THE Spanish civil war rallied communities from across Britain and Ireland to the anti-fascist cause.

Some 2,500 volunteers left these shores for Spain, with over 500 never returning home.  The mass Aid Spain movement cared for thousands of refugees and funded food ships and medicines to help the beleaguered Spanish people.

In today’s money, the campaign raised over £180 million — an astonishing amount considering the hardships of the 1930s. As one historian notes, the war in Spain saw “unprecedented and outsized” passions and sacrifices.

The International Brigade Memorial Trust (IBMT) keeps alive this extraordinary chapter in our history. We do this because the motivations behind this collective act of solidarity and internationalism are as important and relevant today as they were then.

The example set by those who first fought fascism continues to inspire all of us who share those values, especially now as we face new threats from the far right.

This inspiration translates into memorials. New ones are being inaugurated this year in Battersea, Belfast, Burnley and Portsmouth, with plans for others in Coventry and Salford. Last year saw unveilings in Beeston, Doncaster, Dorchester and Newham.

They join about 200 memorials that the IBMT helps maintain — from plaques and memorial benches to major sculptures and pieces of public art.

Just as we remember the Tolpuddle Martyrs, the Chartists and suffragettes, so too must we commemorate those who first resisted fascism and took up arms against Franco and his allies Hitler and Mussolini. Meanwhile the appeasement policies of their own governments shamefully enabled a Franco victory.


The Spanish civil war is still largely overlooked in school curriculums, despite being a precursor to the second world war. The IBMT is taking steps to put that right. Together with the history department of Leeds University, we have produced a range of teaching aids, including detailed lesson plans on the topic.

The resources are mostly aimed at Key Stage 3 pupils, though we also offer packages suitable for a range of ages, including a digitised version of our acclaimed Antifascistas exhibition.

We want pupils, students and young trade unionists to explore why so many people were willing to risk their lives for the cause and why communities across Britain and Ireland answered Spain’s cry for help.  

“You can go proudly. You are history, you are legend,” said Dolores Ibarruri, better known as La Pasionaria, to departing International Brigade volunteers in October 1938. She was right. They had helped curb the seemingly relentless advance of fascism for more than two years on the battlefields of Cordoba, Jarama, Brunete, Teruel, Belchite and the Ebro.

The Brigaders returned home with their heads held high — the British contingent was greeted at London’s Victoria station by raucous crowds in December 1938.

They weren’t all saints, but collectively their actions were heroic. Help us remember them by joining the IBMT. This will keep you in touch with our vital commemorative, cultural and educational work. With active local groups, we are a vibrant organisation that brings together everyone interested in keeping alive the memory and spirit of those who went to Spain.

“At last a star for desperate men, sensing the gathering storm,” wrote one young volunteer, David Marshall, from Middlesbrough, describing in verse his journey to Spain. As a dole office clerk, he had witnessed first-hand the deprivations of the 1930s.

For him and thousands like him, Spain represented a chance to fight back against fascism in support of a progressive government. We need that inspiration today.

See the IBMT’s website, www.international-brigades.org.uk, to become a member and to access our educational resources and the database of more than 2,000 British and Irish International Brigade volunteers.

Helen Oclee-Brown is the executive officer of the IBMT.