ON SATURDAY February 14 2026, in Stockton, in collaboration with our colleagues in Germany, Italy and Spain, and with the support of The Olive Branch pub in Stockton-on-Tees, we marked the anniversary of the Battle of Jarama; the first action of the British Battalion of the XV International Brigade.

The Olive Branch is cultural quarter by our magnificent Stockton International Brigade Memorial.

Of the 32 Teesside born volunteers who served in the XV International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War 13 fought at Jarama (February 12-27 1937). Four of them lost their lives at Jarama: George Bright and David Halloran were killed in action, while Thomas Carter and John Unthank died later of wounds sustained in the battle.

In October 2025, at our volunteers for Liberty events in Billingham, Newcastle and Sunderland, for the first time we remembered all the north-east volunteers who lost their lives serving in the International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War.

Volunteers for Liberty goes from strength to strength. At our Jarama commemoration we remembered all the volunteers from our region who fell during the battle.

The International Brigade was organised by the Communist International (Comintern). At this event we had the pleasure to have the Communist Party of Britain Teesside district organiser, Doc Ritchie, who spoke at the commemoration.

We received messages of support from friends and comrades; groups such as the Association of Friends of the International Brigades (AABI) in Madrid, Porta de la Historia of Catalunya and the Kfsr EV Deutschland (Fighters and Friends of the Spanish Republic 1936-1939) and from historians such as Rosie Serdiville, Jamie Tucknutt and Alan Warren.

Nonetheless it is the messages from relatives of the volunteers that I particularly cherish, these remind us that the volunteers live on in our collective memory.

“It is wonderful that my grandfather is still remembered. Sorry I couldn’t join you on this occasion,” Maureen Miller, granddaughter of David Halloran, said.

“I think this is honourable that you’re doing this, thank you so much for keeping his memory alive and the things they all did, they were so brave and I’m so proud of my father,” said Lily Farrier, daughter of Sam Langley.

We also read out messages from Natalie and Cathy, great niece and niece of William Carson; Phil Saint, nephew of Myles Harding; Dave Jones, grandson of Jack Jones; Mary and Ian, on behalf of the Lawther family; Duncan Longstaff, son of Johnny Longstaff; Alan and Judy, grandson of George Short; Kim Tattam, son of Bill Tattam, and family.

Poetry has always held a special place in our events, Harry Gallagher’s The Baker’s Prayer gained international recognition. The Stockton Memorial has a line from Mike Wild’s poem that concludes “our open eyes could see no other way” which paraphrases Cecil Day Lewis’s poem The Volunteer (1938).

The author and historian Michael Crowley sent his best wishes and a poem specially written for the occasion: The Red Earth, which will now appear in his new book: Remember Me to My Comrades: Letters of the International Brigade, to be published by Barnthorn Publishing.

The Red Earth

Here is a handful of the red earth
from Aragon, where he fell. 
We folded the ground over him 
after the air raid,
a cloak he still wears.

I can tell you 
I met him at Albacete
jumping off a lorry, singing,
asking for a rifle.

He ran messages up the line
weaving down the trench 
greeting and joking in Yiddish
a smile as wide as the Ebro.

He reminded me when I had forgotten 
why I came. 
You must be asking what your loss is for? 
Many of us in the world feel like this now.

Here is a letter he didn’t get to send.

Bob Beagrie was in Whitby promoting his latest work, The Hand of Glory, hence he sent his best wishes and asked that I read A Particular Shade of Red from his anthology Romanceros published by Drunk Muse Press.

A Particular Shade of Red

(After the testimony of Fred Copeman — Reason in Revolt)

Our children are not taught their history
And you forget them at your peril
For though you fight as well as they
You’ll be betrayed as we were.
I Have Lived in a Time of Heroes — David Marshall

Not the red of the setting sun
licking the tip of the hilltop over the Ebro,
nor the dribble of red vino down the side of a glass
raised in a toast to Liberty in a cafe in Albacete, 
it wasn’t the red cross of St George
who on this occasion had shrunk away from the Dragon, 
not the glowing pool of an illuminated pavement
in the Parisian Red-Light District 
where he’d had a medical examination and been interviewed to check his political orientation, 
nor was it the shade of the ‘Red Express’
that shunted him and his comrades south through France, 
nor the red field of the communist flag
or the emblem of the three-pointed star, 
it was not the flash of a sol-splashed muleta
passing over the horns of a wounded bull,
it wasn’t the glorious crimson of wild roses
at the edge of Thornaby Wood,
nor that of paper poppies in lapels on Armistice Day
or the real ones growing between crosses on Flanders Fields; 
no this particular red followed a quiet pop
as a small hole appeared in George Bright’s forehead
in the moment before his body dropped.

I had the honour to finish the commemoration with a message from Jane and Rob Peutrell:

Today, we look back at the heroism of the volunteers of many nations who mobilised to fight fascism in Spain. We remember that for so many of that generation, rising fascism demanded an urgent international struggle.

They knew first hand where the politics of hate and scapegoating of easy targets can lead us. There is a slippery slope.  

We remember the volunteers, and the struggle and sacrifice of those who united to fight fascism in Spain. Why did they go? It says on the Stockton memorial: “They went because their open eyes could see no other way.”

For more information on the commemorative events in the north-east of England contact NEVolunteersforLiberty@gmail.com