Rob Hargreaves welcomes the Oldham memorial back to its rightful home…

Oldham’s moving memorial to the town’s fallen International Brigade heroes has come home at last.

Thanks to the painstaking efforts of North West International Brigade Memorial Group, the memorial to six Oldham volunteers killed in Spain is back on display, enjoying pride of place in the newly refurbished civic centre.

The Oldam memorial, home at last.

It took two years of patient negotiations with officials by local stalwart Graham Briggs to get the memorial reinstated after a period of exile from the town hall. Said Graham, ‘Although it was originally commissioned by Oldham Council in 1986, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, the memorial has enjoyed mixed fortunes since then.’

Brigader Joe Lees’s descendants, Sue Critchley and Andrew Spence, with Graham Briggs.

Founding IBMT member Hilary Jones, whose father Sam Wild sustained four bullet wounds at the Battle of Jarama, fighting alongside Oldhamer Clem Beckett, recalled that at one time the memorial – beautifully crafted by Holmfirth sculptor Jim Robison – had been relegated to a cellar, where for years it lay covered in dust and cobwebs.

In 2014, it was rescued by the parish church of St Mary with St Peter, whose Catalan-speaking priest promised grateful IBMT members that the memorial would be offered sanctuary and displayed in the church.

At a re-dedication ceremony in the civic centre on 29 November, IBMT member Rob Hargreaves thanked the church for its custodianship, and in particular, long-standing friend of the North West International Brigade Memorial Group, Canon Daniel Burton, for the church’s help.

Rob Hargreaves presents a copy of his biography of Clem Becket to the Mayor of Oldham, Councillor Eddie Moores.

The Mayor and Mayoress of Oldham, Councillor Eddie Moores and wife Kath, presided over the well-attended ceremony. In appreciation of the Council’s facilitating the return of the memorial, they were presented with a copy of Rob’s biography of Clem Beckett. Rob told listeners:

‘Nowhere in Britain was the cry of ¡No Pasaran! taken up more passionately or more determinedly than by the people of Oldham.’

Images of the 10 Oldham men: Cliff Wolstencroft, Billy Jackson, Harry Heap, Clem Beckett, Ken Bradbury and Joe Lees, who did not return home; and Albert Charlesworth, Joe Buckley, Charlie Hanson and Charlie Armitage, who survived.

Special guests at the event were Sue Critchley and Andrew Spence, proud descendants of Oldhamer Joe Lees, killed at Brunete.

Speaking after the ceremony, Graham paid tribute to Oldham’s principal heritage officer, Sean Bagguley, for his support in bringing the memorial ‘home’.

Robert Hargreaves reports from the Oldham Histories Festival, where Graham Briggs gave an illustrated talk about the lives of the Oldhamers who fought in the Spanish Civil War …

IBMT stalwart Graham Briggs ensured that Oldham’s ten Brigaders figured prominently in the town’s September history festival.

Graham organised and presented an illustrated talk on the Oldhamers who volunteered to fight Franco and was also on hand at Oldham Parish Church to explain the memorial plaque commemorating them.

Left to right: IBMT members Dolores Long, Graham Briggs, Rob Hargreaves and Steph Turner.

The well-attended talk, held in Oldham Library, was illustrated by images of the men from Oldham and district who rallied to the Spanish Republic’s aid. Six of them – Cliff Wolstencroft, Billy Jackson, Harry Heap, Clem Beckett, Ken Bradbury and Joes Lees – did not return; Albert Charlesworth, Joe Buckley, Charlie Hanson and Charlie Armitage survived.

Highlights of the event included contributions from Clem Beckett’s nephew, Andy Widdall, and Joe Lees’s descendant Andrew Spence, who recalled family memories. Other contributions came from Dolores Long, daughter of British Battalion commander Sam Wild, and Rob Hargreaves, Clem Beckett’s biographer.

Rob Hargreaves at the lectern.

The event also featured a ‘world premiere’ showing of a Granada Reports documentary on Clem Beckett, originally broadcast in 1981 (and recorded by Andy Widdall), which featured interviews with Clem Beckett’s life-long friend Eli Anderson, as well as Brigader Maurice Levine and Working Class Movement Library founder Ruth Frow. IBMT supporter Stephanie Turner ensured that myriad technical problems were overcome.

A ‘welcome’ film featuring images of Brigaders and the Spanish Civil War was backed by the song Ten Oldham Men by folk group Oldham Tinkers, whose member John Howarth was among the audience.

Left to right: Graham Briggs, Rev Canon Daniel Burton and Barbara Murphy.

At the Parish Church, Graham explained the significance of the memorial plaque to more than eighty visitors, while the event was boosted by the exhibition of display panels, featuring the ten volunteers.

Two of the display panels featuring Brigaders Kenneth Bradbury (left) and William Jackson.

Dean of Oldham, the Rev Canon Daniel Burton, discovered the panels in a dusty corner of the vestry. ‘I was surprised and delighted’, he said, ‘especially as I was able to have them on show in the church for the history festival.’ The panels were created forty years ago when Oldham commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.

The Oldham memorial.

Said Graham: ‘It was hard work, but it was worth it. We talked to so many people who were surprised to learn about the Oldham Brigaders’.

Visitor to the Parish Church, Mrs Barbara Murphy, from Shaw, said: ‘Thank you for telling us about this. We didn’t know about it before. These men are forgotten heroes.’