INTERNATIONAL BRIGADE MEMORIAL TRUST Patrons Ken Livingstone www.international-brigades.org.uk Prof. Paul Preston Charity no.1094928 Issue ten / February 2005 INTERNATIONAL BRIGADE MEMORIAL TRUST 37 Reginald Road, London E7 9HS Successful Tel/fax: 020-8555 6674 Email: [email protected] President: Jack Jones AGM in Wales Secretary: Marlene Sidaway Treasurer: Peter Crome OurAnnual General Meeting in Cardiff on 16 Committee Members: Jack Edwards, October was preceded by a very moving cere- Sam Lesser, David Marshall, Richard Baxell, mony in Welsh and English at the Tish Collins, Pauline Fraser, Katie Green, International Brigade Memorial in Manus O’Riordan Alexandra Gardens, Cathays Park. Co-opted Members: Gerry Abrahams, Jim Jump, We were honoured that Welsh First David Leach, Dolores Long/Hilary Jones Minister, Rhodri Morgan AM, agreed to address the meeting. He and Jack Jones were Jack Jones (left) and Rhodri Morgan by the nce again, the Newsletter heralds a busy year introduced by Hywel Francis MP, whose book memorial in Cardiff. ahead for the Trust. Dates for your diary: on “Miners Against Fascism” has recently been OSaturday 12 March, the Len Crome Memorial re-published. the nearby Temple of Peace, ourAGM venue, Lecture will be given by Professor Paul Preston at the A wreath was laid on behalf of the Trust by and was much admired. Imperial War Museum, London (see back page); and Alun Menai Williams, the last surviving Some 60 members attended the AGM itself there will be memorial unveilings at Ebbw Vale on 24 Brigader living in Wales, and the Cor Cochion and it was a lively meeting. The evening social April and at the Ebro on 7 May. We have invited John Caerdydd sang “Jarama” and “The was also a great success, and we were well Pilger to be guest speaker at the Jubilee Gardens Internationale”. Arnold Owen’s exhibition entertained by Dave Burns and Frank Memorial Meeting on 16 July,and we hope this will about the Spanish Civil War was displayed in Continued on page 2 be confirmed in the June newsletter. This year’s Annual General Meeting will be in Dublin, with a date in October to be confirmed. Right: The plaque Our Treasurer,Peter Crome, has given notice that to be unveiled in he needs to retire from office by 2006 because of April. work commitments, so we are seeking a replacement. Peter assures me that it is not too difficult, and he is willing to work with his successor to effect a smooth handover. We also need to review our method for electing members of the committee (hands-up at the AGM is not best procedure!), so further details about nominations for Treasurer and the rest of the committee are on page 2. Peter has pointed out that all our events need to be self-funding. We cannot dip into our reserves in order to have a jolly time, so we will resume the practice of having a collection at events (remember Sadie?). Bob Doyle Jnr and his band have offered to New memorial at the Ebro do a fundraising dance on the evening of 16 July. Any other fundraising ideas/offers gratefully A memorial honouring British Battalion volun- south of Gandesa. There are no disabled facilities. received. teers who died at the battle of the Ebro will be The plaque will incorporate the names of some The Moscow Archive films have been put on to unveiled on Saturday 7 May on Hill 705 in the 90 British, Irish, Australian, Canadian and Dutch CD, making the information more widely available. Sierra Pandols in the Terra Alta district of south- men who died in the battle or as a direct conse- However,because there are many more images ern Catalonia. quence in the months that followed. than was first supposed, the cost has risen A steel plaque, funded by the International Martin Green, son of George Green who was enormously and we now need to find over £5,500. Brigade Memorial Trust, will be installed on a pur- killed at the Ebro, will attend. It is hoped that Although we have the money this, together with the pose-built memorial wall on the site of an existing British and Irish veterans of the battle will also be cost of the Ebro Memorial and the general running civil war monument commemorating the Quinta present. The ceremony will be followed by a com- costs of the Trust, will seriously deplete our funds. del Biberón – the teenage Spanish conscripts killed memorative lunch. So there is a need for funding, donations, collections at the Ebro in 1938. ● Information for those planning to travel to the – anything that will help. Salud, The site is accessible by car from a mountain Ebro for the commemoration of the memorial is on Marlene Sidaway track that leads off the El Pinell de Brai road just back page. Brief notes Nominations for IBMT Treasurer and for elec- Arnold Owen’s exhibition tions to our committee – please submit names to about the Spanish Civil me by the beginning of May. Existing committee War will be on display and members will be asked if they wish to stand for the Cor Cochion Caerdydd re-election, and we will publish names in the next will sing. It promises to be Newsletter. Candidates will be voted on at the a very moving and impor- next Annual General Meeting. Please bear in tant occasion, so please try mind that committee members (not co-opted to attend. Contact Andrew members) are Trustees, and as such are responsi- on 01495 307301 if you ble for all financial decisions taken by the Trust can go. and are liable for any debts sustained by the Trust. Contact: Marlene Sidaway, IBMT Secretary, 37 We are grateful to Joan Reginald Road, London, E7 9HS; email [marlen- Walley MP for finding out [email protected]]. that “The International Brigades” train will be in London Memorial: There is to be a major refur- service on the London to bishment of Jubilee Gardens and it is not certain Norwich route from that our memorial will remain on its current site. Liverpool Street, after Joan Walley MP with the train engine named after the International However, those overseeing the refurbishment are being refitted at Willesden Brigades (see story left). aware of our concerns and our requirements and Station. Ms Walley was have said they will take these into consideration instrumental in getting the train named some it works as an insightful appraisal of the politics during the design and planning stages. The design years ago at Stoke-on-Trent Station at the request of the mid-20th century”. team are likely to begin work in June, with on-site of Dave Goodman. For further details of other lectures at the MML in work taking place from May 2006 to May 2007. March and April ring 020-7253 1485 or see We will keep in contact with the planners and Anyone who wants a copy of the Cardiff Annual [www.marxlibrary.net]. keep you informed. Meanwhile, the request for General Meeting minutes, please contact me (see the memorial to be listed cannot be considered as details above). Marshall Mateer wrote to tell us that he is work- it is under 30 years old. However, we will return ing on the British Pathé Archive Schools to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport if Hugh Purcell, the author of a recent biography of Licence Project which makes newsreel we feel it is under threat. Tom Wintringham – “The Last English resources available to all schools in the UK in Revolutionary” (Sutton Publishing, £20) is to digital form. It is not a commercial project and is The Ebbw Vale Memorial to the men and give a lecture at the Marx Memorial Library on free to all schools. They are also preparing sup- women who went to Spain from the Blaenau Monday 18 April on Wintringham’s role as com- port materials for teachers to help them find their Gwent area will be unveiled on Sunday 24 April. mander of the British Battalion. The book way round the vast archive and find effective Andrew Rogers of 8 Chandlers Road, Beaufort, received a very favourable review in the Camden ways of using it in the classroom. One event well Ebbw Vale, Gwent, has organised this and has New Journal from Dan Carrier who praised it as covered in the archive (short newsreel items and invited guests Llew Smith MP, Hywel Francis an “enjoyable tale of the life of one of the heroes longer compilations) is the Spanish Civil War MP, Michael Foot and Tyrone O’Sullivan of of the British left: his story is worth telling (see watermarked version on the web at Tower Colliery. There will be a buffet lunch, because as an individual he was interesting – and www.britishpathe.com). Marshall is currently Marking Holocaust Memorial Day Successful AGM in Wales IBMT committee member Pauline Fraser represented the IBMT at the Continued from front page annual Soviet Memorial Trust Holocaust Memorial Day lecture at the Henessey and the Cor Cochion Caerdydd (Red Choir) all of whom Imperial War Museum, London. gave their services free. Speaking without a mike in a strong, clear voice, the 94-year-old We were very grateful to all our Welsh members who worked so Auschwitz survivor Leon Greenman told of the gassing of his wife and hard to make the day a success, including Ray and Wendy Davis, Nigel young child and of the loss of many good friends at the hands of the Nazis. Morgans, Alan Warren, Anthony Richards, and especially to Stephen Leon’s book, “An Englishman in Auschwitz”, is available from the Thomas and Sue Coles for making us so welcome at the Temple of Jewish Museum in Finchley, London, price £11.95.