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Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Brother Against Brother Experiences of a British Volunteer in the Spanish Civil War by Frank Thomas Brother Against Brother: Experiences of a British Volunteer in the Spanish Civil War by Frank Thomas. Our systems have detected unusual traffic activity from your network. Please complete this reCAPTCHA to demonstrate that it's you making the requests and not a robot. If you are having trouble seeing or completing this challenge, this page may help. If you continue to experience issues, you can contact JSTOR support. Block Reference: #58f83800-ce06-11eb-a860-ffef855c7fcc VID: #(null) IP: 116.202.236.252 Date and time: Tue, 15 Jun 2021 18:20:22 GMT. Primary Sources. Although most of Harry Browne's Spain's Civil War (2nd edn, London, 1996) is an established secondary work, the text includes bracketed references to the many document extracts that follow it. In contrast, Patricia Knight's The Spanish Civil War (Basingstoke, 1991) is document- centred, with source-related questions at the end of each chapter. Ronald Fraser's Blood ofSpain (London, 1979/86) is built on testimony from the 300-plus eyewitnesses he interviewed in the 1970s, interwoven with his own commentary. In Homage to Catalonia (originally published 1938; Harmondsworth, 1989 edn) George Orwell shares his perceptions of the war in that region and its ramifications, and writes compellingly of his experiences with the POUM militia. Appendix II is a model of vigorous source analysis where Orwell dissects Communist press reports. Penguin Audiobooks have an abridged version of Homage. Many secondhand bookshops have 'search' systems for out-of-print books: David Mitchell's The Spanish Civil War (Granada, 1982), rich in reminiscences, photographs and full-colour posters; Jason Gurney's hard-hitting memoir Crusade in Spain (London, 1974), and Franz Borkenau's perceptive The Spanish Cockpit (London, 1937) are well worth rooting out. Gerald Brenan credited Franz Borkenau with a role in inspiring his 1943 book The SpanishLabyrinth (Cambridge, 2nd edn, 1950; since 1993 with a foreword by Raymond Carr). It has brief but valuable comment on the war, but most of it is on long- and short-term background. This includes the Primo de Rivera dictatorship (1923-30). The Penguin Book of Spanish Civil War Verse (Valentine Cunningham, ed., Harmondsworth, 1996) has a useful in-depth introduction and includes Louis MacNeice's haunting 'And I Remember Spain'. A different concept is The Spanish Civil War: A Cultural and Historical Reader (A. Kenwood, ed., Oxford, 1993) which features 'responses' to the war, including Hispanic, British and American, in reportage, novels and poems. It also has political documents. In Brother against Brother (Robert Stradling, ed., Stroud, 1998) Frank Thomas relates his experiences fighting for the Nationalists. MI5 files released: British participation much greater than thought. The UK National Archives have just released a large cache of records related to the British participation in the Spanish Civil War. From the press release: More volunteers may have left Britain with the aim of joining the International Brigades in Spain than previously thought according to documents discovered at The National Archives. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the start of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936. Despite the British government’s official policy of non- intervention, thousands of men and women from Britain and Ireland were inspired by their political beliefs to fight in defence of the Spanish Second Republic. They were among the first of a generation defined by the fight against Fascism. The British Security Service, sometimes known as MI5, was interested in which British volunteers were defying the ban to fight in Spain as many were also suspected members of the Communist Party. James Cronan, Diplomatic and Colonial Records Specialist at The National Archives, said: “The records show that the Security Service tracked the movements of around 4,000 people it believed were trying to travel to Spain to fight with the International Brigades, many more than previously thought. It’s not clear how many made it to Spain although we know that hundreds never returned. “The International Brigades brought volunteers together from all over the world in defence of democracy but few if any records exist of their service. That’s why uncovering a document like this is so exciting.” The list has now been digitised and is available to view online at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/spanish-civil-war. It provides researchers and historians with a valuable new resource and is a good starting point for anyone wishing to find out whether a relative fought in Spain. The annotated list includes entries for the poet John Cornford, union leader Jack Jones and Eric Blair, better known as George Orwell, whose famous book Homage to Catalonia detailed his experiences with the International Brigades. The newly-digitised material contains more than 200 pages of names and dates detailing the movements of the men and women who left British ports on their way to the frontline in Spain and a roll of honour of those killed in action. A selection of index cards have also been digitised and put online for notable brigade volunteers including the classicist Bernard Knox, Irish Brigade leader Frank Ryan and George Orwell as well as recently deceased veterans such as Sam Lesser, Bob Doyle, Jack Edwards and Paddy Cochrane. Brother Against Brother: Experiences of a British Volunteer in the Spanish Civil War by Frank Thomas. I recently had the pleasure to read Peter Kemp's excellent 'Mine Were of Trouble'. As Kemp was a section (platoon) leader for much of the war, his point of view is at a level that I find helpful for Crossfire. Of particular interest is his description of a rifle section's makeup. What lists I have seen for SCW are typically triangular with companies consisting of three rifle sections, each of three pelotons (squads). Kemp states that the section (platoon) had two pelotons each of two squads. The pelotons were commanded by a sergeant with the squads commanded by a corporal or senior private. I am wondering if in Crossfire Nationalist sections should consist of a PC and four squads rather than a PC and three. Happy to be corrected if I have misread this or others have different information. Kemp spells this out when discussing his time in the Carlist Requetes, but it is clear from his writing that the structure was the same in the Legion. 1 x Company HQ 1 x Captain [ Capitán ] etc 1 x Section HQ 1 x Lieutenant [ Teniente or Alferez ]. etc 1 x Sergeant [ Sargento ] 3 x Squads [ Escuadras ] 1 x Corporal [ Cabo ] 5 – 6 Men. I recently had the pleasure to read Peter Kemp's excellent 'Mine Were of Trouble'. As Kemp was a section (platoon) leader for much of the war, his point of view is at a level that I find helpful for Crossfire. Of particular interest is his description of a rifle section's makeup. What lists I have seen for SCW are typically triangular with companies consisting of three rifle sections, each of three pelotons (squads). Kemp states that the section (platoon) had two pelotons each of two squads. The pelotons were commanded by a sergeant with the squads commanded by a corporal or senior private. I am wondering if in Crossfire Nationalist sections should consist of a PC and four squads rather than a PC and three. Happy to be corrected if I have misread this or others have different information. Kemp spells this out when discussing his time in the Carlist Requetes, but it is clear from his writing that the structure was the same in the Legion. Thanks for that Steven, Will probably stick to the triangular myself. As for Kemp's book, you can get a copy on Book Depository. ISBN13 9798624731721 - $24 (Australian). A thoroughly easy read and provides some real colour. There is an uncommonly large number of spelling and grammatical errors, but I am confident they will fix this in future editions. A Very British Civil Forum. Read most of this book and I was right loads of background fluff for men who would walk out of Spain and in to any BUF or Royalist unit. it also gives some good background to the fighting in Spain. Jun 28, 2014 #13 2014-06-28T19:22. "An enquiring mind is sufficient qualification" Jul 05, 2014 #14 2014-07-05T13:24. Beevor is a good starting point, as are the Preston books Osprey, pictures, not much else, which is ok if thats all you need. There are a number of very good Spanish language books, if you can read, and understand Spanish that is. You can't beat moving pictures though, and I suggest watching the six videos on this link. and have a dekko at "Land and Freedom" the Ken Loach film, based on Orwell's experiences, its a decent film. Jul 05, 2014 #15 2014-07-05T16:50. Oct 08, 2014 #16 2014-10-08T08:42. Hello everyone, this is my first post. I am from the US, which may be why I know these three veterans and authors of books about the SCW. The authors are all from the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. These books present a very different view compared to Orwell. Edwin Rolfe - The Lincoln Battalion. The Story of the Americans Who Fought in Spain in the International Brigades. Alvah Bessie (2 books) - Spain Again, Men in Battle. Steve Nelson - The Volunteers. Oct 08, 2014 #17 2014-10-08T09:03. Oct 27, 2014 #18 2014-10-27T09:18. Oct 27, 2014 #19 2014-10-27T09:22. Dec 02, 2014 #20 2014-12-02T22:41.