British Volunteers in the International Brigades

Nearly a century on, the Spanish Civil War, and the international volunteers who fought for the Spanish Republic, remain iconic episodes in the history of the Twentieth Century. Chris Hall’s earlier books on British volunteers in the war were narrowly focused. In Spain with Orwell: George Orwell and the Independent Labour Party Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939, addressed a contingent of anti-Stalinist leftists in the war, and The Nurse Who Became a Spy: Madge Addy's War Against Fascism, looked at one woman’s service in the Spanish Civil War and then W. W. II. In his newest book, he looks at the role of all British and Commonwealth volunteers in the war who served in the “British Battalion” of the International Brigades (IB), as well as some who fought for the Nationalists.

Hall does an excellent job. We see the experience of those who volunteered for the war, with profiles of many volunteers, as he follows them from their decisions to take part the war in Spain, with some very good battle pieces, frequently using eye witness accounts.

Hall reminds us that unlike most of the volunteers for the Republic, who were W. W. I. veterans or former conscript soldiers, most of the British volunteers had no military experience. Coupled with the rudimentary training that they received, poor equipment, and equally inexperienced leadership, the volunteers, though willing and brave, were not always successful in combat, and took heavy casualties.

While clearly sympathetic to the Republic, Hall doesn’t overlook its flaws, reminding us, for example, that Andre Marty, the maniacal IB political commissar, executed men on the slightest pretext (he estimates c. 500), and unlike many accounts, doesn’t credit the IB with “saving Madrid” in November of 1936; in fact, most of the fighting having been done by workers’ militia, and loyal army and police troops, the IB taking part in the final days of the siege

Hall carries the story of some of the volunteers into their service during W. W. II, noting, for example, the role of Tom Wintringham, former commander of the British Battalion, and some other veterans of the IB in the formation of the Home Guard.

Though marred by an absence of maps, British Volunteers and the Spanish Civil War is an excellent addition to the literature of the international volunteers for the Spanish Republic.

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Note: British Volunteers and the Spanish Civil War is also available in e-editions.

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