IBMT Newsletter www.international-brigades.org.uk Issue 31 / NewYear 2012 INTERNATIONAL BRIGADE MEMORIALTRUST Lecturetoprobe civilwar’shuman rightslegacy There will be a contemporary focus to the IBMT’s annual Len Crome Memorial Lecture this year, with American historian Peter N Carroll looking at the continuing impact of the Spanish CivilWar. Entitled “The Spanish CivilWar in the 21st Century: From Guernica to Human Rights”, the lecture is to be delivered at ’s ImperialWar Museum on Saturday 3 March. The talk begins at 2.30pm and will be chaired by Professor Paul Preston. It will be followed by a question-and-answer session. In the morning, the IBMT will screen two short films: Henri Cartier-Bresson’s “With the Lincoln Brigade in ” and “The International Brigaders Among Us” – the British première of a new documentary on the British and American Brigaders before the in 1938.The film session SALUTE: BritishBrigaderDavidLomon(left)withformercomradesErikEllman(secondfromright)fromEstoniaand begins at 11.30am. thebrothersJosephandVincentAlmudevarfromFranceinfrontofthenewmemorialinMadrid’sUniversityCity. Peter N Carroll is the leading historian of the US volunteers who went to Spain and is the author and editor of 17 books.They include “Facing Fascism: NewYork and the Spanish Memorialunveiledon75thanniversary CivilWar” (2007), “The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Americans in the ofcreationofInternationalBrigades Spanish CivilWar” (1994) and the memoir “KeepingTime” (2011). He is also Chair Emeritus of the board of governors of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA) and co-curator of two travel - ReturntoMadrid ing exhibitions: “Shouts From theWall: Posters of the Spanish CivilWar” (with Cary The75thanniversaryoftheformationofthe Alargecrowdassembledatthesiteofthenew Nelson) and “They Still Draw Pictures: InternationalBrigadeswascommemoratedin memorialtohearBritishBrigaderDavidLomon, Children’s Art inWartime From the Spanish SpaininOctoberbyaweekofeventsinMadrid, aged93,speakwithdignityandpowertoremem - CivilWar to Kosovo” (with Anthony L Geist). AlbaceteandBarcelona.Theseincludedvisitsto berthecourageofthe35,000foreignvolunteers He is the editor of ALBA’s TheVolunteer and thetrainingbasesatMadriguerasandTarazona, whofoughtwiththeSpanishpeopleagainstthe teaches history at Stanford University, concerts,academicdiscussions,actsofremem - fascistmenace.“Today,morethanever,wesay: California, specialising in American film. branceandfilmshows. ‘¡Nopasarán!’”,hedeclaredasthecrowderupted Now in its 11th year, the IBMT’s lecture ThehighlightoftheprogrammeinMadridatthe insustainedapplause. series is named after Len Crome (1909-2001), startoftheweekwastheinaugurationofanew TheUniversityCitywasthesceneoffiercefight - who was working as a GP in Lancashire when memorialtotheInternationalBrigadesinthe inginNovemberandDecember1936duringthe he volunteered to go to Spain, where he heartofMadrid’sUniversityCityon22October.It defenceofMadridanditwastherethatthefirst became chief medical officer of the Inter- was75yearstothedaysinceLargoCaballero, volunteersunderwenttheirbaptismoffire. national Brigades. PrimeMinisteroftheSpanishRepublic,had Designedbyteachersandstudentsattheuni - signedthedecreeauthorisingtheformationof versity’sfacultyoffinearts,thememorial See“Diarydates”forthefullprogrammeon3March: militaryunitsofforeignvolunteers. Continued on back page page15. IBMT FROMTHESECRETARY Keepingalivethememoryand spiritofthemenandwomenwho volunteeredtodefenddemocracy RememberingtheBrigaders inSpainfrom1936to1939 onRemembranceDay? InternationalBrigade ByJimJump Republic in 1936. Some IBMT members have MemorialTrust often complained that by choosing a date in July ongratulations to the ITV Sport producers we are effectively commemorating the anniver - www.international-brigades.org.uk who beamed the image (see facing page) sary of a fascist uprising.The matter was raised Charityno: 1094928 of a football fan holding a placard saying again and discussed at our annual general meet - Patrons :KenLivingstoneandPaulPreston C “We also remember XVth International Brigade ing in London on 1 October last year.The meeting Secretary: JimJump ’36” to millions ofTV viewers was assured that we would keep it under review, 6StonellsRoad,LondonSW116HQ during the live broadcast on 12 November of the though designating a different day – perhaps in 020 -72286504 England-Spain football match at London’s February, anniversary of the , or [email protected] Wembley Stadium.The image appeared on October, when the were President: MarleneSidaway screen for several seconds during the two- formed – would present other difficulties with our 020-85556674 minute silence for Britain’s war dead that was timetable of events for the year. marlenesidaway @hotmail.com observed before the kick-off. The identity of the holder of the placard is Don’tmissthisyear’sevent Chair: DoloresLong unknown. Nor is it known whether ITV Sport This year’s national commemoration will take 0161-2262013;[email protected] understood its significance, as the dead of the place on London’s South Bank on Saturday 7 July. Treasurer: (vacancy) Spanish CivilWar are not included in the official It promises to be a special occasion as Jubilee treasurer@ international-brigades.org.uk “red poppy” acts of remembrance. Gardens will only recently have been reopened IrelandSecretary:ManusO’Riordan TheWembley incident rekindled the debate after redevelopment. As part of the works, our +353-87-6784727 about whether there should be recognition of the memorial, with its magnificent sculpture by Ian [email protected] International Brigades on Remembrance Day. Walters, is being moved a short distance to a far When the suggestion came up a few years ago better spot within the park and will have low-level MembershipSecretary: MaryGreening it was firmly rejected by veterans Jack Jones and seating around it, making it more visible.We will 2WoodfordClose,CardiffCF52PH , who were IBMT trustees at the time. also be unveiling a new plaque beside the memo - 029-20195412 I suspect that many IBMT members would still rial giving more background information on the memsec@internationa l-brigades.or g.uk be deeply uneasy about the idea, not least International Brigades. Put the date in your diary. EducationOfficer: RichardThorpe because in recent years the occasion has also 01724-798615;t horpe.ortiz@ btinternet.com been used to bang the drum for what many peo - Nevertooold MerchandiseOfficer: ChrisHall ple regard as highly contentious wars in IBMT members who follow political develop - 0161-8617448;[email protected] Afghanistan and Iraq. ments in Spain will probably have been disap - Having said all that, it’s interesting to note that pointed, though hardly surprised, to see the rul - Other Executive Committee members: when veterans returned from Spain they did ing PSOE socialist party – which enacted the Mike Anderson, Mike Arnott, Richard organise wreath-laying at the Cenotaph and 2007 Law of Historic Memory that conferred Baxell, Rodney Bickerstaffe, Pauline other war memorials to remember their dead Spanish citizenship on International Brigade vet - Fraser, Hilary Jones, Mick Jones, Duncan comrades (see cutting on facing page). erans – voted out of office in the country’s general Longstaff election on 20 November last year.The victors Membership applications, renewals and LookintheMirror were the rightwing Popular Party. queries should be sent to Membership Perhaps the football fan who held the placard at But there was at least one bright Secretary Mary Greening. All other correspon - Wembley had read an article praising the spot in the election campaign: Dr dence should go to Secretary Jim Jump. International Brigades by Daily Mirror columnist Moises Broggi (left) stood for Annual membership rates are £15 standard; Brian Reade two days before the match. He election to the Spanish Senate as £7.50 concessions; £20 family (single wrote: “AsEnglandfaceSpainthisRemembrance a candidate for the Catalan household); affiliating organisations by weekend,weshouldbeaskingifthetimehas Republican Left (ERC) party. Now arrangement. Further details and forms are comeforBritaintofullyhonour,notjustthose aged 103, Broggi was a field sur - available from the Membership Secretary. whofellatFlandersandtheSomme,butthose geon in the International Brigades’ medical serv - whoseblooddrenchedthefieldsofJarama, ices during the Spanish CivilWar and a close col - AragonandBrunete.I’mtalkingaboutourmem - league of many British medics.Though the bersoftheInternationalBrigadewho,in1936, -based veteran was unsuccessful in his wenttoSpaintofightGeneralFranco’sfascists election bid, he proved that you’re never too old IBMT NEWSLETTER aftertheyhadoverthrowntheRepublicangovern - to get involved and – as many on the left are fond TheIBMTNewsletter ispublishedthree mentwiththehelpofHitlerandMussolini.” of saying – the struggle keeps you young. timesayearandissentfreetoallmembers. Backnumberscanbedownloadedfromthe IsJulytherightmonth? Timelydonation IBMTwebsiteon[www.international- The IBMT, just as the International Brigade Thanks must go to Harriet Hall for her £500 dona - brigades.org.uk/newsletter.htm].Sendall Association before us, has always organised our tion to the IBMT. Harriet is the daughter of itemsforthenextissuetotheEditorby annual act of commemoration in London – which Stephen Clark, who during the Spanish CivilWar 31March2012atthelatest. last year also went nationwide – in July.This is the was a volunteer with the Spanish Medical Aid Editor: JimJump(seecontactdetailsabove) month that saw Franco and the other rebellious Committee. She is also the niece of Nathan Clark, editor@internationa l-brigades.or g.uk generals launch their coup against the Spanish who, as his obituary in our last issue explained,

2 International Brigade Memorial Trust t r POPPYDAYS: The o p

S placard (left)seen V T

I byTVviewers last November and (right) a cuttingfrom the Daily Worker showing Brigaders leaving a wreath at theCenotaph war memorial in London for Remembrance Day 1938.See “Remembering the Brigaders on Remembrance Day?”

served in the International Brigades for 16 Revista , magazine of the Anglo-Spanish Society, survived the war despite injury and died in 1961. months as a driver. Sadly, Stephen died last year on the Spanish Republican contribution to the For an account of Fanny’s life and her time in too (see his obituary on page 14).The two broth - Allied victory in the SecondWorldWar. Geoff Spain see the December 2011 issue of The ers were members of the Quaker family that doesn’t say it, but Churchill’s invocation of Volunteer (published by ALBA, our sister organi - owns Clarks Shoes – Nathan, indeed, was the Barcelona no doubt reflects the continuing out - sation in the US): [www.albavolunteer.org]. inventor of the ever popular desert boot. rage felt by the British public at the bombing of The un-named Brigader who appeared in a Harriet explains that the donation is in memo - civilian targets by Franco and his fascist allies. Father’s Day feature in last year ry of Stephen and Nathan, adding that she has It’s worth remembering this as we approach this was Morgan Harvard, a miner from the Swansea enjoyed finding out more about their involve - year the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Valley who, during the civil war, was badly ment in the war in Spain through the IBMT. Guernica on 26 April 1937. wounded in the arm and shoulder before being Her generosity is an opportunity to underline taken prisoner by Franco’s fascists. His arm was how much the IBMT relies on membership sub - Seenplayingfootball amputated after capture. scriptions and donations, however large or We are delighted that US historian Peter N Chris Birch adds in a letter to the IBMT small.We are an entirely voluntary organisation. Carroll will be delivering this year’s Len Crome Newsletter : “After the war he had a van and ran a All our officers give up their spare time to run the Memorial Lecture at the ImperialWar Museum, furniture removal business in London, which he Trust and organise its activities, and we depend London, on 3 March. In the morning session advertised in the DailyWorker . Bert Ovenden, a on this income and hard work to make sure that before the lecture we will be screening two films, catering worker from Folkstone who also fought the memory of the International Brigade volun - one of them Henri Cartier-Bresson’s newly dis - in Spain, worked with Morgan.” teers and all those who helped them is not lost. covered documentary “With the Lincoln Brigade As a postscript, it was good to see that PS: Membership subscriptions for 2012 are now in Spain”.When it was premiered in London in Morgan’s daughter, Julie Norton, who wrote the due (see notice on page 5). November, John Kenton, the son of one of our moving piece in The Guardian about her father, surviving veterans (now aged 103!), who died at the age of 58, and her regret at not y r a r spotted his father playing football at the conva - properly realising he was a hero, attended the b i L l lescent centre for the International Brigades at unveiling in December of a memorial plaque for a i r

o Benicasim. Most of the footage is of US volun - the Swansea Brigaders. m e teers, but – who knows? – there could be other “I think [my father] would be pleased with the M x r Brigaders from the British Isles who might be memorial and I don't suppose he would have a

M identified not only in the Cartier-Bresson film but imagined such a thing when he was alive,” she also in the other film that is being shown, “The told a BBC SouthWestWales interviewer. International Brigaders Among Us”, which con - See page 5 for a photo of the unveiling. tains footage of the XV Brigade before the Ebro offensive in 1938. NATHAN CLARK: Pictured(left)atthe International See page 15 for details of the lecture day. BrigadehospitalatHuete. Positivelyidentified RecallingBarcelona… andGuernica Questions about the identity of two Brigaders Who said at the height of the Blitz on London and whose pictures were published in our last issue other British cities: “I believe our countrymen have been solved with the help of readers. will show themselves capable of standing up to The militiawoman pictured in the article in it – like the brave people of Barcelona…”? which Geoff Lawes wondered whether she might Perhaps surprisingly, says Geoff Cowling, former be Felicia Browne has been identified as Fanny British consul-general in Barcelona and IBMT Schoonheyt, a Dutch volunteer from Rotterdam. trustee, it wasWinston Churchill during his Like Fanny, Felicia Browne was already in Spain famous “Finest Hour” speech in Parliament on when the Spanish CivilWar began in July 1936 18 June 1940.The prime minister could have cho - and immediately joined the workers’ militias on senWarsaw or Rotterdam as examples, writes the Aragón front. Felicia was killed late in August Geoff in an article in the winter issue of La – the first British casualty of the war – but Fanny NAMED:FannySchoonheytandMorganHarvard.

International Brigade Memorial Trust 3 IBMT GALA NIGHT l u f t n e v E / n e e r G n o m i S y b s o t o h p l l A

From left: Historian HelenGraham,singer-songwriterBilly Bragg, novelist Victoria Hislop, writer and broadcaster Robert Elms and poetAndyCroft discuss thesignificance of the International Brigades and theSpanishCivil War.

Viewfrom thestage as the prize raffle is drawn.

Poems to makeyou laugh and cryfrom Jackie Kay.

NIGHTTOREMEMBER: TheNewRedLionTheatrePub Grace Petrie wrote inLondonwassoldouton1October2011fortheIBMTgala and performed a new nighttocelebratethe75thanniversaryoftheformationof song especiallyfor theInternationalBrigades.SponsoredbyUnitetheUnion the event: “They andorganisedbyPhilosophyFootball,thenightraised Shall Not Pass”. £1,000fortheIBMT.TheguestofhonourwasInternational BrigadeveteranDavidLomon.SeeavideobySanum Ghafoorwithclipsfromtheeveningandinterviewswith participants:[www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY4Ic_Er66I]. Morephotoscanbeseenhere:[www.flickr. com/photos/ philosophyfootball/sets/72157627897689246]. Folk duo na-marasangsongs inspired by International BrigadersGeorge Wheeler and Penny Feiwel.

TayoAluko in “Call Mr Robeson”.

4 International Brigade Memorial Trust NEWS Timetopa yyour membership subsfor2012 IBMTsubscriptionsfor2012arenowdue. Pleasesendthemassoonaspossible. Whenreturningyourcheque,clearlystate yournameandaddresssothatthesecanbe matchedwithourmembershiprecords. Also,pleaseconsiderpayingyoursubsby directdebit.Thedirectdebitformcanbe ASHESINBARCELONA:FlowersforSamLesserattheFossarde downloadedat:[www.international- laPedreraCemeteryinBarcelona’sMontjuïc,wherethereisa brigades.org.uk/join.htm].Sendcheques memorial(right)totheInternationalBrigades.Theashesofthevet - orcompleteddirectdebitformstoMary eranofthebattlesaroundMadridandatLoperainNovemberand Greening,IBMTMembershipSecretary, December1936werescatteredinthecemeteryon30September 2WoodfordClose,RadyrWay,Cardiff 2011byhisfamily.AmemorialbenchfortheformerIBMTchair– CF52PH. whoasSamRussellbecameaDailyWorker correspondentin Foranyqueries,tel:029-20195412;email: Barcelonaduringthecivilwarandafterwardsthepaper’sforeign [[email protected]]. editor–willbeunveiled(at10.30amon18March)inVictoriaParkin eastLondon,nearwherehewasraised. PlaquemarksParisrecruitingcentre Inbrief… GFamilyandsupportersofthe600Scottish A plaque (right) now stands volunteers inSpaingatheredattheInter- outside what used to be the nationalBrigadememorialinPrincesStreet central recruiting office of the Gardens,Edinburgh,on14October2011to International Brigades in Paris markthe75thanniversaryoftheforma tionof – which most of the volunteers theBrigades.OrganisedbyGordonMunro,a from around the world visited LabourcouncilloronEdinburghCityCouncil, for a medical and to be given theeventsawflowerslaidatthememorialby tickets and instructions for ColinCargill,arelativeofthreevolunteers, their clandestine journey south andtherewerespeechesbyJavierJiménez- to Spain. Ugarte,Spanishconsul-general,andhistori - Unveiled on 10 November anDanielGray.Atasocialgatheringlaterthat 2011, the plaque has been evening,songsweresungbyGalloRojo,a erected by the IBMT’s sister groupofScottishandSpanishmusicianswho organisation in France, ACER havecometogethertocommemoratethe (Friends of Fighters in SpanishRepublic’sstruggleagainstfascism. Republican Spain), and is locat - See:[www.gallorojoedimburgo.org]. ed at 8 Avenue Mathurin Moreau, Paris 75019. GThenewIBMTconstitution ,asamended The plaque says: atthe2011annualgeneralmeeting,isavail - “Thousands of French and for - ableforviewingordownloadonourwebsite: eign volunteers passed [www.international-brigades.org.uk].Aprint - through here from 1936 to 1938 edcopycanalsobeobtainedonrequestby to enlist in the International sendingastampedaddressedA5envelope Brigades in order to help the to:IBMT,6StonellsRoad,LondonSW116HQ. Spanish Republic, the victim of a coup by General Franco that was supported by Hitler and Mussolini.There were some 35,000 volunteers of 53 differ - ent nationalities who fought recruitment centre –where vol - She later wrote about the vol - bravely for freedom and democ - unteers were screened for their unteers, one of whom was her racy alongside the Spanish political reliability as well as own son: “The vast majority people, of whom nearly 10,000 given a medical examination were men of splendid types, were French.This was the first and a final opportunity to honest and brave, who in MEMORIALINSWANSEA: Aplaquewasunveiled international act of resistance change their mind –was the greater or lesser degree were inSwansea’sCivicCentreon14December2011tothe against fascism.” British Communist activist conscious of being engaged in a 11localvolunteerswhofoughtintheSpanishCivil One of those people who dur - Charlotte Haldane (1894-1969), crusade to rescue democracy War,threeofwhomwerekilledinSpain.Itwas ing 1937 worked at the Paris under the pseudonym of Rita. from the grip of fascism.” unveiledbytheLordMayorofSwansea,IoanRichard.

International Brigade Memorial Trust 5 NEWS

FLORALTRIBUTE: Thegreat-great- RESTORED:GrahamThompsonstands memorialin1939fortheAEU’sdistrictcom - grandchildrenofBritishBattalion directlybehindtherenovatedmemorialin mittee. ThistimeUnitetheUnionpaidfor politicalcommissarJack“Russia” Swindon’s WhitworthRoadCemeterytolocal itsmuchneededrestoration.Amongthose Roberts(1899-1979),OwainandSera BrigaderPercyWilliams(farright),amer - presentattherededicationceremonyon Felstead,laidaRepublicantricolour chantnavyengineerwithBlueStarLineand 10September2011wasJoyceMurgatroyd, floraltributetotheInternational memberoftheAEUengineeringunion,who 95,(centre,incoat),whosharedhervivid BrigadersinSpainonRemembrance waskilledinAragóninMarch1938. memoriesofAidSpaincampaignsin SundayattheSenghenyddwar Thompson’s fatherhadhelpederectthe Swindontoraisemoneyforrefugees. memorialinSouthWales. s w e N g n i n e v

CAN YOUHELP? E r e t s e h

Anarchistsongforwomen c n a

Folk singer and folk - M lorist Geoff Lawes is trying to establish whether a Spanish anarchist song, “A Las SISTER: Mujeres” (For the Women), existed or was JoyceHarrisonunveiledaplaque WEXFORDVOLUNTEER: sung during the Spanish Civil War. SupportersofthePeterDaly toherbrother,JamesKeogh(left),at He believes it was reprinted in a book SocietyWexfordbesideaplaquetotheInternational TamesideCentralLibrary,Ashton-under- published in 1978 called “Cantos y poe - BrigadevolunteerfromMonageer,nearEnniscorthy,in Lyneon25November2011.Keogh,whodied mas de la Guerra Civil de España” by Joan Ireland.Unveiledon3September2011,theplaqueis inSpainattheageof22,wastheeldestof11 Llarch. mountedonagraniteplinthnexttothemainroadinthe childrenandasaself-taughtsocialistspentmanyhours So far the reference to the song closest centreofthevillage.Dalydiedon6September1937from inthelibrarybeforegivinguphistailoringapprentice - to the civil war that he has discovered is in woundssustainedatQuintoontheAragónfront.Among shipandheadingforSpaininMay1937.Hewaskilledon “Cancionero Revolucionario” (Ediciones thespeakersattheunveilingwereSteveMcCann,chairof 22March1938atCalaceitewhenhewashitbytankfire. Tierra y Libertad, Burdeos, 1947). thesociety,CubanambassadorTeresitaTrujilloandhistori - TheplaquewasraisedbyTamesideMetropolitan Geoff adds: “The 1947 reference can be anHarryOwens. BoroughCouncilafteracampaignledbyTamesideTUC. seen on the following site where, if any - one is interested, you can also hear the song: [www.centrefedericamontseny.org/ index.php?accion=cancion]. “There are lots of references to the song on the internet, but they all seem to be quoting from the same, usually unnamed, source. The recording on all the websites is always the same one and, although the SPANISH BULL: A recording has some surface noise, I am memorialinRentontothe not sure that it is a very old recording. If it InternationalBrigaders is a recording from the period of the civil fromDunbartonshire–in war then I think there would be a prior ref - theformofasculptureofa erence that would be quoted – but it never bull–wasunveiledon27 is. Curious.” August2011bylocal ScottishSocialistParty IfanyonecanhelpGeofforhasacopyof“Cantosypoe - councillorJimBollanin masdelaGuerraCivildeEspaña”,contacthimon: frontofagatheringof [[email protected]].Seehisdiscussion friends,familiesandsup - forumonsongsinEnglishabouttheSpanishCivilWar portersofthevolunteers. at:[http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid Seeavideooftheevent: =128093].Ifyoudonothaveaccesstoemail,contact [www.youtube. com/watch theIBMTSecretary(detailsonpage2). ?v=T-UfmuLtW6E].

6 International Brigade Memorial Trust SPECIAL OFFERTO READERS MedicalvolunteersforSpain Atlasttheirfullstoryistold he story of one of the most important con - tors, nurses and medics to maintain some kind tributions made by the volunteers from of emergency medical service. Not only that, TBritain who went to Spain – the provision but some of the individuals involved were also of medical assistance for the anti-fascist cause responsible for important developments that – is now told for the first time in a dedicated were crucial to later military-medical practice book. and also to the history of medicine in general. Author Linda Palfreeman describes the hero - “¡Salud! BritishVolunteers in the Republican ic efforts made by International Brigade doc - Medical Service during the Spanish CivilWar, 1936-1939” explains how the medical volun - teers left everything – their loved ones, their ORDERNOW: “¡Salud! BritishVolunteers in jobs and the safety of their homes – in order the Republican MedicalService during the to administer aid to a distant people. SpanishCivil War, 1936-1939” is exclusively There were surgeons, GPs, nurses, first- available to IBMT members in paperback at the aiders and orderlies, ambulance drivers, special price of £17.This is £8 less than the retail stretcher-bearers, mechanics and administra - price. Order now to receiveyour copy assoon as tors, individuals with a broad range of profes - ise in easing the pain and suffering of those in possible –send a cheque payable to the IBMT sional experience and from widely differing need. for £19 (£17 plus £2 p&p), givingyour name social backgrounds. The book considers the social and political and address.Send orders to: IBMTSecretary, circumstances leading up to the formation of 6Stonells Road, LondonSW11 6HQ. ome were communists, whilst others pro - the first British medical teams and the depar - The book is being published in February 2012 fessed no particular political calling. A ture of the first volunteers for Spain, together bySussexAcademic Press in association with few were opportunists who went to Spain with the subsequent creation of the medical the IBMT and theCañada BlanchCentrefor S in search of adventure or as a means of gaining service of the International Brigades into which ContemporarySpanishStudies.The hardback medical experience in conditions of war. But the British medical units were incorporated. cover price is £65 and the paperback will be on the very great majority were simply committed There is mention of the important medical sale in bookshopsfor £24.95. to using their specialist knowledge and expert - achievements made during the war and, in par - ticular, the part played in these by British med - ical personnel. “Medicalpersonnelgenerallyworkedin Much of the information is gleaned from reports and newsletters of the collectives dreadfulconditions,forhoursandevendays involved in the organisation of medical aid to Spain, notably the Spanish Medical Aid withoutrest,andwithalackofequipmentand Committee. Reports in Britain poured praise on the mar - provisionsofallkinds .” velous running of hospitals in Spain.This is, perhaps, understandable given that the objec -

y tive of such reports was to raise the conscious - r a r b ness of the British people about the plight of i L l

a the sick and the wounded in Republican Spain i r o and to raise funds towards their continued m e

M medical care. x r a M he reality of life in the improvised hospital was often quite different. Medical person - Tnel generally worked in dreadful condi - tions, for hours and even days without rest, and with a lack of equipment and provisions of all kinds.This inevitably created nervous ten - sion and sometimes led to quarrels among the mostly young and inexperienced men and women of the medical unit who suddenly found themselves thrown together in desper - ate circumstances. All this is vividly described in Linda Palfreeman’s ground-breaking new book. Imagesfrom“¡Salud!”include(aboveleft) “The medical volunteers were charged with ThoraSilverthorneandAlexTudorHart the task of salvaging something of life amidst operatingnearthefrontlinein1937and inhumanity and mayhem,” she says. “That (fromleft)PeterCrome,ArchieCochrane they rose to the challenge in itself merits trib - andKennethSinclair-Loutit. ute. I hope this new book does them justice.”

International Brigade Memorial Trust 7 75th ANNIVERSARY Events in Britain and Spain to remember the formation of the International Brigades in October 1936

Scottish Ambulance Unit veteran Thomas Watters greets IBMT members before the Trust’s annual general meeting at Unite the Union’s headquarters in London during a weekend of events in London on 30 September/2 October 2011. The union’s memorial to its International Brigade volunteers is pictured in front of the ban - ner. The weekend included an IBMT gala night VolunteersGeorge(JackShalloo),Jack(MarkMeadows) (see page 4) and a commemoration of the 75th andSammy(TomGill)discusspoliticaldifferencesonthe anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street, when Republicanside. East End anti-fascists used the slogan of the defenders of the Spanish Republic –They shall La Pasionaria not pass / No pasarán –as they prevented the (Laura Tebbutt) Blackshirts from marching through their streets. bids farewell to the International Brigaders.

IBMT President MARLENE SIDAWAY reviews the musical “Goodbye LutfurRahman(centre),MayorofTowerHamlets,withveterananti-fascistMaxLevitas(whosebrotherMauricewas Barcelona” about the International anInternationalBrigader),greetstheNationalClarionCyclingClub1895ridersontheirarrivalon30September2011 Brigades that played at the Arcola atthemuraldepictingthe1936BattleofCableStreetinLondon’sEastEnd.SevencyclistshadsetoutfromEdinburgh Theatre, London, from 24 November to twoweeksearlierandarrivedinLondonviaGlasgow,Belfast,Dublin,CardiffandReading,visitingInternational 23 December. Brigadememorialsalongtheway.Nexttothemayoristhecyclingclub’ssecretary,CharlesJepson. his inspirational production of Judith A“mobile”memorialwas Johnson and Karl Lewkowicz’s “Goodbye placedinOctoberlastyear Barcelona” was rapturously received by infrontoftheformer T regularly full houses – and rightly so! monasteryatSanPedrode The songs are a good mixture of rousing cho - Cardeña,nearBurgosin ruses, tender love songs, and amusingly cynical northernSpain,wherecap - takes on the political situation in Spain.The turedInternational story takes us smoothly from the struggle Brigaderswereimpris - against the Blackshirts in Cable Street, through oned.Entitled“Rootsof to the volunteers’ difficult journey and arrival in Memory”,Susana Spain, the adjustment to an unfamiliar country, Rioseras’smemoriallists climate and diet and the difficulties of actually AplaquehonouringtheInternationalBrigadersfrom thedistancesto20capital fighting a war with inadequate arms and forces. CypruswasunveiledbyCypriotambassadorAntonis citiesofcountriesthatsent Woven through all of this are the two love sto - ToumazisatMadrid’sFuencarralCemeteryon23 volunteerstoSpainand ries of the young Sammy who volunteered, October.Thereweresome60volunteersfromCyprus, says:“ThepeopleofBurgosthanktheInternational aged 18, and the Spanish girl Pilar whom he manyofwhomfoughtintheBritishBattalion. BrigaderswhogavetheirlivesfortheRepublic,anti-fas - meets in Barcelona (Tom Gill and Katie cismandfreedom.1936-2011.”Permissionforthememo - Bernstein) and Sammy’s mother Rebecca, who rialtobeinstalledpermanentlyhasnotyetbeengranted. follows him to Spain as a nurse, and the anar - chist Ernesto (Lucy Bradshaw and John ArtistRoseBransoninfrontofhernewlyfinishedpainting Killoran). celebratingtheInternationalBrigadeswithMarx Sammy’s enthusiastic idealism provokes MemorialLibraryDirectorJohnCallowattheopeningofan some lively debate with his fellow Brigaders, exhibitionofpaintingsbyherfatherandInternational the cynical FirstWorldWar veteran Jack and the BrigaderClive Branson(1907-1944).Thethreeweekexhi - dedicated communist George (Mark Meadows bitionopenedon30Septembertocoincidewiththestart and Jack Shalloo). LauraTebbutt’s wonderful ofthe75thanniversarycelebrations. voice makes the words of La Pasionaria come to

8 International Brigade Memorial Trust GOODBYE BARCELONA d n a n n A

n o m i S

: s o t o h p

n o i t c u d o r p

l l A

Above: Sammy’s mother, Above: Lovers Pilar (Katie Bernstein) and Sammy, the Rebecca (Lucy Bradshaw) London East End volunteer. nurses anarchist fighter Left: George leaves for Spain. Ernesto (John Killoran). Right: Sammy confronts the fascist Blackshirts at Cable Street in London’s East End before deciding to go to Spain. Inspirational musical Words and music by Judith Johnson and did credit to the Brigaders Karl Lewkowicz… Goodbye Barcelona and goodbye Spain life, and other ensemble members of the cast viewed volunteers Penny Feiwel, Jack Jones, Lou We came when you called us, we’ll come give enthusiastic and tuneful support. Kenton, Sam Lesser and Alan Menai Williams – again, The musicians, under the direction of Mark and their inspiration for the project is acknowl - We gave all we had, Smith, deserve a special mention too, and I’m edged in Judith and Karl’s programme notes. Should we go when there’s so much to do? sure I wasn’t the only one wanting to join in with I congratulate them on a fantastic achieve - some of the rousing verses of “The Inter- ment, which does great credit to the Brigaders Goodbye Barcelona, the skies are grey nationale” and “Jarama Valley” with such a and all who supported the Spanish Republic. The storm is approaching, with no delay wonderful accompaniment. This is an ambitious work, combining love Hold on through the dark The director, Karen Rabinowitz, and the whole stories with the fate of the International We’ll be waiting to see you come through. of the design team have created a backdrop Brigades and the doomed Republic. It eschews that evokes and passions of the the usual clichés that the volunteers were com - Will you remember why we came today, 1930s, which the book and music of Judith munist dupes or that their idealism was Not to find glory, no revenge or pay, Johnson and Karl Lewkowicz bring out so well. betrayed by Stalin. Instead, we hear that they Just for a moment there seemed to be a way Judith and Karl have been working on this went to Spain without regrets and, in the words We could stand up and fight, but now we project for six years, having been inspired origi - of poet Cecil Day Lewis that are sung in must say, nally by The Guardian ’s supplement about the “Goodbye Barcelona”, because their “open Brigaders in November 2000. They then inter - eyes could see no other way”. Goodbye Barcelona, the world was blind, Goodbye to the friends that we leave behind, They’ll stay here forever “Goodbye Barcelona… eschews the usual clichés Be sure you remember their names. that the volunteers were communist dupes or that So when your children ask you why we came, Say these open eyes could see no other way, their idealism was betrayed by Stalin. Instead, we Say how we tried to keep alive the flame, How we wanted to stay, but just had to say hear that they went to Spain without regrets …” Goodbye, Barcelona goodbye.

International Brigade Memorial Trust 9 NAT COHEN MIXED MEDIA An English volunteer from Argentina Britain’s role in

By Jerónimo E Boragina ed to expel 150 activists who had been demand - ing better wages and conditions for workers. On Franco’s victory rgentina in the first decades of the last the night of 10 February they were put on board century was not noted for its political sta - an Argentinian naval ship, the Chaco . Among By Jim Jump Ability and respect for ordinary people, nor them was an Englishman, Nat Cohen. for harmony between capital and labour. Law He had been held prisoner in Villa Devoto he nefarious role no.4144 of 1902 allowed the government to Prison, Buenos Aires, along with other trade played by the British expel any foreigner who “compromised nation - unionists. He wrote about his imprisonment TGovernment and the al security and threatened public order”. As a and the sea journey home in a letter to Rosita, country’s intelligence serv - result, hundreds of immigrant workers were his friend in Argentina, on 25 April 1932. ices during the Spanish Civil deported – many of them well-established in Nat had been in Argentina for several years War comes under the spot - Argentina – to their countries of birth. In the and worked as a tailor. But he was also a commu - light in the latest book by case of Germans and Italians, many were hand - nist union leader in the CGT national trade union leading Spanish historian Ángel Viñas. One of the ed over to the fascist authorities. centre. His union role and commitment to work - three sections of “La Conspiración del General In 1932, two years on from the rightwing mili - ing-class causes gave the authorities the perfect Franco”* is a detailed examination of the reasons tary coup by General José Uriburu, it was decid - excuse to expel him from the country. His union behind Britain’s hostility to the Spanish Republic militancy tells us that by neces - and its covert support for the victory of Franco’s sity he had become proficient in fascist-backed rebels. the Spanish language. Viñas can find no direct documentary proof Cohen wrote about the ill- linking the British state with the notorious airlift - treatment suffered on the ing of Franco by a British aircraft in July 1936 from Chaco , where there were daily the Canary Islands to Spanish Morocco – where beatings and, being the only he took command of the Army of Africa at the out - Englishman on board, he was a set of the rebellion. The Dragon Rapide (pictured special target. But the harsh - on the book’s cover) was, however, piloted by two ness experienced by the depor - men with close ties to British intelligence: Hugh tees in the ship’s holds failed to Pollard and Cecil Bebb. dent morale during the journey But Viñas uncovers conclusive evidence of via Bahia (Brazil), San Vicente close contacts between the coup plotters and (Cape Verde) and finally Las British diplomats and agents. Secret cables sent Palmas in the Canaries. to Whitehall conveniently – and mendaciously – spun the Francoist myth that a communist Jerónimo E Boragina is the co-author takeover of Spain was imminent. It was an analy - (with Lucas González, Gustavo Dorado sis that was gratefully and unquestioningly and Ernesto Sommaro ) of “Voluntarios received in Government circles, where narrow de Argentina: en la Guerra Civil class interests and the policy of appeasing the Española” (Ediciones del CCC, Buenos fascist powers ensured that Britain would aban - Aires, 2008) and a video documentary don the Republic to defeat. about the Argentinian volunteers This book is available only in Spanish, so Nat Cohen, standing front left, in Barcelona in September 1936. “Esos mismos hombres” (2006). English-only readers interested in this topic should instead read the chapter by fellow Spanish historian Enrique Moradiellos, “Albion’s …who cycled through France to fight in Spain Perfidy: The British Government and the Spanish Civil War” in “Looking Back at the Spanish Civil By Dan Carrier arriving days before the fascist being shot in the knee. His War” (ed. Jim Jump, Lawrence & Wishart, London, revolt started in Spain. friend Sam Masters was not so 2010), which is available at the special price of ith the Olympics due Nat, instead of turning round fortunate and was killed at £15 plus £2 p&p from the IBMT. to be held in in and pedalling home, immedi - Brunete in July 1937. W1936, thousands of ately asked what he could do Nat came home to be greet - * Published by Crítica, Barcelona, 2011. people were calling for a boy - and was signed into a workers’ ed by a street party in Stepney cott. Nat Cohen was one of militia. With Spanish workers, in east London – thousands those voices and was asked by he tried to retake the Balearic were there to welcome him. He Archives go online his union to travel to Spain to Islands –a disastrous mission, returned with a wife, Dolores, a ork is under way at the Modern Records compete in the bicycle races at as Italian warplanes murdered Spanish woman he had met Centre, Warwick University, on a major a Workers' Olympiad for Berlin the loyalist troops heading out behind the barricades. They Wproject to digitise all its archives relating refuseniks that July. to Majorca in small fishing boats had with them a Great Dane to the Spanish Civil War. Short of cash, he and his from the Costa Brava harbours. dog, a stray Nat had found Most of the archives are from the Trades Union friend Sam Masters decided Nat survived –and his brav - wandering the streets of Congress collection and are expected to provide not to buy a train ticket to the ery was such that he was Barcelona and couldn’t bear to an excellent online research resource for aca - south. Instead they hoiked asked to head an English- leave behind. demics, students and the public. The Spanish their bikes on to a ferry, ped - speaking militia unit known as Civil War archives of the TUC extend to some 50 alled through France and over the Tom Mann Centuria. He Dan Carrier is a London-based journal - files, all containing large amounts of documents the Pyrenees to Barcelona, fought through the war before ist. Nat Cohen was his great uncle. and correspondence from a wide range of people

10 International Brigade Memorial Trust MIXED MEDIA

including politicians, union leaders, charities, campaign groups and church dignitaries. In addition, the Modern Records Centre is digi - tising several other smaller collections, includ - Scots give voice to the ing, for example, letters home by International Brigader Herbert Fisher and publications from the collections of Trotskyists Henry Sara and anti-fascist volunteers Hugo Dewar. These include examples of bulletins (in English and Spanish) produced by the Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista (POUM). CD “From Blantyre to Barcelona: The project will result in over 10,000 pages of Songs of the Scottish anti-fascists archive material being made available online free and the International Brigade” by of charge. Transcriptions will be available for Lanarkshire Songwriters Group every item, allowing researchers to search through (Root Records/ Unison Scotland) the mass of material for key Reviewed by Jim Jump words or phrases. It is antici - pated that the project will be ith help from Unison Scotland, musi - completed this spring. cians in the Lanarkshire Songwriters Archivist Helen Ford told the WGroup have produced this superb col - IBMT: “There seems to be a lection of songs inspired by the Scottish volun - Pamphlets from real growth in interest around teers in the Spanish Civil War. the T UC c oll ection. the subject – we have noticed Most songs are new compositions, but more students and included on the 13-track CD are some re-work - researchers visiting us to look ings of traditional Spanish songs and tunes. at the archives. We have had a A highlight of the album is “Jarama Valley”, and Gordon Neil dedicated to Blantyre link to Spanish Civil War using the original words penned by Inter- Brigaders Thomas Brannan (killed at Jarama) resources on our web pages for national Brigader Alex McDade, killed at the and George Douglas and songs telling the sto - a long time and these are also in July 1937. Sung to the tune ries of Scottish anarchist volunteer Ethel receiving more hits.” of the cowboy song “Red River Valley”, the Glaswegian’s sardonic lyrics were later rewrit - HOW TO ORDER: The CD “From Blantyre Visit [http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/ ten to become the anthem of the British to Barcelona” is available from the IBMT for news/scw] and [http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/ Battalion – which is still sung at IBMT events. only £5, including p&p. Send cheque (made library/mrc/subject_guides/spain]. Performed here by Billy Stewart, with guitar, banjo, mandolin and fiddle backing, this is the out the IBMT) with your name and address first time that McDade’s song has been proper - to: IBMT, 6 Stonells Road, London SW11 6HQ. At Whitby Folk Week ly recorded. here was a very well received concert, called The idea for this compilation arose from the McDonald (by Chris Rogers) and the Spanish “Songs of the Spanish Civil War” at the project led by Unison South Lanarkshire poet and dramatist Frederico García Lorca (by TBrunswick Room, Whitby, during the Branch’s Stephen Smellie to raise the memori - Robert Armour), murdered by the fascists Yorkshire seaside town’s Folk Week at the end of al to three Blantyre volunteers killed in Spain early in the civil war. August last year, reports Mike Wild. that was unveiled in 2009. The CD was Other stand-out tracks are two songs writ - IBMT member Geoff Lawes of Hull made a launched at a concert at the Blantyre Miners ten and performed by Heather Young and PowerPoint presentation interspersed with Welfare Social Club on 24 November last year Claire McGhee, exploring the feelings of songs and tales by Geordie McIntyre, Alison to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the women and mothers fearing for their loved McMorland, Ewan McLennan, Jerry O’Reilly and International Brigades. ones in Spain, and a rousing closing song, Mike Wild. There are songs on the CD from John Young “Fighting Against Franco” by John Malcolm. There was feedback on Geoff’s Mudcat web - site, with some very appreciative comments. The hall was full and many said they hardly knew became the Communist Party’s highly influen - Bert Ramelson” (Lawrence & Wishart, London, 2011) retails about the role of the International Brigades in the tial Industrial Organiser in the 1960s and 70s. for £25 but is on special offer for IBMT Newsletter readers at Spanish Civil War, so were glad of the chance to Born into a Jewish ghetto in , his family £15, including p&p. Send name and address to Book Offer, learn more. There were many requests for infor - emigrated to Canada in 1921. He arrived in Spain 156 St Stephens Road, Hounslow TW3 2BW, with a cheque mation on CDs and YouTube links. Several of the in 1937 via the International Brigades’ secret payable to Tom Sibley. singers sang their own compositions. recruiting office in London and served in an artillery unit with the Canadian Mackenzie- See [http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=128093]. Papineau Battalion (“the Mac-Paps”) on the In brief… Aragón front and in the Battle of the Ebro, suffer - GAthol Books of Belfast has published a new ing wounds in both campaigns. web booklet on Brigader and former IBMT Life of Bert Ramelson During the Second World War, he was a tank President Jack Jones (1913-2009) titled “The oger Seifert and Tom commander in the Royal Tank Corps and in 1941 Vindication of Brigadista and Union Man Jack Sibley have written a was imprisoned by German forces after the cap - James Larkin Jones: in refutation of the British Rbiography of the ture of Tobruk. He later organised an escape from intelligence campaign of character assassina - Canadian International a prisoner of war camp and fought with the Italian tion”. Written by IBMT Ireland Secretary Manus Brigader Bert Ramelson (1910- anti-fascist partisans. O’Riordan, the booklet brings together a series of 1994), who settled in Britain five articles written by O’Riordan and first pub - after the Spanish Civil War and “Revolutionary Communist at Work: A Political Biography of Continued overleaf

International Brigade Memorial Trust 11 MIXED MEDIA

From previous page Publications, “Irish Volunteers for Spain” is avail - Logroño, 2011) is on sale in Spain for 25 or avail - lished in the Irish Political Review between July able as a limited edition hardback from John able at a discounted price direct from€ [info@ 2010 and January 2011. Also available free of Quinn for £10 plus £2 pp (cheques payable to sinindice.es]. charge on the Athol Books website is a February John Quinn) at Copycats Building, 537 Antrim 2010 dossier compiled by O’Riordan on the MI5 Road, Belfast BT15 3BU. For more information GNew songs about the International Brigades campaign against Jack Jones, which provides email: [[email protected]]. keep coming… The latest is by Liverpool IBMT direct online links to most of the press coverage supporter Greg Quiery, who wrote and per - on the question. See [http:// free-downloads. GA Spanish edition of the formed “One Last Kiss In The Rain” in tribute to atholbooks. org/pamphlets/Jack_Jones_ 1996 guide to International the Merseyside volunteers. Watch it at Vindicated.pdf] and [http://free-downloads. Brigade memorials in [www.youtube.com/watch?v=t43Xu-TPJMY]. atholbooks.org/ pamphlets/jackjones_MI5.pdf]. Britain and Ireland has Meanwhile Reinhardt Silbermann writes from been published in Spain as to say how much he likes Pól Mac GBelfast-based local his - a 400-page hardback. Adaim’s “Civil War in Spain” about the volunteers torian John Quinn has writ - “Salvad España, Salvad la from Ireland. See the video at [www.myspace. ten a history centred on the Paz”* has been updated to com/ polmacadaim/music]. Northern Irish volunteers list the memorials unveiled in the International since 1996 and contains additional photos and Brigades. It contains brief background information aimed at the Spanish POSTER: Order this A3 poster designed profiles of six volunteers – readership. Now out of print, the original by Simon Hawkesworth for the IBMT to mark James Haughey, Paddy “Memorials of the Spanish Civil War” (published the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Jarama – McAllister, Eamon by Alan Sutton Publishing) was witten by Colin which inspired the British Battalion’s song, McGrotty, Fred McMahon, Williams, Bill Alexander and John Gorman and “Jarama Valley” –for £7, including p&p. Send Jim Stranney and Liam Tumilson – as well as back - was an official publication of the International a cheque (payable to the IBMT) with your name ground on the Spanish Civil War and its impact in Brigade Association. and address to: IBMT Merchandise Officer Ireland. Quinn lists 62 volunteers from Northern * “Salvad España, Salvad la Paz. Memoriales de Chris Hall, 286 Brantingham Road, Ireland, out of a total of 275 volunteers who had la Guerra Civil Española en el Reino Unido e Manchester M21 0QU. at least one Irish parent. Published by Bryson Irlanda” ed. María Pilar Salas Franco (Siníndice,

LETTERS

exhibition includes a big colour photo of the I’m told that his name does not appear among Venue wanted for mass grave in actual size. This photo is arranged those on the recently digitised MI5 list of sus - on the floor, and on the walls are hung smaller pected International Brigaders. Can anyone shed mass grave exhibition photos that show the whole excavation and any light on who he was? exhumation process. The use of the camp changed under Vichy n 2011 I tried hard to find a venue for an excel - I am looking for a space in Britain. Can anybody France and the Nazi occupation to house Jews lent exhibition about a mass grave in northern suggest somewhere for this exhibition? and others detained before transit to concentra - ISpain containing Republicans murdered in the Lala Isla tion camps such as Dachau and Alderney. There Francoist repression. The exhibition shows the [email protected] is a small museum with poignant memorabilia process normally followed when a mass grave is relating to the camp in the village of Vernet  opened anywhere in the world – from gathering d’Ariège. information from witnesses to the moment when Chilling camp in Ariège Graham Partridge the skeletons are exposed. It is very sensitively I was moved by a recent By email and professionally done and only costs £100 to visit to the memorial bring it over from Spain –it can be here in 48 and cemetery of an hours. internment camp in Confused Lessers My bid for the big space upstairs in the People’s southern France for I was interested to read ’s piece History Museum in Manchester was not success - Spanish Republicans (Autumn 2011) on the MI5 files. When I looked up ful. I was offered the exhibition hall in the and International the Lesser brothers (Sam and my father Frank), European Commission building in London oppo - Who was Eric Dawson? Brigaders at Vernet there was only one entry, which got them hope - site Parliament, but it is too small because the d’Ariège, between Foix and Toulouse. lessly confused, not helped perhaps by the fact As well as the memorial and cemetery, several that they were both known by several names. other features and physical “facilities” used by Here’s another reason to suspect numbers were the camp authorities survive in the surrounding underestimated. fields. Anti-fascists escaping Franco’s victorious Miriam Harris army were forcibly interned here and the death By email

certificates and medical reports, often chillingly s e v bunched into particular weeks, reflect that many i h c r A

of the internees were deliberately starved to l a

death. n o i t

Most of those who died on the site and whose a N

e

bodies have not been repatriated have been h identified except for one person, Eric Dawson T The exhibition on show in . (died 11 July 1942), whose nationality is unknown. One entry for Lesser, two volunteers.

12 International Brigade Memorial Trust

OBITUARIES y

r the labour movement – beavering away on the e l Stephen Clark l a ground, not expecting any reward except the G

t i

By Jim Jump a satisfaction of doing what she felt was right: r t r

o from collecting Aid for Spain in the late 30s P

l

tephen Clark, who died on a (which is how she met my father Ralph) to n o i

31 May 2011, aged 97, was t marching to oppose the war against Iraq. a N an active supporter of The rest of her family had never visited Spain, /

S y relief organisations during the h but in 2007 we took Moira, firstly to Jarama, p a r

Spanish Civil War and the broth - g where she sat tearfully by the trenches that Bill, o t

er of International Brigade vol - o having worked as a miner, almost certainly h P

unteer Nathan Clark –who died just three s helped to dig, and then to the Ebro. t f o

weeks after Stephen (see obituary in our L Moira and IBMT President Marlene Sidaway

r e Autumn 2011 issue). t sat together on the IBMT stall at the Durham e Stephen was born in Somerset in 1913, a P Miners’ Gala last summer. Moira was getting member of the Quaker family who controlled and Rachel Peters. very frail then, but loving being there – she C&J Clark, owners of the Clarks Shoes brand, whom John had a brief relationship. The liaison remembered the Gala from her youth. and educated at Quaker schools in England and had ended by the time that John, a gifted poet, the US and at King’s College, Cambridge. went to Spain, where he was killed at Lopera in He travelled to Spain in the autumn of 1936 December 1936. He was aged 21 and his son on behalf of the Spanish Medical Aid was nearly two. Committee (SMAC). In October he visited the James was subsequently adopted and British Medical Unit hospital at Grañén during a brought up by his grandparents, the Cambridge quiet period on the Aragón front and reported academics Francis and Frances Cornford. He back to the committee in London. had a distinguished career as an academic and Though he found the staff to be “a little bored as an advocate of social enterprise. Among by want of work”, he concluded in his report: “I many public posts he held, he was Professor of could not judge the hospital medically or surgi - Politics at the University of Edinburgh for eight cally but as an organisation it seemed to me years, the founder and director of the Institute efficient, meaning by that that orders were for Public Policy Research for six years and the obeyed without apparent friction.” However, he chair of the Campaign for Freedom of Moira Tattam: Tears for her brother at Jarama in 2007. warned in a separate note: “Where there is no Information. work there is nothing to do but drink cognac In an obituary in The Guardian , Trevor Smith and feel nervous, jealous and irritable.” wrote: “The son was deeply aware of his Stephen was in Spain for only a few weeks father’s commitment to the cause of anti-fas - Also remembered and contracted pneumonia. He was nursed to cism and the sacrifice he had made for it, and GArgentinian health by fellow SMAC volunteers, the writers this shaped the moral, political and social out - International Brigade Sylvia Townsend Warner and Valentine Ackland, look from which he never wavered.” volunteer Fanny who were at the time working at the commit - Edelman (née tee’s office in Barcelona. He became friends Jabcovsky) died in with both and maintained a long correspon - Buenos Aires on 1 dence with Sylvia for the rest of her life. Moira Tattam November, aged 100. A After the war he divided his working life By Sheila Gray noted political activist and campaigner for between England and the US, working for the women’s rights, she was President of the Avalon Leatherboard Company, a firm associat - enrietta Moira Tattam (Gray), who died on Communist Party of Argentina until her death. ed with the Clark family shoe company, and 29 November at the age of 93, was born in Joseph Bancroft & Sons, an American family HSeaham Harbour and grew up in GThe last surviving Romanian International business on his mother’s side, based in Whitburn in the North East. Brigader, Andrei Micu (pictured below in Spain, Wilmington, Delaware. In 1966 he was appoint - Losing three brothers in the fight against fas - front row, third from left), died on 16 September ed company secretary of C&J Clark until his cism had an enormous impact on Moira and her 2011 in hospital in Hunedoara at the age of 99. In retirement in 1975. family. Older brothers Bill and Edward were Spain he served with the Djakovic Battalion of Stephen had a passion for restoring and pre - killed in Spain in July 1937 (Brunete) and March mainly Balkan volunteers. serving historic buildings and public open 1938 (Aragón) respectively. This was followed in spaces, an interest that he energetically pur - 1940 by the death of a younger brother, Jack, 19 sued following his retirement. years old, when a German U-boat sunk his ship bringing supplies to Britain from America. Moira’s parents were politically active, both becoming Labour councillors. Her father was James Cornford sacked for his union activities while working on By Jim Jump the railways, after which he worked as a miner at Seaham Harbour. t s ames Cornford, the son of This background spurred Moira through u r T

l International Brigader John political struggles. Her outlook was defined l a H Cornford, died on 26 by her politics and, like her older brother Bill, n o J t September 2011, aged 76. His who had been active in the National g n i t

r mother was Rachel (Ray) Peters, a Unemployed Workers’ Movement, she joined a

D Communist Party activist and the Communist Party. daughter of a Welsh miner, with She was one of the many unsung heroines of

14 International Brigade Memorial Trust DIARY DATES IBMT lecture day at the Imperial War Museum Saturday 3 March 2012, Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road, London SE1 6HZ G The second film will be introduced by his - Programme torian Angela Jackson, who will also present 11:30am-1pm her new biography of International Brigade G “With the Lincoln Brigade in Spain”: a nurse Patience Darton (Edney), “‘For us it recently discovered 18-minute film by Henri was Heaven’: The Passion, Grief and Cartier-Bresson (including footage of British Fortitude of Patience Darton from the volunteers). Spanish Civil War to Mao’s China”. G “The International Brigaders Among Us”: British première of a 26-minute film in 2:30pm-4pm English and Catalan (subtitled) made for G Annual Len Crome Catalan-based historical memory group No Memorial Lecture, by US Jubilem la Memòria by Jordi Domènech, Toni historian Peter N Carroll Orensanz and Manuel Vinuesa about the (left): “The Spanish Civil Brigaders stationed in the Priorat region of War in the 21st Century: Catalonia before the Battle of the Ebro; From Guernica to Human includes previously unpublished footage Rights”. The lecture will be from 1938 as well as more recent interviews chaired by Paul Preston with, among others, Scottish Brigader Steve and will be followed by a question-and- Stills from the film “The International Brigaders Fullarton. answer session. Among Us” that will be premiered on the morning of the lecture, including (bottom) Steve Fullarton. Entrance free; all welcome; more details from: [[email protected]].

GTo 2 March 2012 MIDDLESBROUGH: IBMT’s oration Committee; 10.45am at Ramada Hotel, re-dedication of plaque in San Fernando Castle, “Antifascistas” exhibition at Cleveland Trade Talbot St, BT1 2LD; guest speaker: Dr John Callow Figueras on Mon; if interested in taking part, Union Centre, 119 Marton Road, TS1 2DU; of Marx Memorial Library; for more information email Pauline Fraser: [[email protected]] 9.30am-5pm; tel: 01642-244 200. contact Ernest Walker: 07751-951785 or [lyn - or tel: 020-8506 0088. G11/12 February 2012 DUNDEE :Annual com - [email protected]]. G30 June 2012 BRUNETE: Annual commemora - mem oration on Sat at 11am at IB memorial, G3 March 2012 LONDON :IBMT’s annual Len tion of Battle of Brunete; organised by Madrid- Albert Sq; on Sun at 2pm screening of Pathé Crome Memorial Lecture, delivered this year by based AABI (Friends of the International Brigades) ; newsreels on Spanish Civil War at Dundee US historian of US volunteers in Spain, Peter contact Severiano Montero: [seve.montero@ Contemporary Arts, 152 Nethergate, DD1 4DY; Carroll; 2.30pm, Imperial War Museum, Lam beth gmail.com]. contact Mike Arnott: [[email protected]]. Rd, SE1 6HZ; earlier, from 11.30am, two short films G7 July 2012 LONDON: Annual national com - G17/18 February 2012 MADRID :Commem - will be screened (see panel above) ; contact IBMT memoration at International Brigade memorial, oration of 75th anniversary of Battle of Jarama; Secretary for more information (see page 2). Jubilee Gardens, SE1 ; assemble 12.30pm; fol - Fri 6.30pm meeting at CAUM, Plaza de Tirso de G10 March-16 April 2012 SWANSEA :IBMT’s lowed by lunch from 1.30pm at Camel & Arti - Molina 8 (first floor), 28012, will hear speakers “Antifascistas” exhibition at National Waterfront choke, 121 Lower Marsh St, SE1 7AE; contact IBMT on British Battalion commander Tom Wintring - Museum, Oystermouth Rd, SA1 3RD; 10am-5pm Secretary (see page 2) for more information. ham and on novelist, poet and Marxist philoso - daily; [www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/swansea]. pher , killed at Jarama on G28 April 2012 MANCHESTER :“Gernika 75: NB: Events not organised by the IBMT are the 12 Feb 1937; Sat from 9am by coach for tour of Memories of the International Brigades and the responsibility of the individuals and organisa - battlefield followed by lunch at Morata de Spanish Civil War”; speakers Richard Baxell, tions concerned. Tajuña; closing date for registration is 18 Jan, but Helen Graham and Paul Preston; 10am-12.30pm; for possible late bookings and more details People’s History Museum, Left Bank, Spinning - email Dan Payne: [[email protected]. uk] fields, M3 3ER ; more details: [dom@lancaster. or phone IBMT Secretary: 020-7228 6504. ac.uk]; see also: [www.phm.org.uk ]. G25 February 2012 BELFAST: Annual general G12/13 May 2012 SOUTHAMPTON: Activities to meeting of International Brigades Commem - mark 75th anniversary of arrival of Habana with 4,000 refugee children fleeing Franco’s bombing GOING NORTH OF THE BORDER: The IBMT’s of Basque Country; organised jointly by Basque “Antifascistas” travelling exhibition will this year Children of ’37 Association UK and Southampton be in Scotland for the first time. Some dates and University; includes lunch and entertainment on venues are still being finalised, but it will be in Sat and symposium “When History Meets Dundee Central Library from 6-18 February, at the Memory and the Arts” on Sun; for more informa - Scottish TUC (333 Woodlands Road, Glasgow) from tion: [secretary@ basquechildren. org]; web: 2-18 April and at its congress, Eden Court Theatre, [www.basquechildren.org]. Inverness, from 23-25 April . Arrangements for Fife, G2-6 June 2012 PYRENEES :75th anniversary ACROSS THE PYRENEES: Younger IBMT members Blantyre and Glasgow are still being made. For walk across Pyrenees in footsteps of volunteers; with Brigaders (seated from left) Jack Jones, details, contact Exhibition Coordinator Marlene travel by train to Perpignan on Sat (leaving and Jack Edwards during a break in the 2006 anniversary Sidaway: 020-8555 6674 / 07720-312 892. London St Pancras at 9:44am) and return on Tues crossing of the Pyrenees. A 75th anniversary crossing is (arriving 7:03pm); crossing will be made on Sun; being organised for this year –see entry for 2-6 June.

International Brigade Memorial Trust 15 IBMT NEWSLETTER Issue 31 / New Year 2012

CROWD: Over 1,000 people attended the unveiling of the new memorial to the International Brigades in Madrid (seen on the right). Return to Madrid No support from the British From front page received the backing of the university authorities. The project was the initiative of the AABI, the Government for new memorial Madrid-based International Brigades friendship group, whose President, Ana Pérez, told the The British Government gave height, the memorial was com - tary uprising, and 527 of them assembled crowd that the Brigades would never neither financial nor moral sup - missioned by the Madrid-based died in Spain. be relegated to the past, as an army of nostalgia. port for the new memorial to AABI (Association of Friends of The IBMT donated 500 Their example was a source of inspiration to all the Inter national Brigades that the International Brigades), towards the cost of th€e mem - those still battling injustice and reactionary was unveiled in Madrid to mark which early in 2011 approached orial, which Brigader David forces, not least in Spain itself. the 75th anniversary of their the embassies of countries that Lomon presented to AABI Sadly, it took only a few days following the formation. sent volunteers to the Inter - President Ana Pérez in Madrid unveiling for the memorial to be defaced with red The UK embassy in Spain national Brigades. on the day before its unveiling. paint, though the university acted promptly to failed to make a donation to- The AABI asked for donations IBMT Secretary Jim Jump said remove the graffiti. wards the cost of the monument. of between 300 and 1,000 it was a great shame that the Even before its inaugu- Nor did it send a representative towards the€ 9,000 re€quired for British Government had missed ration there was an unsuc - to the unveiling ceremony. the monume€nt. this opportunity to give official cessful legal bid by an Seven embassies provided However, despite several acknowledgement to the individual linked to the financial assistance: Argentina, approaches to the British International Brigades. Falangist (Spanish fascist) Canada, Cyprus, Norway, Russia, embassy, no contribution was “Historians regard the group Manos Limpias to Serbia and Slovenia. forthcoming. Spanish Civil War as the prelude stop the monument being Others countries were offi ci - Some 2,500 volunteers from to the Second World War, so it unveiled, arguing that the ally represented at the unveil - the British Isles joined the would have been fitting for the International Brigades were ing, including China, France, International Brigades during Government to have recognised “an invention of Stalin” and Ireland, Sweden and Venezuela the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War to the sacrifice made by these vol - that the rector of the univer - –along with Spain itself. defend the Spanish Republic unteers who were the first to sity was “playing politics”. Measuring four metres in against the fascist-backed mili - fight fascism on the battlefield.” The rector himself, José Carrillo Menéndez, described the attempted David Lomon’s speech at the unveiling ceremony VANDALISED: The injunction as “reminiscent It is a great honour to be here same fate. The Second World War was a contin - memorial was soon of the Franco regime”. today to join with you in memory uation of the war in Spain. cleaned up. The words of Dolores c of all the young men and women Seventy-five years ago this month, the Ibárruri (La Pasionaria) to the International who came to Spain to join your fight against International Brigades were formed to fight Brigades are inscribed on the memorial: “You fascism. against Franco, Mussolini and Hitler. Even are history, you are legend. You are the heroic We must always remember those who gave today “No pasarán” lives on. example of solidarity and the universality of their lives and also the suffering of the I would like to thank all those who have democracy.” Spanish people. made this wonderful memorial. It will serve to The ideals of the international volunteers remind the world of the future that a great price Our Italian sister organisation AICVAS has put together a pho - will never be forgotten. was paid to enable our ideals to live on. Salud! tostream of images from the week of 75th anniversary com - Even though we lost the so-called civil war, memorative events in Spain: [www.youtube.com/watch?v= the democratic powers realised that fascism Watch David Lomon give his speech at [www.youtube.com/ RkPUI9vALdo]. must be stopped, or they too would suffer the watch?v=GtjDl_Jv8T4].

16 International Brigade Memorial Trust