In 1936, a civil war started in Spain between the democratically elected Republican government on one side and sections of the Spanish military led by General Franco on the other. Franco’s forces were supported by Hitler’s and Mussolini’s fascist dictatorships, who used the war to prepare tactics for the second world war. The Spanish Civil war saw the first use of “Blitzkrieg” and the deliberate airbombing of civilians . While democratic governments abandoned the Republican side to its fate, thousands of ordinary men and women from Britain and all around the world went to fight on behalf of democracy and freedom in what became known as the International Brigades.
Eight men from Hull and one from Cottingham (that we are aware of) joined the International Brigade.