsmen sing – anunreliablewitnesswhenitcametopeople’s first time. However, it will appear, in Spanish, A people’s poet till he died. dress,whatelsemustthereadertreatwithgreat in a planned Spanish edition of “Poems from Christopher Caudwell scepticism?Muchmore,ifwearetobelievean

10 International Brigade Memorial Trust fightingwasgoingon,Mussolini’sforeignminister, GaleazzoCiano,toldFranco’sambassadorinRome Timetostoppayinghomage thatItalianspiesweretakingpartinthe“uprisingin Catalonia”.Francohimselfwasatthesametime boastingtoWilhelmFaupel,theThirdReich’senvoy, toOrwell’sversionofevents thattheeventsinBarcelonahadbeeninstigatedby 13ofhisagentsinthecity. exhaustivestudyoftheeventsofMay1937thatwas writtenimmediatelyafterhereturnedtoBritainin Ofcourse,CianoandFrancomayhavebeenseek - publishedinSpainlastyeartocoincidewiththeir June1937.HehadspentsixmonthsinSpain,having ingcreditforeventsalreadyunderway.ButViñas 70thanniversary. enlistedwiththemilitiaofthePOUM,ananti-Stalin - alsoreferstoatelegramsentafortnightbeforethe TheauthorisÁngelViñas,universityprofessorand istrevolutionarycommunistparty.Orwellacknowl - outbreakofhostilitiesbythegeneralisimo’sbrother diplomat(hewasoncetheEuropeanUnion’sambas - edgesthathistestimonymightcontainfactual andsecretary,NicolásFranco,totherebelarmy’s sadorattheUnitedNations).InLondonforapresen - errors:“Itisverydifficulttowriteaccuratelyabout northernregionalcommanderwithinstructionsto tationofhisbook,hewasadamantaboutwhattook theSpanishwar,becauseofthelackofnon-propa - theFrancoistspynetworktotake“urgentaction”in placeinBarcelona.“Ihavespentmonthsgoing gandistdocuments.” Barcelona. throughthearchivesinMoscowandhavefound ThesixdaysoffightinginBarcelonatookplace nothingtoprovethatStalinwasinvolved.” againstthebackgroundofalongescalationofsocial hereareotherpointerstoforeigninterference, BysellingarmstotheRepublic,Viñasadded,the problemsintherefugee-swollencity,particularly saysViñas.Mussolini,throughoneofhisanar - Sovietleaderwasmotivatedchieflybythedesireto overfoodsupplies.Meanwhile,theRepublicangov - T chistspies,BernadoCremonini,hadalready drawBritainandFranceintoananti-NaziGerman ernment–aPopularFrontcoalitionofliberals,social - financedasupposedlyanti-fascistpublicationfea - alliance.ThecreationofacommuniststateinSpain– ists,communists,anarchistsandregional turingfiercelyanti-communistcontent.AndtheItal - asimpliedbyOrwell–wouldhaveruncountertothat nationalists–wastakingstepstoestablishcen - iandictator’ssecretpolice,Polpol,isnowknownto objectiveandwasthereforeneverhisaim. tralisedcontroloverthewareffortfollowingthedis - haveinfiltratedtheSpanishanarchistmovement “HomagetoCatalonia”depictstherevolutionary astrousmilitarydefeatatMálaga.Thismeant andthePOUMwiththeexplicitaimofincitinganti- militiaswhoclashedwiththeRepublicanpolicein incorporatingthemilitiasintothenewlyformedPop - communism.Onthedaybeforefightingbrokeout Barcelonaasinnocentpartiesactingonlyinself- ularArmy.Thegovernmentalsowantedtoremove aroundthetelephoneexchange,activistsfromthe defence.Viñas–whodeliveredthisyear’sIBMTlec - themfromBarcelona’sTelefónicabuildingandother CatalannationalistEstatCatalàparty–whichFranco tureattheImperialWarMuseum–hasnohesitation publicinstallationsstillheldbythemsinceFranco’s claimedtohaveinfiltrated–openedfireonanar - indescribingtheiractionsasaninsurrectionin“El uprisinginJuly1936. chistsinthebuilding:acoincidenceoradeliberate EscudodelaRepública”*[“ShieldoftheRepublic”]. provocation? Heinsiststoothatarmedanarchistmilitiaswere esistingthesemovesandadvocatingarevolu - “Thecommunistshaddefinitelycomeinto pulledbackfromtheAragónfrontandwerearriving tionaryalternativewereaCatalan-basedfac - power,”OrwellwroteoftheperiodafterMay1937. inBarcelonaintheweeksleadinguptotheeruption RtionoftheCNTanarchistmovementandthe “Noonedoubtedthattheywouldsmashtheirpoliti - ofviolence.Simultaneouslytherewasanassassina - POUM.OnlyafterrepeatedappealsbytheCNT calrivalsassoonastheygotaquarterofachance.” tionattemptonthecity’schiefofpoliceandalocal nationalleadershiptoitsmemberstostopfighting Hewaswrong.ThePopularFrontcoalitionheld communistunionleaderwasshotdeadamidcalls andthearrivalofmorepolicedidthegovernment untilthefinaldaysoftheRepublic.Thebeliefthat forthesettingupofarevolutionaryjuntaandthe forcesprevail. StalinwasresponsiblefortheRepublic’sfailurehas restorationof“proletarianjustice”. ThePOUM,meanwhile,becamethetargetofa persistednonetheless.Ithasproducedsomevery Theordertodisarmthemilitiaoccupyingthe vicioussmearcampaigninthecommunistpressin oddbedfellows.ApologistsforFranco,anxiousto Barcelonatelephoneexchange–thesparkthatignit - Spainandabroad,whichportrayeditasafascistfifth portraythecivilwarasananti-communistcrusade, edtheoutbreakofstreetfighting–camefromthe columnandimpliedthatitsentiremembershipwere endupsharingthesameargumentsasTrotskyists Catalaninteriorminister,amemberoftheERCCata - traitors.Thepartywasoutlawedanditsleaders whohavecontinuedtoarguethemeritsofrevolution lanleftparty.Orwellwrotethathehadtheimpres - hunteddownandarrested,withgeneralsecretary overconstitutionality.Thenthereisthestrangespec - sionthatthecommunist-ledpolicehadacted AndrésNinmurderedwhileinthecustodyofRussian tacleofrightwingacademics,forwhomtheRepublic withoutgovernmentorders.Equally,thedecisionto securityspecialists–acrimethatwasdeploredby isirrevocablytaintedbyassociationwiththeSoviet deploypolicereinforcementsfromValenciawas theRepublic’sprimeminister,JuanNegrín. Union,writingsympatheticallyabouttheSpanish takenandfullyendorsedby,amongothers,the Butwasthereagrainoftruthintheaccusationsof revolutionaries. Republic’sliberalpresidentandsocialistprimemin - fascist-inspiredtreachery,oratleastinterference, PrestondismissesthisechoingofOrwellasanoth - ister.Viñasalsociteseyewitnessaccountsofanar - amongthoseinvolvedintheBarcelonaMayDays? erploytobashthecommunists.Heisjustas chisttanksonthestreets,astorythatOrwell Quotingcontemporaryconfidentialreports,Viñas scathingaboutthenotionthatfollowingtheevents describedas“invented”. saysitwaslikelythatpro-Francoagentsprovoca - ofMay1937theRepublicangovernment,especially TobefairtoOrwell,“HomagetoCatalonia”was teurswereactiveinfomentingtheclashes.Whilethe itsmilitary,wasbeingrunbythecommunists.He pointstothecoupstagedbyRepublicanarmyunits inMarch1939followingthefallofBarcelonatothe fascists.“Thecommunistswantedtofighton,butit tookjustthreedaysforthejuntawhichsoughtto Thenewlyinaugurated negotiateasurrendertotakepower–hardlyasign memorialtotheInternational thatthecommunistshadanirongriponthearmy.” BrigadesinSanFranciscowas Orwellwasclearlyrightaboutthedishonestand defacedinAugustbygraffiti brutalwaythatthePOUMwascrushedafterMay invokingthenameofGeorge 1937.Butthemyththat“HomagetoCatalonia”has Orwell.The“Durru”of“Viva fostered,thatStalinandthecommunistsbetrayed DurruyOrwell”isareference theRepubliconthestreetsofBarcelona,doesnot toanarchistleader standuptoscrutiny.AsPrestonputsit:“Stalinhasa BuenaventuraDurruti,who lottoanswerfor,butnotforFranco’svictory.” waskilledduringthedefence ofMadridinNovember1936. *Published by Editorial Crítica, Barcelona, 2007 .

International Brigade Memorial Trust 11 IBMT NEWSLETTER Issue 21 / Autumn 2008

G2pm-4pm: AGM; City Chambers; City Square. October 2008 at a rate of £60 per room per night Programmeandagenda Agenda: (room only). Guests should make reservations – Chairman’s opening remarks by phoning 0845-365 0000 and quoting block forIBMTannualgeneral – Apologies for absence reference VET1010. – Minutes of previous AGM GAlternatives: Hilton Dundee Hotel (01382-480 meetinginDundee – Matters arising 033); Travelodge Dundee Central Hotel (08719- – Secretary’s report 846 301); Craigtay Hotel (01382-451 142); Hoppo Thursday 9 October – Membership Secretary’s report Hostel (01382-224 646). G6pm-8pm: Reception in Scottish Parliament, –Treasurer’s report Edinburgh, hosted by Bill Butler MSP; anyone – Election of officers More information about the AGM from Marlene wishing to attend should contact IBMT Secretary – Any other business Sidaway (see details on page 2); contact Mike Marlene Sidaway (contact details on page 2). – Date and place of next AGM Arnott about the Dundee arrangements: 07951- – Chairman’s closing remarks. 443 656 or [[email protected]]. Friday 10 October G7.30pm: Social; City Quay Suite, Apex Hotel. G7.30pm: Evening reception; Wellgate Library, Victoria Road; exhibition: “Dundee and the Sunday 12 October ”. G10am: Screening of documentary “The Guernica Children” (to be confirmed). Saturday 11 October G1pm: Unveiling of Basque children’s colony G10.30am: Assemble in City Square. plaque; 17 Mall Park Road, Montrose (free bus G11am-11.45am: Procession behind pipe band transport from Dundee and back); anyone up Reform Street to Albert Square for rededica - wishing to attend should contact Mike Arnott tion of Dundee International Brigade memorial. (see below). G12 noon-1.15pm: Public meeting in Steps Theatre, Wellgate Library. Accommodation G1.30pm-2pm: Buffet lunch for annual general GDundee Apex Hotel: An allocation of 20 meeting delegates; City Chambers, City Square. rooms is being held for the nights of 10 and 11 DundeememorialtotheInternationalBrigades. Brigaderstold:youinspiredanti-Francoresistance

ByJimJump freedom and defend the Republic and its endary newspaper correspondents in the civil democracy”. war, Ilia Ehrenburg, Martha Gellhorn and Herbert The sacrifices of the International Brigades Listening to him appreciatively on 19 July were Southworth, to emphasise the point that helped pave the way for the restoration of veterans Bob Doyle, Jack Edwards, Jack Jones, International Brigaders and others who support - democracy and freedom in Spain, the Spanish Lou Kenton and . ed and fought for the Spanish Republic had Ambassador told British veterans of the He told them: “The blood shed during that done so in the cause of human dignity. Yet they International Brigades, their families, friends dreadful fratricidal war at the end of the 1930s were reviled as communist stooges by those and supporters at the annual day of remem - also irrigated the hearts of those, who following who betrayed the Republic and allowed Spanish brance for the volunteers from Britain and your example, would go on to resist Franco, fill - democracy to be crushed by fascism. Ireland who fought in the Spanish Civil War of ing them with courage.” Praising the volunteers who went to Spain, 1936-39. He added: “The Republic you fought for, under Preston, who is a history professor at the London Carlos Miranda told the 350-strong gathering a flag I respect, was a democracy. That is what School of Economics and author of numerous at the International Brigade memorial in Jubilee we have today in Spain. Our democracy flourish - books on the civil war and its aftermath, said: Gardens on London’s South Bank that he had es under a parliamentary monarchy, like the UK. “We will never see their like again.” come to salute “the valiant ‘Brigadistas’ who While we fly another flag today, which is different Tony Lloyd, Labour MP for Manchester Central went to Spain during the civil war to fight for to that of the Republic, it is also yours because and the chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party, the sacrifice of the ‘Brigadistas’ said he felt humbled and honoured to be invited in the 1930s was instrumental in to address the commemoration. The example of the restoration of the democra - international solidarity and sacrifice shown by cy we enjoy today.” the International Brigades would live on for gen - Miranda turned to veterans erations to come. and added: “Your fight during Presided by IBMT Chair Sam Lesser, the meet - the civil war and in its aftermath ing heard Trust Secretary Marlene Sidaway read had not been in vain even the farewell speech made by Dolores Ibárruri (La though Franco and his good Pasionaria) to the International Brigades as they friends Hitler and Mussolini were given a tearful send-off in Barcelona on 28 seemed to carry the day for a October 1938. Lesser himself read out the poem while. You inspired courage and “Jarama” by Brigader Lon Elliott. set an example for those who, Xavier Solano i Bello, London delegate of the after you, continued to fight Catalan government, brought greetings from the through different means during Generalitat. Franco’s dictatorship.” Folk duo Na Mara entertained those present Other speakers included the with songs about the civil war. And they led the IBMTChairSamLesserwelcomesthecrowdatJubileeGardens,watchedby IBMT Patron, Paul Preston, who singing of “Jarama Valley” and “The fellowBrigadersBobDoyle(seated,left)andJackEdwards(seated,right). cited the testimony of three leg - Internationale” at the close of the meeting.

12 International Brigade Memorial Trust