Bristol Heroes – Volunteer Fighters in the Spanish Civil War 1936-39

The Spanish Civil War was an important pre-cursor to the Second World War, pitting republicans and revolutionaries against an emerging military dictatorship in Spain and their fascist allies in Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany. After a fascist inspired military coup, led by General Franco in July 1936,  was halted in its tracks by the armed action of the Spanish working class, the battlelines were drawn for three years of bloody conflict. Volunteers from all over the world went to Spain to aid the republic, some of whom were from Bristol, Somerset and Gloucestershire.

This talk by Alan Lloyd, archivist for the International Brigades Memorial Trust, will follow the course of the Spanish Civil War, by introducing the volunteers from Bristol and its surrounding area and explaining the part they played in each phase of the conflict.