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.