The forgotten Yorkshire heroes of the Spanish Civil War remembered

Now, a graduate from Normanton has been working with families to once again tell the stories of the men who took part in the conflict.

And there are hopes that a permanant memorial may be erected in the Wakefield area to commemorate their decision.

The Spanish Civil War was fought in the 1930s after General Francisco Franco overthrew the democratically elected Republican government, supported by Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, prompting outrage across the world.

While Britain did not send troops, around 2000 men and women across the country joined International Brigades, organised by the Communist Party, to go and support Republicans of their own accord. The vast majority were working class men.

Among them was Fred Spencer, who was born in Purston Jaglin near Featherstone and lived in the mining town as an adult, where he worked as a crane driver.

Mr Spencer was active in the National Unemployed Workers Movement and helped organise a march in Castleford, before travelling to Spain in January 1937, leaving behind his young daughter.

Sadly, he was killed fighting with the British Battalion helping to defend Madrid at the Battle of Jarama on February 12 1937 – but his family have never forgotten him.

His great-granddaughter Rachael Booth, an educational consultant, has been working with Alfie Norris (pictured), a University of Oxford postgraduate student to share her ancestor’s story.

Mr Norris has recently won a prestigious international competition, the George Watt Prize, for his work researching the Wakefield fighters while an undergraduate at the University of Leeds.

He is now widening his research to include all fighters from West Yorkshire and is keen to hear from family members of those who journeyed to Spain.

Mr Norris said: “I’ve always had an interest in labour history, and at university I started to wonder if anyone went to Spain from my own area.”

Using archives from the International Brigades Memorial Trust, Mr Norris quickly found the details of some of the men who went from the Wakefield area.

"The first three that went to war from Wakefield were all middle-aged, ideological and veterans of the First World War.”

That included Mr Spencer, but as the war went on, more active recruitment took place among working class communities where activism was growing

"The Communist Party went to approach people from mining villages to ask if they would go, he explained.

"A lot of the unemployment movements were angry about conditions here, and this is probably why you’d see veterans being very politically motivated.

"I do think these people have been forgotten. I think these people were really anti-fascist, going out there to oppose something, and they were living in extreme poverty we can’t imagine. This is a history that is linked to industry. Things like the coal mines – that sort of community solidarity might have made someone thing ‘I need to go and fight.’

"It tells the story of a working class activism which has died off.”

Rachael Booth spoke of her family’s pride in Mr Spencer’s decision to go to Spain.

She said: “He gave his life to fight this war. It’s a tragic story: living in poverty and he lost his wife in childbirth. He went on hunger marches and tried to get rights for workers, and then he went to fight fascism.”

Her family’s hope is that Wakefield District Council will one day build a memorial to the Spanish Civil War fighters.

"I’m really proud,” she said. “And that’s why our aim as a family is to say surely there should be some kind of commemoration, especially in West Yorkshire.

“We should be so proud of these people. Other communities have done memorials, why haven’t we?

“You could compare it to some modern wars – some people have felt strongly enough to go to Ukraine.

"What Alfie’s research has brought for me has been the realisation he was far more political than I knew.”