Spanish Civil War

Spanish Civil War

About 25 years ago (1980) my father gave me two postcards, two letters and a booklet relating to the British International Brigade.

The letters had been sent by someone known only as Jeff. These were sent from the front, via the Red Cross to his comrades in London in the Workers' Circle - a communist organisation based in Stepney, East London. My father worked for them as treasurer.

In August 2005 I approached the Imperial War Museum in London to see if they were interested in the postcards and letters. To my great surprise I received the following email:

IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM
DEPARTMENT OF DOCUMENTS

Our Ref JS/DOC1

4 August 2005

Dear Mr Cook

Thank you for your recent email, from which I was interested to learn that you are in possession of letters and postcards sent home by men serving with the International Brigade.

This collection sounds as if it might consist of exactly the kind of personal war records that we are anxious to preserve in this Museum's archive. This Department holds many collections of diaries, letters and memoirs which are regularly consulted by the public in our reading room, and I should therefore be most interested to see the items with a view to their retention here, where would be catalogued and made available for study.

If you wanted to send the material to me using recorded delivery post I will arrange for a refund of the cost incurred. Alternatively, if you would prefer to bring the collection to the Museum in person, then I should be glad to meet you here.

I look forward to hearing from you again.

Yours sincerely

Justin Saddington
Trainee Archivist

On August 9th I despatched the material, keeping the commemorative booklet of the XV Battalion of the British International Brigade. Here is the cover (click any photos on this page for a more detailed look).

Letters
Letter 1	June 2nd 1937, Albacete	Transcript
	Page 1	SOCORRO ROJO INTERNATIONAL PLAZA DELL ALTAZANA G.P. 20 ALBACETE ESPAGNE 2.6.37 Dear Comrades, I am writing this letter at 11.15 on Tues. Spanish time. We are the guard for the day and while some are standing guard over the important buildings, I am resting - waiting for the stroke of midnight when I have to stand guard for 2 hrs. We are being trained, and well trained at that - but - Christ it is hot! I have learned to [use a] rifle - machine-gun - bomb, all the usual implements of war. When we do start on the Fascist we will drive them right into the sea. At least that is the popular opinion in the barracks.
	Page 2	As you know I left England for Paris on the 31st April and so arrived in good time to see the May 1st demo. It was a wonderful sight - several of the group - myself one - climbed on top of the Metro station of Place de la Nation in order to see it better - we were up there nearly 3 hrs. and then never the end of it. The marching ranks spread right across the road - 25 deep - and you should hear them ?(sing)?. A strange contrast to London - there were no Police at this demo - and yet when a Fire Engine came flying along they organised its passage so well and quickly that it was not in the least delayed - not by any means an easy task. We hear some particularly interesting experiences of some of the comrades - the struggles of German comrades to get to Spain - days of walking with little food - days spent in French jails -
	Page 3	and by the way - a number of English fellows spent some time in French prisons - it is not at all easy to get here let me assure you. In one case a number of fellows lay in a wood on Pyrenees for 2 days without food - yet were thankfull (sic) to get over without being caught. Three days before we got to Barcelona the Anarchists had been kicking up Hells delight - a number had been shot - these Anarchists do the damn silliest things - in one case about 500 of them were lined up - waiting to go into a cinema - while half a mile away and in sight their own fellow members were in combat with the Fascist - incidentally they where (sic) fully armed - most ironical of all - the film was called “Your country needs you”. News is difficult to obtain here - D.W’s (Daily Workers) are a luxury - I have yet to know properly how the bus-men
	Page 4	train-men - Harworth miners and Beardmore strikers are getting on. I’ll suggest that you give me some idea of the big events since I left - if you get time. The uniform of the International Brigade is the ‘Open Sesame’ anywhere the clenched fist and ‘Salud Camarade’ is the greeting we get where-ever we go. It gives one a well developed chest to march in parades with the French, German, Austrian, Polish, English - sections all singing the revolutionary songs in their own language. As far as the civil population here is concerned - there is nothing they will not do for the Brigade. I have been here a week or two and still find them the same as when we arrived. I have one disappointment - the girls - who are very pretty are very difficult to strike a friendship with - a hell of a blow! Running out of paper - will write again. Yours Frat. Jeff Have had all my hair off!

Letter 2	25th June 1937, Albacete	Transcript
	Page 1	25th June 37 SOCORRO ROJO INTERNATIONAL PLAZA DEL ALTAZONE 51 n Albacete Espagne Dear Comrades, Your letter was welcome - I’ve been 10 days in the front line without a letter and that is a hell of a privation - news and letters from home are difficult to get - when the letters arrive everybody drops whatever they are doing and rushes for the mail-bearer, the same with D.Wo. or any English language papers - but especially D.W’s. You fellows at home get more news about Spain than we do - politically I must be degenerating but in other directions I am learning a lot. I cannot tell you as much as I would like to
	Page 2	and you will understand why, but I will do my best. By the way - next time you see “The Defence of Madrid” think of me. I am one of a group of eight and a fine lot they are - we have all had training - machine-gun - rifle etc. We are a gun-team - that is our weapon is a light field-piece and we are knocking hell out of Franco’s troops that are facing us. The Fascist trenches are a very short distance from ours and are manned with Germans and Moors - Moorish infantry and German machine-gunners. All day long there are bullets flying about - where I am writing this letter - just about 50 yds behind the Front line - the bullets - explosive are buzzing all round like angry bees - it is a wonder more of us don’t get hit especially considering the disconcerned (sic) way the boys
	Page 3	walk about. Fascist bullets are mostly of an explosive type, that is - when they hit you they enter the body and explode making a nasty gap at the back. To see the foul work of one of these brings home quite clearly the rottenness of capitalism - and here one sees the inanity of opposites - these bullets are intended to demoralize - to break down our resistance - to make clear the horrors of war, but contrary to expectation - it gives us greater conviction - makes us more bitter fighters. Two nights ago the Fascist made an attack and what a night to start a fuss; it rained blue blazes - we were soaked to the skin in five minutes. Our gun - being light - is pulled in action by hand-ropes on the axle and pushing on the carriage is sometimes hard work. With the ground like a quagmire - trench mortars - bullets - thunder
	Page 4	and lightning we were a little unnerved at first - it’s a hell of a racket you know when an attack is starting. By the time we were ready to start the lot of us were ready for anything - after quite a bit of cursing and blinding things in general. Anyway we are quite used to heavy fire now - and the affect after a few minutes is to make us infuriated, The Fascist get a battering for fetching us out on a wet night any way. We are on the same Front as a large number of Spanish boys from the South; and do you know there is nothing too much trouble for them to do for us - nothing they have that they do not offer us - food - clothing - cigarettes - a Spanish barber shaves us - for nothing - won’t accept money. I don’t need a hair cut yet - I had it all off a month ago.
	Page 5	Some nights we are to work - digging gun pits or platforms, for the gun- when we do - the Spaniards come and take the picks and shovels out of our hands and do the work for us - God knows how we will ever repay them. They spend hours sitting round us in the evenings - teaching us to speak Spanish - I cannot manage it yet - but if we are with these boys long I shall be a good Spaniard myself. All-ready I look the part - right colour - you know and the brilliant sunshine has tanned my face and body. On the question of food - well we get the best in the country - and as we have our own cooks - English - our grub is great - but while in training at one place - the chefs were French and Spanish and so it did not suit us - still we are strong and healthy - and that is the best test of food!
	Page 6	In one of the villages where we where (sic) staying - one of the villagers assures us that they did not have meat once in 3 months - yet we of the International Brigades where (sic) having meat twice a day - and the people thought that quite in order. I’m afraid I would have been annoyed to find others getting meat every day and myself getting none. The Spanish people use a lot of oil & garlic in their food - which is the principle (sic) reason for us not liking the cooking - the reason may be the absence of animal fats in their food - something that we notice and miss. The Gov. give us butter cheese and such - every day in order to make up the deficient - and plenty of raw fruit - peaches - plums - nectarines.
	Page 7	At the moment we are situated in some hills - hills that once were flourishing olive groves, now the trees are chipped with flying bullets - the fruits are bitter because of neglect - enforced neglect - as a matter of fact there are a number of graves of English boys who died fighting to drive the Fascist away from the Madrid road. The positions we hold no have got to be held and believe me - that is a cinch. There is no doubt in the minds of all comrades here that the war will be won by the Government forces. Even the fall of Bilbao - which might be disappointing at first is not half so bad when we remember that Government forces still hold the hills that surround it. Of course Bilbao is a very important port and its value must not be underestimated.
	Page 8	We have just heard that the first step toward unified action by the 2nd & 3rd Internationals has been taken - we in the front line hope that more than talk comes of it. At home one hears a lot about churches being sacked by the Reds - some of them should see the churches and convents that have been bombed by Fascist air-oplanes (sic). One church I saw was historic in the the (sic) villagers hanged the priest in the belfry - from were (sic) he had been sniping them as they drew water at the well. In our journey to front we saw hundreds of refugees - sitting on the wayside - or on the stations - every time the trains or lorrys (sic) came along they crowd to get on them. Strange as it seems to us they show their faith in the new Gov. by returning to Madrid. It
	Page 9	(is said by) the Authorities in Madrid, that more people are ‘returning’ than were ever in Madrid before. I think I ought to close now as there is more work to be done. If I get those D.W’s (Daily Workers ed.) and I hope I do - nothing is certain in Spain - I’ll be like a dog with two tails. I am going to ask you to do something for me. I have not been able to write much lately as we have (been) busy ‘digging ourselves in’ so would you pass the news on to my brother and the girl-friend at 35 Hanson St. tell them I have written a number of letters, but maybe some have been stopped. Anyway I will write one letter a day now. So untill (sic) the next - or the end of the war Cheerio Fraternally yours Jeff
Postcards
		7. 10. 37. Socorro Rojo INTER Plaza Del altazone 51 n albacete Spain Dear Comrades, Just a line to let you know that we are still pushing forward. It is cold here now - that will slow up progress a bit. It may interest you to know - I am lieutenant now - Adjutant to the Commander of our battery, English Anti-Tank in case you don’t know. Our record is now Jarama, Brunete, Zuinto, Belchite! Not bad ? All victories you know. Let me have a line. Frat Jeff.
		17. 3. 38. S. R. I. 23 S Albacete Espagne Salud Comrades, Haven’t heard from you in months - what’s happening? Set the ink flow! Things are a bit difficult here at the moment - the Fascists have been able to capture a lot of ground simply by weight of material when our boys attack the troops - Italians & Moor run like the devil - but with avion and artillery they have bashed their way thro. Still this is not Austria! Only over our dead bodies! Does Franco hate the International. Well, until the next. Salud. Jeff.

Links

Was the Jeff of these letters Jeff Mildwater?. I believe so.
The link below says that he was second-in-command; in the postcard above, Jeff says '...I am lieutenant now - Adjutant to the Commander of our battery,...' The report below says Jeff was injured at Fuentes de Ebro in October, presumably after the postcard was sent.

http://www.international-brigades.org.uk/british_volunteers/anti-tanks.htm the picture on this page may include the mysterious Jeff of the letters - who knows. I shall hunt him down.

http://www.nwha.org/news_1Q2002/news_page9.html

Breaking news:

I contacted one of the websites above and that led me to Jeff's daughter who confirmed his identity as the letter writer and sent me some material about his life and work. This was quite a moving experience to solve a 25 year old mystery and talk to Jeff's daughter who told me a lot of disturbing things about the treatment of Communists during the 1950s in Britain. It may be worth a documentary to relate the experiences of Communists during the period 1930 to 1960 - there is a hiddent history there somewhere.