1936-madrid, education

1936: Madrid

Volunteers with Spanish militia unitsAmongst the first British volunteers to arrive in Spain were the sculptor and artist Felicia Browne, who was painting in Barcelona when the rising began, and the Marxist intellectual John Cornford, who arrived in Spain on 8 August 1936. Felicia Browne was eventually allowed to volunteer for a militia unit in […]

The Tom Mann Centuria

The Tom Mann Centuria From left to right: Sid Avner, Nat Cohen (the leader of the group), Ramona Siles García (who later married Cohen), Tom Wintringham (kneeling at the front in white), Giorgio Trioli (an Italian), Jack Barry (the Australian 'Blue') and David Marshall Other volunteers from Britain had volunteered to become involved almost immediately […]

The Thaelmann Battalion

The Thaelmann Battalion, 12th International Brigade Esmond Romilly, the 17 year old nephew of Winston Churchill and author of a 'vivid and outstanding' account of his time with the Thaelmann Battalion During November 1936, the British group in the Thaelmann Battalion was involved in a number of small skirmishes to the south of Madrid, as […]

The Commune de Paris Battalion

The Commune de Paris Battalion, 11th International Brigade The British Communist intellectual, John Cornford. The Commune de Paris Battalion, part of the 11th International Brigade, included several British volunteers. Several of them, such as H. Fred Jones and Jock Cunningham, had previous military experience, though many did not. One of the other British volunteers, Sam […]

The Number One Company

The Number One Company, La Marseillaise Battalion, 14th International Brigade British members of Number One Company By the end of 1936, volunteers were arriving from Britain in such numbers that they the creation of a British battalion, rather than attaching small groups to a German or French unit, was becoming a realistic possibility. The first […]