The Mackenzie-Papineau
Battalion was established in July 1937. It was named after two nineteenth-century
leaders in Canada's independence movement. The soldiers who fought
in the unit mainly came from Canada but
did include Canadian immigrants living in the United
States.
When the Mackenzie-Papineau
Battalion arrived in Spain it was incorporated
into the Abraham Lincoln Battalion. Later
it became part of the 15th International
Brigade.
The battalion first saw
action at Fuentes de Ebro on 13th October 1937. In this offensive
60 were killed and 200 were wounded. The Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion
also took part in the battles at Teruel
(December 1937) and Ebro (July-August 1938).
By the end of the Spanish
Civil War almost
half of the Canadian volunteers had been killed.
(1)
Jack
Jones went to fight in the
Spanish
Civil War in 1937. He wrote about
his experiences in the International
Brigade in his autobiography, Union
Man (1986)
The focal point for the mobilization of the International Brigades
was in Paris; understandably so, because underground activities against
Fascism had been concentrated there for some years. I led a group
of volunteers to the headquarters there, proceeding with the greatest
caution because of the laws against recruitment in foreign armies
and the non-intervention policies of both Britain and France. From
London onwards it was a clandestine operation until we arrived on
Spanish soil.
While in Paris we were
housed in workers' homes in one of the poorest quarters of the city.
But it wasn't long before we were on our way, by train, to a town
near the Pyrenees. From there we travelled by coach to a rambling
old farmhouse in the foothills of the Pyrenees. After a rough country
meal in a barn we met our guide who led us through the mountain passes
into Spain.
In the light of the morning
we could see Spanish territory. After five hours or so, stumbling
down the mountainside (I found it almost as hard going down as climbing
up), we came to an outpost and from there were taken by truck to a
fortress at Figueras. This was a reception centre for the volunteers.
The atmosphere of old Spain was very apparent in the ancient castle.
For the first day or so we felt exhausted after the long climb. The
food was pretty awful. We ate it because we were hungry but without
relish.
For some the first lessons
about the use of a rifle were given before we moved off to the base.
I at least could dismantle and assemble a rifle bolt and knew something
about firing and the care of a weapon. But my first shock came when
I was told of the shortage of weapons and the fact that the rifles
(let alone other weapons) were in many cases antiquated and inaccurate.
Training at the base was
quick, elementary but effective. For me life was hectic, meeting good
companions and experiencing a genuine international atmosphere. There
were no conscripts or paid mercenaries. I got to know a German Jew
who had escaped the clutches of Hitler's hordes and was then a captain
in the XII Brigade. He had
hopes of going on ultimately to Palestine and striving for a free
state of Israel. He was not only a good soldier but a brave one too.
That was also true of a smart young Mexican whom I met. He had been
an officer in the Mexican Army and was a member of the National Revolutionary
Party of his country.
(2)
After the war Ernest
Hemingway wrote about the role of
the International
Brigades.
The dead sleep cold in Spain tonight. Snow blows through the olive
groves, sifting against the tree roots. Snow drifts over the mounds
with small headboards. For our dead are a part of the earth of Spain
now and the earth of Spain can never die. Each winter it will seem
to die and each spring it will come alive again. Our dead will live
with it forever.
Over 40,000 volunteers
from 52 countries flocked to Spain between 1936 and 1939 to take part
in the historic struggle between democracy and fascism known as the
Spanish Civil War.
Five brigades of international
volunteers fought on behalf of the democratically elected Republican
(or Loyalist) government. Most of the North American volunteers served
in the unit known as the 15th brigade, which included the Abraham
Lincoln battalion, the George Washington battalion and the (largely
Canadian) Mackenzie-Papineau battalion. All told, about 2,800 Americans,
1,250 Canadians and 800 Cubans served in the International Brigades.
Over 80 of the U.S. volunteers were African-American. In fact, the
Lincoln Battalion was headed by Oliver Law, an African-American from
Chicago, until he died in battle.
(3)
Dolores
Ibárruri, speech in Barcelona
on 29th October 1938.
Comrades of the International Brigades! Political reasons, reasons
of state, the good of that same cause for which you offered your blood
with limitless generosity, send some of you back to your countries
and some to forced exile. You can go with pride. You are history.
You are legend. You are the heroic example of the solidarity and the
universality of democracy. We will not forget
you; and, when the olive tree of peace puts forth its leaves, entwined
with the laurels of the
Spanish Republic's victory, come back! Come back to us and here you
will find a homeland.
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