Piece Hall venue for memorial to hero

Ralph Fox died fighting Fascism in the Spanish civil war in December 1937. There has been bench and a plaque at Bull Green in memory of this ''soldier for liberty'' since 1950.

But his family and friends have now put a new one in the historic Piece Hall which they hope will be a permanent reminder of his sacrifice.

Mr Fox was born in Halifax in 1900, educated at Heath Grammar School and gained a degree in modern languages at Oxford University.

He was a prolific writer who helped to found the British Communist Party in 1920 and was one of the first to volunteer for the International Brigade.

He was killed during heavy fighting around the town of Lopera near Cordoba, just six weeks after arriving in Spain.

One of Mr Fox's relatives, David Fox, who lives in Dorset, said he and other family members were all immensely proud of their distinguished ancestor.

Another, Gavin Fox, said that if the International Brigade had thwarted the Fascist takeover of Spain it might have prevented the Second World War.

Former lecturer, Mike Freeman, of Sowerby, said Mr Fox was a hugely influential author in the 1930s and had been a British ambassador to the Communist Party in Moscow.

He said: ''Ralph holds a unique and important position in the political history of Halifax.''

He has given the family the original typescript of his book about Fox's life and cultural politics entitled Telling the Times.

Several of Mr Fox's nephews and nieces visited Halifax at the weekend for the rededication of his memorial.

Ernest Hemingway reported on the war and author George Orwell also fought in it, inspiring both to write some of their most famous works.