#POSTCARD FROM SPAIN SERIES#

Once across the frontier, they would be taken to the International Brigade headquarters at Albacete, where volunteers would be vetted again, processed and divided up by nationality to be placed into the different linguistic battalions of the International Brigades. Some volunteers were smuggled onto ships which attempted to break through the naval blockade of patrolling Royal Navy warships and Italian submarines.Д«ill Lower, Frank GrahamвЂ™s companion from Sunderland, died along with 54 volunteers and about 100 passengers and crew when the SS Ciudad de Barcelona was torpedoed by an Italian submarine in May 1937. From Paris they would travel to the Spanish border by train on what became known as вЂThe Red ExpressвЂ™, then travel across the frontier by bus or train.ДЄfter February they would be smuggled in groups past non-intervention patrols, over the top of the Pyrenees. It was in the red-light district of Paris they underwent medical examination and checks on their political reliability. On arrival in Paris the volunteers would meet the liaison, Charlotte Haldane. The recruitment of the International Brigades was coordinated by the Communist Party in Paris.

In France volunteers had to act with discretion as groups of volunteers would occasionally be arrested and repatriated. On acceptance volunteers were told to purchase weekend return rail-tickets from Victoria Railway Station to Paris, as this did not require a passport.

Robson explained in detail the dangers to be faced. In London the groups were sent to the Communist Party offices at 16 King Street to meet the formidable вЂRobbyвЂ™ Robson who would assess their suitability, in military and political terms. I discovered that volunteers travelled to Spain together, Frank Graham left Sunderland on 15 th December 1936 with friends, Tommy Dolan and Bill Lower.

#POSTCARD FROM SPAIN SERIES#

HereвЂ™s another interesting article for the series about the Spanish Civil War, International Brigades Memorial Trust member, Tony Fox, looks at representation from North East men during the conflictвЂ¦вЂ¦.

Postcard from spain