OUR ANNUAL Volunteers for Liberty event, dedicated to remembering volunteers from Teesside who fought fascism in Spain, will be bigger than ever this year.

For the past five years men from Teesside who volunteered to fight fascism and defend democracy during the Spanish civil war of 1936-39 have been remembered at a special event. Thirty Teesside volunteers served in the International Brigade in Spain, of these nine lost their lives. This year the Volunteers for Liberty memorial event will be held in Hartlepool for the first time. 

As part of its 2020 centenary the Communist Party of Britain worked with the Communist Party of Spain and the International Brigade Memorial Trust to host a series of wreath laying events across the country in honour of the Volunteers for Liberty who died fighting fascism in Spain. These events were held on the anniversary of the International Brigade’s passing out parade that had taken place on October 17 1938. 

In north-east England we have worked with the Communist Party of Britain and the Communist Party of Spain to host annual events held simultaneously in Middlesbrough and Newcastle in 2020, 2021 and 2022. 

In 2023 we relocated the Teesside event to Stockton because the new Stockton International Brigade Memorial had been dedicated a few months earlier. Each year the events develop and this year we will be holding the 2024 Teesside Volunteers for Liberty commemoration at the Heugh Battery Museum in Hartlepool on Sunday October 27, from 10am until 4pm.

The commemoration ceremony will be just a part of a series of events held throughout the day. What makes these events very special is that we are joined by relatives of some of the volunteers and relatives of some of the Basque refugee children who were evacuated to our area following the bombing of Guernica in 1937 — this year will be no exception. 

We are also honoured that the newly invested mayor of Hartlepool has agreed to speak at the commemoration service. Also speaking will be representatives from both the Communist Parties of Britain and of Spain alongside representatives for the International Brigade Memorial Trust and the Association of the UK Basque children. Dr Bob Beagrie, who first read at the 2020 event and has read at all subsequent events has agreed to join us once again in 2024. 

We will especially remember the nine Teesside volunteers who lost their lives in Spain and this year we will also speak about five Hartlepool men who volunteered for the International Brigade: Thomas Carter was the Hartlepool district organiser for the Communist Party, he lost his life at the battle of Jarama in February 1937. William Smith, a mechanic, and Thomas Richarson, a widower with three children, both served for 18 months in Spain before returning home. James Reid was a seaman who broke through Franco’s naval blockade to deliver food aid donated by people from the north-east of England, he joined the International Brigade when his ship was sunk by German planes while unloading in Alicante harbour. And Herbert Riding, a chef who, in Spain, was in charge of the catering for the officers and men of the XV International Brigade. Before repatriation home in 1938 Herbert was given the prestigious honour of membership of the Communist Party of Spain.

As well as the commemoration, visitors will be able to hear No Pasaran! by AVzounds: a 30-minute musical documentary about the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. They will be able to listen to the wonderful Hartlepool brass band who are based on the Headland at Hartlepool Rovers Rugby Club; and Project Lono, an experimental collaborative collective of musicians and poets who produce live and recorded immersive soundscapes will perform some of their soundscapes, developed with Bob Beagrie and based on his recently published collection: Romanceros: Poems Inspired by the Spanish Civil War. 

Mark Boden studied Flamenco in a school in Seville, Spain. He now performs his interpretations of flamenco pieces and composes flamenco music with modern elements, fusing Latin American, Jazz, Indian, classical, Cuban, blues and rock. He was recently a featured artist at Middlesbrough’s Sonic Arts Festival. After performing a solo set he will be accompanying his friend and comrade Dr Bob Beagrie. 

Bob read a recently composed poem for the very first Volunteers for Liberty event in 2020, he continued to write pieces until, in April this year, Drunk Muse Press published his collection of 40 poems as Romanceros: poems inspired by the Spanish Civil War. Bob will be reading solo, accompanied by Mark and supported by Project Lono member Stewart Forth. The day will be concluded by writer, musician, poet and songwriter Sara Dennis. Sara performed at the dedication of the Stockton International Brigade memorial in April 2023 and will once again be singing for us; she tells me she has developed something very special for this Volunteers for Liberty commemoration. 

The Stockton-based Golden Smog Warriors basketball team were the heart of the campaign for the Stockton International Brigade Memorial, they hold an annual competition in honour of Stockton volunteer Otto Estensen. This year the Otto Estensen Trophy competition will be held in Hartlepool, on the same day as the commemoration, the event will be hosted by Hartlepool Heat basketball team. 

The events are free, but we ask that visitors to the Heugh Battery Museum donate on entry and take refreshment in the museum’s Poppy Tea Rooms. Enquiries to NEVolunteersforliberty@gmail.com.

Useful websites: Heugh Battery Museum www.heughbattery.co.uk; North East Volunteers for Liberty Facebook: tinyurl.com/NEVolunteersLiberty;
Drunk Muse Press, Romanceros, by Bob Beagrie: tinyurl.com/Romanceros.