Poet John Cornford and writer Ralph Fox were among 13 British and Irish International Brigaders remembered at an international symposium in Lopera, the town near Córdoba where they were killed during fighting 88 years ago.

Seven of the 13 killed were Irish, reflecting the high proportion of volunteers from Ireland in the 145-strong English-speaking No.1 Company of the mostly French Marseillaise Battalion that took part in the Battle of Lopera in December 1936. 

Until the creation of the British Battalion at the of the month, British and Irish volunteers were assigned to separate units in French and German battalions.

The symposium saw sculptor Frank Casey reunited with his relief portrait of John Cornford. He created the memorial in his studio in St Albans and it was shipped to Spain, where it was unveiled in 2019 in Lopera’s Jardín de los Poetas Ingleses (Garden of the English Poets).

This was the first time that the Scottish-born sculptor had seen his bronze tribute to Cornford – a Cambridge graduate and the great grandson of Charles Darwin – who died on 28 December 1936, the day after his 21st birthday.

Frank Casey beside his memorial bust of John Cornford.

Also commemorated in the town’s memorial garden is the novelist and biographer Ralph Fox, who was killed on the same day, aged 36. He was a renowned journalist, novelist, and historian, best remembered as a biographer of Lenin and Genghis Khan.  

The occasion was an international congress in Lopera on the International Brigades and the Battle of Lopera on 13/14 December. It brought together experts and writers on the International Brigades from several countries.

They included French historian Rémi Skoutelsky, Giles Tremlett, author of ‘The International Brigades: Fascism, Freedom and the Spanish Civil War’ (2021) and local historian José Luis Pantoja Vallejo – the congress convener – who with brother Antonio has written a detailed study of the battle ‘La XIV Brigada Internacional en Andalucía’ (2006).

Ralph Fox is pictured (centre) on the poster for the event in Lopera.

There was also a session on the memory of the International Brigades, with representatives from memorial groups in France, Poland and Spain taking part, as well as IBMT Chair Jim Jump from Britain. Another speaker was Harry Owens of the Friends off the International Brigades in Ireland.

Speaking about how the volunteers are remembered in Britain, Jump said that interest and admiration for them remained high, with new books being written about then and new memorials being raised in their honour.

Jim Jump (standing) addressing the symposium, with pictures of John Cornford and Ralph Fox projected behind him.

‘They are held in great esteem for being the first Britons to fight fascism and for being proved right by history,’ he added.

Frank Casey said he was delighted to again see his memorial to John Cornford. ‘It’s in the right place, so near to where he died among the love trees.’

Casey is also known for creating the Blockade Runners Memorial in Glasgow in tribute too thew merchant navy crews who continued to sail ships to Spanish Republican-held ports despite attacks by German, Italian and Francoist planes and submarines.

This poem by John Cornford (above) dates from 1936, shortly before his death. It is dedicated to his girlfriend Margot Heinemann.

Heart of the heartless world,
Dear heart, the thought of you
Is the pain at my side,
The shadow that chills my view.

The wind rises in the evening,
Reminds that autumn is near.
I am afraid to lose you,
I am afraid of my fear.

On the last mile to Huesca,]
The last fence for our pride,
Think so kindly, dear, that I
Sense you at my side.

And if bad luck should lay my strength
Into the shallow grave,
Remember all the good you can;
Don’t forget my love.