In the Jarama Series, The Volunteer Blog will present a series of articles examining the experiences of volunteers in the Abraham Lincoln Battalion from its formation to the Brunete Offensive in July 1937. Articles will focus both on the battalion’s formation as well as on the individuals who served. These articles are intended to provide the reader with a better appreciation of the men and women who made up the first American combat formation in Spain. The series is compiled and curated by ALBA Board Member Chris Brooks.

Dead Mule Trench

On March 14, 1937, Nationalist forces launched an attack along the sector of the Jarama Front held by the XV International Brigade.  Moorish Troops backed by Fiat tanks struck the trenches of the La Pasionaria Battalion adjacent to the XV BDE’s lines.  The Passionaria Battalion, composed primarily of quintos (conscripts), broke and fell back in panic.[i]  Elements of the British Battalion of the XV BDE closest to the attack retreated.[ii] The Republican forces were faced with a serious crisis as the Nationalists were on the brink of a break-through.  Quick action by Lincoln volunteers and the appearance of Soviet T-26 tanks averted a potential rupture of the lines.

When the attack occurred, most of the Lincoln Battalion leadership was in the rear for a Brigade officer’s call. It was the NCOs who organized the men and directed fire against the flanks of the second wave of Moors advancing across no-man’s land.  Even Lincolns serving sentences in the punitive labor coy dropped their shovels, picked up rifles, and joined the firing line.  While the Lincolns engaged the advancing Moorish infantry, the T-26 tanks fired their 45mm cannon at the Fiats.  The intervention of Soviet armor was decisive and caused the machine-gun-armed Italian armor to break off the attack and retreat hastily.  Without tank support the follow-on wave of Moorish infantry also retreated.  This left the first wave of Moorish infantry, who successfully broke into the Republican lines, isolated without support.

The Lincoln officers rushed back to the trenches and organized bombing parties to launch a counter attack.  Armed with grenades, the bombing parties moved along the trenches.  The trenches were dug in a zig-zag configuration to ensure that an enemy could not enfilade the line if they occupied a section.  As the bombing parties reached each angle of the occupied trench line. One soldier would throw a grenade around the corner while riflemen covered him.  This caused the Moorish troops to either retreat or climb out of the trenches.  Those who climbed out of the trenches were cut down by waiting sharpshooters.[iii]

The Lincoln’s bombing parties, accompanied by several British officers, successfully pushed the Moors out of much of the trench system.  At a point marked by the skeleton of a mule, the counter attack ran out of steam.  British Battalion Commander Jock Cunningham was shot down after climbing over the lip of the trench to obtain a better shot.[iv]  As his party carried Cunningham to the rear, they passed soldiers from the rallied Passionaria Battalion constructing a blocking position to pinch off the Nationalist salient.[v]

At the end of the day, the Nationalist forces still held 150 meter section of the front-line trench.[vi]  While the action was small in scale casualties included key leaders Liam Tumlinson and Robert Wolk. Tumlinson, an Irish volunteer, commanded the Lincoln Machine Gun Company, and was killed by a sniper while he was attempting to find a favorable position to place his guns.  Robert Wolk the Adjutant Commander of the Infantry Company was wounded while taking part in a bombing party. Despite being evacuated to hospital he died on March 23 in the hospital in Murcia.[vii]  Robert Raven and Max Krauthamer are the only enlisted casualties documented.[viii]  Raven was severely wounded by grenade fragments that peppered his legs and destroyed his eye sight.  After recovering from his leg wounds he was sent back to the United States, promoted to Lieutenant and became one of the most effective fundraisers for the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB).

From left to right: Francis J. Gorman, President of the United Textile Workers of America; Lieut. Robert Raven, wounded and blinded in Spain; and Commander Paul Burns in Washington, D.C., Feb 12, 1938 for the First National Conference of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Wikipedia Commons.

From left to right: Francis J. Gorman, President of the United Textile Workers of America; Lieut. Robert Raven, wounded and blinded in Spain; and Commander Paul Burns in Washington, D.C., Feb 12, 1938 for the First National Conference of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Wikipedia Commons.

An Explosion

By Rex Pitkin

Among Friends, v.1, n.1, Winter 1938, pp. 16, 21-22.

Courage. Idealism.

High words these, but they don’t begin to tell the story. Words are cold, stereotyped, and inadequate when you begin to describe Robert Raven.

He is blind and unable to walk. He is a young man who has made the greatest personal sacrifice.

Robert Raven wanted to become a doctor. He worked twelve hours a day as male attendant at the Montefiore Hospital while a student at the University of Pittsburgh.

From seven each evening to seven each morning. Bob scrubbed floors, hauled oxygen tanks, cared for the needs of patient. He’d bolt his breakfast, change his clothes, and rush for his classes. From nine to two every day, he’d sit in class absorbing the knowledge which would make him eligible for medical school. Then he’d rush home for a few hours’ sleep before reporting to the hospital.

In 1933, Raven’s family like millions of others, suffered from the depression. With his family dependent upon him for support he had to quit school.  Unable to find a job in Pittsburgh, Bob left for Chicago, where he worked at odd jobs for a while.  He went back to Pittsburgh, but his family had broken up.  He came to New York.

“In New York he had no illusions,” says Israel Soyer, with whom Bob lived. “He had known the hovels of Pittsburgh miners, the slums of Chicago, and here was the Bowery.” Two of his brothers were without work for years. A brother of grade school age developed tuberculosis. His mother’s health collapsed and she was taken to a hospital where she remains to this day. His lovely young sister died.

Bob finally found work in New York as a social worker for the Catholic charities. In his off hours he plunged into the seamen’s strike on the New York waterfront. Braving the guns and steel knuckles of hired strike-breakers and the goon squads of the reactionary union officials, who have now been superseded by progressive officials – partly through activities of men like Raven.

He wanted to travel, to learn, to continue above all his study of medicine.  Yet stronger than all these currents was his hatred of barbarism. Stronger still was his love of peace.

“I was a pacifist,” he explains, “I never thought that I could kill another man. I resolved I’d rather go to jail than fight.”

Then why did Robert Raven, pacifist, enlist in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade? “I hate fascism with every fibre of my being, and I believe in living what I preach. I went to fight with the Spanish people because I know that the only way to guarantee lasting peace is to wipe fascism off the face of the globe. I volunteered because I saw clearly what was happening in the world,” he says. “I saw fascism creeping all over the face of the globe. I saw it in Italy and Germany. I saw it in the minor central European states. I saw the fascists hard at work in the United States, I’ve returned to the United States, fascism has secured its strangle-hold in Brazil—right here in the Americas.

“I knew that if the monsters who had burned books in Germany, and kept the Italian peasants in subjection, succeeded in Spain, they would march through all Europe, and then reach for the greatest prize of all—the United States.”

For a month he stood with his back to Madrid, and with the Lincoln Battalion defended the road between Madrid and Valencia, which for more than a year has been beleaguered by the fascists. For a month he miraculously escaped the bullets and bombs which were directed against the defenders of Madrid.

But his luck ran out on February 12, when an explosive shell landed nearby, and they picked three shell fragments out of his back. But Bob refused to go to a hospital, insisting that he be treated at a first-aid station, and be allowed to return to the lines.

Two weeks later, a bullet left a crease along his right temple. A fortnight on his back in a hospital near Morata, and Bob became restless. He asked for permission to return to the trenches. The doctors refused. One morning he leaned from a window, and saw the truck which had hauled food to the front standing at the side of the hospital. Quickly he dressed, deserted from the hospital, climbed onto the back of the truck which was loaded with potatoes, and in a few hours he was back in the lines. That was March 15 [actually the 14^th].

He landed in a sector occupied by untrained rookies receiving their baptism under fire. Noon of that day, Italian tanks advanced against the rookies, and they armed only with rifles of ancient vintage were forced to flee before the murderous fire of the fascists.

Raven saw immediately that it was essential to stem the retreat, for nearby were 400 members of the Lincoln Battalion, and if the fascists routed the rookies, then they would be able to mow down the Americans.

He began to rally those whom he could. He had only three anti-tank bullets in his rifle. He fired them to good effect. Then he saw the enemy setting up a machine gun. Left without ammunition, he crawled on his stomach back along the zigzag trenches, until he found a rookie with a grenade from which the pin had been pulled. The rookie was too far from the machinegun nest to use the grenade, so Raven grabbed it out his hand. Holding the lever down he crawled back toward the machine gun nest. As he raised his hand to throw it, a grenade thrown by the fascists exploded in his face.

He fell to the ground. He felt his face on fire. Not losing consciousness he realized that his own grenade would explode in a few seconds. He buried his face in his hands and tried to crawl back. An explosion and he felt his legs break.

Eight months Bob lay on his back in a hospital in Spain. Now he is home. “I have come back,” he said “because I feel that I can serve the fight against fascism best by spreading the truth here in America.”

Sources

Ryan, Frank, ed. Book of the XVth Brigade: Records of British, American, Canadian, and Irish volunteers in the XV International Brigade, Commissariat of War, XV Brigade, Madrid, 1938.

Eby, Cecil. Comrades and Commissars, The Lincoln Battalion in the Spanish Civil War, University of Pennsylvania: University Park, Pennsylvania: 2007.

Landis, Arthur. The Lincoln Brigade, New York: Citadel, 1968.

Merriman, Marion and Warren Letrude, American Commander in Spain, Robert Hale Merriman and the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, University of Nevada Press: Reno, Nevada, 1986.

Tisa, John. Recalling the Good Fight, An Autobiography of the Spanish Civil War; Massachusetts: Bergin and Garvey Publishers, 1985.

[i] John Tisa, Recalling the Good Fight, An Autobiography of the Spanish Civil War; (Massachusetts: Bergin and Garvey Publishers, 1985), 57. Tisa notes that John Simon (Doc Simon) and the medical staff halted the retreating Spanish soldiers.

[ii] Cecil Eby, Comrades and Commissars, The Lincoln Battalion in the Spanish Civil War, (University Park, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania, 2007), 94.

[iii] Eby, Comrades and Commissars, 95; and “Jock Cunningham is Wounded,” in Frank Ryan, ed. Book of the XVth Brigade: Records of British, American, Canadian, and Irish volunteers in the XV International Brigade, (Madrid: Commissariat of War, XV Brigade, 1938), 92.

[iv] Eby, Comrades and Commissars, 95.

[v] Eby, Comrades and Commissars, 96.

[vi] Tisa, Recalling the Good Fight, 58.

[vii] Merriman Diaries, Unpublished Manuscript, March 22 entry; Marion Merriman and Warren Letrude. American Commander in Spain, Robert Hale Merriman and the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, Reno, Nevada: University of Nevada Press, 1986), 121.  The diaries indicate that James Harris spoke at Wolk’s memorial.

[viii] Arthur Landis, The Lincoln Brigade, (New York: Citadel, 1968), 121

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Dawn Rolland’s newest e-book Alphaeus Prowell An Unordinary Life, A Genealogy Picture Book, is a companion piece to Letters From An American Volunteer in the Spanish Civil War.  She presents a treasure trove of material that provides context around A. D. Prowell’s life. Prowell was part of a small but active group of African American leftists in Los Angeles who volunteered to serve in the Spanish Civil War. Rolland presents a series of documents that showcases Prowell’s life. These artifacts span a period beginning during Prowell’s school days and continuing until after his death in Spain.  The collection includes yearbook and newspaper articles highlighting Prowell’s high school and college experiences.

Rolland also presents material about Prowell’s fellow African American volunteers in Spain. This section includes an article by Aaron Johnson, and an exceptional letter from Virgil Rhetta. In his letter, Rhetta, a musician by trade, discusses his role as song leader for his company. There are additional clippings that mention other members from Prowell’s circle in Spain. Rolland devotes the last section of the book to the life of Prowell’s wife Grace Fisher. Prowell and Fisher were married from 1930 until 1936. Rolland follows her life journey with documents that include her divorce papers, clippings describing Fisher’s careers in fashion design, real estate, and her obituary.

This new e-book will spark the interest of readers who want to learn more about African American volunteers in the Spanish Civil War as well as genealogists looking for inspiration. Alphaeus Prowell An Unordinary Life, A Genealogy Picture Book is currently available on Lulu.com.

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In the Jarama Series, The Volunteer Blog will present a series of articles examining the experiences of volunteers in the Abraham Lincoln Battalion from its formation to the Brunete Offensive in July 1937. Articles will focus both on the battalion’s formation as well as on the individuals who served. These articles are intended to provide the reader with a better appreciation of the men and women who made up the first American combat formation in Spain. The series is compiled and curated by ALBA Board Member Chris Brooks.

Garibaldis

General Janos Galicz, General Gal, the commander of the 35^th Division designed an operation with the ultimate goal of driving the Nationalists back across the Jarama River.[i]  The plan of attack for April 5, 1937 entailed a coordinated all-arms assault.  The attack would commence with an aerial bombardment at 0630 followed by artillery at 0635.  At 0700 twenty T-26 tanks would cross the trenches to lead the Garibaldi and Dombrowski Battalions of the XII^th International Brigade (IB) across no-man’s-land.   The XV^th IB and the Spanish 66^th BDE would provide supportive covering fire and were prepared to advance and cover the flanks once the Nationalist front lines were pierced.[ii]

The actual battle failed to follow the plan.  Only the bombers made their timeline, unfortunately their bombing run only served to alert the Nationalists of the impending attack.  The tanks arrived at 0800 and almost immediately one driver got his tank stuck in a shell hole. The crew bailed out of the stranded tank just before a Nationalist anti-tank gun set the stricken tank afire.  The remaining tanks fired a few desultory rounds and fell back.[iii]  The Nationalists maintained heavy artillery and mortar fire. The first wave of the Garibaldis crossed the top at 1000 and quickly recovered the trench line lost during the March 14 Nationalist attack.  The Lincolns kept up a heavy volume of fire from their trenches in support of the attack.  The second wave of the Garibaldis and the Dombrowski Battalion refused to leave their trenches and the attack stalled.  Several Italian casualties resulted when they got caught in Republican wire.[iv]

Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Copic the XV^th BDE commander ordered the Lincoln Battalion to attack in an effort to relieve pressure on the Garibaldis.  Captain Martin Hourihan, the Lincoln commander, requested permission to have his men resupplied with ammunition before attacking.  The battalion had expended almost all of its ammunition supporting the Garibaldi’s assault.  Copic pressed the issue going as far as calling the Lincolns “cowards.” The Lincolns finally went over the top at 1300. Unlike the assaults in February, the Americans utilized every element of available cover.  The weight of enemy fire quickly forced the Lincolns to ground and Hourihan ordered the unit to hold in place.  At nightfall the Lincolns quietly pulled back to their trenches. [v]  Despite the obstacles and failure to adhere to the attack plan, casualties were comparatively light.[vi]

Volunteer John Tisa’s eyewitness account of the event was more positive.  His entry for April 5^th stated:

The battalion again went over the top supporting an advance movement on the flank.  The Garibaldi Battalion of antifascist Italians, fresh from their victories over Mussolini’s Italian regular troops at Guadalajara, led the attack.  The Dabrowski Battalion of Polish volunteers, to the right of the Garibaldi, charged next; then came the Spanish units, followed by the Lincoln Battalion.  The enemy bombarded our lines intensively with hundreds of trench mortars, heavy artillery, and rifle grenade bombs.  A sweeping machine-gun and rifle fire ripped open our sandbags.  One of our tanks charging clumsily ahead of our thrust was incapacitated by antitank shells.  By a few bold encircling maneuvers, the indefatigable Garibaldi Battalion recaptured the trenches lost to the fascists on 14 March and rounded up some 150 prisoners.

Davey Jones, acting Lincoln Battalion political commissar, was wounded in the upper right arm while rescuing a wounded comrade. Casualties, painful even when lose even one man, were comparably slight.[vii]

Figure 1. John Tisa’s sketch of the positions provides the only visual representation of the disposition of the units, Recalling the Good Fight, p.61.

The assault received little contemporary press coverage even though it was larger in scale than either the February 23 or 27 attack both of which are better known.  The coverage is echoed in most histories of American volunteers which provide only a brief account of the action.[viii]  Cecil Eby’s Comrades and Commissars provides the most comprehensive account drawing from Copic’s diary and Hourihan’s reports.[ix]  Minimal coverage likely results from poor performance of the forces involved and the failure of the attack to drive the Nationalist off Pingarrón.

While several issues contribute to the failure of the attack, exhaustion is the most glaring.  Pushed to meet an extremely aggressive attack plan, there was insufficient time for the 35^th Division staff to coordinate with the identified units and for the participating units to rehearse their actions. This likely accounts for the failure of the artillery barrage and the late arrival of the tanks. Failure of the tanks to press the attack was likely the result of exhaustion of both the tanks and crews. The Republic’s Russian made T-26s were in almost continuous action from October to April. Most tanks were well past their proscribed hours for complete overhauls (depot-level maintenance).  The crews were equally exhausted from the operational tempo and resulting heavy casualties.  This exhaustion resulted in crews that did not trust their vehicles and commanders who did not trust their crews.[x] Exhaustion was also a factor among the troops.  The XV^th BDE’s units saw action throughout the winter and were understrength.[xi] The XII^th BDE was in combat even longer and had lost 70% of its original cadre since entering combat in November.[xii]  The XII^th BDE went into reserve after the close of the Battle of Guadalajara on March 23.  They had less than twelve days to rest and reorganize before the April 5 attack.[xiii]

The rectification of the lines did little to alter the course of the war.  Among the Lincolns David Jones, the acting Battalion Commissar, was hit in the upper arm and spent the remainder of his time in Spain in hospital. Captain Hourihan and Captain Alan Johnson serving on the brigade staff also received slight wounds.[xiv]  The names of the Lincoln volunteers who were killed in the action are not recorded.  The battalion suffered additional losses because several Italian American Lincolns deserted to the Garibaldi BN.[xv]  The Jarama Front remained static.

Sources

Carroll, Peter N. The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1994.

Eby, Cecil, Comrades and Commissars, The Lincoln Battalion in the Spanish Civil War, University of Pennsylvania: University Park, Pennsylvania, 2007.

Johnson, Verle B., Legions of Babel, The International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War, University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1967.

Landis, Arthur. The Lincoln Brigade, New York: Citadel, 1968.

Rolfe, Edwin. The Lincoln Battalion, New York: Stratford Press, 1939.

Rosenstone, Robert A. Crusade of the Left, The Lincoln Battalion in the Spanish Civil War, New York: Pegasus, 1969.

Tisa, John. Recalling the Good Fight, An Autobiography of the Spanish Civil War; Massachusetts: Bergin and Garvey Publishers, 1985.

[i] General Gal was the nom de guerre of the Hungarian Comintern officer Janos Galicz in Spain.  Galicz was an Austro-Hungarian officer during WWI.  He was captured by the Russians and freed during the Revolution.  He serve in the Red Army and later took part in the Soviet regime in Hungary in 1919. Initially the commander of the XVth BDE he was promoted to Division Command.  He was recalled to the Soviet Union in 1939 and perished in the Purges.

[ii] Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History (RGASPI), Fond 545, Opis 3, Delo 467, ll. 15-16  Copic Diaries, April 5, 1937 entry (Spanish); Cecil Eby, Comrades and Commissars, The Lincoln Battalion in the Spanish Civil War, (University Park, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania, 2007), 105.  Eby calls the Garibaldi and Dombrowski BNs Brigades in error.  The two Battalions gave their names to XIIth and XIIIth BDEs respectively during the reorganization of the International Brigades that occurred later in April.

[iii] Eby, Comrades and Commissars, 105-06.

[iv] Landis, The Lincoln Brigade, (New York: Citadel, 1968), 161. Landis cites Charles Nusser, who stated that “some of the Garibaldis, either going over or returning to their lines, found themselves in front of the Lincoln’s trenches, got caught in the Lincoln barbed wire, and were badly shot up.”

[v] Eby. Comrades and Commissars, 105.

[vi] Edwin Rolfe, The Lincoln Battalion, (New York, Stratford Press, 1939), 63; Arthur Landis, The Lincoln Brigade, 161; Eby. Comrades and Commissars, 106; Both Rolfe and Landis state that there were 20 casualties.  Eby cites five killed and one wounded within the Lincoln Battalion.  The names of those killed in action remain unidentified.

[vii] John Tisa, Recalling the Good Fight, An Autobiography of the Spanish Civil War; (Massachusetts: Bergin and Garvey Publishers, 1985), 60.

[viii] Robert A. Rosenstone, Crusade of the Left, (New York: Pegasus, 1969), 149; states only the following “On March 14 there was a small action when the enemy seized some trenches to the left of the Lincolns, and on April 5 the Americans helped to recapture them.”

[ix] Eby cites Copic Diary with a date of March 1, 1937, and Hourihan interview, Adelphi University.  I was unable to find the citation (there are multiple transcription in various languages of the diary and Eby does not cite the document number). RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 3, Delo 467, ll. 26, Copic diaries, April 5, 1937 (longer version of the entry giving a full breakdown of the plan) and  Interview with Martin  Hourihan, Commander of the Lincoln Battalion from March 9 to July 4 (by Sandor Voros), August 26, 1937, Sandor Voros Spanish Civil War Collection, Box 1, Folder 2, Adelphi University Archives and Special Collections, Garden City, NY.

[x] Steven J. Zalozga, Spanish Civil War Tanks, The proving ground for Blitzkreig, (Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2010), 18 (on maintenance) and  26 (crew training).

[xi] Even with the addition of the 21^st and 24^th Spanish Battalions to the XVth BDE on March 3 the Brigade was still significantly understrength.

[xii] Johnston, Verle B., Legions of Babel, The International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War, (University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1967),  82, 84.

[xiii] RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 145, ll. 37-38. Order a La XIIeme Brigade No. 51 order.(undated). “3º Le 5 Avril, exercice simultané de deux bataillons; Attaque de deuz bataillons contre les positions de 1’ennemi défendues par un bataillon.”

[xiv] Landis The Lincoln Brigade pp 161-62.

[xv] Veteran Charles Nusser conversation with the author.

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In the Jarama Series, The Volunteer Blog will present a series of articles examining the experiences of volunteers in the Abraham Lincoln Battalion from its formation to the Brunete Offensive in July 1937. Articles will focus both on the battalion’s formation as well as on the individuals who served. These articles are intended to provide the reader with a better appreciation of the men and women who made up the first American combat formation in Spain. The series is compiled and curated by ALBA Board Member Chris Brooks.

Jarama Series #13 Killing Time – Life, Leisure, and Death in the trenches

There was a good, long stretch of idleness after Pingarrón hill, and when next I visited the Jarama River front in the latter part of May it was to find the Americans playing ping-pong, baseball, and soccer just to pass the time away. They had dug in strongly on the crest of a hill in what had been an olive grove, and some of the dugouts were gems of comfort. Every now and then someone would get hit by the incessant dropping of stray shots, among which were a fair sprinkling of explosive bullets, not to mention a trench mortar shell now and then. But on the whole it was a quiet time, and I found them all healthy and reasonably happy, with plenty of zest left for fighting.                                                                                                                                                                                    – Herbert Mathews, Two Wars and More to Come [i]

Life for the Lincolns on the frontline during their trench vigil from February into June 1937, could be dangerous and still boring. In February and March torrential rains caused flooding in the trenches. In early April the rain ceased and it warmed up. The discomfort of oppressive heat and windblown dust coating every surface soon replaced the pleasure of drying out. The Lincolns’ daily routine revolved around standing watch and conducting patrols into no-man’s-land. During their off hours, the men had little to do and little to amuse themselves which manifested into ample cause and time to gripe.

Lincoln BN HQ, Jarama April 1937, foreground Battalion Commander CPT Martin Hourihan, and Battalion Clerk Joseph Wheelan; Paul Burns Photograph Collection, ALBA Photo 184, Box 1, Folder 7; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives; Elmer Holmes Bobst Library; 70 Washington Square South; New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.

Food

The food in Spain was an issue of serious concern to the Lincolns. The Spanish diet did not sit well with most of the North American volunteers. The monotonous diet of unfamiliar foods wreaked havoc on their digestive systems. Until their bodies adjusted, many volunteers were stricken by painful rounds of diarrhea blamed on the “olive-oil-soaked” fare made with “raw, crude, unrefined, [and] frequently rancid” olive oil. [ii]

Food was cooked behind the lines and more often than not was cold by the time it reached the troops in the trenches. Breakfast was normally ersatz coffee served with rolls and marmalade. This meager meal was often interrupted by Nationalist bombardments. Lunch consisted of garbanzo beans cooked in olive oil accompanied by bread. Garbanzos with an occasional bit of meat and salad served as the dinner fare. Protein was most frequently served n the form of burro and horse meat. Few Americans ever became accustomed to it. Burro especially had a noxious texture. One volunteer described the sensation of chewing it: “The more you’d chew it, the bigger it would get, until your mouth felt it was full of rubber bands.” [iii]

In the aftermath of the February attack on Pingarrón the Lincoln Battalion’s commissar and supply staff worked hard to improve morale. The bottomless coffee pot was one of its most successful projects.   The Commissars made it a practice to keep a pot of coffee going at all hours in the cookhouse behind the lines. Troops coming off watch could make their way back behind the lines for hot coffee, tea, cognac and later cold lemonade.[iv]

 Jack Shirai became the most popular man in the battalion when Commissar Steve Nelson convinced him to assume the reins of the kitchen. Shirai, a Japanese immigrant, was an experienced cook who had been in charge of the kitchen for the first few weeks at Jarama. He quit the post in disgust stating that the men assigned to work for him were “Lazy. Lots of hard work in kitchen, they don’t want to work.” Insisting that he came to Spain to fight, not cook Shirai, transferred to a machine gun squad.[v]   Nelson appealed to “Shirai’s pride.” [vi] In his memoir, The Volunteers, Nelson recalled that he made it known that he was “. . . making a complete clean-up of the kitchen. It won’t be a punishment place any more. We’ll put the best comrades we got down by there; it’ll be an honor.”[vii] Shirai finally agreed and the food became more palatable. Despite this minor success, Shirai continued to insist that he be allowed to fight in the line when the battalion went back into action. Nelson honored Shirai’s request and he died in action at Brunete.

The kitchen requested a road from the cook house to the secondary lines to speed the delivery of hot food to the troops.[viii] Dr. William Pike, Battalion Surgeon, put patients to work building the road. “Pike’s Turnpike” eventually extended more than a mile beginning at the rear area medical evacuation point, past the cookhouse, and into the secondary trenches.   Pike employed shell-shocked soldiers as a form of work therapy. The road made a significant, positive impact on morale in the trenches as hot food consistently reached the men in the lines.[ix]

Digging In

Lincoln volunteers constructed elaborate dugouts. These shelters, which were typically dug into the sides of the trenches, provided shelter from the weather and protection against incoming artillery. The volunteers spent a lot of time scrounging materials to improve their humble abodes. They utilized duck boards and metal to shore up the walls and provide a reasonably dry floor.  The trenches sprouted mock street signs boasting names like “Tim Buck Boulevard.” They incorporated humorous and homey elements as well. Along a trench built within a vineyard, one volunteer put up signs at intervals stating “Care for the grapes! … They suffer when you hit them.”[x]

The Lincolns were less interested in improving their trenches. Most of the trench digging was done by men assigned to the penal platoon. Because digging was regarded as a punishment, most volunteers were loath to shovel any more than was necessary to keep erosion from filling in their trenches. This attitude changed when Steve Nelson became the commissar. Nelson worked to educate the men on the importance of improving the trenches. He felt they would dig “if they understood why digging trenches was necessary for winning the war.”[xi] Digging helped keep the men engaged and gave them something in which they could take pride. By Herbert Matthews’s May visit, the trenches were “very well built.” He commented that they were “even deep enough for my height.”[xii]

Leisure activities

Men spent their off-duty time reading, playing cards, writing letters and, as the weather improved, playing sports. One dugout was turned into a Library with books, magazines and papers. When the demand for reading materials exceeded the supply, the Commissars erected wall newspapers. Cobbled together from “two iron posts with a canvas shelter stretched between them,” the initial wall newspaper was nicknamed The Daily Mañana. [xiii] Volunteers could post items of interest from newspapers, and their own poetry and art. The battalion also initiated a daily mimeographed news sheet, Our Fight.[xiv]

Wall Newspaper, Jarama Front, 1937; Paul Burns Photograph Collection, ALBA Photo 184; Box 1, Folder 1, Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives; Elmer Holmes Bobst Library; 70 Washington Square South; New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.

Once the rains ended, men “took advantage of a sharp dip in the ridge behind their trenches” and used the cover to erect a ping-pong table and a small baseball field.[xv] Friends and supporting organizations in the States supplemented the leisure material with chess and checker boards, additional sports equipment and reading materials. In June, the rear area rang out with cries of “kill the umpire” as the battalion leadership organized intramural games.

The men also yearned for radio in order to hear music, programs and news. Some volunteers pooled funds and bought radios and loudspeakers[xvi] The battalion also brought in propaganda trucks though the music they played was often deafening.

The volunteers also wrote large numbers of letters home. Some were party line propaganda others intimate thoughts (or as intimate as men who knew their letters were being read by censors could be). Almost all requested letters from home and many asked that they enclose a few cigarettes.[xvii]

Tobacco, or more accurately the shortage of tobacco, was a perennial topic of conversation. Americans never became accustomed to the strong European and Spanish cigarettes. They knew that cigarettes were sent from the United States; however, they rarely reached the Americans in the front lines. Volunteers at the front often smoked Spanish brands they nicknamed “pillow slips” and “anti-tanks,” that they often had to re-roll or use in their pipes. When even these less than optimal choices were not available, the volunteers “soaked the leaves of hazelnut trees in the vile war-cognac of the country, dried the leaves in the sun and rolled them.”[xviii]

Dangers in trench life

            Even in a fairly quiet sector, there are dangers in trench warfare. Snipers took a small but disturbing toll on both sides. Charlie Regan who adopted the nickname “Charlie the Sniper” gave Steve Nelson a primer on sniping. Regan told him how he prepared his position, carefully selecting his site, sprinkling water to keep from kicking up a cloud of dust and placing sandbags behind his viewing site to ensure that enemy snipers would not be able to tell when he was observing the enemy lines.[xix]

The men learned that an accurate sighting could be made of the incoming direction of a bullet by setting up a box. When the box was hit by a bullet you could establish the firing position by taking a siting through the holes.[xx]

Most men took these lessons to heart and learned how to make themselves inconspicuous. Some men ignored the warnings. Dave Smith recounted what he regarded as a foolish death. During his watch another volunteer coming on duty “would perch on his clay seat behind the sandbag parapet, place his rifle in a groove on top of the sandbags and fire a few rounds.” Despite warnings from Smith and others over several days that a sniper could identify his firing position “the comrade always shrugged us off. One evening his two shots rang out, and one bullet came back in return – clean through his head.”[xxi]

Casualties were also caused by artillery and mortar barrages, and fire fights. Mortars often took a greater toll as there was no warning before the first rounds landed. Fire fights could erupt that involved the entire line or in small night-time patrols who bumped into the enemy in no man’s land. Serious wounds were rare but did cause a steady exodus from the front.

Sickness was another constant source of losses from the front lines. Poor shelter, weather extremes, inadequate food and lack of field sanitation were all contributing factors. Lice, the bane of soldiers, also made an appearance. Dr. William Pike paid “personal attention to the water supply, kitchens, trenches, latrines and dugouts.”[xxii] He imposed and strictly enforced hygiene rules. Pike established formal latrines, and trash pits. He encouraged regular shaving and worked to bring in field showers. His efforts, especially in field sanitation, significantly reduced the number of volunteers absent from their duties due to illness.

Pike also treated individual soldiers who reported for sick call. He dispensed drugs from his meager supply, granted light duty for minor cases, and sent more serious cases to hospitals in the rear. Dave Smith recalled one occasion when he had a “blinding” headache in the afternoon and aspirin failed to relieve the pain. Dr. Pike provided a stronger drug. The following day he woke up in his dugout long after he was due to stand watch. He was greeted with “all sorts of vilification” because not only was he late for duty, but also slept through a night long firefight. The drug left Smith in a sleep so deep “that when the crew member yelled into my dugout, as was done when men were needed, it was not enough to wake me. Not until Dr. Pike verified my explanation was I again in good grace of the crew.”[xxiii]

Leave

Very few volunteers received any type of leave. Only a few select officers appear to have had permission to leave the front. In a surprise move at the end of April, the battalion was informed that it would be leaving the front for leave. Trucks took the men to the town of Alcala de Henares. As soon as the troops got off the trucks they spread out over the town in search of alcohol. The troops blew off steam with the tacit consent of their officers who established themselves in a house. The following day the men, many suffering from severe hangovers, were formed up and marched in a May Day parade. By the following day they were back in their old trenches at Jarama ostensibly to help repel a rumored Nationalist attack. The Lincolns remained in their trenches until June 17, 1937. After completing a 120-day period at the front, the Lincolns departed the Jarama to prepare for the Brunete Offensive.

Tom Mooney Machinegun Company, Lincoln Battalion during a brief rest in Alcala de Henares; Jarama 1937; Paul Burns Photograph Collection, ALBA Photo 184, Box 1, Folder 17; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives; Elmer Holmes Bobst Library; 70 Washington Square South; New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.

Sources

Acier, Marcel, ed. From Spanish Trenches, (Modern Age Books, New York, 1937), 153

Carroll, Peter N. The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1994.

Eby, Cecil, Comrades and Commissars, The Lincoln Battalion in the Spanish Civil War, University of Pennsylvania: University Park, Pennsylvania, 2007.

Landis, Arthur. The Lincoln Brigade, New York: Citadel, 1968.

Matthews, Herbert. Two Wars and More to Come, New York: Carrick and Evans, Inc.1938.

Nelson, Steve, The Volunteers, New York: Masses and Mainstream, 1953.

Rolfe, Edwin. The Lincoln Battalion, New York: Stratford Press, 1939.

Rosenstone, Robert A., Crusade of the Left, The Lincoln Battalion in the Spanish Civil War, New York: Pegasus, 1969.

Tisa, John. Recalling the Good Fight, An Autobiography of the Spanish Civil War; Massachusetts: Bergin and Garvey Publishers, 1985.

Smith, Dave, “Memories of Spain,” in The Volunteer, Volume 15, No. 2, Fall 1993.

[i] Herbert Matthews, Two Wars and More to Come, (Carrick and Evans, Inc., New York, 1938), 225-26.

[ii] Edwin Rolfe, The Lincoln Battalion, (Stratford Press, New York, 1939), 66.

[iii] Cecil Eby, Comrades and Commissars, The Lincoln Battalion in the Spanish Civil War, (Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 2007), 110.

[iv] Rolfe, The Lincoln Battalion, 67.

[v] Steve Nelson, The Volunteers, (Masses and Mainstream, New York, 1953), 109-110.

[vi] Peter N. Carroll, The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, (Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 1994), 131.

[vii] Nelson, The Volunteers, 109.

[viii] Nelson, The Volunteers, 110.

[ix] Carroll, The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, 122.

[x] Matthews, Two Wars and More to Come, 226.

[xi] Nelson, The Volunteers, 111.

[xii] Matthews, Two Wars and More to Come, 226.

[xiii] Landis, The Lincoln Brigade, 161.

[xiv] Robert A. Rosenstone, Crusade of the Left, The Lincoln Battalion in the Spanish Civil War, (Pegasus New York, 1969), 152.

[xv] Edwin Rolfe, The Lincoln Battalion, 64.

[xvi] Letter from Ed Erick to Louise, April 26, 1937 in Marcel Acier, ed. From Spanish Trenches, (Modern Age Books, New York, 1937), 153.

[xvii] Eby, Comrades and Commissars, 108-109.

[xviii] Rolfe, The Lincoln Battalion, 65-66.

[xix] Nelson, The Volunteers,

[xx] Dave Smith, “Memories of Spain,” in The Volunteer, Volume 15, No. 2, Fall 1993.

[xxi] Smith, “Memories of Spain,”

[xxii] Arthur Landis, The Lincoln Brigade, (Citadel, New York, 1968), 164.

[xxiii] Smith, “Memories of Spain”,

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In the Jarama Series, The Volunteer Blog will present a series of articles examining the experiences of volunteers in the Abraham Lincoln Battalion from its formation to the Brunete Offensive in July 1937. Articles will focus both on the battalion’s formation as well as on the individuals who served. These articles are intended to provide the reader with a better appreciation of the men and women who made up the first American combat formation in Spain. The series is compiled and curated by ALBA Board Member Chris Brooks.

Jarama Series #14 Spanish Battalions

Historians often overlook the Spanish soldiers serving in the XVth International Brigade (IB) despite their playing an increasingly larger role in the formations as the war progressed. Regardless of their crucial role, very little is written about the Spaniards whose risk was compounded by serving in the IB.  Captured international volunteers were routinely executed and this policy often spilled over to Spaniards serving in International formations. This article is an initial step to bridging this gap in the history.

The IB maintained strength through heavy losses and declining international recruitment by integrating Spanish soldiers. The XV BDE became one of the pioneers of this integration when it added Spanish Companies in late March 1937.[i]  The Lincoln Battalion used the new Spanish reinforcements to establish a second infantry company. In April, the Second Company consisted of 4 officers, 26 Sous officers, and 93 other ranks. [ii]

In addition to the Spanish reinforcements the Brigade also added two Spanish Battalions of the newly formed Republican Popular Army. The 24^th Battalion under command of Lieutenant Martinez joined the Brigade on March 3, 1937. At the same time, or shortly thereafter, the 21^st Battalion under the command of Felipe Martin Crespo Powys arrived. [iii]

The Internationals greeted the Spaniards warmly.  In a March 25, 1937, an article in Notre Combat welcomed the two battalions and the two Spanish battalions offered salutations in return. The Political Commissars of the 21^st and 24^th battalions expressed appreciation for, and a desire to learn from, the Internationals.

Very little is known regarding the formation of the two battalions.  They were likely formed from a mix of volunteers and conscripted soldiers.[iv]  The 24^th Battalion was the larger of the two with a total of 545 effectives while the 21^st possessed 417 effectives.[v] Both were larger than any of the International Battalions at that time.

The 24^th Battalion had a long career serving alongside the Internationals through every campaign in which the Brigade participated. The Battalion’s initial Political Commissar Jose Maria Varela rose to command the Brigade during the Ebro Offensive. In contrast, the 21^st Battalion quickly fell out of favor with the Brigade Command.  Vladimir Copic, the XV BDE Commander noted in his diary on March 5, 1937, that the 21^st Battalion:

. . . se comportta muy mal. El Batallón abandonó algunas veces las posiciones. Se dan casos en el Batallón de mutilación voluntaria. Los oficiales de Batallón no estan al nivel de los hechos para cumplir sus misiones. El Comandante del Batallón está conforma, hasta muy satisfecho, de que se liquide el Batallón y se reparta entre los demás..[vi]

On March 17, 1937, Lieutenant Colonel Claus, Chief of Staff for the Estado Mayor of the XV Brigade, signed Order of the Day #8 ordering the disbandment of the battalion and distribution of its effectives across the Brigade (See Figure 1).[vii] A handwritten note on a list of XV Brigade unit strengths dated March 20, 1937 states “21^st Bon Español dissolved”.[viii]

Figure 1. Disposition of the companies from the 21^st Battalion “Orihuela”[x]

The Lincoln Battalion despite the addition of the Spanish recruits and soldiers from the 21^st BN was significantly understrength. (see Figure 2).  In April the Lincoln’s Company 2 counted only two officers and 94 other ranks.[xi]  It appears that drafts were pulled from the Lincoln’s Company 2 to reinforce other units including the Brigade’s Fortification Company.[xii]

After the merger of the Lincoln and Washington Battalions during the Brunete campaign, the Lincoln Battalion Spanish Company Two became Company 3.  Later, numerous Cuban and other Spanish-speaking internationals served within Company Three.  Only one non-commissioned officer and thirty privates from the 21st Battalion remained with the Lincoln-Washington Battalion at the end of July 1937.[xiv] When the Lincoln-Washington Battalion was reformed after the Retreats in March and April 1938, Spanish soldiers outnumbered the internationals and were fully integrated across all formations.

Figure 2. Effectives in the Lincoln Battalion from Payroll Records April 1937.[xiii]

Sources

Matthews, James, Reluctant Warriors, Republican Popular Army and Nationalist Army Conscripts in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History (RGASPI) ((Российский государственный архив социально-политической истории (РГАСПИ)); Records of the International Brigades (Comintern Archives, Fond 545).

 Notes

[i] The source of these initial volunteers is unclear.  They may have originated from the disbanded 21^st Battalion, though it appears that they were already established in the Lincoln Battalion prior to the date of the order disbanding them.  Deeper research into Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History (RGASPI) may eventually provide an answer.

[ii] Supplementary Report to Secretary Etat Major, March 21, 1937, RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 3, Delo  501, ll. 106-107.

[iii] Vladimir Copic Diary; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 3, Delo 467, ll. 1 and 14.

[iv] James Matthews, Reluctant Warriors, Republican Popular Army and Nationalist Army Conscripts in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 26-27.

[v] EFFECTIFS OF THE XV BRIGADE, To Etat Major XV B. Effectifs: March 20, 1937. RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 3, Delo 454, ll 12.

The document lists the effectives as follows:

Dimitroff                                 350

Franco-Belge                           345

Genie                                       190

Etat Major Base                      190

American                                 350

24^th BN                                   545

Etat Major 15^th B.                     45

Munition                                     3

Intendeance                              20

Calvarie                                   125

English BN                             440

Atelier Reparation (Madrid)       5

TOTAL                                  2,608

[vi] Vladamir Copic Diary; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 3, Delo 467, ll 15. Copic’s entry in Spanish was translated using Google. The original Spanish is listed below:

. . .comported itself very badly. The battalion left positions. Sometimes cases of voluntary mutilation occurred in the Battalion. Battalion officers lack the ability to accomplish their missions. The battalion commander is shaped, [I am] to very satisfied, the Battalion is subsequently liquidated and distributed among others

[vii] Order of the Day March 17, 1937, RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 3, Delo 425, ll. 63 (in Spanish), 64 (French); NOTA DE LOS BATALLONES QUE COMPONENE LA XV BRIGADA ACTUALMENTE, April 11, 1937; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 3, Delo 454, ll. 12.

[viii] EFFECTIFS OF THE XV BRIGADE, To Etat Major XV B. Effectifs: March 20, 1937. RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 3, Delo 454, ll 12.

[ix] z. de G. 4 de Junio de 1937, RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 3, Delo 426, ll. 13. The 21^st Battalion’s MG Company was transferred from the 24^th Battalion to the Dimitrov Battalion on June 4, 1937 by order of the Brigade Estado Mayor.

[x] NOTA DE LOS BATALLONES QUE COMPONENE LA XV BRIGADA ACTUALMENTE, April 11, 1937; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 3, Delo 454, ll. 9.

[xi] Lincoln Battalion Payroll, April 1937, RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 3, Delo 504,  ll. 1-16.

[xii] Lincoln Battalion Payroll, May 1937, RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 3, Delo 504, ll. 27–28. Two soldiers are noted as “Fortifications.”

[xiii] Lincoln Battalion Payroll, April 1937, RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 3, Delo 504,  ll. 1-16.

[xiv] Spanish from 21^st Bataillon (Bat Americain), Payroll sheet, July 1 through July 31, 1937; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 504, ll. 89. Several of the soldiers listed also appear on the Lincoln’s April payroll list in Company 2.

Notre Combat, March 25, 1937

We Send our Greetings to the Battalions 21 and 24

Antifascists of the 15th International Brigade welcome the arrival among us Battalions 21 and 24 of the EPR.

Since February 13 we have faced international fascist forces. We lost in the fighting comrades who can be cited as examples of proletarian heroism and self-denial. We have suffered many calamities, but we have always resisted, and our slogan has been that of the heroic people of Spain: No Passaran!

Our valor complemented by our voluntarily accepted discipline, are what has allowed our brigade deserve the title: “The Brigade who never retreats.” This discipline has allowed us to renew in Spain the heroic example of the French in 1789 and 1793.

We are now confident that with the arrival of the 21 and 24 battalions of the Republican Popular Army we are on the path of victory. These quotas represent for us the results obtained with a relentless work, despite the enormous difficulties – now overdue – and that the only control has allowed this result in the Anti-Fascist People’s Army organization.

With you, comrades, we will be able to obtain this cohesion and this union so necessary between our International Brigade and the Popular Army. In the fraternity of fighting, together side by side, workers and antifascist peasants of our International Brigade and the Republican Popular Army, we shall crush the bestial fascism, which wants to impose war, hunger and slavery and secure in the world for all entry workers the bread, Peace and Freedom, repeating the words uttered by a Spanish leader: “We are married to victory and we do not ever get divorced.”[xiii]

Salut, comrades of the XVéme Brigade

Salud, anti-fascist Brothers

We, the Spanish Volunteers of the XXI and XXIV Battalions who have the honor            of jointing the International Brigade, greet you who have left your homes, your countries,     and your jobs to come to Spain to fight against International Fascism. Our experience of      warfare is very small, but you have plenty. This has clearly been demonstrated during the           course of the past battles.

We, the Spanish Volunteers, ask you to help us acquire this science and      experience, because we want to be worthy of the International Brigades.

By learning from your experience and courage, we will be able to fight together,    shoulder to shoulder, as antifascist brothers. We will fight to the death if need be, in order       to smash International Fascism, which is attempting to enslave the Spanish People.

LONG LIVE THE INTERNATIONAL BRIGADE

LONG LIVE WORKERS SOLIDARITY

LONG LIVE THE SPANISH DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

JOSE M. VARELA

Political Commissar of the 24th Battalion

1. REYES

Political Commissar of the 21^st Battalion[xiii]

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 In the Jarama Series, The Volunteer Blog will present a series of articles examining the experiences of volunteers in the Abraham Lincoln Battalion from its formation to the Brunete Offensive in July 1937. Articles will focus both on the battalion’s formation as well as on the individuals who served. These articles are intended to provide the reader with a better appreciation of the men and women who made up the first American combat formation in Spain.

 Jarama #15. Canadians in the Lincoln Battalion

The first Canadian volunteers for the International Brigades arrived in Cherbourg on January 28, 1937.[i]  Nine additional volunteers arrived in the port on February 9, 1937.[ii] Almost all of these men joined the Abraham Lincoln Battalion.  Canadian volunteers were integrated into the Lincolns from the onset.  During the early days at Jarama, as many as forty Canadians served with the Lincolns and at least 11 were killed in action.[iii]  Most Canadians served in Co. 2 at Jarama.  By the summer, approximately 500 Canadians were in Spain despite the Canadian Foreign Enlistment Act passing in April 1937.[iv]

Canadians in Other Units

Because Canadians did not have a unit of their own at this point they served in numerous other formations. Approximately 30 Canadians served in the Washington Battalion. Washington BN commander Mirko Markovicks wanted to limit the number of Canadians in the Battalion because he was concerned that they would be transferred in the near future as the Canadians were pushing to form their own battalion.[v]  Canadians Edward Cecil Smith and Edward Jardas both served as company commanders in the Washington Battalion Company.

Robert Kerr, the political representative for the Canadians, noted the following groups of Canadians serving in other formations in the fall of 1937:

• A company of Canadians in the Dombrovsky
• 45 Canadians in the Dimitroff at the Jarama front; may possibly have constituted a section of their own
• 45 Canadians in the Slavish artillery battery – battery G5A
• Others [served] in the Rakosi and in the Battalion Palafox.[vi]

Canadians in the Lincoln Battalion, Jarama 1937.

The Canadian Company

On June 5, 1937, forty Canadian volunteers transferred from the battalion of instruction at Tarazona to the Lincoln Battalion (Figure 1).  They joined approximately ten Canadians already serving with the Lincoln Battalion. Battalion Pay records identify the men as the “Canadian Company.”   Though it existed only briefly it stands as the first formal company-sized Canadian military formation in Spain.[vii]  With the arrival of additional reinforcements prior to the Brunete Offensive, the Canadian Company became Section 3, of Company 3.  Paddy O’Neil served as the section leader.[viii]  On June 20, 1937 a total of 52 Canadians were serving with the Lincoln Battalion.[ix] The men reportedly called themselves the Mackenzie-Papineau Section.[x]  The list is transcribed and placed in alphabetical order in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Members of the Canadian Company

Brunete

            The Canadians in the Lincoln Battalion suffered heavy casualties during the Brunete Campaign.  Five volunteers were killed during the attack on Villanueva de la Canada.  Tom Bailey recalled that on the day after Villanueva de la Canada only twenty-one of the forty-man Canadian section were still in action.[xi]  The section suffered additional casualties during the attack on Mosquito Ridge and ceased to exist when the Washington and Lincoln Battalions were merged.

The Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion

Even as the Canadians in the Lincoln and Washington Battalions entered action during the Brunete Campaign, new volunteers arriving at the training base pushed for the formation of a Canadian Battalion.  The Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion was formally established in July 1937.[xii]

Sources

Hoar (Howard), Victor with Mac Reynolds. The Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, The Canadian Contingent in the Spanish Civil War, Toronto: Copp Clarke, 1969.

Liversedge, Ronald, edited by David Yorke, Mac-Pap, Memoir of a Canadian in the Spanish Civil War. Vancouver: New Star Books, 2013.

Petrou, Michael. Renegades, Canadians in the Spanish Civil War, Vancouver and Toronto, UBC Press, 2008.

Library and Archives of Canada, Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, Library and Archives Canada, PA-067118, Copyright: Expired. Photograph Collection, MIKAN ID.

Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History (RGASPI) ((Российский государственный архив социально-политической истории (РГАСПИ)); Records of the International Brigades (Comintern Archives, Fond 545).

Unpublished Biographical Dictionary by Myron Momryk.

Biographical database compiled by Michael Petrou.

[i] Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History (RGASPI) Fond 545, Opis 2, Delo 164, ll. 99, Point One of the Outline; These men are identified as: Thomas Becket, Frederick Lackey, Larry Ryan, Clifford Budgen, and Henry Beatie.

[ii] IBID.  The men in the second group are identified as: Joseph Cambell, Joseph Glenn, Jack Steele, Michael Russel, Izzie Kupchik, George Cook, Tom Russel, Tom Michie and Joseph Leclerc.; Victor Hoar (Howard) and Mac Reynold, The Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, The Canadian Contingent in the Spanish Civil War, (Toronto, Copp Clarke, 1969), 71.  —Additional Canadians with the Lincolns include: Liege Claire, Adrian Van der Brugge, M. Waselenchuk, George Laskowsky, Joseph Campbell, Andrea Garcia, Michael Russell, Elias Aviezer, Nick Marinoff, Peter Johnson, and Arthur Morris. Hoar/Reynolds, 71 (Consensus)]

[iii] These include Thomas Beckett who was aboard the lost truck; Joseph Campbell, 2/27, Andres Menandes Garcia 2/27, Frederick D. Lackey 2/27, Yuri Liaskovsky 2/27, Clare Leige 2/27, Nick Marinoff 2/27, Jure Milijkovic 2/27, Thomas W. Mithcie 2/27, Arthur Walter Morris 2/27, and Michael Russell 2/27 (28).  See Jarama Series The First Casualty and the Lost Trucks; and Pingarrón.

[iv] Michael Petrou, Renegades, Canadians in the Spanish Civil War, (Vancouver and Toronto, UBC Press, 2008), 11; Many Canadian volunteers were recent immigrants and were more comfortable serving in units where there native tongue was spoken.

[v] RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 2, Delo 164, ll. 59, Discussion with Bob Kerr, Canadian Political Commissar, Oct 19, 1937, Canadian Historical Commission.

[vi] IBID [Discussion with Bob Kerr, Canadian Political Commissar, Oct 19, 1937, Canadian Historical Commission, RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 2, Delo 164, ll. 59.

[vii] RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 3, Delo 504, ll. 60-61, and  82-83, Canadian Company Pay Records, June 10-20, and 20-30, 1937.

[viii] Petrou, Renegades, 69; Petrou states that Joseph Armitage was in charge of the section.; Hoar and Reynolds, The Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion; 86; Hoar quotes William Brennan who stated Tom Traynor was the commander with William Wilson as Commissar.

[ix] RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 537, ll. 2, List of Canadian Comrades, June 20, 1937; Note: John Nourm, Charles Parker, Joseph Turnbull and William Walsh from the June 5, 1937 Canadian Company rolls are not listed on this document.  Those with an asterix were part of the Canadian Company in June.  The list is transcribed and placed in alphabetical order below.

[x] Hoar and Reynolds, The Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, 86

[xi]  Petrou, Renegades, 68.

[xi] Ronald Liversedge, ed. David Yorke, Mac-Pap, Memoir of a Canadian in the Spanish Civil War, (Vancouver,New Star Books, 2013), See Chapter 2 for a first-hand account of the successful campaign to name the third American Battalion Mackenzie-Papineau.

Biographical data

American and Canadian volunteers served side-by-side during most of the Spanish Civil War.  A biographical entry for each of the approximately 1,600 Canadian volunteers is being assembled.

Please note this is a work in progress.

Abbreviations/Acronyms

AFL = American Federation of Labor

b = Birth

BDE = Brigade

BN = Battalion

CPC = Communist Party of Canada

d = Death

KIA = Killed in action

MG = Machinegun

NUWSC = Currently unidentified union

OTOT = On to Ottowa Trek of 1935

POW = Prisoner of War

RNWMP = Royal Northwest Mounted Police

SUPA = Currently unidentified union

WIA = Wounded in action

WUL = Worker’s Unity League

YCL = Young Communist League

The Canadian Company

Peter Ambrozia in Spain, RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 541.

Ambroziak, Peter. (Petar; Ambrosiak; Ambroziac; Androziak; Abroziak); b. October 21, 1917, Montreal, Father Wasyl Ambroziak; Canadian, Ukrainian background; Attended primary school through 14 years of age; Single; Domicile Montreal; YCL 1936 (1934), Canadian Youth Organization, Workers Benevolent Association; To Spain March 8, 1937, was arrested entering Spain from France arrived April 22, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln Battalion and Lincoln-Washington BN, Observer, rank Soldado; Auto Park; Served at Brunete, Quinto, Belchite, Fuentes de Ebro and Teruel; WIA Belchite in foot; Returned to Canada February 3, 1939; d. November 25, 2007, Ottawa, Ontario.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 541, ll. 31-35; Momryk; Petrou; Ancestry.

Bailey, Frank Thomas. (Tommy; Tom); b. January 8, 1901, Leicester, England; To Canada 1927; English; WWI veteran; Single; Salesman; Domicile Regina; Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan; CPC 1933 (1934), NUWSC London 1919, CP of Spain 1938; Left from Moose Jaw, via NY February 15, 1937; Arrived in Spain crossed mountains March 17, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Washington BN; Lincoln-Washington BN; Mackenzie-Papineau BN; British BN; Transmissiones; Transport; rank Soldado; Served at Brunete, Aragon and Huesca; WIA; Sent to Disciplinary unit; Returned 1939.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 542, ll. 6-8; NAC, M-P Collection, Cecil-Smith, V. 1, F. 16, Memoirs and Accounts of Service in Spain, Bailey, Thomas, 46 pages, June 8, 1939; Momryk; Petrou.

Benham, Lionel. (Bunahm); b in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia; Domicile Vancouver, British Columbia; OTOT; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN.

Sources: Momryk; Petrou.

Brown, William. (John; “Pop”); b. circa 1897; Canadian; WWI veteran; Domicile Windsor; Liberal Party; 41 years old; Arrived in Spain April 19, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln and Lincoln-Washington BN, Postmaster; Served at Brunete, Belchite, Fuentes, Teruel Catalonia: Rank Sargento; Returned to Canada August 8, 1938.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 543, ll. 139; Petrou.

Budynkiewicz, Stefan. (Bodwich, Steve; Budenkewich; Budienkivich; Bovenewich; Budvich; Stepan; Stephen; Budynkevich, Stevans); b. February 21, 1907, Dubliany, Ukraine, To Canada 1928, Domiciled alien; Ukrainian; Construction Worker; Domicile Toronto, Ontario; CPC 1933; Arrived in Spain April 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Later with the Mackenzie-Papineau BN; Returned to Canada February 3, 1939; Mac-Pap Veterans Association (Toronto).

Sources: Momryk; Petrou.

Burke, Ainslie Puneo Lee. b. circa 1910, Sydney, Nova Scotia; Canadian; Father Edward Charles Burke, Mother Susan P. Burke; 8 years elementary and 2 years High School; No prior military service; Single; Clerk and Longshoreman; Domicile Toronto, Ontario; to US in 1935; CPC, OTOT; Arrived in Spain April 20, 1937 came in over the Pyrennes; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Mackenzie-Papineau BN, Communications; Served at Brunete, Quinto, Belchite, Retreats; WIA September 1938; Returned to Canada September 26, 1938; WWII Canadian Army; Mac-Pap Veterans Association (Toronto); Visited Spain with Veterans Delegation in September 1979.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 543, ll.153-155; NAC, M-P Collection, Dent, V. 2, F. 16-17, Subject Files, Burke, Ainslie (Lee): Correspondence, research notes, and list of Mac-Pap veterans, 1977-85, & International Brigade travel document, correspondence, post card, and Empress of Britain brochure, 1937-38; Momryk; Petrou.

k-Carlson, Arvid. (Carlsen, Arvid; Arthur); b. circa 1909, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; American; Finnish/ Swedish background; Single; Domicile Port Arthur, Ontario; CPC 1932; Arrived in Spain March 14, 1937; Served with the XV BDE; Medical service; WIA at Teruel, died of wounds in Murcia hospital January 1938.

Sources:  List of Canadian Casualties in Spain MG30 E173 Vol.1 File 13; Momryk; Petrou.

Richard E. Christy of Vancouver, British Columbia, who was presumed killed in the retreats during the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1938. MIKAN 3213985

k-Christy, Richard E. (Christie; Christer); b. June 3, 1900, Vancouver; Canadian; Single; Logger; Domicile Vancouver; CPC 1934; Arrived in Spain April 29, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Later with the Mackenzie-Papineau BN; MIA March 10, 1938, during the Retreats.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 544, ll. 65-68; Momryk; Petrou.

Lloyd Bryce Colman. (Coleman), of Vanguard, Saskatchewan., who was killed in action in Brunete during the Spanish Civil War. MIKAN 3214126

k-Coleman, Bryce Lloyd. (Coleman; Smith; Brice; Boyce; Charles); b. May 5, 1908, Vanguard, Saskatchewan; Canadian; Domicile Regina or Vanguard, Saskatchewan; Single; Farm and Ranch Worker; Co-operative Commonwealth Youth Movement, CPC, OTOT; Arrived in Spain March 17, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN, one of forty Canadians transferred into the Lincolns on June 5, 1937, Section Commander; KIA July 6, 1937, Brunete.

Sources: List of Canadian Casualties in Spain MG30 E173 Vol.1 File 13; Americans and Canadians Killed in Spain Complete list to Nov. 15, 1937; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 545, ll. 32 (Fiche only);  NAC, M-P Collection, Hoar, V. 1, F. 10 Death and Disappearance Certificates, (7/6/37); Momryk; Petrou.

Wilfred Cowan (Cowen), December 1937; Harry Randall: Fifteenth International Brigade Films and Photographs; ALBA PHOTO 011; 11-0935, Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, 70 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries

Cowan, Wilfred. (Wilf, Bill; Wolfort); circa 1917; English; Single; Painter and Longshoreman; Domicile 1577 Dundas Street, West Toronto, Ontario; YCL 1932; dropped out of party prior to leaving for Spain, YSULFTA; Arrived in Spain April 24, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN June 10 until August 15; Intendencia August 15 to December 24, 1937; Transmissiones December 24, 1937 until February 22, 1938; Mackenzie-Papineau BN February 22, 1938 until April 1, 1938; 15^th Corps Special MG BN, Co. 1 May 15, 1938 until October 3, 1938; Rank Cabo; Served at Brunete, Quinto, Belchite, Fuentes de Ebro, Huesca, Teruel, Seguro de los Baños; Retreats (Belchited-Gandesa), and Ebro Offensive; WIA 3 times twice in the chest and once in the head, July 11, 1937 Brunete, April 1, 1938 Gandesa, and September 24, 1938 Ebro, spent a total of three months in hospital; Returned to Canada 1939; WWII Canadian Army; Mac-Pap Veterans Association (West).

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 545, ll. 67-74; Petrou.

Csirmaz, Mihaly. (Czirmas, Mike; Csizmzr; Czirmaz; Csirmos; Cairmay; Michael, Mike); b. circa 1902, Hungary, To Spain 1929; Hungarian; Farm Worker; Domicile Montreal; CPC 1934; To Spain April 1, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Returned to Canada December 18, 1938.

Sources: RGASPI; Momryk; Petrou.

Cunningham, George. b. December 30, 1912, Cowdenbeath, Scotland, To Canada 1929; Scottish; POW; Salesman; Domicile Toronto, Ontario or Milton, Ontario; To Spain February 2, 1937, travelled on Canadian Passport; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Then to British BN where became company commissar; Attended Commissar’s school starting November 29, 1937; Served at Jarama, Brunete, Quinto, Belchite, Fuentes de Ebro; Captured March 25, 1938, Gandesa, during the Retreats, San Pedro de Cardenas; Exchanged April 5, 1939; Returned to Canada May 6, 1939; Mac-Pap Veterans Association (Toronto).

Sources: List of Canadian Casualties in Spain MG30 E173 Vol.1 File 13 (Captured); RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 545, ll. 110; Geiser; Momryk; Petrou.

Freeze, _____. Currently unidentified. Possibly Herman Fries who is normally identified as an American volunteer.

Fries, Herman. (Frye, Herman), b. September 18, 1908, Keenigeberg, Germany; German American; Single; Electrician; CP 1932 and Spanish CP; Domicile 338 East 15^th Street, NYC; Sailed April 5, 1937 aboard the Britannic; Arrived in Spain on April 29, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Washington BN; WIA July 9, 1937 Brunete; After recovery served as an electrician in a hospital; Rank Cabo.

Sources: Cadre; RGASPI.

Emil Goguen in Spain. RGASPI, Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 549

Goguen, Emil. (Gougen; Gouguen; Emile; Frenchy); b. January 7, 1900, Cape Bald New Brunswick; Domicile Vancouver; Cape Bald (New Brunswick?); French Canadian; Father Placid Gougen, Mother Clonid Gouguen; Primary and Elementary school education; WWI Canadian Army 1915, 66 and 57^th Infantry Regiments and RNWMP; Single; Telegrapher, Construction Worker and Logger; CPC 1932, applied for CP of Spain, LWIU CIO, former member IWW; Arrived in Spain April 15, 1937, travelled on Canadian passport; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Lincoln-Washington BN, Later with 35th battery, 4^th Group Artillery, Anti-Tank A-A, Rank promoted to Cabo August 1937 and Sargento February 11, 1938; Served at Brunete, Quinto,, Aragon, Teruel, Castellon, Levante; WIA August 24, 1937 and June 10, 1938; WWII Canadian Army

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6 Delo 549, ll. 82-86; Momryk; Petrou.

Grant, Lewis Charles. POW. MIKAN 3216232

Grant, Lewis Charles. (Scotty); b.circa 1889, Scotland; Scottish; WWI British Army; Domicile Calgary, Vancouver; Single; CPC 1937; Served with XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Later with a Medical Unit; WIA Belchite; Returned in 1939, possibly to England.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 550, ll. 14; Momryk; Petrou. [This may not be the correct Grant]

Handziuk, Nick. (Hanzuk, Polad; Hanzuik; Hanziuk; Mykola; Nikolaj); b.circa 1899, Ukraine, To Canada 1927; Ukrainian; Married, 3 kids; Miner; Domicile Toronto, Ontario; CPC 1935; Arrived in Spain May 20, 1937, travelled on a Polish Passport; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Later at Tarazona and prison guard at Castell de Fels (Castillo); Returned to Canada 1939.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 551, ll. 35 (fiche only); Momryk; Petrou.

Jenei Gabor. (Jeney), of the Abraham Lincoln Bn. was killed on 17 July, 1937 at Brunete, during the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1938. MIKAN 3217136

k-Janei, Gabor. (Jeney; Jenei; Yaney; Jonci; Jency; Genei; Jenel, Gabriel); b. circa 1901, Hungary, To Canada 1927; Hungarian; Single; Blacksmith; Domicile Timmins or  Hamilton, Ontario; CPC 1932; Arrived in Spain April 25, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Badalona; KIA July 20, 1937, Brunete (alt. July 17, 1937 or September 20, 1937 Belchite).

Sources: List of Canadian Casualties in Spain MG30 E173 Vol.1 File 13; NAC, M-P Collection, Hoar, V. 1, F. 10 Death and Disappearance Certificates, under Jeney, Cabor (7/20/37); RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 554, ll. 23 (fiche only); Momryk (under Jenel); Petrou.

k-Kane, James. (Kam; “Scotty;” Jimmie; Jim); b. circa 1902; Domicile Toronto, Ontario; CPC, Longshoreman’s Union; In Spain in June 1937; Served with the Lincoln BN; KIA July 6, 1937, Brunete.

Sources: List of Canadian Casualties in Spain MG30 E173 Vol.1 File 13; Americans and Canadians Killed in Spain Complete list to Nov. 15, 1937; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 555 ll. 21 (fiche only); Momryk; Petrou.

 Kostur of Port Arthur, Ontario, who was presumed killed in the Retreats during the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1938. MIKAN 3217856

k?-Koster, William. (Kostur; Kostar); b. circa 1906, Poland, To Canada 1923; Ukrainian; Single; Baker; Domicile Sunderland, Ontario; Port Arthur, Ontario; CPC 1934; Arrived in Spain May 20, 1937; Served with the XV  BDE, Lincoln BN; Reported MIA/POW April 3, 1938; Fate uncertain.

Sources: List of Canadian Casualties in Spain MG30 E173 Vol.1 File 13 (W. Kostur, MIA April 1938); RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 556, ll. 65 (fiche only under Kostur, William); Momryk; Petrou.

Levitt, Ralph. (Leavitt); In Spain June 20, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN.

Sources: Momryk; Petrou.

David Mangel of Toronto, Ontario MIKAN 3358146

Mangel, David. (Mengel); b. September 10, 1900 (October 9), Borisow, Poland, To Canada 1920; Jewish; Single; Painter; Domicile Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec; CPC 1925, Brotherhood of Painters, Local Secretary; WUL, AFL; To Spain February 20, 1937; Arrived in Spain May 25, 1937 (arrested and jailed in France on the way); Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Later with the 35^th Anglo American Battery; WIA at Brunete and again at Quinto; Rejected by COL O’Kelly; Held in French Internment Camps; Fought in the Israeli War of Independence 1948 and remained in Israel.

Sources: NAC, M-P Collection, Cecil-Smith, V. 1, F. 16, Memoirs and Accounts of Service in Spain, Mangel, David, 3 pages, no date; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 558, ll.44-45;  Momryk; Petrou; Polek Hurrah Revolutionaries and Polish Patriots.

Martiniuk of Winnipeg, Manitoba MIKAN 3358220

k-Martinuk, Anton. (Martinuik; Martyniuk; Martinyuk; Marteniuk; Antonio; Anthony; Tony; John); b. circa 1906, possibly born in Poland; Ukrainian; Miner and Foundry Worker; Domicile Winnipeg, Manitoba or Toronto, Ontario; No Party; Arrived in Spain May 22, 1937; Rank Soldado; Served at Brunete and Aragon; KIA February 1938.

Sources: List of Canadian Casualties in Spain MG30 E173 Vol.1 File 13; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 558, ll. 79-81; Momryk; Petrou.

Alexander C. McClure of Montreal, P.Q., who was killed at Fuentes de Ebro, during the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1938. MIKAN 3218578 [from a group photo – looks like Cecil-Smith];

k-McClure, Alexander Crocher. (MacClure; McLure, Alex); b. circa 1909; New Zealand; Mining Student; Domicile Montreal, Quebec; Arrived in Spain March 28, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; KIA October 13, 1937, Fuentes de Ebro.

Sources:  List of Canadian Casualties in Spain MG30 E173 Vol.1 File 13 (10/10); Americans and Canadians Killed in Spain Complete list to Nov. 15, 1937; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 559, ll. 24 (fiche only); Momryk (under MacLure and McClure); Petrou.

John Freeman McGrath in Spain, RGASPI, Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 559.

McGrath, John Freeman. b. March 28, 1905, Chatham New Brunswick; Canadian, Irish background; Father Valentine McGrath; Elementary school education; Single; Lumber Worker; Domicile Edmonton, Alberta; CPC December 1934, SUPA; applied for Spanish CP but denied; Arrived in Spain April 20, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Washington BN, Co. 2 in training at Madrigueras to the front with the Lincoln BN, Sanidad; Later with Mackenzie-Papineau BN; Sanidad Stretcher bearer; Rank Cabo; Served at Brunete, Quinto, Belchite, Mevidiana [?], Funetes, Teruel, Gandesa, Ebro; Returned to Canada 1939.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 559, ll. 61-69; Momryk; Petrou.

McLaughlin, Michael P. (Bill); Domicile Hamilton; CPC 1935; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Later with the Mackenzie-Papineau BN; WIA; Returned to Canada July 1938.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 559, ll. 100; Momryk; Petrou.

Miller, John. (Millar; Jock); b. June 20, 1898, Glasgow, Scotland; Scottish; WWI veteran; Single; Painter; Domicile Windsor; CPC 1933; Arrived in Spain April 24, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Later with the Mackenzie-Papineau BN, Section leader at Brunete later promoted to company commander; Served at Brunete, Fuentes de Ebro, Teruel; WIA at Brunete and Pandols; Rank Teniente; Later worked in the BDE Service de Personnel; Spoke English, French, German, Rumanian, Spanish and Yiddish; Returned 1939.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 560, ll. 57-64; Momryk; Petrou.

Moffitt, Arthur. (Moffat; Muffit; Muffet; Moffatt; Art); b. September 15, 1905, Newcastle, England; English; Miner, Logger and Construction Worker; Domicile Edmonton, Vancouver; YCL 1931 (CPC 1929), United Mine Workers of America; Arrived in Spain April 20, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Later with the John Brown Battery; WIA Brunete July 6, 1937; Returned to Canada February 11, 1939.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 560, ll. 83-84; Petrou.

Morrow, William. (Morran; William; Morron; Kane; Bill); b. circa 1901, Glasgow, Scotland; Scottish; Single; Miner and Dock Worker; Domicile Hamilton; CPC 1933; Arrived in Spain April 29, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Later with the Mackenzie-Papineau BN; Served at Jarama and Badalona; injured leg in accident; Declared fit for rear service; Returned to Canada October 29, 1938.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 560, ll. 112; Momryk; Petrou.

John A. Norum of Winnipeg, Manitoba, who was killed at Belchite during the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1938. MIKAN 3219495

k-Norum, John. (Norrum); b. circa 1902, Norway, To Canada 1929; Norwegian; Laborer; Domicile Winnipeg, Manitoba; Arrived in Spain March 17, 1937; Served with the XV BDE.; WIA September 1937 in Belchite, died in hospital.

Sources: List of Canadian Casualties in Spain MG30 E173 Vol.1 File 13; Momryk; Petrou.

Stewart “Paddy,” (Stewart Homer)O’Neil, , of Vancouver, British Columbia, who was in the Mackezie-Papineau Bn. and was killed at Brunete, during the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1938. MIKAN 3219595

k-O’Neal, Paddy (Homer, Stewart O’Neal; Paddy O’Neil; Stuart); b. December 18 (28), 1900, Ireland, To Canada 1928; Irish; WWI British Army, 1917-26, France, India, and Mesopotamia; Lumber Worker and Organizer; Domicile Vancouver, Toronto, Ontario; CPC, OTOT; Expelled from Canada due to political activity;  To Spain from England. Arrived in Spain March 30, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN, Co. 3, Section 3; Section Leader, Canadian Section at Brunete (says March 7, 1938 Volunteer for Lib.), Rank Sargento; KIA July 6, 1937, Brunete.

Sources: Americans and Canadians Killed in Spain Complete list to Nov. 15, 1937 (under O’Neil); List of Canadian Casualties in Spain MG30 E173 Vol.1 File 13 (lists city and province as Vancouver, BC); RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 562, ll. 33 (Fiche only under O’Neil); McLoughlin (under O’Neil); Momryk; Petrou.

Charles. (George), Parker of Vancouver, British Columbia, who fought in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1938 and was killed at Quinto.  MIKAN 3219722

k-Parker, Charles. (Chuck; George); b. circa 1901, England, To Canada 1929; English; Sports Instructor; Domicile Vancouver, British Columbia; Winnipeg; CPC; In Spain June 20, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Lincoln-Washington BN, led Canadian section at Brunete; KIA August 24, 1937, Quinto (September 28, 1937). Was a legendary “footballer” in British Columbia.

Sources: List of Canadian Casualties in Spain MG30 E173 Vol.1 File 13; Americans and Canadians Killed in Spain Complete list to Nov. 15, 1937; Momryk; Petrou.

Robert James Peters of Toronto, Ontario, who fought in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1938

MIKAN 3220020, 3220021

Peters, Robert James. b March 28, 1915, Wales, To Canada 1931; Single; Sailor; Domicile Toronto;  CPC 1936, Canadian Seamen’s Union; Arrived in Spain April 2, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Mackenzie-Papineau BN; British BN; WIA July 7, 1937, Brunete; transferred mail service Auto Park as a motorcycle dispatch rider; Returned 1939; Returned to Wales; Note: Peters states he transferred to the British Battalion and makes no mention of his time in the Lincolns in his memoir.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 563, ll. 99; Momryk; Petrou; Greg Lewis, A Bullet Saved My Life.

Schofield, Ronald. (Schoefield; Schomberg; Ron); b. December 26, 1912, Rochdale, England, To Canada 1928; English; Single; Baker; Domicile 38 Tiverton Avenue, Toronto; CPC 1935; Arrived in Spain April 6, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN, Co. 1, June 10, 1937; Transferred to 35^th Division July 13, 1937; Hospital Castillegeco October 2, 1937 until January 15, 1938 working as cook and store keeper; Battalion of Instruction January 30, 1938 until February 15, 1938,; then to the Mackenzie-Papineau BN February 15, 1938 through 2^nd Gandesa; Last unit 35^th Division Zapadors until October 1, 1938; Soldier, Cook and Stretcher Bearer; Rank Soldado; Served at Brunete, Athera, Alcaniz, Gandeza, Ebro Offensive (Pandols); WIA July 6, 1937, Villanueva de la Canada, Brunete; To England via Cerbere December 19, 1938; To Canada April 16, 1939; Mac-Pap Veterans Association (1977).

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 568, ll. 77-85; Momryk; Petrou.

Schmeltzer, George.  (Sohmeltzer, George; Smeltzer; Schmetzer; Gyorgy); b. February 7, 1902, Lajos-Komaro, Hungary, To Canada 1927; Hungarian; Domicile Toronto; Montreal; Arrived in Spain March 23, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Rejected by Col O’Kelly; Returned to Canada May 20, 1939.

Sources; Momryk; Petrou.

k-Skinner, Baden A. (Taffy; Terry); b. May 20, 1900, Tredegar, Wales, To Canada 1928; Welsh; Single; Miner; Domicile Vancouver; CPC 1935; Arrived in Spain May 18, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Later with the Mackenzie-Papineau BN; KIA September 23, 1938, Ebro Offensive.

Sources: Momryk; Petrou.

Steer, George. (Speer); b. circa 1900, London, England, To Canada 1925; English; WWI British Army, served in Russia and Canadian Army; Married, 3 kids; Tailor and Canadian Army; Domicile Chatham, Toronto, Alberta; CPC 1933; Arrived in Spain May 14, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Later with the Mackenzie-Papineau BN; WIA on July 6, 1937 and again on September 21, 1938; Returned to Canada 1939; In January 1938 he was in hospital at Mahora and requested repatriation.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 570, ll. 59-60 (letter); Momryk; Petrou.

Traynor, Thomas. (Trainor; Trayder; Traymor; Paddy); b. June 5, 1897, Derry (Monaghan or Tyronne), Ireland, To Canada August 9, 1925, Naturalized Canadian; Irish; Single; Time Keeper and Laborer; Domicile Toronto; CPC 1936; Travelled on Canadian Passport #32251; Arrived in Spain April 24, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN, Co. 3, “Canadian” Section 3, Section leader after Paddy O’Neil was killed at Brunete on the second two; WIA at Mosquito Ridge, Brunete, in hospital; Mackenzie-Papineau BN, rose to Section Leader, Fuentes de Ebro and Teruel; Returned to Canada October 29, 1938.

Sources: RGASPI Fonod 545, Opis 6, Delo 572, ll. 64-69; McLoughlin; Momryk; Petrou.

Turnbull, Joseph Aubrey. (Trunbell; Jose); b. September 1, 1915 Grand Valley Ontario; Canadian; Parents Joseph Wesley and Luella Pear (Adams) Turnbull; Public School; Canadian Militia, 1 year, Algonquin Rifle, 1931; Single; Seaman, Relief Camps, Construction, and Post Office; Domicile 278 Augusta Avenue, Toronto, and Guelph, Ontario, transient; CPC 1936, Canadian Seaman’s Union, AFL; To Spain April 28, 1937; Crossed the Pyrenees; Served with the XV BDE, Washington BN in training transferred to the Lincoln BN; Canadian Section; Cabo, WIA Brunete; Censor in post office after August 1937; Served At Villanueva de la Canada, Quijorna, and Misquito Hill; Returned to Canada sailing from Liverpool on January 27, 1939 aboard the Duchess of Richmond; WWII A Squadron, 12^th Canadian Army Tank Regiment, Canadian Overseas Army, Mediterranean; d. 1993.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 572, ll.45-84; Momryk; Petrou; Easterbrook.

Walsh, William Francis. b. May 18, 1911, London, England; English; Single; Pipe Fitter; Domicile 164 Alameda Avenue, Toronto, Ontario; YCL, CPC 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN, Co. 1; Served at Brunete, Quinto, Belchite, Fuentes de Ebro, and Ebro Offensive; WIA July 6, 1937, Brunete and again August 1, 1938, Ebro; Rank Sargento; In November 1938 he was in hospital awaiting repatriation; Returned to Canada 1939.

Sources:  RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 575, ll. 1-8; Momryk; Petrou.

k-Wilson, William. (Bill); b. January 9, 1901, Scotland; Scottish; Farm Worker (tractor driver); Domicile Calgary; CPC; Arrived in Spain May 15, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Political Commissar of Canadian Section, Brunete; MIA April 3, 1938.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 575, ll. 104 (fiche only); Momryk; Petrou.

Others Canadians already serving with the Lincoln Battalion

Joseph Albin Armitage of Vancouver. British Columbia, who was killed at Brunete, during the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1938 MIKAN 3214528; Section Leader, Armitage kneeling third from the right with his section just before the Brunete Offensive. Oscar Bloom is far right front row.

k-Armitage, Joseph. (Albin; Allen; George; Joe; Tom); b. circa 1902; Scottish or English; WW I veteran; Coal Miner; Domicile Vancouver; CPC 1933; Arrived in Spain March 17, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN, Section Leader; KIA July 6, 1937, Villanueva de la Canada, Brunete.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 541, ll. 85-86 (Fiche only); Americans and Canadians Killed in Spain Complete list to Nov. 15, 1937; List of Canadian Casualties in Spain MG30 E173 Vol.1 File 13; Momryk; Petrou.

Bedard, Joseph Thomas. b.circa 1895, Hawkesbury, Ontario; French Canadian; WWI veteran; Construction Supervisor; Domicile Hawkesbury, Ontario, Montreal; CPC 1932; To Spain January 8, 1937; Returned to Canada October 12, 1937.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 542, ll. 66 (Fiche only); Momryk; Petrou.

Jean Oscar Bloom, who was in the Abraham Lincoln Bn. and died at Brunete during the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1938.  MIKAN 3212765;

k-Bloom, John Oscar. (Blum; Asselson; Alms; Orville; Oselson; Orville; Jean; “Red”); b. circa 1913; Militia possibly with Calgary Regiment; Domicile Edmonton; YCL/CPC 1933; Arrived in Spain February 16, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; KIA July 6, 1937, Brunete.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 543, ll. 41 (fiche only); Americans and Canadians Killed in Spain Complete list to Nov. 15, 1937; List of Canadian Casualties in Spain MG30 E173 Vol.1 File 13; Momryk; Petrou.

Cochrane, Thomas. (Cochrane; “Pop”); b. December 10, 1885, Belfast, Ireland; Irish; No prior military service; Married, 6 kids; Electrician (Auto Worker); Domicile Windsor, Ontario; CPC, National Unemployed Association; To Spain May 28, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN, WIA Brunete (WIA September 6, 1937); Later in Valencia with Censor (mail service); Repatriated; Arrived in Toronto on September 6, 1938.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 545, ll. 4-10; McLoughlin; Momryk; Petrou.

k-Deck, John. (Deek); b. circa 1904; German; US Army Cavalry; Marine Engineer; Domicile New Westminster or Vancouver, British Columbia; No Party, International Seaman’s Union; To Spain December 5, 1936; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Chief Scout; Adjutant to chief of staff; KIA July 9 (10), 1937, Brunete.

Sources: List of Canadian Casualties in Spain MG30 E173 Vol.1 File 13; Americans and Canadians Killed in Spain Complete list to Nov. 15, 1937; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 546, ll. 26-27; Momryk; Petrou.

Walter Dent. Advance, May 1937.

Dent, Walter Everett. b. 1917, Parry Sound, Ontario; Canadian, Irish protestant background; Second Form, in HS then had to leave and get a job; No prior military service; Carpenter; Domicile Everett, Parry Sound, Toronto, Ontario; YCL and CPC 1936; To Spain February 18, 1937; Recommended for officers school by Merriman; Mackenzie-Papineau BN?; WIA February 27, 1937; back with unit in October 1937; Awarded IB medal January 24, 1939; WWII British Army; MacPap Veterans Association (Toronto).

Sources: NAC, M-P Collection, Cecil-Smith, V. 1, F. 16, Memoirs and Accounts of Service in Spain, Dent, Walter, 9 pages, no date; NAC, M-P Collection, Dent, V. 2, F. 5, Subject Files, Dent, Walter: General Correspondence, Veterans of the Mackenzie-Papineau BN, 1977-1984, National Office correspondence, Veterans of the Mackenzie-Papineau BN, 1977-1985, & Reminiscences of the SCW (transcript of an interview), 1980; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 546, ll. 38-39; Momryk; Petrou.

Halliwell, William. (Holliwell; Halawell; Hiliwell; Hollowell; John); b. circa 1894, Preston, England, To Canada 1929; English; WWI British Army 6 years; Machinist; Domicile Edmonton; Vancouver; Anti-Fascist; To Spain March 1, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN March 16, 1937; Washington BN, Co. Commander; Rank Alferez May 5, 1937; Teniente August 1, 1937; Rank Soldado; Served at Jarama, Brunete, Belchite, Quinto, Belchite, and Gandesa; WIA July 8, 1937 and again August 24, 1937 at Belchite; later with Mackenzie-Papieneau BN; and instructor; Rank Tiente; Returned to Canada October 1937.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 551, ll. 35, 45; Momryk; Petrou.

Hayes, George. b. circa 1896; WWI veteran; Building Worker and Miner; Anti-Fascist; Domicile Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, Canada; Arrived in Spain March 17, 1937 via NY; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Mackenzie-Papineau BN; Auto Park; Served at Jarama and Brunete; Returned to Canada April 23, 1939.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 551, ll. 75; Momryk; Petrou.

Kelly, Joseph. (Kelley; Joe); b. April 2, 1900 (March 10, 1898), Belfast, Ireland, Naturalized Canadian.; Irish; WWI veteran later in IRA; Single; Miner, Lumber Worker, and Trade Union Organizer; Domicile Vancouver; CPC 1932; Arrived in Spain February 14, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, British BN; Lincoln BN, Co. 3;  military instructor; also front line service; Rank Teniente November 1937;  Served at Jarama, Brunete, Belchite, and Caspe; WIA July 13, 1937, Brunete, in Madrid Hospita from July 13 until August 17, 1937; Later injured in an accident at the Training Base; Returned to Canada February 3, 1939; d. January 2, 1977, Kamloops, British Columbia.

Source: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 555, ll. 40-47; McLoughlin; Momryk; Petrou.

Kristiansen, Kristian. (Kristian; Kristerson; Kristensen; Krist; Kriss; Emanuel; Emmanuel; Emanual); b. circa 1894, Norway; Norweigan; Divorced, 2 kids; Carpenter; Domicile Vancouver; CPC 1934, section organizer; Arrived in Spain March 14, 1937; Served as an Armourer; Returned to Canada September 1938.

Source: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 556, ll. 98; Momryk; Petrou.

Lapschuk, Myroslaw.(Lapchuk; Lapckuk; Kennedy; Maurice; Morry; Morris);b. January 13, 1913 (1912), Montreal; Canadian, Ukrainian background; Married in Spain; Cook; Domicile Montreal; YCL 1934; To Spain March 12, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Casa de Prevencion; Republican authorities would not let his wife leave the country; Returned to Canada February 1939.

Source: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 557, ll. 11; Momryk; Petrou.

Latulippe, Lucien. (Lattilupe); b. June 28, 1908, Montford, Quebec; French Canadian; Canadian Militia; Single; Painter worked at hospital; Domicile 4159 Rivard Street, Montreal; Montford, Province Quebec; CPC 1936; To Spain February 6, 1937; Arrived at front on February 17, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN, MG Co., runner; Rank Soldado; Became seriously ill and was sent to rear, worked in the Post Office; Apparently sent back to the front; Broke down at front, Sick February 4, 1938 and proposed for repatriation; Deserted? Returned to Canada on May 31, 1938 “on his own.”

Source: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 557, ll. 13; Momryk; Petrou.

Miller, Allan.  b. March 31, 1912, Scotland; Scottish, 2 years High School; 2 years Cadet Corps  held rank of Captain; Single; Miner and Clerk at Eaton; Domicile Toronto; CPC 1932 (19310; Arrived in Spain March 12, 1937 via NY; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN and Mackenzie-Papineau BN; Rank Sargento; Served at Jarama, Brunete and the Aragon; WIA May 24, 1938; Returned to Canada September 1938; MacPap Veterans Association; d. December 20, 1983.

Source: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 560, ll. 56; Momryk; Petrou.

Peter Sorin Neilson of Vancouver, British Columbia, who was in the Abraham Lincoln BN. and was presumed killed in the Retreats, during the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1938

k?-Neilson, Peter Sorin. (Nielson, Neilsen); b. June 27, 1897, Denmark, To Canada 1916; Danish; left school before age 11 to work; Single; Logger and Laborer; Domicile Vancouver, transient; CPC 1933, AFL, IWW, OTOT; Arrived in Spain April 29, 1937; Served in the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; later with Mackenzie-Papineau BN; Rank LT (was in officers’ school); WIA January 16, 1938; MIA April 3, 1938, Survived (per Momryk).

Source: NAC, M-P Collection, Cecil-Smith, V. 1, F. 16, Memoirs and Accounts of Service in Spain, Nielson, Pete, 2 accounts, 4 pages, no date; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 561; ll. 17 (fiche only); Momryk; Petrou.

Jules Pekka Paivo, internet.

Paivio, Jules Pekka.  (Koponen, Pauli; Airio); b.April 30(29), 1917, Ware TWP, Ontario; Finnish; POW; Single; Clerk; Canadian, Finnish background; Domicile Sudbury, Mattawa, Ontario; YCL 1930, (CP 1935) joined CP in Spain; Arrived in Spain March 13, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Mackenzie-Papineau BN; OTS; Rank Teniente; Served at Jarama from April to June; Brunete; Then to OTS, remained at Tarazona after OTS as Topography Instructor; Captured April 1 (4), 1938; San Pedro de Cardenas; Exchanged April 5, 1939; Returned to Canada May 6, 1939; WWII Canadian Army; MacPap Veterans Association (Toronto); Visited Spain with Veterans Delegation September 1979; d. September 4, 2013; Last surviving Canadian Combat veteran.

Sources: List of Canadian Casualties in Spain MG30 E173 Vol.1 File 13 (Captured April 1938); NAC, M-P Collection, Hoar, V. 1, F. 9, Accounts of Experiences in Spain, 1939; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 563, ll. 12; Geiser; Momryk; Petrou, Obituary, Toronto Star, September 13, 2013. http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thestar/obituary.aspx?pid=166936459

Marvin Penn in Spain. RGASPI, Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 558

Penn, Marvin. (Palmer; Michael; Pen; Penas); b September 9, 1913, Vilna, Lithuania, To Canada 1926;  Jewish; Parents Joseph and Anna Penn, Siblings Aaron, Victor and Rose; Militia 1935-1937, LAMC 3^rd Field Ambulance; Fur Dresser and Miner; Domicile Winnipeg; YCL 1930, CP June 1937,  Jewish Progrssive Youth Club; Arrived in Spain March 17, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; Mackenzie-Papineau BN; First Aid work at Albacete at beginning; later Karl Marx barracks in Barcelona; Served at Jarama, Brunete, Guadalajar, Quntio and Belchite; WIA at Brunete; Returned to Canada 1939; MacPap Veterans Association (Toronto); d. April 3, 2001.

Sources; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 558, ll. 83-88; Delo 563, ll. 82; Momryk; Petrou; Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, April 5, 2001, http://passages.winnipegfreepress.com/passage-details/id-60313/name-Marvin_Penn/

Rickards, Joseph. (Richards; Wood; John; Rick; Charles); b. April 5, 1917, Winnipeg; French Canadian; Single; Laborer; Domicile German, Vancouver; Winnipeg (Bonavist); CPC 1935; To Spain March 2, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN, Co. 1, April 15 to August 18, 1937; Later with 152 and 4^th Groups Artillery; Rank Soldado; Served at Villanueva de la Canada, Brunete, Pardillo Levante; Returned to Canada February 11, 1939; After return was placed in a mental institution where he remained until his death.

Sources:  RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 565, ll. 56-57; Momryk; Petrou.

Russel, Tomasz. (Russell; Rosol; Thomas); b. circa 1899, Lopuchovo, Poland, To Canada 1925; Polish; Polish Army; Carpenter; Domicile Montreal, Quebec and Toronto, Ontario; CPC 1933; Arrived in Spain January 28, 1937; Served in the XV BDE, Lincoln BN, Co. 1; Returned to Canada on October 18, 1937.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 567, ll. 32 (fiche only); Momryk; Petrou; Polek Hurrah Revolutionaries and Polish Patriots.

k-Ryant, Tommy. (Rubin, Reuben); b. circa 1913, Edmonton, Montreal; US Army National Guard; Domicile USA; YCL; Arrived in Spain February 1, 1937 from New York; Captured and executed March 10-17, 1938, Belchite, during the Retreats.

Sources:  Momryk; Petrou.

Charles Walthers of Vancouver, British Columbia, who was killed at Belchite, during the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1938.  MIKAN 3222108

k-Walthers, Charles Henry. (Sands; Walters; Walther); b. circa 1897; German; WWI German Army 3 years and in the German Revolution rose to Sergeant, Later US Army Corporal; Gunsmith and Miner; Domicile Vancouver, British Columbia; CP of Germany 1917-1922 (Spartucus); CPC 1935, unit organizer; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; KIA September 6, 1937, Belchite, died of wounds.

Sources:  List of Canadian Casualties in Spain MG30 E173 Vol.1 File 13; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 575, ll. 10; Momryk; Petrou.

Yaworski, Stanley. (Yaworsky; Yawasky; Jaworski); Ukrainian; b. November 7, 1916, Winnipeg; Single; Domicile 583 Dundas Street West, Toronto, Ontario; No Party; Arrived in Spain on April 3, 1937; Trained at Madrigueras; Served with the XV BDE, Dimitrov BN in Madrigueras, Transferred to Lincoln BN on May 13, 1937; and  Mackenzie-Papineau BN, Co. 2; November 11, 1937; Observer and machine gunner; WIA June 1, 1937 Jarama hit in both legs when bullets hit the shield of his MG and ricocheted off, In hospital at Castelyo June 3, 1937-July 3, 1937; WIA February 3, 1938 in head while observing through a loophole, in hospital at Segerde (Passionaria 2) and Albacete February 3, – March 31, 1938;  Broke left foot during Ebro Offensive, in hospital at Mataro July 28-August 19, 1938; Served at Jarama April 15 – June 15, 1937, Centre, Teruel December 14, 1937-February 3, 1938;  and Ebro Offensive July 25-27, 1938; Jailed for 14 days in Castel de Fels for taking 6 days leave without permission, in August 1938, considered the punishment to be unjust; Returned to Canada in 1939.

Sources: RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 576, ll. 10-27; Momryk; Petrou.

Zagar, Mijo.   (Zgar, Mike A.; Miho; Mijo; Majk); b. 1904 Delnice Croatia, To Canada 1926, Domiciled alien; Croat; Single; Laborer and Miner; Domicile Montreal; Ville De Sale; CPC 1933 or 1934; Arrived in Spain January 22 (16, 20), 1937, travelled on a Canadian Passport, expired on January 7, 1938; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln Battalion, Co. 1; and Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion; later with American anti-tank A-A battery (35^th Battery); Served at Jarama, Brunete, Teruel; Castellon; and Levante; WIA July 1937, Brunete; Returned to Canada in 1939; Later to Yugoslavia as part of Radnik movement.

Sources: RA Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 537; Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 576; Kraljic; Momryk; Petrou.

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In the Jarama Series, The Volunteer Blog will present a series of articles examining the experiences of volunteers in the Abraham Lincoln Battalion from its formation to the Brunete Offensive in July 1937. Articles will focus both on the battalion’s formation as well as on the individuals who served. These articles are intended to provide the reader with a better appreciation of the men and women who made up the first American combat formation in Spain.

Jarama Series #16 The Regiments

In the spring and early summer of 1937, the XV^th International Brigade (XV IB) reached its highest point in combat strength.  A robust headquarters element, six infantry battalions, an anti-tank battery, and cavalry squadrons positioned the XV IB well to contribute to the Republican’s first major offensive.  The 15^th Division ordered the addition of an additional layer of command to accommodate the XV IB’s growth in strength.  Part of this restructuring included the formation of two groups or regiments.  The Dimitrov; 6^th of February; and the Spanish 24^th Battalions made up the first regiment/group and the Lincolns, British and newly arrived Washington Battalion made up the second/group.

The XV IB’s battalions were close to full strength with a cadre of combat veterans in each of the international battalions.  Replacements from the training bases, along with the assignment of a Spanish Company to each battalion, increased strength and allowed each of the battalions to field three infantry companies and a machine gun company.[i]  The XV IB’s Estado Mayor (Headquarters) included not only the command staff, but also a number of subordinate formations that provided mix of sustainment and combat elements (see Figure 1).  These consisted of:

• The Signal platoon, in Spanish Transmisiones, established and maintained the brigade’s communication with subordinate elements. They accomplished this by laying wire between the units.  When the wires were cut, teams were dispatched to trace the wire and make repairs.  This duty often occurred under fire.  There is no definitive date for which this formation joined the EM.
• The Auto Park consisted of dispatchers, drivers, mechanics and the rolling stock assigned to the brigade headquarters. The EM vehicles included trucks, sedans and motorcycles.
• Fortifications provided engineering support to the brigade headquarters and subordinate units.
• Medical, in Spanish Sanidad, provided health support and combat casualty care to the brigade headquarters.
• The Armory provided ordnance support supplying ammunition and small arms maintenance.
• The Cavalry Squadron provided reconnaissance and straggler policing. The squadron was destroyed in combat during the Brunete Offensive.
• The British Anti-Tank Battery was equipped with three, state-of-the-art, Russian 45mm anti-tank guns.
• The Quartermaster Section was an amalgam of various sections and teams in the Estado Mayor that provided cook support, supply, mail and water to the headquarters and supported regiments.
• The Scouts provided reconnaissance for the headquarters.
• The Military Police, in Spanish Vigilancia, provided guards for the headquarters and enforcement of military rules and regulations.
• The Topography section obtained, drew, copied and distributed maps for the brigade headquarters and subordinate units.
• The Reserve Battalion consisted of recruits from the training sites who were sent to the battalions to replace combat losses. They existed only as a replacement pool.
• One or more artillery batteries were under the operational control of the XV BDE at various times before and during the Brunete Offensive.

Figure 1. Organization of the XV IB.

Each of the six battalions in the two regiments had a similar organization.  Each nominally possessed a company-size headquarters, three infantry companies, and an MG company.  The Plana Mayor included the battalion’s staff and supporting sustainment and combat support elements (see Figure 2).  Each battalion included:

• Battalion Scouts conducted reconnaissance forward of the battalion’s main body during tactical movements.
• Quartermaster and Kitchens provided sustainment to the Plana Mayor and subordinate companies.
• Armory- provided ordnance support supplying ammunition and small arms maintenance.
• Battalion Transport provided maintenance and drivers for the Battalion’s rolling stock.
• Signals, in Spanish Transmisiones, established and maintained the battalion’s communication with its companies.
• Runners carried messages to higher headquarters, subordinate elements and other Brigade units. This duty was particularly hazardous as it, at times, required moving rapidly under fire to deliver messages.
• Topographers obtained, drew, copied and distributed maps for the brigade headquarters and subordinate units.
• Medics, in Spanish Sanidad, provided health support and combat casualty care to the battalion.

Figure 2. Typical battalion formation

While on paper the brigade was in excellent shape, it had significant shortcomings.  Chief among them was the limited time the brigade had to train after the long trench vigil at Jarama.  Due to the static nature and demands of trench warfare, it was impossible for leaders to train at greater than platoon level at any one time.  Life in trenches also left the men ill-prepared physically for the demands of mobile operations.  The George Washington Battalion, though lacking combat experience had a longer training period than any previous international infantry unit and was in the best shape for mobile warfare.

The new group/regimental structure also presented issues.  Because it was formally instituted just before the brigade went into action, staffs had little time to become cohesive.  They also lacked time to integrate their staff work within the brigade and the newly formed 15^th Division.

XV IB leadership tried to compensate by issuing daily training programs to help the commands brush up on their combat skills.  Very little time was allotted to maneuvering at the battalion level and it is debatable whether the units strictly adhered to the schedules.[ii]

General Janos Gal commanded the 15^th Division.[iii]  The 15^th division was composed of the XIII and XV IBs.  The command structure of the XV BDE is depicted below.

XV International Brigade[iv]

Commander, Vladimir Copic[v]

Commissar, George Aitken[vi]

Chief of Staff, Teniente Coronel, Hans Klaus[vii]

Operations

Chief of Operations, Mayor George Nathan[viii]

Adjutant Teniente Leon

Chief of Information Section

Frantz Berger

Special Staff

Captain Luis Garcia Marquez in charge of three new sections

1. Munitions
2. Water
3. Recuperation of Arms and Munitions

Liaison to 15 DIV HQ

Teniente Joseph Pasdrnak

Armory and Munitions

Teniente Roberto Rinaldo (20 May)

Auto Park

Commander, Teniente Andre Dugue (20 May)

Adjutant, Teniente Jose Melchor (20 May)

Service Sanitario

Chief, Capitan Dr. Alex Langer (20 May)

Intendencia

Engineer Company

Transmissiones

Vigilancia Militar

Cavalry Squadron

Commander, Captian Tommaso Allocca (20 May)

Adjutant, Teniente Robert Dallier (20 May)

Brigade Anti-Tank Battery

Commander Malcolm Dunbar[ix]

Commissar Hugh Slater[x]

First Group/Regiment

Commander, Major Gabriel Fort[xi]

Battalion 24, Spanish Voluntarios

Commander, Gabriel Martinez Esclapez

Commissar, Emilio Fronteriz

Adjutant, Teniente Migal Ivare (20 May)

Battalion 14, Dimitrov

Commander, Captain Michel Tsapajiev aka “Chapiev”[xii]

Commissar, Steve Tabakov (speculative)

Adjutant, Teniente Louis Mate (20 May)

Battalion 15, 6^th of February

Commander, Captain Maurice Blin

Adjutant Teniente Marcel Lantez (20 May)

Second Group/Regiment

Commander, Major Jock Cunningham[xiii]

Commissar, Harry Haywood[xiv]

Adjutant, Captain Martin Hourihan[xv]

Battalion 16, British

Commander, Captain Fred Copeman[xvi]

Commissar Bert Williams[xvii]

Adjutant Teniente Charles Goodfellow (20 May)[xviii]

Battalion 17, Abraham Lincoln

Commander, Teniente Oliver Law[xix]

Commissar, Steve Nelson[xx]

Adjutant, Vincent Usera[xxi]

Battalion 19, George Washington

Commander, Captain Mirko Markovics[xxii]

Commissar, Dave Mates[xxiii]

Adjutant, Robert Trail[xxiv]

[i] The English Battalion’s MG company was No. 2 Company.

[ii] RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 3, Delo 426, ll.195-196, Orders of the day for June 28 and June 29 include instructions for all subordinate units to practice company and battalion movements.  Time allotted for this practice.

[iii] Galicz, Janos. b. 1890 in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire.  In Spain he went by the nom de guerre General Gal.  Galicz was a soldier in the Austro-Hungarian Army in WWI and was captured by the Russians on the Eastern Front and subsequently joined the Red Army. He served in Bela Kun’s Soviet Republic in Hungary and was an exile in the Soviet Union after the republic was crushed.

Galicz was the first commander of the XV IB before being promoted to division command.  Gal was recalled to Russia in 1939 and was likely executed during the purge.

[iv] This incomplete list of commanders and units for the XV IB is compiled from two main sources:  ORDEN DEL DIA 3 de Julio de 1937 [this order of the day lays out the two groups/regiments], RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 3, Delo 426, ll. 207; and RELACION DUPLICADA DE LOS JEFES Y OFICIALES DE LA EXPRESADA QUE SE FORMULA EN CUMPLIMINEO DE LA ORDEN GENERA DEL C. de E. NUM. 63 DE FECA 20 DE MAYO DE 1937. [A list of all officers in the brigade, this list does not include commissars and reorganizations may have occurred after this date individuals identified in through this document are followed by “(20 May)”] RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 3, Delo 452, ll. 10-15.

[v] Copic, Vladimir. b. March 8, 1891 in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire.  A Croatian he served in the Austro-Hungarian Army during the First World War.  He was captured by the Russians on the Eastern Front and subsequently joined the Red Army.  He was a leader in Yugoslavian Communist Party and was a student in the Lenin School in Moscow during the 1930s.

Copic came to Spain and was appointed Commissar for the newly created XV IB.  When Janos Galicz was promoted to command the 15^th Division Copic was promoted to command the XV IB.  Copic led the brigade from February 1937 into April 1938.  Copic was recalled to Russia and was imprisoned

[vi] Aitken, George Sutherland. b. 1894 in Airdrie, Scotland.   Aitken was the XV IB Commissar during the Brunete Campaign.  A WWI veteran he joined the CPGB in 1920.  Aitken served as a party organizer and was a member of the Amalgamated Engineering Union.  He was also an alumin of the Lenin School in Moscow.  He volunteered to serve in the International Brigades and arrived in Spain in late January 1937.  He replaced Douglas Springhall as Commissars of the British Battalion and served at Jarama. He was promoted to Brigade Commissar before Brunete.  He was one of five leading British officers recalled to Britain in the late summer of 1937.  Harry Pollit decided to keep Aitken in Britain.

[vii] Klaus, Hans. Served in WWI in the German Army.  He joined the CP in 1927 and after the Nazis came to power he went into exile in France. He arrived in Spain in the first weeks of the civil war.  He served as the chief of Staff under Gal and later Copic.

[viii] Nathan, George Montague. b. circa 1895 (or 1897). Nathan was an instinctive soldier.  He joined the British Army during the First World War and rose through the ranks receiving a field commission into the Warwickshire Regiment in 1917.  Post war he tried several vocations including a stint in Canada as a farmer without success.  He attempted to rejoin the Army but was discharged after brief terms of service.  Nathan also served with the notorious Black and Tans in Ireland.

In 1936 Nathan volunteered to serve in the International Brigades.  He led the No. 1 British Company and briefly commanded the Marseillaise Battalion in early 1937.  Nathan transferred to the British Battalion as a staff officer and served at Jarama. Hethen served as a staff officer with the XIV IB. In the spring of 1937 he was selected to serve as the Chief of Brigade Operations.  Nathan was killed during an aerial bombardment on July 16, 1937 at Brunete. Nathan is remembered as a resourceful, brave, and effective leader.

[ix] Dunbar, Ronald Malcolm Lorraine. b. February 12, 1912 in Paignton, Devon, England.  Dunbar was a Cambridge graduate and a journalist.  He arrived in Spain in early January 1937 and joined the British Battalion.  Dunbar served as a group leader at Jarama and was wounded in the arm in February and after recovery attended the Officer Training School (OTS) at Pozo Rubio.  Dunbar was selected as the commander of the newly formed Anti Tank Battery and served with it through the Brunete Campaign until he was wounded a second time on July 23, 1937. He later served as the XV IB Chief of Staff.  During WWII he joined the British Army in 1940 as a Sergeant.

[x] Slater, Humphrey Richard Hugh. b. June 7, 1906, Carlisle, Cumberland, England.  Slater was a Journalist and member of the CPGB from 1929 when he volunteered for service in Spain.  He arrived in May 1937 and was selected as the Political Commissar for the newly formed Anti Tank Battery.  Slater took command of the battery after Dunbar was promoted.  Slater rose through the ranks and served on the Brigade Staff.  He was repatriated in October 1938.

[xi] Fort, Gabriel. Fort commanded the first group/regiment.  He was a French Socialist, a WW I veteran and Reserve officer in the French Army.  Prior to moving up to regimental command he was the Commander of the 6^th of February. He was wounded during the Brunete Campaign losing an eye.  Despite the severity of the wound he returned to the Brigade.

[xii] Szalvay, Michael “Chapaev”. b. August 23, Budapest, Austria-Hungary. Was a day laborer and brick layer before WW I.  During WWI he served in the Austro-Hungarian Army on the Italian Front.  After the war he joined the CP in Hungary and served in the Red Army during Bela Kun’s short-lived Communist Regime.  He was arrested and sentenced to 15 years.  He escaped from prison in April 1920 and later lived clandestinely in Vienna, Brussels and Paris eaking out a living as a manual laborer.   In 1936 he volunteered for the International Brigades.  He rose to command the Dimitrov Battalion.  After the war he crossed into France and was interred in a series of French concentration camps in Gurs, Vernet and in Africa in the Djelfában camp. In 1943 he went to the Soviet Union and served in the Soviet Red Army before travelling to Yugoslavia where he served in Tito’s headquarters and later participated in the liberation of Belgrade.  After the war he served in the Hungarian Army receiving increasingly important commands, by 1954 he was a general and commanded the Unified Officers School. Szalvay died in Budapest on November 21, 1955.

[xiii] Cunningham, Jock. (Cunningham, Joseph Wallace); b. December 20, 1902 in Glasgow, Scotland. He joined the British Army and was arrested after leading a mutiny of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in Jamaica against unacceptable conditions circa 1920 (1928/1929).  Sentenced to six years’ incarceration, Cunningham served more than two years in the military prison in Aldershot.  After his release he joined Communist Party of Great Briton.  The CPGB lobbied for his freedom while Cunningham was incarcerated. In the years before the SCW broke out he worked as a miner and laborer; and was an active organizer for the National Unemployed Workers movement.

Cunningham arrived in Spain in early October 1936 and served in the Machine gun Company of the Commune de Paris attached to the XIth International Brigade (IB).  In December he led the British No. 1 Company in the XIV IB during the fighting around Lopera.  Cunningham along with the survivors of No.1 Company transferred into the British Battalion of the XV IB and he took command of the battalion after the disastrous first days of battle.  In March he was seriously wounded leading a bombing party during the Dead Mule Trench battle.

After recovering from his wounds Cunningham returned to the XV BDE serving on the staff.  He was selected to command the second group/regiment and led the unit during Brunete.  After the death of George Nathan he served as acting Chief of Operations. Cunningham was recalled to Britain in late summer of 1937 along with Brigade Commissar George Aiken, Battalion Commissar Bert Williams, Battalion Commissar Wally Tapsell and Battalion Commander Fred Copeman. Harry Pollitt decided not to send Cunningham, Williams or Aitken back to Spain.  Cunningham resigned from the CPGB in protest. He died on February 22, 1969 in Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Scotland.

[xiv] Haywood, Harry. b. Haywood Hall on February 4, 1898 in South Omaha, Nebraska.  Haywood was one of the top ranking African American volunteers in the Spanish Civil War.  After serving in the US Army in France during WWI with the African American 8^th Illoise Regiment, Illinois National Guard, Haywood entered left politics.  In 1922 he joined the Young Communist League and three years later the Communist Party.  Haywood rose through the ranks of the CP, attending the first the Communist University of the Toilers of the East followed by the International Lenin School in Moscow.  While in the Soviet Union he developed his thesis that African Americans constituted an oppressed race in the South.  On his return to the United States Haywood served on the American Party’s Central Committee as an alternate member and to the Politburo.

Haywood arrived in Spain in April 1937 and was appointed to the XV IB staff.  When the brigade instituted the group/regimental system he was appointed regimental commissar for the 2^nd group/regiment. After Brunete Haywood returned to the US arriving in October 1937.

During WWII he joined the Merchant Marine.  After WWII he wrote among other works Negro Liberation (1948) and his memoir Black Bolshevik : Autobiography of an Afro-American Communist (1978).  Haywood died on January 4, 1985 in New York City.

[xv] Hourihan, Martin William. b. October 13, 1907, Towanda, Pennsylvania.  Hourihan an Irish American who served six years in the US Army was the third commander of the Lincoln Battalion. After leaving the military he became a seaman and later a teacher.  Hourihan had a long background in the left, initially as a member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and later in the Communist Party.  In February 1937 he arrived in Spain and joined the Lincoln Battalion.  He was a section leader and company commander at Jarama in February and took over command of the Battalion in early March 1937 from the Belgian Van der Bruge. In late June 1937 Hourihan moved up to the Brigade staff and was selected as the Adjutant commander for the second group/regiment in July 1937.  On the first day of the battle of Brunete, Hourihan was wounded in action after moving forward to extricate the Lincoln Battalion who were pinned down in the field outside Villanueva de la Canada.  His wounds prevented him from returning to service and after a long period of recuperation he was repatriated.  Hourihan returned to the US on June 24, 1938 aboard the Washington.  He later broke with the CP.  Hourihand died on December 4, 1995.

[xvi] Copeman, Fred.  b. circa 1907 in East Suffolk, England.    Copeman was born into poverty and spent his formative years in a workhouse and a Children’s home.  At age twelve Copeman was enrolled in the Watts Naval School in Norfolk and after two years training entered the British Navy.  In 1931 he was a leader in the Invergordon Mutiny and was dismissed from the Navy. While serving in the Navy Copeman learned to box and won numerous prize bouts as a heavy weight. After leaving the Navy Copeman became an active member of the National Unempolyed Worker’s Movement and joined the CPGB.  He served several stints in prison for leading marches and protests.

Copeman left for Spain on November 26, 1936 and joined the British Battalion of the XV IB. He was wounded in action during the Battalion’s first action.  Copeman a tough leader who was not afraid to use his fists to gain compliance rose through the ranks and took command of the British Battalion after Jock Cunningham was wounded in March 1937.  Copeman was wounded in action during Brunete.  He later commanded the BN at Teruel where complications from an old wound forced him to return to England.

After Spain Copeman he was appointed to the executive committee of the CPGB before breaking with party.   During WWII he helped organize civilian shelters for protection against German air raids.  He remained active in politics and worked as a union organizer and at one point served as a Labor Party councilor on a Borough Council.  Copeman died in 1983.

[xvii] Williams, Albert “Bert”. B. 1885 in Wales.  Williams made his living as a miner until he became a party functionary in the CPGB.  He joined the party in 1922 and was an alumi of the International Lenin School in Moscow.  He was a Midlands CP leader when he volunteered for service in Spain.  Williams replaced George Aitken as British Battalion Commissar when Aitken was promoted to XV IB Commissar. During the Brunete Campaign Williams was forced to leave the front due to a heart condition, and was replaced by Wally Tapsell. He was one of five British leaders recalled to Britain.  He faced charges of being an ineffective commissar. Williams was not allowed to return to Spain.  He died on December 8, 1958.

[xviii] Goodfellow, Charles D. Was 37 when he volunteered to serve in Spain.  A WW I veteran and miner he was an active member of the CPGB (1921) and a member of the National Unemployed Workers Movement (NUWM).  He arrived in Spain in Late December 1936.  He commanded Company 1 and was promoted to Battalion Adjutant.  Goodfellow was killed in action at Brunete on July 8, 1937.

[xix] Law, Oliver. b. October 23, 1900, Texas. Law served in the US Army from 1919 to 1925 in the 24^th Infantry.  After leaving the service he pursued several vocations including driving a taxi, and running a restaurant.  He settled in Chicago and entered left politics joining the CP and working as a party functionary.  Law’s activities led to arrests by the Chicago Police Department’s notorious Red Squad.

Law arrived in Spain in February 1937 and enrolled in the Lincoln Battalion.  He rose through the ranks initially as a section leader and later commander of the machine gun company. Law was selected as Martin Hourihan’s adjutant and after Hourihan moved up to brigade staff, Law was selected as the acting commander for the Lincolns.  In early July his appointment was confirmed and he led the Battalion in action at Brunete.  He died leading his men during an assault on Mosquito Hill on July 9, 1937.

Law was officially confirmed as commander of the Lincoln Battalion in Order of the Day for June 26, 1937. RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 3, Delo 426, ll. 188.

“El Teniente Oliver LAW, se hará carga del mando del Batallón Lincoln N°17 por enfermedad del Comandante del mismo, Capitán Martiin HOURIHAN, y mientras dure la ausencia de éste. “

[xx] Nelson, Steve. b. Stevan Mesaros on December 26, 1903 in Subocka, Croatia which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Nelson moved to the US in 1922 and soon entered the left political field joining the CP in 1923.  He worked as a carpenter and auto worker before becoming a full-time organizer and party functionary.  In 1931 Nelson studied at the International Lenin School in Moscow and briefly worked for the Comintern.  He returned to the US in 1933 and settled in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. When the International Brigades were formed Nelson volunteered but was told to wait.  In early March Nelson was allowed to proceed to Spain.  Nelson’s group was intercepted by a French intervention patrol as they attempted to sail from Marseilles   to Spain in the hold of an old fishing vessel.  The group was jailed, then tried, sentenced to be expelled from France and released.  Nelson then crossed into Spain on foot.

In Spain Nelson was appointed commissar of the Lincoln Battalion.  He soon won the respect of the men.  After the death of Law at Brunete and his dismissal of Vincent Usera, Nelson commanded the Lincolns until they merged with the Washington BN.  He served as the commissar of the combined Lincoln-Washington Battalion through the end of the Brunete campaign.  He was promoted to Brigade Commissar and served in there at Quinto and Belchite.  During the street fighting in Belchite he was severely wounded and returned to the US on November 9, 1937.

Nelson was imprisoned during the 1950s under the Smith Act for his party activities. He wrote his memoir The Volunteers (1953) and The 13^th Juror: The Inside Story of My Trial (1955).  In 1957 Nelson left the Communist Party. He remained active in the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade serving as the Commander until shortly before his death in November 1993.

[xxi] Usera, Vincent. b. December 10, 1908, Ponce, Puerto Rico.  Usera was a non-political volunteer who served as the Adjutant commander of the Lincoln Battalion at Brunete.  He was an insurance agent living in Washington, DC when he volunteered to serve in the International Brigades.  Usera was accepted as a volunteer because of his military experience.  He fought in Nicaragua as a Marine receiving a battlefield promotion.  Saul Wellman, who later served as the commissar of the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, was ordered to chaperon Usera from the US to Spain.  He arrived in Spain at the end of May and joined the Washington Battalion as a company commander.  Just before the Brunete campaign he was promoted to the adjutant position with the Lincoln Battalion.  On July 15, 1937 Steve Nelson relieved Usera and he was sent back to Albacete.  Usera contacted the American consulate in Barcelona in an attempt to find passage back to the US.  International police arrested him and he was taken to Camp Lukas.  Captain Johnson freed him and Usera was transferred to the American Training Base where his military experience could be put to use. In February 1938 just before the start of the Retreats he was sent to the front in command of 800 recruits.  Usera was placed in charge of a company but promptly deserted and this time successfully made his way out of Spain.  Usera returned to the US in June 1938.  During WWII Usera joined the National Guard before transferring to the US Army Airforce.  During the war he was promoted from First Lieutenant to Major.  After the war he remained on active duty accepting a demotion to Captain.  Usera retired as a Colonel.  He died on January 21, 1982 in Washington, DC.

[xxii] Mirko Markovics. (Jose Porra Spolea, Markovicz; Markowitz), b. 1907, Stijene, Podgorica, Montenegro. Markovics was a Serbian leftist and and a leader in the Yugoslavian Communist Party.  He joined the CP in Yugoslavia in 1923 and transferred his membership to the Soviet Union in 1926 when he enrolled in the KUNMZ Military Academy.  He received a  Doctorate in Economics and was commissioned as a Commissar in the Red Army with the Rank of Lieutenant,.  In 1936 he was ordered to head the CPUSA’s Serbian Section and the Yugoslav Coordinating Bureau.  He travelled to Spain from the US arriving in April 1937.  He was appointed Captain and commander of the George Washington Battalion in training.  Markovics supervised the training and led the unit in its first and only action the Brunete Campaign.  Due to heavy casualties the Lincoln and Washington battalions were merged and Markovics commanded the joint unit.  He was relieved from command by LTC Hans Claus for refusing to order his troops into what he considered an exposed position, Markivics later served as a staff officer with the 129^th IB.

After the end of the war he returned to the US and was held at Ellis Island before being deported to Cuba.  He later returned to the US before returning to Yugoslavia after WWII.  In Yugoslavia Markovics taught Economics at the University of Belgrade.  In 1949 he was imprisoned for supporting an anti-Tito resolution.  Markovics died in 1988 in Yugoslavia.

[xxiii] Dave Mates. (Metropolitain), b. April 12, 1907 in Russia.  Mates arrived in Spain in April 1937 and was appointed commissar of the newly forming Washington Battalion.  After the Brunete Campaign he worked in the Brigade headquarter before returning to the US in January 1938.  Mates died on March 16, 1977 in San Francisco, California.

[xxiv] Trail, Robert.  Trail initially commanded the 2^nd Company, Anglo-American, in the 20^th Battalion of the 86^th Brigade before being promoted to the Battalion headquarters.  Trail is remembered as a university trained linguist who had been working in Moscow.  He was originally from Cardiff.  Trail was appointed BN Adjutant for the Washington Battalion and was wounded in action at Brunete and died in the hospital.

Special thanks to  Kevin Buyers for information from his website XV International Brigade, http://internationalbrigadesinspain.weebly.com/

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 Blast from the Past is an ongoing series reprinting articles from historical issues of The Volunteer.

Gus by Ed Lending

The Volunteer, Volume 5, Number 1, February 1983.

It’s reassuring to know that our comrades will not pass out of our lives un-commemorated. My own failure to fittingly solemnize one comrade’s death has been a source of nagging guilt.

It was in Mexico, where I lived for a couple of years in the early 50’s. A rumor had a desperately ill vet languishing untended in a dubious hospital, out in Mexico City’s boondocks. We found the place, Jean and I. It was unsavory – understaffed, under equipped, and revoltingly unkempt. Gus (my failing memory just won’t dredge up his family name) was there, cancer ridden.

We took him home with us for his duration.  Norman and Judy Schmidt, neighbors then, shared the medical costs.

Gus was an ex-seaman, a Finnish American, slightly built (or, perhaps slighted by suffering), and feeble. He had been repatriated from Spain with still festering wounds.  The ill-fated Noel Field family “adopted” him, sheltered him, and nursed him back to back to uncertain health. Gus never alluded to family or friends, but referred to the Fields often, with reverential affection.

Gus suffered terribly, but uncomplainingly through the few torturous months until his death. Freddie Martin, Judy Schmidt, Jean and I saw him to the cemetery, Just we four…

I felt the need to ritualize this moment, somehow. It seemed to wrong to let Gus thus go out – so unsung, so unnoted. But I was immobilized by the awkwardness I felt. How could I “address,” an audience consisting of my wife, Freddie, and Judy? And even if I could manage that with any conviction, could I so spontaneously manage a true expression of the grief and helplessness we shared?

While I was still wavering with indecision, the coffin started its descent – down into Gus’s last foxhole. Whatever should, or might, have been said, it was forever too late…

There were some especially saddening names (and some inexplicable omissions) on the obit list we were sent. Those exceptional comrades of ours who unfailingly showed grace in adversity, and success in humility. And the friendship they bore us was so palpable, we could feel the warmth in our hands.

May the praises due them be sung, and our cherished memories of them kept fresh, so long as we breathe…

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Blast from the Past is an ongoing series of posts reprinting articles from historical issues of The Volunteer.

“What Wonderful People” by Leo Rosenber

Originally published in The Volunteer, Volume 10, Number  3, December 1988.

One of my sons, who lives in Cleveland, sent me a human interest item the other day. I had just about started to read it when I realized why he had taken the time to clip it and mail it. It was a fascinating memoir told by this elderly Ohio resident about her grandparents and their children and the farm on which they had lived in northern New York. It involved Palestine before it became the State of Israel, the Spanish Civil War, and the vets of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. At this stage of my life not to many things impress me, but when I read about this lady’s family and the contributions they had made over fifty years ago, I felt that they were owed  the recognition and the tribute that I am about to give them.

In 1919 Joseph and Sara Freidman bought a 160-acre farm in the upper Hudson River Valley of New York. Joseph had worked in the textile industry of New York City until he had decided that he and his wife and eight children would have a better and healthier life if they left the city and moved to the country.  The farm was 250 years old but sill productive and the novice farmer and his family not only learned to work the land and satisfy their own needs, but were able to house and feed as many as 40 boarders each summer.

The Friedmans were not isolated from the world around them. They became involved in the affairs of the community and in events far beyond its borders. They were political in thought and action. Even though as a group they did not espouse the same ideology their hearts and minds were focused well to the left of center, and all of them worked to advance the various causes in which they believed. As early as 1935, then acres of the farm were set aside and Joseph and his sons gave agricultural training to groups of volunteers who were bound for Palestine to help build a Jewish homeland. These pioneers knew little or nothing about farming but were anxious to learn so that they could be useful in the Kibbutzim they were going to join. For four years, until 1939, these future Israelis came to farm and were taught by the Friedmans.

In 1937 another volunteer, this one a member of the family, left the farm for a foreign destination. He was Jack Friedman, on his way to Spain and the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. During the war, Jack, overseas, and the rest of the family at home, did what they could to help save the Republic. But what this family did after the war was lost and ended was even more dramatic.

In 1939 the war was over, but not for the Freidmans. Their next project was to help solve a new and vexing problem that had not manifested itself previously. Quite a few vets had not been able to leave Spain with the contingents of Americans who departed in October of 1938 and January of 1939. Sick and wounded, many without proper documentation, they had finally crossed over into France only to be greeted with internment and jail. Released at long last, they had to travel clandestinely in order to reach the States and their homes without running into more trouble. A number of these vets were badly in need of medical and nursing care but were afraid of applying through regular channels for this help because they could not take the chance of coming under official observation and investigation.

The Friedmans did their part in solving this problem by setting up a small hospital in one of their guest-houses and taking every vet who came or was brought to them. Even this was not enough for the family. On a number of occasions when it became necessary and there was no other alternative, they crossed the border into Canada in their farm wagons, met and picked up the vets who were stranded there and could not cross the border openly. They then loaded the wagons with hay, in which they hid the vets, and waited until it became dark enough to take the chance of crossing back to the American side with their human cargo. With as little delay as possible, the new patients were transported to the hospital where they could receive the aid and comfort that the Friedmans were so ready to give them.  There they stayed until they were fit and able to travel to their homes without attracting too much unfavorable attention. Many a Lincoln vet owed his health and safety to this wonderful family that did so many fine things willingly and with no thought of reward.

It is no wonder that this lady (the author of the clipped article) tells us so graphically about the accomplishments of the Friedmans, remembers her grandparents and their children with so much pride and has so many good memories of the years which she spent with them.

I never had the opportunity to meet and know the Friedmans, but, after learning about them and what they did to help make this a better and happier world, I want to thank them now for all the fortunate people whose lives they touched.

Amber Glassberg, age 12, with her grandfather Sam Gonshak

Blast from the Past is an ongoing series of posts reprinting articles from historical issues of The Volunteer.

“My Grandfather, Sam Gonshak,” by Amber Glassberg

Originally appeared in The Volunteer, V.9, No. 3, November 1987.

An essay submitted for an Honors English Class for which Amber received and A++ by her teacher Mrs. Adams.

“Amber, you have certainly captured the “Essences” of your Grandfather!  You have done an exceptional job on this assignment!”

My grandfather has always been a special person in my life. He loves me a lot and I love him. Every time he comes to see me, he brings me a package of lifesavers and a ten dollar bill. If I refuse to take these things he tells me I better or I will break the tradition! He is always worried about me and concerned about how I am doing. My grandfather knows a lot about me, almost as much as I do. When I began interviewing him I realized how little I really knew about him and his life. I discovered that he has had a difficult life and one that has been quite different from mine.

Active is a word to describe my seventy-five year old grandfather. He and my grandmother live in Brooklyn, near Coney Island. My grandfather is retired now, but is always on the go.  He spends many hours a week working for an organization, the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Once a year he sets up a dinner for over one thousand people to commemorate the involvement of the veterans of the Spanish Civil War. Although he complains bitterly about the amount of work, he loves it. In his spare time he helps my grandmother, reads, visits me and friends, watches sports events on television, and talks to all the little kids in the neighborhood. His is very interested in politics. At least once a year, my grandfather travels to Spain on business and pleasure. He always returns with gifts for everyone. He is a giving generous person both to us and others.

Life began for my grandfather, Samuel Gonshak, on September 22, 1911. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Russia. Samuel grew up on Rivington Street on the Lower East Side of New York. His family was very poor, sometimes living on potato peels. His father was a cap maker and his mother was a housewife. He had one brother who died fifteen years ago.

One of my grandfather’s fondest memories is his uncle’s weekly present of a nickel. A nickel a week bought a lot in those days. Often Samuel used it to go to the movies on Saturday afternoons to see a double feature, newsreel and comic strip. Sometimes he shined shoes to earn some money. He would watch the gangsters emerge from various restaurants dressed in the fashions of the day (including big wide brimmed hats, double breasted shark skinned suits, and alligator shoes) while smoking Havana cigars and hope to earn a tip hailing them a cab or running errands for them.

Samuel did very well in school, skipping two grades. He was always a very good athlete and was a member of the basketball, swimming, and track teams.  Knowing that his family could not afford college, he quit school in 1928, before finishing the twelfth grade.

Sam got a job immediately working in his uncle’s store.  He stayed there for about a year before quitting. The plight of the poor people during the depression concerned him, so, despite the fact that he was making a good living in his uncle’s store, he began to working on behalf of the poor. It hurt him to see people sitting out on the street surrounded by their furniture with no place to go.  He helped put their furniture and belongings back, and undertook other activities, which resulted in his being arrested and put in jail for a year.

When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, my grandfather left America to fight against fascism. My grandfather feels that this is one of the biggest accomplishments in his life.

The other major accomplishment of his life was marrying Lily Bass and having a baby, my mom! They were married at the outbreak of World War II. My grandfather then left to fight in the Philippines. My mother was born in 1945, at the close of the war.

My grandfather returned home, spending the next twenty years of his life as a family person raising his child and working hard to provide for his family. He worked as a presser in the garment district of New York. Both his lack of formal schooling and his political activities prevented him from getting any other kind of work.

Throughout the years, my grandfather has always been a very caring and concerned person. My grandmother has always been sick and my grandfather has always taken care of her. He took care of his parents when they were old. He worries about my family, cautioning us to eat well, get enough rest, and to overexert ourselves. During his life he worked hard, not only for himself, but for other people too.  He knew what it was to be poor and in need and felt for others. I admire him for it!

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Blast from the Past is an ongoing series of posts reprinting articles from historical issues of The Volunteer.

A Shout of Triumph

By Lloyd L. Brown

The Volunteer, December 1975, p. 7

Harry Steinberg being fingerprinted, Pittsburgh Press, July 9, 1940

Like millions of people around the world, my fellow-Soldiers at a U. S. Army base were overjoyed to hear that Hitler’s forces had finally been crushed. Yet whenever I think back to the happy day we Americans call V-E Day, I remember most of all the terrible sadness that overwhelmed me on account of my friend Harry.

Before the war Harry and I were the closest of friends. Indeed, although Harry was white and I am Negro, it could be said that we were brothers. Our kinship was based upon a common outlook that inspired us to become militant anti-fascists and take part in struggles that eventually landed us in neighboring prison cells.

Conservative elements in our country would later refer to Americans like us as “premature anti-fascists.” Several years before the United States got into the war against the Axis Powers, Harry “prematurely” took up arms against the fascist enemy. He went to Spain as a volunteer Soldier in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, half of whose men gave their lives in the desperate struggle to make Madrid the tomb of fascism.

By some miracle Harry survived though his thin body had been stitched across by machine-gun bullets. When he came home and I saw the row of scars on his narrow chest and back where the bullets had entered and left. I kidded him by saying: “Harry, no wonder you were not killed – you’re so skinny there was nothing to get hit!” His answering smile was more like a crooked grimace, because one of the bullets had in fact hit something solid. It had smashed his lower jaw.

Then when our country entered the war and Harry was found to be physically unfit for army service, he promptly joined the merchant marine. Since he knew that the main blows against the German fascists were being delivered by the armed forces of the Soviet Union, Harry volunteered to serve with an American convoy carrying war supplies to Murmansk. His ship was torpedoed and this time there was no miracle. Harry’s frail body could not withstand the cruel wind and sea, and he died on the life raft on which his shipmates survived.

We were celebrating late into the night of V-E Day when suddenly, louder than the singing and shouting that filled our barracks, a scream of sorrow seemed to burst within me and I ran out into the darkness. You did not live to see it end. I ran stumbling across the fields in the stillness of the far reaching airfield. On the shore of that concrete lake I sat down and cried and cried.

As I thought of my lost young friend and tried to bring him back to life in memory, there flashed the image of his crooked smile. Now I had to smile myself at how he would have poked fun at me for my unmanly behavior. Then I sprang to my feet and shouted aloud: “Harry – your side has won!” And I continued to yell out the joyous news until I could shout no more, that our side had won and that Harry and all the others who died in the fight against fascism must be counted among the victors on this day of triumph.

Then feeling good all over, I ran back to join my fellow-Soldiers as they celebrated the end of the war.

[Editorial Note: Lloyd Brown is an old friend of VALB. He is presently writing the comprehensive biography of Paul Robeson. The “Harry” of whom he writes was Harry Steinberg of Pittsburgh. The above is part of Lloyd’s article as it appeared in the Soviet magazine Literary Gazette in its recent issue devoted to the 30^th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.]

Blast from the Past Note:  Research credits to Ray Hoff, with the assistance of Rebecca Cowan.

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Notes from the Biographical Dictionary Project.  Saul Freidberg provided several short biographical sketches on fellow veterans.  The sketches provide insight into Friedberg as well.

Eugene David Bronstein

By Saul Freidberg, April 22, 1996

Bronstein was born in NYC about 1915. He went to CCNY, from which he was graduated in 1934, where he studied mathematical logic under Morris Raphael Cohen, the head of the philosophy department, and earned a distinguished reputation in the field. I understand he is memorialized at City College on a plaque listing the CCNY alumni who died in Spain. He told me that he was one of the demonstrators beaten by President Robinson with his umbrella in a famous incident on the steps of one of the college buildings. Bronstein entered Harvard as a graduate student in philosophy in Sept 1934. He was sent to Harvard by Cohen with a letter from Cohen to Ralph Barton Perry, head of the philosophy department at Harvard. At Harvard Bronstein plunged into political activity, joining the National Student League and the YCL and devoting more and more time to political activities. I was the organizer of the YCL at Harvard, and Bronstein and I used to walk from Cambridge to the Communist Party headquarters in downtown Boston to discuss the contents of the leaflets we were planning to distribute with CP people and mimeograph the leaflets for distribution, singing revolutionary songs at the top of our lungs as we walked. In Sep 1935 Bronstein dropped out of Harvard, got a job as a laborer in a large rubber factory in East Cambridge which he wanted to help unionize, and moved into a cold water flat in East Cambridge; he occupied the only room heated (by a kerosene stove), which was filled with Marxist literature, revolutionary posters, and pictures of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin.

I left Harvard in June 1936, going to Chicago to take part in the work of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, leaving for Spain in March-April 1937. When I got to Spain, I found out that Bronstein had preceded me there and that he was among the Red troops going up to Brunete in July 1937; and that before Bronstein was able to participate in any action against the fascists, his young life was obliterated together with his body by a bomb dropped from a fascist airplane. Bronstein’s first name is misstated as “Jean” in Rolfe’s book, The Lincoln Battalion.

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Blast from the Past is an ongoing series of posts reprinting articles from historical issues of The Volunteer.

Albin C. Ragner: Mostest First-Line Infantryman by Benjamin Goldring

The Volunteer, Volume 5, Number 2, June 1983.

Albin C. Ragner, Lincoln Battalion Veteran, does not appear to have made it into any books or any print on the Lincolns.  Yet he is unique among the Veterans. (His passport name was Albin Ragawskas; in Spain, generally he was called Ragowsky.)

It is near-certain that, of all the US Veterans, he had both the most, and the most continuous, number of days in the first lines of the front lines as a rank-and-file infantryman.  By the first line, I mean the line between which and the enemy was no-man’s land, generally. I learned from long experience that each few yards back from the first line was material for the probability of death or wounding.

Albin was a uniquely sturdy, reliable, indestructible, infantryman. Also, he was quiet, uncomplaining, modest and shy, without contacts at headquarters, high or low. These latter qualities were not the kind to get him into the history books.  He was Veteran with the most direct combat experience in all likelihood.

He started as a Washington Battalion runner (together with myself, and Thomas Danek, a Canadian) during Villanueva de la Cañada and the beginning of Brunete. Right after Brunete’s Mesquite [Mosquito] Ridge disaster, the three of us were transferred into the decimated 3d Company  [Lincoln-Washington Battalion] as first-line infantrymen. (Later, before Teruel, the three of us were put into the 1^st Company; Danek, also was a distinctly effective first-line combat soldier, with much combat experience.)

From that transfer to the 3d Company on, Ragner was and remained continuously a first-line infantryman: to the end of Brunete, during all of Quinto, all of Belchite, all of Fuentes del Ebro, all of Teruel, and Segura de los Baños, all through the first retreat, all through Batea and the 2d retreat, and through the crossing of the Ebro and the combat after the crossing.

Albin was a consistently solid soldier. All during the above period from July 1937 into Sept. 1938, he never missed a day of combat service that his Company was engaged in. That is – until a leg was very badly wounded at Sierra Caballs in Sept. 1938, while in the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, after having come all through [the] Sierra de Pandols and Hill 666.

It took two years for him to get back on his feet. Not long after, he suffered a physical breakdown. I would put the cause down to the contrast of (wounded) civilian life, with the tremendous physical development (or overdevelopment) while a mechanized-foot soldier for so long in Spain. Fortunately, although it took a long time, he recovered, but not without after-effects.

Obviously, I cannot categorically assert that Albin had more first-line exposure than any and every other Veteran. It may be that his one of a unique very-few. But I knew well in Spain what Happened to first-line infantrymen who fought in campaign after campaign. (I should add that the many Americans who fought in the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion were, during such period, pretty much outside of my ken.)

Ragner after Spain. After recuperating from his leg wound, he sailed for two years. Thereafter, came the physical collapse for more than two years. Then he was advised not to work in a shop or any dusty plant. He became a draftsman in engineering, attending night school for this purpose. In 1950, he got the job from which he retired as of Sept. 1982 (he was 18 years old in 1937). Mainly, he has been in structural and piping line in hydraulics. He is married 40 years; wife Claudine; three children. Wisconsin Vet John Rody and Ragner have been in occasional contact over the years.

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Blast from the Past is an ongoing series of posts reprinting articles from historical issues of The Volunteer.

The Noblest Fruit of Them All by Jim Persoff

The Volunteer, Volume 3, No. 5, 1981

Jim Persoff in Spain, RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 962.

When the 14^th anti-aircraft battery took up a position in Madrid, somewhere between the Parrios “Tetuan” and “Chamartin,” a team of three, Franz, a reichdeutscher, Toon (Anton) a hollander and myself, started to string a telephone line to an observation post overlooking “La Universidaria.”

For the most part it wasn’t too difficult, for we strung the line on the existing telephone poles along the streets; but when we ran up a cul-de-sac in the “Barrio Colonia Buenavista,” in order to save time and line, we decided to throw the telephone wire over the roof of one of the houses confronting us.

The occupants of the house, a man and wife, came out to watch. Toon, picked up a coil of wire, and flung it over the house. The wire unraveled, only to stop dead and snarl on a protruding spar on the roof. Annoyed at the spar that should not have been there, Toon shot out a long string of Dutch curse words, to which the man of the house, animatedly asked, “Spriks Hollands?”

The owner was a Hollander who lived in Madrid with his Spanish wife. He was a cellist in the Madrid Symphony Orchestra, sympathetic to the Republic and warm to the International Brigades. He invited us in for a glass of wine and used the opportunity to practice English with me. He showed me a four foot shelf of “Tauschnitz” Editions, and offered to lend me any book I wanted.

“Tauschnitz” was a German publishing house that published English classics to be sold in non-English speaking countries in order to avoid royalty payments and copywrites. They were easily identifiable in their white paperback covers. Not having read an English word in six months, I chose Sinclair Lewis’ Arrowsmith.[i]

A week later on an eight hour pass, I returned the book and took another. The Bos asked me to stay for dinner, which was a chick pea soup which I didn’t care for, some melon and coffee. But we all had a great time. Madrid was understandably dour. The war and the air alerts made dinner at home with friends, the best of diversions.

The battery moved out of Madrid, and though we were sent to various sectors, I kept up the correspondence I had established with the Bos.  I remember one letter, “Senora Bos had won one hundred pesetas in a lottery. She went out and bought four cans of “carne de buey.” Tinned beef, called in the neighbors and they all had a grand dinner.”

Our relationship was only a thread, but it must have been warm because sometimes a package of cookies would come through the mail for me from the Bos.

In October 1938, when the battery was in the Cuesta de Reina sector, we received an order that all Internationals were to be returned to their homeland, and all arms and equipment was to be turned over to Spanish personnel. A cadre of four was to remain behind, of which I was one. At first it was great, showed off how much I knew about an anti-aircraft director, but after, they “caught on” and my position became superfluous, I asked the Spanish captain for permission to proceed to Valencia, where all the Internationals in the central sector were being assembled.

The captain said nice things to me about the invaluable help I had been for the past month, wished me well, paid me 315 pesetas, ten pesetas per day plus fifteen pesetas for my “cabo” rating, gave me a “vale” or voucher for a railway ticket to Valencia, a “vale” for three days rations, and a personal gift from him, a pack of “Looky Estrikes.” Lastly he embraced me. It was a little longer than the usual embrace which generally lasted for a couple of seconds, and I got the feeling he was saying, “You lucky bastard, you’re getting away Scot-free.” So when I disengaged I gave him a sharp clenched fist salute and muttered “Viva la Republica,” and with a nagging guilt, got a lift on a waiting truck, halfway to the “intendencia,” or supply depot.

The “Intendencia was an unused railway roundhouse that had been turned into a supply depot. Posted on the wall were the allowable rations per man per day. The Intendencia was not meant for individual Soldiers, but for military units drawing gross quantities. I looked at the rations list:

Pan – 1                                 Aciete – 10 ml.

Garbanzos – 20 gr.           Ajoes – 5 gr.

Lentejas – 20 gr.               Vino – 250 ml.

What could I do with chickpeas or lentils? I didn’t want the olive oil and I didn’t know what “ajoes” were, so I asked the “Sargento” in charge to give me three loaves of bread and a liter of wine for my “vale.”

I was waiting at the railroad station for the Valencia train when I was struck with the thought “I may never see the Bos’ again.” “Why not go to Madrid? Its’s not too far, and anyway, I have ‘till Thursday to Report in Valencia.”

I ran over to a gasoline station where an army truck was filling up and asked the driver if he would take me to Madrid. While I was asking him, his partner was filling the tires with air; as he lifted the air hose from a tire valve, the escaping air made a “wheeeee swish” sound like a round from a 75mm piece. I fell to the pavement and covered my head with my musette bag only to hear the “chofer” laughing as though it was a grand joke.

Yes, of course, he’d take me. “Don’t we ‘combatientes’ have to help each other?” It was after twelve noon when we were approaching Cinchon. The driver stopped the truck alongside a nondescript house and explained to me that only the drivers of the “Guerpo de Tren” were permitted to eat here. I would not be permitted. “But if you go down the road you might be able to buy a melon or something from a farmer. I’ll see you in an hour.” He said, and took off to eat. A nearby farmer agreed to sell me a melon. “Three pesetas,” he said, and recognizing me as a “Notteamericano,” added a sales tax. “And two cigarettes.”

Hanging from the rafters in the back room of the farmer’s house where this great transaction took place, were strings of garlic. An idea captured me. I’ll bring Mrs. Bos a bouquet of garlic. It’ll be a great gag! “How much is one of those strings,” I asked, pointing to them. “Oh those are five pesetas and five cigarettes.” His quote was high. For five “Lucky Strike Cigarettes” one could by salvation, but I was “loaded.” So I asked him for two strings of garlic and paid him his price.

I met the “camion” an hour later and we continued to Madrid. I amused the driver and partner with stories of “Nueva York“ which they found interesting. It killed the monotony of the trip for them, so by the time I left we were fast friends. They wished me health and luck. “Salud, Suerte.” They yelled as the truck pulled away when they left me off.

Madrid, despite the two hour daylight savings time, was dark. The Madrid wind which “can’t snuff out a candle yet can kill a man, “sent all the people scurrying. The men wrapped their faces in long black mufflers, leaving only a slit just below their pushed-forward berets to see through. The women already wore overcoats. Those that had none wore bathrobes. They wore them with an air of “their contribution to the war effort.”

The Madrilenos had been besieged on three sides for over two years. Light bulbs needles and thread were scarce. Food was rationed, public services curtailed. The blackout and the various check points manned by The Assault Guards didn’t allow didn’t allow for promenades. Everybody moved quietly almost stealthily, intent on something, somewhere. It was eerie. A city of a million population and all you saw was a silent handful.

I found my way to the barrio “Colonia Buenavista.” La Calle Guerrero Mendoza appeared as a dark corridor, but I knew where the Bos’ house was and I was a happy as though I were coming home. I took the two strings of garlic I bought in Cinchon out of my musette bag and placed them around my neck like Hawaiian “leis” and continued walking toward the house. “How glad they will be to see me,” I thought. “What a surprise this will be.” I had the picture in my mind. I’ll ring the bell, Mrs. Bos will open the door, she’ll see me and slowly recognize me, then she’ll shriek with joy, “Jimmy.” And that’s just the way it happened. Well, not exactly. She opened the door alright. But then she shrieked, “Ajoes!”

There are drawbacks serving with the Dimitrov Flak Battery in Spain; one didn’t learn Spanish, but you did learn German. A case in point is the time the sergeant (unteroffizier) of our director group was badly wounded during some counterbattery fire and was sent to the hospital. I was appointed acting sergeant or “unteroffizierstellvertretter.” Every sixth day it was the “director’s” tour of guard mount. As sergeant of the guard, every sixth day my title was “Wachthabendenunteroffizierstellvertretter.” Of course I learned some Spanish, but I didn’t know the word for garlic until the end of my stay in Spain, “Ajoes.”

[i] Sinclair Lewis’ novel Arrowsmith was published in 1925.  The New York Times Bookend article Prescribing ‘Arrowsmith’ by Howard Markel provides an excellent overview of the work. https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/09/24/bookend/bookend.html

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John “Topsy” Kozar

Blast from the Past is an ongoing series of posts reprinting articles from historical issues of The Volunteer.

“Remembrance Day” by Tom Kozar, November 11, 1988

Originally published in The Volunteer, V. 10, no. 3, December 1988.

Today is Remembrance Day[i] and as I woke to the sounds of Vera Lynn’s voice singing the words “Some sunny day…” my thoughts focused on the two amazing people who would become my mother and father.

But fought in the war against fascism, half a world apart, but none-the-less in the same war. My mother, Jean Ewen[ii], returned to China a second time in January of 1938 with Dr. Norman Bethune, and served as a nurse with the medical team and she worked with the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army in the Chinese people’s fight against the aggression of the Japanese Imperial Army as Japan pushed the flood-tide of fascism in Asia.

My father, John Kozar, was an American seaman from New York who was a veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and went to Spain in May 1937 to fight in the same war against world fascism. My mother returned to Canada from China in 1939 and my father returned to New York in December of 1938 after the International Brigades were withdrawn from the Spanish Civil War in 1938.

The plan for peace in Spain and the policy of non-intervention in the “Spanish conflict,” supported by the great democracies failed miserably, and the world still suffers from the wreckage left by the rage of unbridled fascism turned loose in World War II.

John Kozar and Jean Ewen did not meet until late 1939, when John Kozar came to Canada and joined the Canadian Merchant Service and once again got back into the fight against world fascism, when Canada joined with England in declaring war against Hitler in 1939. John Kozar was lost at sea on January 14^th, 1942 enroute to Murmansk, eight days before I was born. His ship, the Friar Rock, was one of 58 Allied ships sunk in January 1942 by half a dozen Nazi submarines operating off the east coast of the United States and Canada.

I knew my mother, Jean Ewen, but I never knew my father, John Kozar. In the past 10 years I have learned a lot about him from people who knew him as a seaman and soldier in Spain. I like what I know about the man and woman who became my parents.

Periodically as I grew up I can recall being told one should honor their mother and father. Two events in 1988 drew me to do that in an appropriate way.

My mother, Jean Ewen, ended her Long March on October 31^st 1987 and my sister Laura and I made arrangements to carry out her last wishes. With the assistance of the Consul-General Mr. Juan Jin, the Government of the People’s Republic of China graciously extended an invitation to our family and in May, 1988, we returned our mother’s ashes to China, where she had worked with and fought alongside the Chinese people in their fight against fascism and Japanese aggression.

Jean Ewen’s ashes are interred at a site near the Memorial and resting place of Norman Bethune in the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery for North China in the Hopei Province.

We were able to return our mother’s ashes to a place she had been when she was alive, a place that she loved and among a people she came to love because of their struggle, which became her struggle in the years she spent in China.

As I think about my mother’s memorial in May 1988, this Remembrance Day and the honor extended to her and us, her family, by the government of the People’s Republic of China, I recall her as a wonderful, gallant, brave woman, whose spirit will never leave me.

In October, 1988 I travelled to Barcelona, Spain with a group of Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, family and friends, for the dedication of a monument to the International Brigades, who fought in Spain. My father, John Kozar, was one of those who in common cause with thousands of other volunteers in the first and only International Army, went to Spain to defend democracy and the Spanish Republic against the chafing terror of fascism in Europe, which first bared its teeth in Spain. The dedication of the monument was also to commemorate the 50^th Anniversary of the withdrawal of the International Brigades in 1938.

On the morning of October 28^th, 1988, we boarded the buses outside our hotel about 9:30 am and traveled through Barcelona toward the site of the monument. We went through a huge tunnel through one of the hills on the outskirts of Barcelona – sort of like the Holland Tunnel without tiles.

Just outside the tunnel a small park on a piece of ground between the roadways the site where the monument is erected. The monument stands at one of the gates of the city of Barcelona. Thousands of people will drive by it each day as they go in and out of the city.

We approached the monument from the back side in the buses. The sun struck the bronze torso of David on the top of a 20 foot high pedestal. The polished portion of the torso shone in the sun like gold. It was a massive bronze and as the buses pulled up I could see the rest of the sculpture. The severed head of the philistine/fascist at the base of the column with the smooth stone from David’s sling embedded in the center of Goliath’s helmeted forehead. The torso of David at the top of the column, his shield on the end of the foreshortened arm, muscles rippled in relief in bronze, strained in the run of victory.

Roy Schiffrin[iii], the American sculptor, had done a magnificent job on the massive work and I was impressed with his work in creating this great tribute to the triumph of good over evil, truth over terror, the boy over the bully; and I thought it was a fitting work and tribute to those volunteers of the International Brigades who fought to defend the infant Spanish Republic with essentially their bare hands.

The words of La Pasionaria’s speech to the Brigades given fifty years ago as they left Spain in 1938, are carved on a black stone tablet at the base of the monument:

“We shall not forget you, and when the olive tree of peace puts forth its leaves again, mingled with the laurels of the Spanish Republic’s victory, come back.”

John Kozar did not come back, but his son came back, in 1988, to take part in the dedication to honor my father and his comrades who fought in the International Brigades to make the world a safe and better place to be.

On these battlefields in Spain and on other battlefields in World War II, men and women fought against fascism and some paid a vicious price, and the monument to the Brigades appropriately commemorates and honors those who fought in that Good Fight.

One pays homage and honors brave and valiant people in different ways. I had an opportunity to honor my mother and father and their comrades in very extraordinary ways in 1988 in China and Barcelona.

[i] Remembrance Day is a Canadian national holiday originally marking the last day of World I. The holiday commemorates civilians and military personnel who lost their lives in armed conflicts.  It is often marked by the wearing of red poppies.  Remembrance Day is also commemorated in other commonwealth nations.

[ii] Jean Ewen was born in Scotland on December 24, 1911, and immigrated with her family to Canada as a child.  She grew up in Saskatchewan and studied nursing in Winnipeg.  A year after graduating from the nursing program she moved to China as a medical missionary.  In 1937 she briefly returned home and agreed to accompany Dr. Norman Bethune as his interpreter and assistant when he travelled to China to provide medical aid to the Chines Red Army. After returning to Canada in 1939 she married John Kozar. Kozar died in 1942 after his ship was sunk on the Murmansk run.  She married Mike Kovitch in 1946.  Tom Kozar was the second of her three children Laura Kozar and Michael Kovitch.  In 1981 her memoir China Nurse (in later editions Canadian Nurse in China) was published. Ewen died on October 31, 1987.

[iii] Roy Schiffrin’s David & Doliath is an eight foot by thirteen foot polished bronze sculpture honoring the memory of the International Brigades who fought for the Republic during the Spanish Civil War.  His website provides more information about the talented sculptor and his art. http://users.erols.com/rshifrin/home.html

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Morris Brier, RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 867.

Blast from the Past is an ongoing series of posts reprinting articles from historical issues of The Volunteer.

“Of Comradeship and Courage: Three Friends, Three Volunteers” by Morris Brier

The Volunteer, v.9 n. 3, November 1987, pp. 8-10.

Why at this stage of history do I speak of three comrades, three friends?

To me it is a story of my life, and I believe the story of most of us.

Otto Reeves was born in Cleveland, Ohio. His father was a store front minister, and for a living worked as a laborer in construction.

In the 30’s his father lost his job, and Otto left home because he didn’t want to be a burden to his family.

Otto, who had graduated from high school, (no mean feat for a young Black in the 30’s) bummed his was to California.

Otto was a very handsome young man and with his high school education, was able to obtain a job in a Frat House at the University of Southern California.

At this time, the 30’s, we know there were few Blacks in college. To belong to a frat meant that you were the son of an upper middle class or rich father.

Otto Reeves, left, and Frank Alexander, Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, December 1937. The 15th International Brigade Photographic Unit Photograph Collection ; ALBA Photo 11; ALBA Photo number 11-0995. Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, 70 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.

Otto made their breakfast, cleaned the frat house, made their beds, ran errands, etc. He had no need to go out of the immediate surroundings. He had food, shelter and the Frat members gave him clothing (many quite new, as they tired of them). He even had the use of a car, as there were a few cars in the house.

He read the papers, but took little interest in the outside world.  He, personally, never felt direct discrimination. Outside discrimination which he read about, meant little to this young growing man. At the time of the Scottsboro Case, he was interested, he was angry, but took no action. One of the Frat members, a young white man, convinced him to go to a Scottsboro Case rally.

He went, listened, and became angry. He continued to go to rallies – found himself going on street demonstrations and protest meetings.

This young, white man also took him to Communist Party demonstrations and meetings. He never knew if this man was a member of the Communist Party—he doubted it.

He became more interested, listened, read everything he could. When Spain was invaded by Hitler and Mussolini, Otto became very angry. Not only did he protest the actions of these fascist governments – but condemned the actions of his government for not supporting the duly elected Government of Spain.

He attended more meetings, more demonstrations, but never joined any political party. He learned through the grapevine that the CP was accepting volunteers to go to Spain. He went down with a friend (who never reached Spain as far as Otto knew), and volunteered and was accepted. He landed in Spain in July or August 1937. (I will tell you later another reason why he went to Spain).

Marc Haldan and Morris Brier, from The Lincoln Brigade a Picture History by
William Loren Katz and Marc Crawford

Marc Haldane[i] was the son of an Indian Chief in British Columbia. They were hunters, trappers – in the spring Marc became a topper in the lumber fields. This meant that Marc climbed to the top of the trees, chopped down the small branches and foliage so that they would not become entangled when the tree was chopped down. This was the most dangerous job and therefore paid the highest wages.

Marc was member of the Communist Party in Vancouver for many years. He tried to organize the lumbermen in British Columbia but was soon found out and was blacklisted in all lumber fields.  He then turned to hunting and trapping full time, and when he came out of the woods in the spring, again became active in the Communist Party.

Marc signed up as a volunteer in Spain. He was a hunter and an expert shot and thought he would be valuable in Spain – and he sure was.

I, Morris, was active in Brownsville, Brooklyn for some years.

The first time I spoke on a street corner was in 1934, when Mussolini invaded Ethiopia. We spoke not only in Brownsville, a Jewish community, but also in Ocean Hill, basically an Italian community. And yes, even there we found friends and sympathizers, but by far not the majority.

We took part in unemployed demonstrations – actions at Home Relief Bureaus – organized rent strikes—helped put furniture back into apartments when tenants were evicted. We picketed at Woolworth’s demanding hiring of Black workers – we were arrested but continued these activities.

We took part in the electoral struggles and in Brownsville were successful in electing an assemblyman and state senator. (History tells us that Brownsville elected 5 Socialist Assemblymen in the 20’s—all were thrown out after the elections, but they were elected.

The first Birth Control Clinic was opened by Margaret Sanger in Brownsville. The trade union movement was strongest in Brownsville.

November 1932

Roosevelt was elected. The workers began to organize. It was not easy. They only won with their blood and tears. In Dearborn, Ford gangsters and his police killed 7 pickets at the Ford gate. The workers answered with sit-ins and the U. A. W. and the C. I. O. were born.

November 1932 Germany

The Nazi’s lost two million votes and 34 seats in the Reichstag. The Communists gained ¾ of a million votes and 11 seats.

March 1933

The Nazi’s were given power by the ruling class. Their job was to destroy the Communist Party, the trade union movement, then all democratic organizations.

April 1933, The Reichstag Fire

The Communist Party was declared outlawed. The terror begins. Dimitroff is put on trial. We see him in Pathe News, defiantly attacking the Nazis and those who gave them power. The Nazis were forced to free him. We, in the US gained courage from Dimitroff. We learned never to give up and that victory can be won if planned for, and we worked correctly. We saw in Pathe News[ii], the terror against the Jewish people. Jobs were verboten for Jews in government, teaching, law, etc. Jewish stores were smashed. Old Jewish people were forced to clean sidewalks on their knees—with tooth brushes. Einstein, Freud, etc. were forced to leave their country. In 1936, we demonstrated against the Nazi ship, the Bremen. Our own Bill Bailey, climbed the flag pole and cut down the Nazi flag. In July 1936, Hitler and Mussolini invaded the Republic of Spain.

I had to ask myself, “Would my feet follow my mouth?” It seemed natural at the time and I volunteered. And fifty years later, it still feels natural.

I am a little proud, that I was the first to arrive in Spain from Brownsville. Quickly Brownsville sent more than 30 volunteers to Spain. I arrived in Spain in January 1937. Trained, if you can call shooting 5 rounds of ammo training with the original Lincolns at Villenueva de la Jara.

We, the Lincoln Battalion, entered our fist battle at Jarama in February. I’m not going into the story of Jarama, we all know it well.

Just one incident. A young fellow next to me was crying softly. I though he was scared and I tried to reassure him. He was insulted. “I’m not scared – I just forgot how to load my rifle.”

I was wounded at Jarama and was in the hospital until August 1937. My foot was badly damaged, bones broken and it took months to heal. I was ready to go back, but still had to use a cane. Instead of returning to the Lincolns. I decided to make a change and join the Mac-Paps. Another reason was that Bob Thompson was Commander of the Mac-Paps. We were in the hospital together and had become friends. I asked Bob if he wanted a volunteer for his outfit.  He said yes and put me in charge of a machine gun squad with two machine guns. This is how I met Marc and Otto, who not only quickly became my two gunners, but also my friends.

Our first action was at Fuentes de Ebro. That night we all went into “no man’s land” to pick up the wounded and the dead—some Americans, some Canadians but mostly Spaniards. This took all night until sun-up. After this rite, Otto came to me and said,

Morris, I came to Spain not only to aid the Spanish people, but for two other reasons.

1. To prove to myself that I am capable of risking my life for something I thought was correct. That I accomplished.
2. I was testing the Communist Party and its white members; whether they really meant they were our friends. They fought for the Black people, not alone because they wanted something from them, but that they felt they were brothers, and color did not mean anything. I never joined the CP, because I could never prove the commitment of the party to the Black people. After this action at Fuentes, I want to join the CP.

We hugged and kissed. The next morning I took him down to headquarters and Otto joined the CP. We went from volunteers to friends to comrades. We went through Fuentes, Segura de los Baños, a few small actions – then Teruel.[iii]

Otto always had a smile. He had a beautiful voice and no matter what the stress and danger—he sang songs, told anecdotes, and jokes. But most of the time he spoke of his family and himself. Otto wanted to know about our families, our grandfathers and grandmothers—our fathers and mothers—how they made a living what did we all do, not alone our political life.

Marc, a hunter and trapper, became most valuable to us city folk at Teruel with snow and cold. The numbing sleet, rain—the freezing of the ground. Marc showed us how to live that winter and saved us from colds, pneumonia and frozen feet. One thing he stressed—if you can’t wear it or eat it—it is useless. But carry 4 or 5 pairs of extra socks—your feet must be dry and warm. (In the Pacific, I was an Infantry officer and this advice came in handy in the constant wetness and heat of the jungles.) Marc showed us how to live in freezing and wet terrain even without a tent. Put as many blankets or any other material, on the ground, (use only one blanket on top). Heat a rock, wrap it in rags, put it under the top blanket, after a minute or so, kick out the rock.

The heat dampens the top blanket, the cold air outside freezes the pores of the blanket, preventing the cold night air from penetrating. You live in a nice warm Hilton room. Marc, the Indian, taught us city kids.

Those of us who were at Teruel know the White Hill, which was key to its defense. We had no artillery, to speak of, so we put 4 machineguns in this position.

This White Hill was phosphate and hard. We couldn’t dig down very far, so Marc showed us how to dig sideways into the mountain. (He did much more than his share of the digging.)

Marc went to town, brought back mattresses—and spread their contents in the dugout. We were warm again.

He went back to town and this time came back with a woodsman saw. (He knew where to look—this time in a nunnery which used wood for heating).

Marc with a little help from us, cut down telephone poles, sawed them to the correct size, and covered our dugouts two and in some cases three levels. Later, even direct mortar hits would not penetrate.

The fascists started three large infantry attacks against our positions. The fascists lost very heavily—(You see, Marc had also cut down the trees in front of our position, giving us a great field of fire). We were told to hold this position as it defended a valley which could be used to get to our rear.

After the third major infantry attack, they changed their tactics. They opened up with four days of almost constant bombardment. Despite all of this artillery, we lost none killed, and a few wounded. Thanks to Marc, his dugouts—his telephone poles. I’ll never forget Milt Cohen’s remarks. “Moishe, you are not here—you are dead—it’s impossible that you escaped after these 4 days.”

After 4 days, we said “If they want it so bad, let them have it.” They never broke through that position.

Sometime after Teruel, I developed a fistula and was sent to the hospital for treatment. An operation would mean I’d be out for some months—so they just relieved the pain. I was operated on when I got back to the States.  We heard of the fascist breakthrough at the Ebro.[iv] We all got into trucks, one soldier with a cast on his leg, we dropped him at a first aid station.

Charlie Nusser, you brag about going to the front in a white shirt. Well, I was lucky to find my machine gun company, many never found their outfits. I was again united with my friends, Otto and Marc. [The text inadvertently edited out that Brier went back to the front wearing a suit.]

We all remember setting up a defense position on a hill. The Moorish cavalry attack cut off our rear, forcing us to retreat from hill to hill. This went on for days and we were running out of ammunition. We knew the Battalion Headquarters were on a hill to our right.

Otto volunteered to take a few men to go for ammo. Otto never came back—he must [have] been captured and killed. We kept going back and we combined with a Belgian artillery outfit, who had plenty of ammo for us, and we were ordered to hold. We did for a night and a day. We were told to retreat slowly.

One day I’ll tell you the story of General Walters, the Polish general who led us in the attack against the Moors and held them up for one day.

As we retreated—toward Gandesa, we ran out of ammo. We took apart our machine guns [and] threw the parts all over the terrain.  We didn’t want these guns to be used against us. We picked up rifles and ran like hell to the rear.

We were the machine gun company. Those of us who were still around were the last to leave. As we left Gandesa, an artillery shell landed near us. A Spaniard was killed outright. Marc had his leg hanging by a thread. I was peppered with shrapnel. My arm, my leg, and a splinter was imbedded into my back near the spine, which paralyzed me from the waist down. I was still conscious but could not move.

Near us was a Russian tank firing at the fascists. Out of the tank emerged a young Russian officer. He must have been in Spain only a few weeks or so. He spoke no English or Spanish. He ran back to the tank and came back with heavy splints for Marc’s leg. He then bandaged me. All the time with tears in his eyes apologizing that he could not put us in the tank. The entrance was too small and the tank too crowded. All this, of course, in pantomime. He picked up Marc and put him on the back of the tank, which be the way, holds the motor. He then picked me up and put me next to Marc. He was young—only 5’7” at most. But very, very strong. He tied us with heavy rope which must have been used to pull the tank.

You must visualize—the gun kept firing over our heads while all this was going on. The motor must have been 4,000 degrees at least! (It was the closest thing I believe, to Hell itself). The tank started to go back when they ran out of ammo and about a mile or so we came across an ambulance. We thanked the Russian officer. We kissed and were taken to the hospital. This is why I never had the pleasure of swimming the Ebro.

Marc had his left leg removed very soon. I was still paralyzed but in some eight days or so (even though I never believed it would), the splinter in my back moved away from the spine, and I was on the way to recovery. We were in the hospital for many months.

When we took the picture accompanying this article I seemed to be in good shape[v], but the shrapnel in my left leg moved again, and I was back again on crutches. In fact, I came home on crutches and I used them for more than a month until I was operated on to remove the shrapnel. Marc left a few days before I did. The Canadians left by a different route.

This is a story of: A Black, An Indian, A Jew.

[i] Haldane, Marcus; (Marc; Liancus); b.1910, Kamploops, British Columbia; Aboriginal Canadian; Single; Logger and Diamond Driller; Domicile Vancouver; CPC 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Mackenzie-Papineau BN; WIA lost leg; Returned to Canada in September 9, 1938.  Sources: Momryk; Petrou.

[ii] Pathé News was a British film studio that made short newsreels and documentaries. Many of their films are available on YouTube.

[iii] Brier mixes up the timeline here.  Teruel took place in January 1938 prior to the action at Segura de los Baños in February.

[iv] Brier is referring to the first phase of The Retreats.

[v] The photograph referred to in the text did not accompany the original Volunteer article. William Lorenz Katz and Marc Crawford incorporated Brier story and published the photograph.

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Blast from the Past is an ongoing series of posts reprinting articles from historical issues of The Volunteer. 

Cultural Life in a Concentration Camp

International Brigade POW’s at San Pedro de Cardena in 1938. Photograph Kevin Buyers, XV International Brigades in Spain; http://internationalbrigadesinspain.weebly.com/

By Morgan Havard[i], London Chairman of the International Brigade Association

The Volunteer for Liberty, Volume 5, No. 1, January 1944[ii]

I cannot imagine feeling any more impotent and helpless than I did when in company with other comrades of the International Brigade I was pushed into the dungeons of the Monastery which served Franco as a concentration camp. Nor can I, after five years, lost the feeling of relief and inspiration that I felt when I heard the thin chorus of “Mountains of Morn” being sun to welcome us by men in the adjoining cell. Our first thought was to try and pick up the words and we grinned at each other in the half-dark as we listened. The men were evidently singing their own version as Musso[lini] and Franco cropped up frequently. The words were unintelligible but the message was clear enough.

For a time we remained in solitary confinement, not really solitary, there were not enough cells (shortage the Fascists will suffer from, they never will have enough cells) and then we were let out into the life of the camp proper. I was pleased and surprised to find Bob Steck already there. Bob was and American whom I had already met back at the training base. It was he who, when we were getting fed up with the waiting and anxious to get to the front, thought up all sorts of things to fill in the time.  All the old favorites were brought into use, only changed round a bit. “Hold the Fort” became “Hold Madrid” and “I.B. Men be Strong” suited us better than “Union men be Strong.”  “Solidarity Forever” also had several different versions. The words usually related to the language difficulties, the food situation and of course the ever popular theme re Musso and Franco and was coming to them.

Despite the conditions in the camp, consistent beatings, lack of washing facilities, unedible food, or perhaps because of them each man did his best to get what enjoyment he could out of his scanty possessions. These included cigarette cartons, (thanks to the International Red Cross) which made admirable playing cards, soap, which was dished out a the rate of on bar between six men a month. Nevertheless we begged a piece of soap from every chess player in the camp and fashioned a set of chessmen which helped a good deal towards making us forget the many endless months we might have to stay as Franco’s guests. I well remember a German comrade who could play twelve games simultaneously and usually win ten of them – or two games blindfolded and win both!

The there was “Lawrence of Arabia” the only book in the camp and everyone wanted to read it at once. After much discussion we fixed that the 200 English Brigaders that is American, Australian, South African, etc., would divide into groups of 20 each, the first group choosing one of their men to start reading immediately after breakfast. Each group was allowed the nook for one hour a day an in this way every one of us was able to complete the book in four or five days. Every night during this period we would see the last group struggling to get through their hour before it was time to turn in on the lice-ridden mattresses – if you were lucky enough to get one!

Then there was the language schools, always popular. Some were learning German, some Spanish. In order to communicate with each other and share out pooled talent it was necessary to get over the language difficulty and the language classes were therefore well attended.

Al length we decided to run a talent competition with our precious cigarettes a prizes. I got four of the Welsh boys together for this and we spent an hour a day for a week practicing “Men of Harlech” and Land of My Fathers.”  We thought we were pretty good until we found that we had to compete against about a dozen or so different national choirs and I think we were very lucky to get away with the second prize of 20 cigarettes between us.

Naturally this cooperation between the men for pleasure led to the beginnings of an organization of energies which in full time frightened the Fascist authorities and one day, inflamed by the recent Republican advance over the Ebro they broke in on us with their sticks and rifle buts, attacking any group of men, whether they were playing cards, chess, or just talking together.  All the amusements we had created for ourselves out of practically nothing, all our painful labor of months was destroyed or confiscated. “We were wasting our soup” they said which meant good-bye to our chess men – and the cutting down of our soap ration.

However great our disappointment and rage was we knew that our boys were fighting back somewhere and we were determined to do what we could in our own way. First we held meetings, elected our own “Look-ours” who could warn us in time of any guards approach. We remade our chess men. Sharpening up the edges of our spoons, we carved them from bits of wood which we surreptitiously brought in from the exercise field. Some were so well done that I believe that those still in existence are worth a collector’s fortune. Also we made the language schools and lectures smaller, at the same time increasing their number and arranging for them in such a way that each man on the word of alarm could slide back on to his own mattress and in the minute it took for the Fascist officer to appear after the alarm was given, we had time to hide any “incriminating” material.

Bob Steck gave lectures on music, writing and etc., but his main job was organizing the camp newspaper, “Jaily News”. Later on there was a rival “The Undercrust” and there was keen competition between the two editors! We were lucky enough to have Kaline, a Czech cartoonish illustrating the paper for us and he also helped amateurs showing them his art with good-humored patience.

As Christmas approached we asked permission to produce a concert on Christmas Day and to our surprise the authorities agreed. Bob Steck was organizer and Stage Manager and a good many other things combined and he was the happiest man in the camp.

Our audience was made up of 30 different nationalities so the show had to be presented in such a way that everyone could understand it. A Frenchman was most successful at this kind of thing. He wrote a skit without words, the life of a tramp in pantomime, which kept the lot of us in fits of laughter for fifteen minutes without a word being spoken from the stage. There were jugglers, national choirs, and a lovely display of Russian dancing given by two Polish Ukrainians.

The show was such a success that the Fascist Guards present had to admit that “Four pesetas would not have bought them a seat for a better show anywhere in Spain”.

[i] Morgan Havard: from Craig Cefn Parc. Age: 23. CPGB (1935) Occupation: Sheet-metal Worker. T&GWU. Married, one child. Enlistment Address: 2 Wesley Road, Stonebridge, NW 10. Arrived in Spain: 8/12/1937. Wounded in the arm at Calaceite and had to be left behind by his retreating comrades due to his injury. Taken prisoner and was a POW at San Pedro de Cardena. Right arm amputated. Repatriated. Died age 58. Biographical sketch by Kevin Buyers, from his website XV International Brigade in Spain. http://internationalbrigadesinspain.weebly.com/welsh-volunteers.html

[ii] Havard re-worked this article and it was published in the Moring Star in 1969 with the new title “One Welshman’s War Against Franco and his Fascist Gangsters,” This later version is available online through, WalesOnline, posted December 15, 2011 (updated March 21, 2013) http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/one-welshmans-war-against-franco-1800922

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Joe Gibbons, Mackenzie-Papineau Estado Mayor, April 1938. The 15th International Brigade Photographic Unit Photograph Collection; ALBA Photo 11; ALBA Photo number 11-1300. Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, 70 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.

Notes from the Biographical Dictionary Project.  Saul Freidberg provided several short biographical sketches on fellow veterans.  The sketches provide insight into Friedberg as well.

by  Saul Friedberg, April 23, 1996

Joe Gibbons

Although Gibbons was a very close and dear friend, I don’t remember very much about him beyond that I knew him in Chicago before we went. I knew and saw him in Spain, and I was in touch with him in the US after we returned. I will tell whatever I remember. After graduating from Harvard Law School in June 1936, I went with a Harvard sociology Instructor, a Communist, Leon Blumberg, who used the name Bud Blair in the movement, to Chicago to take part in the ongoing Steel Workers Organizing Committee drive to organize the steel mills.

He and I both found jobs in South Works of the Carnegie Illinois Steel Mill way down in South Chicago, I as a helper in the mason department of the open hearth mills. I don’t know what happened to Bud after I left for Spain. The job of the mason department was to repair the damage to the masonry of the open hearth furnaces constantly being caused by the extreme heat at which steel was cooked – about 3,000 degrees. Bud and I also became members of the Communist Party branch in that steel mill, and there I met Joe Gibbons, also a worker in the mill and a Communist.

The CP branch did whatever it felt would be helpful in the drive to organize the mill. Joe was a chipper, working on the night shift, from 11 pm to 7 am, and I found out what his work was when I visited him on his job one night on some party business. For some uses, the steel was reduced after cooking to cold ingots which as I remember were about 18” inches square and 36” long or high. These ingots had various imperfections in them, and they were scattered about in one of the sheds of the mill, in which Joe worked. Joe had an air hammer with a chipper attachment which he used to cut out the imperfections in the ingots, going from one to another, and turning them over as needed.

Around the beginning of 1937 the party asked me to go about from organization to organization, from meeting to meeting, and to try and recruit volunteers to go to Spain to fight in the IB and for several months that is what I did. I believe Joe joined up, and I was so persuasive that I induced myself to join.  And that is how he and I were recruited.  We left Chicago at about the same time, sailed for Spain about the same time, got there about the same time, and came home about the same time. In Spain I believe Joe ended up in the MacPaps and quietly and unostentatiously, and bravely, took part in all its battles, as a Communist. As far as I know, he never became an officer.

He was of Scotch ancestry, as were many skilled workers in the steel mill, short of stature, and strong. When we got home, he went out west somewhere, and I settled in New York, and we were infrequently in touch by mail and phone. Somehow I learned that he had died, and I am reconstructing the date to be about 1975. I take this opportunity to salute him as a working class hero who fought for socialism, and to defend the SU[i] against the coming capitalist military attack.  I have no reason to question any of the several references to Gibbons in Rolfe’s book The Lincoln Battalion.

[i] Soviet Union

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Lorenz Kaufman shortly before his untimely death.

The January 2, 1937 issue of the Socialist Call announced the formation of a 500-man volunteer military formation: The Eugene V. Debs Column (hereafter Debs).  The Debs would serve with the Republican armed forces in Spain.  The American Socialist party initiated an aggressive campaign to recruit volunteers with military or relevant technical experience.  Subsequently, the party raised and provided the funds to send these volunteers to Spain.[i] Lorenz Arron Ursos Carlos Kaufman was one of the Debs volunteers.[ii]

The Challenge of Youth, Volume 5, No. 1, Late February 1937.

Kaufman was born on May 15, 1908, in Oconto Falls, Wisconsin to Walter Richard Kaufman and his wife the former Helen Strouse Halstead.[iii] Lorenz Kaufman served four years in the .[iv]  In 1937, when he was recruited, Kaufman lived in San Francisco with his brother Joseph Kenton Kaufman.  He supplemented his small, monthly disability pension issued by the Navy Department with an occasional odd job. Kaufman applied at the offices of the Friends of the Debs Column to an advertisement in the San Francisco News seeking skilled technicians for service in Spain.  He interviewed and accepted a position in a weapons-repair facility to be established by the Debs Column in Perpignan, France. The Debs assured Kaufman that he would not be required to enlist in the Spanish armed forces or do anything that would potentially jeopardize his disability payment. They advised Kaufman that he would receive five-dollars per day for wages and additional funds for expenses as required.[v]

Kaufman received $10.50 to apply for a passport.  His passport application, witnessed by his brother, stated that he planned to travel in France for six months. He reported to the Van Ness Avenue office of the Socialist Party shortly after receiving his passport on January 29, 1937. His contact advised Kaufman to be ready to depart “at any time.”  On February 5, he left San Francisco along with Hans Amlie, Richard Welch, and Grant Cannon. They travelled across the country by car to New York City with stops in Los Angeles and Chicago.

In Chicago, Hans Amlie spoke at a gathering of the Chicago Branch of the Friends of the Debs Column.  His remarks were published in the Challenge.

“All of us are qualified for service of either a military or technical nature in Spain,” Amlie said. “One of our members is a former member of the United States Marines who saw service in South America. We desire to thank the Socialist Party and the Friends of the Debs Column for making possible our going to Spain to help defeat fascism.”[vi]

Volunteers for Spain.

The volunteers arrived in New York on February 13, 1937, and reported to the Friends of the Debs Column Headquarters in room 1331, 41 Union Square, New York. Friends of the Debs Column leaders Hal Siegel and Amicus Most greeted the volunteers and arranged for their lodging.  The volunteers stayed in the Union Square Hotel until their ship sailed for Europe four days later.

Jack Altman, Secretary-Treasurer of the Friends, gave Kaufman a third-class ticket for the February 17 sailing of the President Roosevelt.  Fellow volunteers Hans Amlie, Joe Masterson, Edward Milinicoff, and Altman sailed aboard the same ship. The President Roosevelt docked in Le Havre during the evening of February 26. Kaufman disembarked the following morning.

Altman took the volunteers to Paris where they checked into the Manor House Hotel on Rue Montlucon.  Altman advised the volunteers to stay in the hotel while he coordinated their onward movement with the headquarters of the International Brigade in Paris. The following day Altman took Kaufman to the Maison de Syndicates, 8 Avenue Mathurin-Moreau where a Frenchman called Jacques interviewed him.  Jacques informed Kaufman at the close of the interview that he would be sent into Spain to serve as a squad leader in the infantry. After the interview, Kaufman and the four other volunteers moved to the Hotel Lauzin.  Kaufman took his meals at a nearby cooperative along with approximately four-hundred other volunteers for Spain.

Kaufman quietly decided not to proceed to Spain as he had no desire to serve as a combatant.  He noted that this decision was reinforced after encountering two French deserters from the International Brigade.  The deserters stated “that conditions were terrible” and Kaufman would “be absolutely at the mercy of the persons commanding the international brigade…” On March 3, Kaufman took his luggage and went to the American Consul General in Paris.  The consul conducted an interview with him and advised him to go to the American Aid Society to seek assistance in returning to the United States.[vii]  Meanwhile the American consul arranged a work-away passage for Kaufman.

The American Aid Society provided Kaufman with a train ticket back to Le Havre where he boarded the President Roosevelt and returned to the United States. He arrived in New York on March 14, 1937.  This marked the end of his involvement with the Spanish Civil War.

There is little information regarding Kaufman’s life between his return from France and the late 1950s.[viii] His daughter remarked that Kaufman was a “rolling stone” and even late in his life he maintained a “wandering spirit.”[ix]  In 1958, while living in Seattle, Washington and working for the US Air Force, Kaufman met and married Agnes Evon. In 1959, the Kaufmans moved to Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho. A year later they moved to Fairbanks, Alaska.  In Fairbanks, Kaufman briefly worked for the University of Alaska before accepting a teaching position with the Indian School system in Seldovia, Alaska. [x] With a growing family to support, Kaufman and his wife invested in The Fanny a small commercial fishing vessel they used in the summer months to fish for salmon in the waters of Kachemak Bay.[xi]

In 1967, Kaufman accepted a teaching position in Craig, Alaska. He is remembered for instituting the school’s first lunch program.[xii] During the summer months Kaufman worked as a cannery foreman in Klawock, maintaining the equipment and supervising the work crew.  While living in Craig he was formally adopted into the Raven moiety of the Tlingit tribe.[xiii]

In 1969, Kaufman accepted a teaching position in Kake, Alaska.  There he taught English, Spanish, and Shop to elementary and middle school students. Kaufman and his shop students built a boat whose plans had been featured in Popular Mechanics. Since the students helped build the boat, they felt that it was partly theirs, and it would often go missing for a day and then mysteriously return the next. During summers Kaufman continued his work in the cannery.

Tragically, Kaufman was killed in the crash of Alaskan Airlines flight 1866 on September 4, 1971 near Juneau, Alaska.[xiv]

[i] James R. Jansen, The Debs Column and American Socialists in the Spanish Civil War, MA Thesis, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 2015, 6.

[ii] The Socialist Party was unable to find enough volunteers or raise enough funds to field the Debs Column.  A small number of volunteers were sent overseas and those who continued to Spain were integrated into the International Brigades. Unless otherwise cited all information is drawn from the following sources: Samuel Hamilton Wiley, American Consul, Havre, France to The Secretary of State, Subject Lorenz Kaufman – Recruit for Military Forces of the Spanish Government, March 6, 1937, United States State Department Archives (hereafter USSDA), 852.2221/303 8 page document. This document provides a recap of Kaufman’s interview with the consulate officer and is the source for most of the information relating to Kaufman’s recruitment, trip to France and his decision to return to the United States instead of going to Spain.  Kaufman also provided a letter from the Friends of the Debs Column identifying him as a volunteer.

See also Gray, Havre, to Secretary of State, March 6, 1937, USSDA 852.2221/265 Notes Lorenz Kaufman and Abraham Spindler returning to the US.

Letter provided to Kaufman.

[iii] Ancestry, Lincoln-Washington Tree, Kaufman, Loren Arron Ursos Kaufman, compiled by Dr. Ray Hoff.

[iv] Ancestry, 1930 Census Records, Groton, Connecticut.  The record indicates that Kaufman serving in the Navy, and was married (1927).  It is likely that his residence was a barracks and his wife would not have lived there.

[v] R. B. Shipley, Chief, Passport Division to Lamar Hardy, United States Attorney, March 9, 1937, USSDA 852.2221/265 in reply to 852.2221/265 p. 1, Provides information on Kaufman’s passport application to include his purpose for travel, and identifies his brother as the witness.

[vi] Untitled, The Challenge of Youth, Volume 5, No. 1, Late February 1937, page 1. https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/…of…/v5sp-n01-late-feb-1937.pdf  It is likely that Amlie is referring to Kaufman in this passage despite stating he was in the USMC.

[vi]i Kaufman provided, in the course of his interview, a comprehensive record of the ad hoc process for recruitment, and transportation of volunteers by the Socialist Party. USSDA 852.2221/308.

[viii] Ancestry, Lincoln-Washington Tree, indicates that Kaufman married Ina Grace Partain on July 22, 1942, in Logan, Arkansas.

[ix] Email, Vamori Burgheim (daughter of Lorenz Kaufman) to Ray Hoff, July 16, 2016. Unless otherwise noted the information for the remainder of this paper comes from this email.

[x] Seldovia is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States. It is located along Kachemak Bay southwest of Homer.

[xi] Ancestry, Lincoln-Washington Tree, Records are present for four of his children and reflect their births in 1921, 1955, 1963 and 1969. A fifth whose record is not present was born circa 1959.

[xii] Craig is located on Prince of Wales Island in southern southeast Alaska. Craig is surrounded by the Tongass National Forest, the nation’s largest national forest.

[xiii] Tlingit ḵwáan, clan, and house list. http://www.drangle.com/~james/tlingit/clan-list.html

[xiv] Dave Kiffer, “40 Years Ago, 111 Died in Alaska Airline Crash Near Juneau,” SitNews, September 7, 2011. http://www.sitnews.us/Kiffer/AlaskaAirJuneau/090711_ak_airlines_crash.html

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William Bertram Titus

Notes from the Biographical Dictionary Project.  Saul Freidberg provided several short biographical sketches on fellow veterans.  The sketches provide insight into Friedberg as well.

While over the years I have always felt that my relations with Bill Titus were very important to me, my memories of him lack any real specificity, so that these notes will be necessarily limited to the few incidents I remember.

Bill must have been sent to Officer Training School at Pozorubio[i] and I must have known and spent much time with him there. I also knew and spent time with him in Tarazona. While I eventually was assigned to the MacPaps, Bill remained with the Lincoln Battalion. I always considered him to be a poet by way of major occupation, so he must have told me he was. The same is true about my belief that he came from Vermont, and my memory that his upper chest bore scars of severe burns accidentally acquired.

I remember spending a whole night in Tarazona[ii] walking in the streets and talking, to my memory about the anomalous situation of the non-proletarian intelligentsia attached to the proletarian revolutionary movement. While Lenin and many other leaders of the Communist movement met that description, it seems to me that neither Bill nor I thought of himself in such terms. We were square pegs in round holes, although that did not weaken our devotion or passion for the movement.

At Teruel, Bill was in command of a company of the Lincoln Battalion; he had headquarters in a viaduct beneath the railroad tracks that ran parallel to and just behind our front. The Lincolns were closer to Teruel than were the MacPaps so that when walking from the MacPap sector into the city of Teruel, which I did frequently, one would pass through the Lincoln sector of the line, and pass Bill Titus’ headquarters. Thus I saw him at Teruel with fair frequency, but I have no significant memories of those encounters.

After Teruel came Seguro de los Baños, where Bill was killed. I did not see Bill there, but at some later time the manner of his death was told to me by a comrade who was his aide at the time he got killed, and I will repeat the account as best I can.

Our command decided, after we were taken out of the line at Teruel, that we would be used to attack a fascist position at Seguro de los Baños in the hope at most of cutting off the salient above Teruel (a la the future operations at Stalingrad) and at least to relieve pressure at Teruel.

The fascist position consisted of a series of heavily fortified hills which had seen no action for many months, which we were to attack and take simultaneously and by surprise. The first hill was to be surrounded, attacked and taken by the MacPaps, and the second by the Lincolns. We were taken by truck to the jumping off position and then we walked almost single file, the MacPaps first with the Lincolns behind, through the night. We were to reach the fascist hills before dawn. The MacPaps arrived where they were supposed to be well on time and dropped out of the line of march and with utmost quiet surrounded the hill we were to attack at its base, so that at the given command we were to rush up the hill, cut the heavy wire defenses surrounding it, continue to rush up and overwhelm the defenders before they knew what was happening.

According to the plan, after the MacPaps dropped out of the line of march, to surround the hill assigned to them, the Lincolns were to continue until they reached the hill assigned to them. They were then quietly to surround their hill at its base so that at the given command they too were to rush up their hill at dawn, while we, the MacPaps, did the same at ours, cut the barbed wire, and continue to rush up until they overwhelmed the defenders, hopefully by surprise.

The MacPaps carried out the plan perfectly. At dawn we were at the base of our hill, surrounding it, and the fascists were still sleeping at the top.[iii] At the given command, we rushed up the hill, and, reaching the barbed wire, crawled under its bottom strand on our backs, cutting the wire with the tools we had been given.  While we were doing that, the fascists awoke and started to throw hand grenades down the hill and to fire wildly in our direction.

It became very noisy and we could taste the exploding gunpowder, and we had a few casualties, but we managed without too much trouble to make the top of the hill. There the fascists busily surrendered except for one officer determined to sell his life dearly for capitalism; Sauly Wellman, as I recall, shot him.[iv]

Then we relaxed comfortably sitting on the parapets of the beautifully constructed and reinforced fortifications, eating the Granadaisa sardines, rich with olive oil, which we discovered in great quantities in the fascist stores. While so occupied, I looked down and saw my shoe was filled with blood; I was one of the casualties, with a very minor hand grenade sliver in my left shin, which was enough to earn me a few days in a military hospital in far northern Catalonia, where there was still enough food around so the local bakery could come up with some delicious pastries and coffee sometime about four in the afternoon. When I returned from that short sojourn, the battalion was withdrawn from Seguro de los Baños and resting in some fortifications on the Valencia-Teruel highway, from which we went into the Aragon retreats.

Now to get back to the Lincolns and Bill Titus. The Lincolns were late in reaching their hill, so that by the time they had it surrounded there was no more surprise; the fascist troops on its top were wide awake, alerted by the battle at our hill, and were actively firing and throwing grenades down the slope. And here the story becomes what Bill Titus’ comrade and aide (whose name may have been Edwards, which I will here call him) told me, during the next week or so, and which I repeat from memory.

On observing the situation, Bill called upon Edwards, saying: “Lets reconnoiter the circumference of the hill to see if there is any way of attacking from an unexpected position.” They then started to walk around the base of the hill. They came to a spot at its back where there was an opening in the barbed wire, left to permit the defenders to get down to a spring at the bottom of the hill to replenish their water. Bill said to Edwards: “I will go up the hill through that hole in the wire, and when I get to the summit I will start throwing grenades and firing. The fascists will think we are attacking there in force and will rush to defend that spot, leaving the balance of the circumference lightly defended. You go back to battalion headquarters now and tell them what I am doing; tell them when they hear the uproar made by my grenades and the fascist response that they should consider that the fascist defenders are diverted and that the battalion should then quickly charge up the hill.” Edwards then left Titus to do as he was told, seeing him for the last time getting ready to carry out his plan to single-handedly charge up the hill.

That was the last time, said Edwards, that anyone saw Titus. The battalion charged up the hill when the ruckus started by Titus began, and they readily captured the hill and captured or killed its fascist defenders. However, no IB’er ever again saw Titus. His body was not found when the hill was captured, and it is not known what finally happened to him.[v]

I am sure the battle of Seguro de los Baños served some good purpose; it certainly didn’t change the capitalist-determined outcome of the Spanish war.

As for my friend and comrade Bill Titus, I have often speculated, I am sure for purely subjective reasons, that Bill Titus decided to solve the dilemma he and I talked about that night on the streets of Tarazona by going out in a blaze of revolutionary glory.

A very romantic account of Titus is quoted by Rolfe in The Lincoln Battalion at pages 178-180.

Saul Friedberg, 5/2/96

[i] Pozo Rubio was the site of the XV BDE officer’s training school.

[ii] Tarazona de la Mancha was the XV BDE training Base.

[iii] Cecil-Smith was able to position his heavy machine-guns on a neighboring un-occupied hill.  The guns provided suppressive fire that enabled the Mac-Paps to sweep the objective.

[iv] The officer’s death would have occurred during the course of the battle.

[v] This is at odds with other sources discussing Titus’ death.

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