Description
Object description
British volunteer served as instructor with No 2 (Machine Gun) Coy, British Bn, XV International Bde in Spain, 1/1937-2/1937; officer served with No 1 Coy, British Bn, XV International Bde in Spain, 2/1937-3/1937; served as adjutant with British Bn, XV International Bde in Spain, 3/1937; commanded British Bn, XV International Bde in Spain, 3/1937-7/1937; served as staff officer with XV International Bde in Spain, 9/1937-11/1937; commanded British Bn, XV International Bde in Spain, 11/1937-12/1937
Content description
REEL 1 Background to volunteering to go to Spain, 1936: decision to go to Spain; visiting Harry Pollitt; participation in recruitment drive for International Bdes in GB. Aspects of journey from GB to Spain, 9/1936-10/1936: escorting volunteers to Spain via Paris; question of involvement of Josip Tito; nature of journey; organisation of volunteers; crossing Pyrenees Mountains, 10/1936. Aspects of period as volunteer with International Bdes in Spain, 10/1936-12/1937: reception in Barcelona; opinion of Frank Ryan. Recollections of period as instructor with No 2 (Machine Gun) Coy, British Bn, XV International Bde in Spain, 1/1937-2/1937: appointment to company, 1/1937; selection of ex-Royal Navy men at Madrigueras; knowledge of Lewis Gun; story of transfer of Irish volunteers from British Bn to American Lincoln Bn, 20/1/1937; changes in battalion command; story of Peter Kerrigan's shooting of Wilfred Macartney; opinion of Peter Kerrigan; instructing volunteers on Maxim Machine Gun. Aspects of period as officer with No 1 Coy, British Bn, XV International Bde in Spain, 2/1937-3/1937: move to Jarama front, 2/1937; composition of brigade.
REEL 2 Continues: going over the top; Nationalist Air Force strafing attack; casualties in sunken road; taking cover behind mound; question of taking command of company after death of Christopher 'Kit' Conway, 12/2/1937; dealing with casualty; sustaining wound; retrieving machine gun ammunition; firing on advancing Moorish troops of Nationalist Army of Africa; opinion of Harold Fry; opinion of wounding of Tom Wintringham; hospitalisation for head wound, 2/1937; story of Sam Wild's search for brothel and Tom Wintringham association with Spanish woman in hospital; rallying deserters in farmhouse; positioning of No 2 (Machine Gun) Coy; reaction to first encounter with tank; capture of No 2 (Machine Gun) Coy; death of Harold Fry at Fuentes de Ebro, 13/10/1937.
REEL 3 Continues: Aspects of period as adjutant of British Bn, XV International Bde in Spain, 3/1937: appointment as adjutant to Jock Cunningham, 3/1937; construction of battalion headquarters; memories of Josip Tito; reaction to J B S Haldane's lecture on crossfire; rescuing Joseph 'Jock' Cunningham. Recollections of period commanding British Bn, XV International Bde in Spain, 3/1937-7/1937 and 11/1937-12/1937: opinion of J B S Haldane; altering role of political commissars; measures to control venereal disease; story of treatment of International Bde doctor imprisoned for rape; treatment of volunteers wishing to return home; visit by Ernest Hemingway; type of discipline employed and treatment to prevent desertion; controlling sexual relations within battalion.
REEL 4 Continues: impressing need for discipline on battalion; dealing with insolent volunteer; improving patrolling including capture of Nationalist officers near latrines; treatment of deserters; story of deaths of Wally Tapsell, Bert Overton and Robert Merriman; capture of Nationalist tank; question of background to shooting of deserters from battalion; effect of cession of recruitment by Communist Party of Great Britain on battalion strength, 9/1937; role of Sam Wild.
REEL 5 Continues: issue of Spanish Republican officer uniform and instigation of officers' mess; attitude of Communist Party towards discipline; reaction to presence of priest in brigade; story of being under fire with brigade priest; question of role of religion and work of priests in brigade; story of meeting fiancée, Kitty Banks in Deptford, London; treatment by nurses at International Bdes Hospital at Benicassim; question of luck during service; preparations for Brunete offensive, 7/1937; issue of Soviet rifles.
REEL 6 Continues: construction of mortars; opinion of Spanish grenades and Soviet Maxim Machine Gun; battalion command structure; battalion ammunition and equipment supplies; political factors influencing supplies at Brunete; International Bdes newspaper 'The Volunteer'; opinion of J B S Haldane's lectures on sexual behaviour; story of burying Oliver Law commanding officer of Lincoln Bn, 7/1937; taking cover in cornfield during Brunete offensive; advance towards Villanueva de la Cañada and attacking Nationalist held tower.
REEL 7 Continues: capture of German tank at Villanueva de la Cañada, 7/1937; Nationalist forces use of human shields at Villanueva de la Cañada and death of Bill Meredith at Villanueva de la Cañada, 6/7/1937; reaction to shooting of Nationalist officer at Villanueva de la Cañada; arrival of inexperienced George Washington Bn; technique for taking cover during air attacks; advance towards Mosquito Ridge; digging in on Mosquito Ridge; loss of Soviet T-26 Tanks on Mosquito Ridge; conditions on Mosquito Ridge and withdrawal; wounding of Sam Wild; shelling of battalion; reaction to order for battalion commanders to return to Communist Party of Great Britain in London, GB, 7/1937; Central Committee of Communist Party criticisms of Joseph 'Jock' Cunningham.
REEL 8 Continues: Joseph 'Jock' Cunningham's reaction to criticism; return to Spain; opinion of Republican strategy during Battle of Brunete, 7/1937; question of role of students in brigade; opinion of personnel serving with Anti-Tank Bty including Malcolm Dunbar; comparison of sexual behaviour in British Bn and Royal Navy; attitudes towards homosexuality and religion; attitudes towards American volunteers; opinion of George Washington Bn attempts to get rations to British Bn on Mosquito Ridge; question of effects of lack ammunition supplies; opinion of Soviet influence during Spanish Civil War.
REEL 9 Continues: opinion of second International Bdes recruitment drive in GB, 9/1937; nature of fighting during Battle of Brunete; capture of Villanueva de la Cañada, 7/1937; opinion of British Bn; question of uniform; opinion of Moors fighting with Nationalist Army of Africa; conditions as battalion commander; conditions at Mosquito Ridge; comparative question of organisation of Nationalist and Republican forces; opinion of different national forces in International Bdes.
REEL 10 Continues: memories of Ernest Hemingway; story of visit of Labour Members of Parliament to Mondejar, 12/1937; joining staff of XV International Bde; question of involvement of Soviet Union in Spanish Civil War; hospitalisation and background to return to GB, 12/1937. Aspects of period as member of Communist Party of Great Britain and International Brigade Dependents' and Wounded Aid Committee in GB, 1937-1938: opinion of Stafford Cripps; opinion of J B S Haldane and Charlotte Haldane.
REEL 11 Continues: activities with International Brigade Dependents' and Wounded Aid Committee; protesting against inclusion of certain individuals on fund list; reasons for leaving Communist Party of Great Britain, 1938; marriage and settling in Lewisham, London, 1938; opinion of No 1 Coy, British Bn and question of shooting of deserters; opinion of Soviets.
REEL 12 Continues: Aspects of period as seaman aboard HMS Norfolk during Invergordon Mutiny, 9/1931: background to mutiny; nature of 'mutiny'; strike actions aboard HMS Hood, HMS Valiant and HMS Norfolk; background to discharge from Royal Navy. Aspects of period as civilian in GB, 1931-1936 employment as rigger; political activities including involvement with Communist Party of Great Britain; confrontations with police during National Unemployed Workers Movement hunger march from Norwich to London, 1934; story of being imprisoned for allegedly biting police sergeant.
REEL 13 Continues: involvement in demonstrations against British Union of Fascists; periods of imprisonment for political activities; knowledge of Spanish Civil War, 1936. Reflections on service with XV International Bde in Spain, 1937: memories of Josip Tito; background to formation of International Bdes; question of shooting of Wilfred Macartney by Peter Kerrigan; Irish-British volunteer relations in brigade; memories of André Marty; degree of training on Maxim Machine Guns prior to Battle of Jarama, 2/1937; character of action at Battle of Jarama, 2/1937; casualties during Battle of Jarama, 2/1937; wounding during Battle of Jarama, 2/1937; retrieving machine gun ammunition during Battle of Jarama, 2/1937; firing of Maxim Machine Guns on advancing Nationalist troops; death of Christopher 'Kit' Conway, 12/2/1937; memories of George Nathan.