On Saturday 12 April Jayne Dunn, Lord Mayor of Sheffield, unveiled the 'Boy with Dove' statue in the city's Weston Park.

Created by artist Anthony Padgett, the statue is a tribute to Picasso, to the International Brigade volunteers from South Yorkshire, to the Basque children who were given sanctuary by the people of Sheffield, and to all Sheffield’s workers and citizens.

The statue is located in Weston Park, Sheffield S10 2TP, and has been added to the IBMT directory and map of memorials.

Here is a selection of photos from the unveiling…

'Boy with Dove', which honours Picasso, who attended the 2nd World Peace Congress in Sheffield in 1950.

A close-up of the plaque on the bench.

Standing, left to right: Sam Morecroft, President Sheffield Trades Union Council, Simon Martinez, Trustee Basque Children Association ’37, Anthony Padgett, sculptor, and Martin Mayer, former Secretary Sheffield TUC.
Seated, left to right: Jayne Dunn, Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Megan Dobney, IBMT Secretary, and Dolores Long, IBMT Executive Committee member.

Artist Anthony Padgett sits alongside his creation, 'Boy with Dove', which depicts Picasso as a boy holding a dove of peace.

Flags representing the organisations that backed the project and the people they support.

Jayne Dunn, Lord Mayor of Sheffield, who unveiled the statue, sits alongside the 'Boy with Dove'.

Photos: Gideon Long.

IBMT Archivist Alan Lloyd has transcribed a letter from commissar John Gates reporting the death of Humfry Scott (1904-1937) after the Battle of Pozoblanco. The letter, dated 30 April 1937, was addressed to Humfry’s Sudeten Czech wife, Hedwig ‘Hedi’ Zappe. The original is held in the Scott family archive.

Dear Comrade Hedi,

It is with great sorrow that I write you of the death in action of your husband, Humfry Scott. Not only because it will be a great blow to you but because we lost one of our best and most valuable and dearly beloved comrades.

Comrade Scott was political commissar of the English section of our company, the 2nd Anglo-American Company of the 20th Battalion of the International Brigade.

A teacher and translator from Bournemouth, Humfry Scott is pictured above before leaving for Spain in 1936.

He had a great understanding of his work and was of tremendous aid to me in the political work. Our company was known as the most disciplined company in the Battalion, with an extremely high morale.

And now, after one month at the front, we not only retain that reputation but have added to it a record of discipline, heroism and courage under fire. To this record, the work of Comrade Scott contributed in no small degree.

He was not only a fine political worker but also was an example in the fighting.

The position we occupied at the front was a very dangerous one – dominated by the enemy from a superior height and under heavy sniping fire at all times. We were daily subjected to heavy artillery and aviation bombardments.

In all this Scott occupied one of the first trenches. On the day of the fatal action, under cover of artillery fire, the enemy (Moors) advanced to within 10 metres of our position and surprised us with hand grenades, forcing us from the position. In this, Comrade Scott, in his position, was killed by a grenade before he knew what had
happened. He died instantly.

The next day we counter-attacked and took the position back again.

We buried Comrade Scott with military honours on Chamorro mountain, near Pozoblanco, in the province of Córdoba. His grave is marked with a hammer and sickle built of stone. I enclose a letter which I found among his personal effects. I am sure you will find it dear to you.

John Gates, political commissar of the Anglo-American 2nd company of the 20th Battalion, pictured in May 1938 by the 15th International Brigade Photographic Unit. Photo: Tamiment Library.

In closing, I want to say that although Comrade Scott was not a member of the Communist Party, his work and the example he gave us, proved that he would have filled with honour a place in any Communist Party in the world. He was a True
Bolshevik.

The memory of Comrade Scott will always be treasured by us. Long live the International Brigade!

Forward to victory over Fascism! For a free and Democratic Spain!

Comradely yours,
John Gates.

Eighty-eight years on, young and old pay homage to the sacrifices of British Brigaders, writes Robert Hargreaves…

Uniforms neatly pressed, boots polished, and standing perfectly to attention, Tom Wintringham, commanding officer of the British Battalion at the Battle of Jarama, a stickler for discipline, would have been proud of them. 

The Lost Sons of Albion, dedicated volunteers committed to preserving the memory of brave anti-fascists from Britain and Ireland, were proudly on parade at Manchester’s annual Jarama commemoration.

Expert on the history of the battle, and armed with a fascinating collection of artefacts, the re-enactment enthusiasts – Tom Conyard, Ethan Harvey, John Conyard, Tom Whitfield, Rory Pratt and Charles McKnight – formed a special attraction at a packed commemoration in the city’s Central Library. 

The Lost Sons of Albion re-enactment group.

The lads, who between them, demonstrate an impressive historical knowledge of the British Battalion, contributed to a moving event, focussing on contributions from stalwart IBMT member Stuart Walsh and university researcher Jude Percival on the theme of medical aid and help to the beleaguered people of the Spanish Republic.

Faced with the onslaught of Franco’s fascist forces, supplied with arms and aircraft by Mussolini and Hitler, it fell to the 600 members of the newly formed and inexperienced British Battalion to hold the line and help save Madrid from Franco’s forces. More than 250 were killed and many more were wounded.

IBMT member Stuart Walsh acknowledging the support for Spain from North East Lancashire.

Lisa Croft and Paul Ward introduced the speakers and set the scene for fascinating insights into medical aid and help for the Spanish people. Stuart stressed the tremendous generosity and hard work of people in his native North East Lancashire, as they raised money for food ships through dances, jumble sales and public meetings.

University researcher Jude Percival speaking about Spanish Medical Aid.

Jude outlined the massive contribution made through Spanish Medical Aid, including the work of doctors and nurses, and the supply of fully-equipped ambulances. The Manchester and District Spanish Medical Aid Committee which covered the cotton towns of South East Lancashire arranged a tour of a field ambulance that was built by workers of Blake Motors and paid for by funds from people in Rossendale.

It was described at the time as 'a concrete expression of Lancashire’s sympathy with a suffering people'. By the end of 1937, the local committee had sent five fully-equipped ambulances, while still appealing for clothing, tinned milk and bandages. 

Giulia Sirigu of Manchester’s Partito Democratico.

Attendees also heard expressions of anti-fascist solidarity from a representative of Partido Comunista de Espana, together with Giulia Sirigu of Manchester’s Partito Democratico and members of the Italian Partizan group. A rousing rendition of Bandiera Rossa by the Bolton Socialist Choir further emphasised the mood of international solidarity.

The Bolton Socialist Choir performing at the event.

Preceding a minute’s silence, Paul Ward and Stephanie Turner read out the names of 14 greater Manchester men killed at Jarama, and wreaths were laid at the memorial situated in the library. 

As always the occasion was graced by the Manchester Group’s eye-catching illustrated panels on the walls of the library’s performance space, with this year’s display being enhanced by items of British Battalion memorabilia – some genuine, some replica – such as blankets, uniforms, belts, flags and identification cards, even genuine Spanish Republic banknotes, brought along by The Lost Sons of Albion. The unit, by the way, takes its name from the opening lines in The Young’uns version of ¡Ay Carmela!

‘We are the lost sons of Albion,
The men of the British Battalion,
There is no golden path to glory,
Ay Carmela, Ay Carmela!’ 

Like the song itself, the infusion of enthusiasm from these young’uns is a very welcome sign for the Trust. If you would like them to put on a show at your upcoming event they can be contacted at Thelostsons1937@gmail.com.

Pauline Fraser reports from the unveiling in Beeston, Nottinghamshire…

A good fifty people braved the cold to gather outside Nan Green’s birthplace, on Sunday 9 February, for the dedication of a plaque to this former Secretary of the International Brigade Association, volunteer in the Spanish Civil War and peace activist.

Flowers in the colours of the Spanish Republic underneath the new plaque. Photo: Pauline Fraser.

Marlene Sidaway, IBMT President, laid flowers by the plaque, which is attached to the fence in front of Surrey Cottage, 12 Glebe Street, Beeston, while Tamar Feast of Beeston & District Civic Society gave a warm tribute to the work Nan undertook in Spain and accompanying refugees to Mexico. Tamar has campaigned for more Lady Plaques and Nan Green’s is the second in the series. They have a biography of Nan on their website.

Pauline Fraser and Marlene Sidaway in Beeston.

Tamar introduced Sue Paterson, Labour Mayor of Broxtowe Borough Council, who welcomed the initiative to get more plaques to women. Sue was accompanied by Robert Bullock, Deputy Mayor.

Tamar Feast (left) of Beeston Civic Society and Beeston Mayor Sue Paterson. Photo: Pete Fraser.

Five of Nan Green’s grandchildren travelled to Beeston to honour their grandmother, joining members of Beeston Civic Society and Nottingham Local History Society, local Broxtowe councillors and IBMT members and supporters.

Grandchildren of Nan Green: (from left) Crispin Green, Barnaby Green, Katie Green, Polly Green, Emma Brouard. Photo: Pauline Fraser.

Notts TV reporter Kateryna Sabadash covered the event. Her report was broadcast on Monday 10 February. Watch from 37:17.

The full address for those wishing to visit the plaque is Surrey Cottage, 12 Glebe Street/Elm Avenue corner, Beeston, Notts, NG9 1BZ. The plaque has been added to the Trust's directory and map of memorials.

The crowd gathers for the unveiling.

The draw for the IBMT’s 2024 ¡No pasarán! raffle took place online on Wednesday 11 December 2024. Congratulations to all the winners – your prizes will be with you in the new year!

First prize – £500 towards a weekend trip to Madrid including a personalised guided tour of the Prado museum
Winner Brian Ferris

1st Second prize – Six bottles of Spanish wine
Winner Michael Carson

2nd Second prize – Six bottles of Spanish wine
Winner Pauline Fraser

Runners-up prizes
¡No pasarán! magazine subscription
Winner Thomas Niblett

IBMT t-shirt
Winner Jon Hamp

IBMT badge
Winner Donald McKenzie

IBMT tote bag
Winner James Jack

A copy of Antifascistas by Richard Baxell, Angela Jackson and Jim Jump
Winner John Owens

To those who took part but did not win, thank you for supporting the Trust. The money raised helps finance the IBMT’s activities, which are more important today than ever. ¡No pasarán!

IBMT member Robert Hargreaves reports on the campaign for a new memorial in North West England …

Proud Salford, for so long overshadowed by the adjacent city of Manchester, is fired up to reclaim its place in the history of the British Battalion and the Spanish Civil War.

At least 30 men and women from greater Salford served in the International Brigades. Ten did not return, and many were wounded. Now, North West IBMT stalwart Barrie Eckford is determined to mark their place in history with a new memorial that will remind future generations of the sacrifices made by brave volunteer Salfordians.

Barrie Eckford addresses the Salford Histories Festival.

Barrie, a retired UNITE the Union member, has teamed up with Salford councillor and UNITE official Jack Youd to spearhead a fund-raising campaign for the memorial. The key element in the campaign is a social media crowdfunding appeal under the auspices of Salford City Council. Including a generous £1,000 donation from the UNITE service branch, the crowdfund has already raised almost £2,000. Moreover, with Jack’s support, Salford’s Mayoral Fund has undertaken to match the donations made from other sources.

Addressing an enthusiastic meeting of Salfordians in the council chamber, as part of the city’s Histories Festival, Barrie spoke of the special contribution Salford citizens made to the defence of the beleaguered Spanish Republic in the face of Franco’s military onslaught on democracy. Said Barrie: 'The people of Salford were politically aware. They had borne deprivation and unemployment with magnificent courage and had witnessed the threat of fascism as Mosley’s blackshirts stalked their streets. When Franco launched his attack on the democratically elected government of Spain, these men and women told themselves: we will fight!'

Councillor Jack Youd.

In turn, Cllr Youd explained his dedication to the cause of a memorial: 'I have always been an anti-fascist. My concerns brought me into contact with the IBMT. It goes without saying that I am a passionate Salfordian, and looking back at the history of our city, I feel that the Brigaders helped to give us our unique identity.'

Jack’s wife, Charlotte, also a councillor, echoed these sentiments. 'Yes, it’s about our history and identity, and that means our children’s future as well.' She added that the city remembers with pride not only the Salford Brigaders but also its citizens who made huge sacrifices to contribute to Spanish Aid and food ships, as well as those who welcomed and cared for many of the Basque children evacuated from Spain at the height of the war.

Supporting Barrie Eckford (centre), IBMT volunteers, from left to right, Rob Hargreaves, Stuart Walsh, Stephanie Turner and Ben Perry.

Another key contributor to the project is Ben Perry, a post-graduate research student at York University whose research has retrieved wide-ranging facts about individual Brigaders. “The IBMT Volunteer database has been invaluable’, said Ben, who helped man the IBMT stall at the festival. 

Stuart Walsh (left) and Barrie Eckford (right) with Salford Deputy Mayor, Cllr Heather Fletcher.

The campaign for a Salford memorial, envisaged as an obelisk bearing the names of the city’s volunteers, in the square adjacent to the Working Class Memorial Library (WCML), has the support of the mayor, Cllr Paul Dennett, Salford Trades Union Council, numerous community groups such as the Ordsall Community and Arts Centre, and the WCML itself.

Donations to the crowdfund can be made via the crowdfunding campaign.

Dave Chapple, speaker at the IBMT's AGM in Weston-super-mare.

Dave Chapple is a lifelong Somerset trade unionist: a school cleaner and NUPE Shop steward for ten years, then a postman, in Clevedon and Bridgwater, for 38 years. With Dave as the CWU Rep, Bridgwater Royal Mail Delivery Office, between 1996 and 2016, was one of the UK's most militant workplaces, with at least a dozen local official or (mostly) wildcat strikes, most of which were successful. 

Dave has been a local trades union council activist since 1977: he is the secretary of both Bridgwater and Mendip TUCs, and the South West TUC's Trades Councils' Rep.

Dave is also, in retirement, the Secretary of the Somerset & North Devon Unite Community Branch.

Dave has been writing and publishing working-class biography and autobiography for the last 20 years, including, of course, 'Soldier Saving Lives', his tribute to Howard Andrews, copies of which will be available at the AGM. He is a member of the TUC-affiliated Writers' Guild.

Chapple's tribute to Brigader Howard Andrews, 'Soldier Saving Lives'.

News from the annual Glasgow commemoration held on Saturday 21 September at La Pasionaria Statue, Custom House Quay …

Neil Anderson presided at the commemoration on behalf of hosts Hope not Hate Glasgow.

A large gathering heard speeches by Mike Arnott, IBMT Scotland Secretary, Africa Moreno, PCE Exterior, Nathan Hennerbry, MB Scotland Youth Committee, Jennifer McCarey, Glasgow TUC and Tommy Campbell, Aberdeen XV International Brigade Commemoration Committee.

La Pasionaria Statue, Custom House Quay, Glasgow.

Neil Hennerbry spoke about how the legacy of the brigaders featured in Hope not Hate’s anti-racist and anti-fascist work in the city. Mike Arnott shared recent research discoveries about the 1938 funeral in Vic, Catalunya, of young Glasgow nurse Chrissie Wallace and the newly rediscovered Soldiers Tree memorial at Carbeth. He also marked the death in August of Glaswegian Allan Craig, whose work to commemorate his father, Dundee-born brigader Allan Craig, had initiated the annual ceremony at Tarancón in Spain.

Africa Moreno of PCE Exterior.

Africa Moreno paid tribute to the memory of the Glasgow brigaders and their fight against fascism, and for democracy, in Spain. Nathan drew parallels between the fight in Spain and the current struggles against fascism and the far right across Europe, including in Scotland. Jennifer recounted the history of the Glasgow memorial, how La Pasionaria’s symbolism echoed the role of all Spain’s women, and the female volunteers, during the Civil War, and how its unveiling drew a small and very rare Glasgow phenomenon: a Tory street protest.

Tommy Campbell gave the background to the replica of Aberdeen’s famous Spanish Republican flag and performed a couple of poems, including Brian Bilston’s memorable ‘Why I dislike the Daily Mail’.

At the close of proceedings, RMT hosted a visit just along the riverside to see the Blockade Runners’ Memorial.

Attendees from Perth, Dundee and Aberdeen.

Cover: Camilo Morán, 4, laying a wreath on behalf of the PCE Spanish Communist Party in July at the IBMT’s annual commemoration in London.

Issue 3-2024 of the IBMT digital magazine, ¡No Pasaran!, has been emailed to all paid-up members.

On the cover is Camilo Morán, 4, laying a wreath on behalf of the PCE Spanish Communist Party in July at the IBMT’s annual commemoration in London. Looking on is IBMT Historical Consultant Richard Baxell, who spoke at the event.

The first feature of this issue is IBMT Scotland Secretary Mike Arnott's piece on a unique memorial in Scotland and the community that inspired it: the Soldiers' Tree and the Carbeth Hutters.

Other highlights include Sheila Gray's moving history of her two uncles who died in Spain, Christopher Hall's report from the Orwell Society's 2024 visit to Spain and IBMT Chair Jim Jump's call to keep sharing the Brigaders' story with young people. 

Print issues are available via the IBMT Shop.

Members receive three issues of the digital magazine a year. Keep up to date with your membership to ensure you get the latest digital issue as soon as it is published by renewing online.

Historian Daniel Gray draws connections between football and the Spanish Civil War, as personified by the Basque refugee children who became footballers in England. This article was published in issue 59 of ¡No pasarán! in January 2022.

In October 1938, La Pasionaria described departing International Brigaders as examples of ‘the universality of democracy.’ The Basque refugee children who went on to be footballers represent the universality of football: an internationalist game for an internationalist cause.

By the early spring of 1937, Spain’s Basque Country was, perhaps, Franco’s deepest irritation. Hitler’s Condor Legion and the Italian Legionary Airforce were laden with bombs and advanced on the Basque Country. What happened next was a heinously brutal chapter in a war full of them. For the first time, civilian targets were bombed from above and modern methods of atrocity were born.

In all of this, of course, children, or those that survived, had to carry on. They had to find their joy, kick stones among ruins, play hide-and-seek in the rubble. Our six footballers were among them; most came from Durango and Guernica.

In May 1937 an evacuation programme for Basque children began. Thirty-three thousand children were shipped off to Belgium, Denmark, Mexico, the USSR and Switzerland. At first, Prime Minister Baldwin held the British non-intervention line – no children would be taken, and in his words, ‘the climate wouldn’t suit them.’ But public pressure could not be ignored.

Though no government aid would be given, a ship carrying 4,000 children would be permitted into Britain, each permitted to stay for three months. Most stayed for longer; some made their homes here.

The ship carrying them to the UK was a cruise liner, the Habana, adapted to carry ten times its normal capacity of 400. It docked in Bilbao on 20 May 1937, preparing to set sail for Southampton.

It is a difficult scene to try and imagine. No one really understood where they were going; Britain was left to the imagination. Clasping a few belongings wrapped in paper and tied with string, each child queued to climb aboard the Habana. Every girl and boy had an identification number, written on a tag worn around their neck. Among those children were: Emilio Aldecoa, Sabino Barinaga, José Bilbao, Antonio Gallego, José Gallego and Raimundo Pérez Lezama. Each one of these boys would grow into a
professional footballer.

On 23 May, they arrived at Southampton to a splendid, heartfelt welcome from locals and those from elsewhere who had been part of a magnificent fundraising campaign for the Basque children.

All children were given a medical, fed and put into a camp consisting of hundreds of bright white tents. Football soon erupted – balls scrounged from somewhere and dribbled among guy ropes and campfires. Then, the children were dispersed to homes or ‘colonies’ across Britain.

As there would be no state aid for the refugee kids, everything provided would have to come from charity: fundraising, donations, appeals, events. Everything ran on goodwill, too – churches, wealthy people and educational establishments gave up
entire houses that were hastily converted into homes for the Basque children.

The example I know best is Mall Park in Montrose, 30 miles north of Dundee. Its creation and existence were typical of the many places our footballers and the other refugees found home. Its funding came from a typically diverse set of people: The Bakers’ Union, the Blind Institution, the Dundee Breakfast Club and the Women’s Liberal Association donated generously. Dockers took on a team of locally-berthed Spanish seamen at football and raised a hefty sum on the gate and from donations, while the Dundee School of Music staged a concert in Caird Hall.

The first residents arrived in late September 1937. Though distraught with homesickness and worry for their families in Spain, the children did find great contentment. Bene González, 15 years old on the day she arrived at Mall Park, recalled in 1985 that the
children had lived ‘immensely happily, and joyfully’.

It is important to point out that the Basque children also raised money for themselves. They performed dance routines and organised football matches. It was in these matches that some of our six first showed their remarkable talents. Which brings us to one such boy, Emilio Aldecoa. Emilio was 14 when he boarded the Habana, one of the older refugees. From Southampton, he was sent to live in a Basque colony in Stafford. His interest in football blossomed into love, and Emilio developed his tricky, wily left foot not least in those fundraising games.

Being old enough, instead of returning to Spain in 1938 or 39 when so many did, he decided to stay in England, despite the end of war in Spain and its beginning in Britain. Emilio took a job with English Electric and began playing for the works football team. His skill was obvious. He stood out. Wolverhampton Wanderers offered him a trial.

This was war-time football, meaning that the normal league structure had been suspended, and regional fixtures organised in its place, all of them to take place in daylight on Saturdays.

Guest players were needed, but few were more exotic than Emilio. In 1943 Emilio made his first-team debut against Crewe Alexandra. It made him the very first Spaniard to play a professional match in England. What a thing for a teenager who had seen
and heard things that no-one should, a migrant who had sailed into the unknown.

That 1943/44 season, Emilio was Wolves’ top scorer. He was a dazzling footballer, full of vim and verve. Here was a technicolour footballer in a black-and-white world. In 1945, Emilio moved on to Coventry City, scoring against Portsmouth on his Sky Blues debut. He married a local girl and stayed for two seasons. For a while, another Basque refugee Habana kid played alongside Emilio. By some strange fate or mere coincidence, José Bilbao wound up at rickety Highfield Road.

Emilio Aldecoa playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers. With his debut game in 1943, he became the first Spanish footballer to play a professional match in England.

José was an outside left, meaning that for his six Coventry games he played immediately next to inside left Emilio. Such an unlikely pairing so far from home; two young Basque men in the blue and white of Coventry City, tearing down the wing in their long shorts. ‘City’s attack proved that it was the best constituted for a long time,’ said one match report in a local newspaper. ‘The all-Spanish left-wing was a happy partnership.’

Walking around Coventry must have been a chilling reminder of what was left behind almost a decade before. The city, much like their Basque homeland, had been pummelled by German planes, its cathedral violently sacked. Yet both had played football just as it was being reborn after the horror of war. A footballing boom was on the way, one tenet of quietly emerging optimism in the country. It is hard to think of a more intriguing time for the Basques to have been plying their beloved trade in middle
England.

José Bilbao slipped from view like many war-time footballers; we don’t even know if he stayed or went home. Emilio Aldecoa returned to Spain and played for Athletic Bilbao, Valladolid and Barcelona. Perhaps Emilio’s greatest achievement came after
his playing career. A dedicated, precise and sagacious student of the game, he compiled a lengthy blueprint document for youth development and scouting, setting out how Barcelona could become the greatest club in the world.

Football cards ofAldecoa (at FC Barcelona)

Emilio was not finished with England, and from 1960 undertook a coaching and scouting role at Birmingham City, implementing systems for finding and developing players way ahead of their time.

Before Emilio Aldecoa and José Bilbao had begun their professional careers, two other Basque refugee boys had used England as a starting point for theirs. Both would become greats of the Spanish game. Sabino Barinaga and Raimundo Pérez Lezama were also among the 4,000 on the Habana.

Sabino was leaving behind the debris of the bombed town of Durango, while Raimundo came from Baracaldo, just outside Bilbao. At the time of the sailing, Sabino was 14 and Raimundo 16. By some cosmic coincidence, these two young people that
would become Spanish football stars were housed together.

Neither was forced to leave Southampton, a place of fond memories for young Basques after the welcome they had received. The two teenagers were instead given lodgings in Nazareth House, a city orphanage run by nuns. Outside, in the safety of this refuge’s gardens, both began to play football in every spare moment they had. Raimundo went further, studying textbooks about the game and its rules in his bunkbed. That adoration of football was again blossoming for young Basques in England. Their enthusiasm was
matched by ability.

It seems that both-footed forward Sabino impressed Saints first-team manager Tom Parker. ‘Sabino is one of the most brilliant youngsters I have ever seen’ noted Parker.

Goalkeeper Raimundo was soon scouted too, or possibly concurrently; one telling of the story goes that the two were spotted kicking a ball around in the car park outside The Dell, Southampton’s dear old home. Both soon began playing for the
Southampton youth team.

Raimundo Perez Lezamo playing goalkeeper for Basque team Athletic Bilbao

In 1938/39, their performances in the local youth leagues were astonishing, even if at a level clearly already beneath them. The team played 33 games, winning 31, scoring 277 and conceding just 17. In the 13 games he played in, Sabino scored 62 times.
Raimundo eventually played three games for the first team. Southampton wanted to make them first-team players, but their Home Office licenses to remain were not extended. Besides, Britain was now at war where peace, albeit buttressed by violence and suppression, existed in Franco’s Spain. The two travelled home in March 1940.

In three years they had grown into young men, fought the psychological traumas of fascist invasion and become two of the most promising footballers in Europe. Back in Spain, they pursued what family they had left.

Being Basque in Franco’s Spain was difficult enough; being Basque and probably the sons of dreaded Reds was even worse. Maybe it was football that spared them the repression of so many thousands of others.

Spain needed players; it needed to rebuild its teams and league. Despite an offer to stay in Bilbao and play for Athletic (now renamed Atlético under Franco’s orders), Sabino understandably took the greater offer of Real Madrid money. Seeing the
poverty of his family must have made that a fairly simple decision.

Raimundo signed at first for a lesser Basque side, Arenas, but after three months was spotted and scooped up by Atlético Bilbao. He was to stay for 16 years. Raimundo’s playing style made him both a marvel and a novelty. With Atlético Bilbao, the
bunkbed boy of Nazareth House won two La Ligas and six cup medals.

Sabino, meanwhile, set Madrid alight. The strapping Basque scored four goals in an 11-1 mauling of Barcelona in 1943. Then in 1947 he became the first man to score at the brand-new Bernabeu Stadium. Perhaps, in quiet moments, he allowed himself a bittersweet grin: the son of a Basque communist, now the hero of what some regarded as Franco’s team.

Raimundo and Sabino’s paths must have crossed regularly in league fixtures, but in 1943 the Nazareth boys clashed in the Spanish Cup Final. Atlético Bilbao defeated Real Madrid 1-0; some said that Raimundo Lezama won the match. What joy to have seen
Franco’s face that day.

While Raimundo was a one-club man, Sabino played for Real Sociedad and Real Betis after the Bernabeu. He then became a manager, holding the reigns at more than a dozen club and international sides, in Spain and across the world.

Sabino died in 1988, aged 66, while Raimundo lived on until 2007, passing away aged 84. Both retained a lifelong love of Southampton, and of the England that gave them everything, including football. While at times the relationship between Sabino and Raimundo could appear to be that of adopted brothers, our last two Habana refugee footballers were blood brothers.

Antonio and José Gallego came from Errentería in the far northeast of the Basque region. In April 1937, their father had been killed at Guernica. Defying the heartbreak it would bring, the boys’ mother insisted they board the Habana with their three sisters for safety in England. Twelve-year-old Antonio, 14-year-old José and their sisters were given beds at first in Eastleigh, and then Cambridge. They stayed in a home for 30 Basque children, owned by Jesus College Cambridge.

Soon, like Sabino and Raimundo on the lawns of Nazareth House, and Emilio Aldecoa with his fundraising games, the Gallego brothers set up football teams and matches. Then in his late 80s, Antonio told the El País newspaper in 2012:

‘Football was all we thought about. As long as we had football we were happy. It meant everything to us; it was the only thing we knew about. We got attached to Cambridge and made a lot of friends there through playing football. If it hadn’t been for football, we would have lived a very different life.’

Though never scaling the heights of Sabino, Raimundo or Emilio, both Gallegos had talent in abundance. They may have daydreamed that, had they gone home to Spain like those three, their careers could have taken off. But England, particularly
Cambridge, had become home to the Gallegos.

In the mid-1940s, José, a left-winger, and Antonio, a goalkeeper, were signed up by local non-league side Cambridge Town. Scouts flocked to see the exotic Basque boys in this most unlikely of settings. José was signed by Brentford, and Antonio by
Norwich City. Things did not work out for Antonio, and he was freed in 1947, returning to Cambridge Town. José played six times for the Griffins, before a 1948 move to that home-from-home for Basques, Southampton.

Football, while clearly a second heartbeat for the Gallegos, must often have faded into the background as the five siblings wondered what had happened to their mum. That year of 1947 marked a decade since they had last seen her at the harbour in Bilbao as the Habana set sail. Then, a breakthrough: mother and beloved children were reunited after the Red Cross helped her locate them. Soon, she too settled in Cambridge. A family reunited 10 years after those vile bombs had fallen on their homelands.

The Gallego brothers, meanwhile, played football into their 50s, the game was under their skin. Antonio married, started a family and stayed here for the rest of his days until he died seven years ago. The story of the Basque refugee footballers is an incredible one. Six young people, from the jaws of hell, arriving in a country where people defied their cowardly government to open their arms and rooms. All six were united by the misery they had left behind, and the miracles they became.

Daniel Gray is author of ‘Homage to Caledonia: Scotland and the Spanish Civil War’, ‘Black Boots and Football Pinks’ and many other books on the history of football and Scotland. This is an edited version of a talk given at the IBMT’s Len Crome memorial
conference in March 2019.

Local history schoolteacher Tom Millard was the project coordinator for the new plaque to the International Brigade volunteers from the Dover area. Here he describes the aims and success of the project.

Over 90 years ago, hundreds of volunteers left from Dover to join the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39. Around 20 volunteers, from nurses to soldiers, left from East Kent. 

A blue plaque looking out towards the port of Dover was unveiled on 13 December at the RMT offices on Snargate Street to pay respects to the memory of three volunteers who would not return and died in the conflict. 

The ceremony was marked with the playing of The Internationale by students from Simon Langton Girls’ Grammar School, whilst speeches were made by the local trade union representatives, Mike Sargent and Eric Segal, John Bulaitis, senior lecturer in history at Canterbury Christ Church University, and IBMT Chair Jim Jump.

The most moving speech for many came from Trinity Buckley, grand-daughter of Harry Addley, one to the three men who died in Spain and are listed on the plaque. 

Harry was a veteran of the First World War and the Battle of the Somme. He ran popular restaurants in both Folkestone and Dover, including one nearby to the site of the plaque on the former Northampton Street. 

At the outbreak of the civil war, Harry was joined by his friend Arthur Ovenden in being one of the first of the International Brigades to reach Spain. He successfully participated in the defence of Madrid against the Fascist forces of Francisco Franco. On 20 December 1936 he died fighting Italian and German tanks and weaponry at the Battle of Boadilla. 

Harry left behind a wife and two children, one of whom became the father of Trinity Buckley. 

The two other comrades who came from Dover and Folkestone and who would die in the conflict are John ‘Jack’ Black and George Gorman. 

Black was a miner from Betteshanger in the Kent coalfield. When news broke of his death in the Battle of Brunete in the summer of 1937 over 400 mourned in Dover at a public meeting. 

Tom Millard and the brass trio from Simon Langton Girls’ Grammar School.

George Gorman had moved to Folkestone from the Longtower district of Derry and would fight and ultimately die in September 1938 in the final climatic battle of the war, the Battle of the Ebro. Just a few weeks later In 1938 the International Brigades would be repatriated and with that the contribution of the local Brigaders had spanned the entire conflict.

The plan to create a lasting memorial plaque began as a school project in 2020 at Dover Grammar School for Girls. In 2021 students organised an exhibition at the Urban Room in Folkestone and finally, with trade union donations, a lasting memorial has been able to be established. 

These three volunteers and many other Brigaders have no known resting place. Indeed Harry Addley’s grave in the north of Madrid was destroyed at the end of the war by the Nationalists and this made the case for a permanent memorial all the more compelling. 

Trinity Buckley (centre) at the plaque unveiling ceremony.

This memorial would not have been possible without the support of the Dover Girls Grammar School Past Students Association, the IBMT and Jim Jump for support with educational resources, John Bulaitis, historian Richard Baxell and, most importantly, Mike Sargent and Eric Segal of the South East Kent Trade Union Council. 

Members of trade unions made up the bulk of the 2,500-strong British and Irish contingents in the International Brigades and their comradely spirit and active promotion of working-class history was what made this project such a success. 

The unveiling was carried out by members of the Harry Addley family from as far afield as Spain and Miles Pitcher, a leading member of the student group who researched the background and life of local International Brigadiers. 

For further enquiries, contact project coordinator Tom Millard.

Members of Parliament are signing up to an Early Day Motion (EDM) marking the 85th anniversary of the return of the International Brigades from the war in Spain. 

The motion also praises the work of the IBMT in keeping alive the memory of the volunteers ‘who fought on the side of the Republican Government against fascism of Franco, Mussolini and Hitler’.

The EDM has been tabled by Beth Winter, the Labour MP for Cynon Valley in Wales, and has attracted cross-party and UK-wide support from Scottish National, Plaid Cymru and Social Democratic & Labour Party MPs.

It was on the evening of 7 December 1938 that the remaining 304 members of the British Battalion arrived at London’s Victoria Station. They received a rousing welcome from tens of thousands of well-wishers and were addressed by labour movement dignitaries, including Labour leader Clem Attlee.

Some 2,500 men and women from Britain and Ireland had volunteered to fight in Spain, and 530 of them lost their lives in a conflict that presaged the Second World War.

The International Brigades were disbanded in the final months of the Spanish Civil War as the Spanish Republic tried in vain to increase diplomatic pressure on Hitler and Mussolini to withdraw their forces from Spain.

Beth Winter.

As well as Winter, the other five sponsors of the EDM are Richard Burgon (Labour, Leeds East), Ian Byrne (Labour, Liverpool West Derby), Jeremy Corbyn (Independent, Islington North), Claire Hanna (SDLP, Belfast South) and Chris Stephens (SNP, Glasgow South West). The signatories also include several Plaid Cymru MPs.

IBMT supporters are being urged to press their own constituency MPs to sign up to the EDM.

Throughout this week, events are being staged by the IBMT around the country to commemorate the anniversary of the return of the Brigades.

The full text of the EDM 149 says:

That this House notes that 7 December 2023 marks the 85th anniversary of the return to Britain of the British and Irish volunteer members of the International Brigades who fought on the side of the Republican Government against fascism of Franco, Mussolini and Hitler in the Spanish Civil War; recalls that 304 volunteers of around 2500 who served from Britain, Ireland and the Commonwealth were met at Victoria Station by Labour Party leader Clement Attlee MP; regrets the 530 deaths the British and Irish volunteers suffered; notes there are now over 100 memorials to volunteers across Britain and that they continue to increase in number; and celebrates the ongoing work of the International Brigade Memorial Trust, including through its work in schools, and through its close relationship with official governmental and civic society sister organisations in Spain, to keep the volunteers memory alive.