Remembering the Spanish Civil War .... today at Central Ref .... Manchester

 

Remembering the Spanish Civil War

 

 Today sees the publication of Chris Hall's new book on the Spanish Civil War.

He recently told me that  "my new book British Volunteers and the Spanish Civil War: ‘The Passionate Cause’, 1936-39 is available now at a reduced price. For more details about the book see below:

Ninety years ago, a Civil War broke out in a then little-known country. For thousands of British, Irish and Commonwealth people, the Spanish Civil War was their main focus for three years.

Over 2,500 “British” (including Irish and Commonwealth) men and women fought in the International Brigades or served in the medical services of the Spanish Republic. Over 500 volunteers were to die in Spain.

Other “British” volunteers served as mercenary pilots and in the revolutionary militias (including George Orwell); some even served on the side of the rebel forces.

At home, thousands participated in ‘Spanish Aid’ activities, raising funds for food ships and medical supplies for Republican Spain. During the Civil War, 4000 Basque refugee children were supported by public donations. Picasso’s Guernica painting toured England to raise funds.

This is the story of ordinary men and women, told in their own words and reflecting the whole gamut of emotions from ecstasy to despair.

Many volunteers would go on to fight in the Second World War, and some became leading figures in post-War Britain. But for many volunteers, the Spanish Civil War was the “Passionate Cause” and the outstanding episode of their lives. This is their story.

The book can be purchased from the publishers or via Amazon”.

To which I can add, it will be published on January 30th, 2026, and costs £29.99, but there is a pre order introductory offer which allows you to buy the book for £23.99 by following the link.*

This is his second book, the first was on The Nurse Who became a Spy Madge Addy's war Against Fascism, and came out in 2022.  Madge Addy lived in Chorlton.  She was a shadowy figure, who worked as a nurse on the Republican side during the Spanish Civil War and went on to work for the SOE during the last World War.

All of which leaves me to write that along with Madge Addy, Chris Hall’s new book includes the story of Bernard McKenna who was also associated with the Civil War.

*Pre order https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/British-Volunteers-and-the-Spanish-Civil-War-The-Passionate-Cause-1936-39-Hardback/p/57241

**Madge Addy, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Madge%20Addy

The Spanish Civil War, by Chris Hall ..... and the Chorlton Two

Today I got a message from Chris Hall who has written extensively about the Spanish Civil War.

"Hello Andrew, my new book British Volunteers and the Spanish Civil War: ‘The Passionate Cause’, 1936-39 is available now at a reduced price. For more details about the book see below:

Ninety years ago, a Civil War broke out in a then little-known country. For thousands of British, Irish and Commonwealth people, the Spanish Civil War was their main focus for three years.

Over 2,500 “British” (including Irish and Commonwealth) men and women fought in the International Brigades or served in the medical services of the Spanish Republic. Over 500 volunteers were to die in Spain.

Other “British” volunteers served as mercenary pilots and in the revolutionary militias (including George Orwell); some even served on the side of the rebel forces.

At home, thousands participated in ‘Spanish Aid’ activities, raising funds for food ships and medical supplies for Republican Spain. During the Civil War, 4000 Basque refugee children were supported by public donations. Picasso’s Guernica painting toured England to raise funds.

This is the story of ordinary men and women, told in their own words and reflecting the whole gamut of emotions from ecstasy to despair.

Many volunteers would go on to fight in the Second World War, and some became leading figures in post-War Britain. But for many volunteers, the Spanish Civil War was the “Passionate Cause” and the outstanding episode of their lives. This is their story.

The book can be purchased from the publishers or via Amazon”.

To which I can add, it will be published on January 30th, 2026, and costs £29.99, but there is a pre order introductory offer which allows you to buy the book for £23.99 by following the link.*

This is his second book, the first was on The Nurse Who became a Spy Madge Addy's war Against Fascism, and came out in 2022.  Madge Addy lived in Chorlton.  She was a shadowy figure, who worked as a nurse on the Republican side during the Spanish Civil War and went on to work for the SOE during the last World War.

All of which leaves me to write that along with Madge Addy, Chris Hall’s new book includes the story of Bernard McKenna who lived at Egerton Road North for many years and was also associated with the Civil War.

*Pre order https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/British-Volunteers-and-the-Spanish-Civil-War-The-Passionate-Cause-1936-39-Hardback/p/57241

**Madge Addy, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Madge%20Addy

Songs of Protest and Struggle .... tonight

 One to do

During Chorlton Arts Festival, https://chorltonartsfestival.org/

On the trail of a bullet holed ambulance ........ somewhere in Stalybridge

Now the connection between a bullet holed ambulance in Stalybridge, and a British nurse caught up in the Spanish Civil War is intriguing. 

Miss Addy in Spain, 1938

I first came across the presence of the ambulance while writing about Madge Addy who in her early 30s went out to Spain and served as a nurse on the Republican side in the Civil War which had begun with an army insurrection against the democratically elected legitimate Government.*

She was the last British nurse out of Spain just before the Government was defeated by General Franco and his allies.

She then went on to serve as a secret agent in the S.O.E in occupied France smuggling vital information across Europe and was awarded the OBE, for her work.

Miss Addy, 1938

But history hasn’t been kind to this remarkable women and it has taken  a few of us to begin to bring her out of the shadows.

It began with an approach to help research the early years of her life as a part of a campaign to get a plaque installed in a house in Chorlton where she had worked a hair dresser in the 1930s.

That campaign was co-ordinated by Chris Hall and I am pleased to say was successful and that in turn has led to the idea that there should be a book about Ms Addy.

It is in its very early stages, and will involve Chris, myself and her grandson who lives in Norway.

And that brings me back to the ambulance, which was seen by a very young Margaret Riley who told me, “I saw her bullet holed ambulance when she returned from Spain. Always remembered it.

The only ambulances I’d seen were the Disney printed ones, which would pick children up for tonsillectomies in the morning and bring them back in the afternoon.  I couldn’t see why this one had holes in it, and I can’t remember where I saw it, as I was taken to Stalybridge via Dukinfield and Ashton”.

Unveiling the plaque in Chorlton, 2018

Now we know that Ms Addy had both written about her experiences while still in Spain and that she also took part in tours across Britain, highlighting the plight of the Spanish people and the atrocities committed by the Nationalist forces of Franco.

So the Stalybridge ambulance story is a find which must be followed up.

Given that she was from Manchester, there might be a reference to the event in the Manchester Evening News, the Manchester Courier, and Manchester Guardian, but I am betting there will also be something in the newspapers covering Tameside.

So, in the fullness of time I will take the tram from Chorlton up to Ashton to investigate.

That said if there is anyone who want an important walk on part in the project and is happy to while away the time in the library pouring over copies of the local papers from 1937 through to 1938, we would be very happy.

Bath, 1939

And just after the story went live, Chris sent me an extract from a bath newspaper dated January 1939 which described a concert held for Basque children who had been brought to Britain from Catalonia the previous year.  All were orphans and they took part in the non political concert to raise money to support the children and cover the cost of their final settlement in Switzerland.

The concert was part of a national tour involving the children who travelled through Bath in a bullet riddled ambulance.


Location; Stalybridge, Spain, and France

Picture; Nurse Madge Addy giving a blood transfusion; Daily Worker, November 11, 1938 and Madge Addy, 1938, the plaque unveiling ceremony on May 12 2018,  from the collection of Andrew Simpson and the newspaper article supplied by Chris Hall.

*Madge Addy; https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Madge%20Addy

Madge Addy ....... nurse, and war hero was remembered in Chorlton .... one year ago

Over 50 gathered

The sun shone and over 50 people gathered to watch the unveiling of a plaque to Madge Addy.*

I have written about Madge who was the last British nurse to leave Republican Spain as the legitimate and democratically elected Government was about to be defeated by the forces of a military insurrection led by Franco.

She went on to work as a secret agent in occupied France during the last war and despite being awarded the OBE has slipped into the shadows.

And there are only a few references to Madge Addy.

Cllr Eddy Newman

She appears in newspaper accounts in the Daily Worker and wrote of her own experiences in Spain to raise awareness of the Civil War and the brutal actions of the Franco forces and crops up in books on the International Brigade.

But given that she worked here in Chorlton as a hairdresser in the 1930s it seemed fitting that she should be remembered with a plaque on the place where she worked.

Chris Hall and others dedicated to maintaining the memory of those who went to Spain to fight for democracy have worked hard to raise the money and organise the placing of the plaque at 34 Manchester Road.

Chris had originally asked the late Shelia Newman to help and it was fitting that the plaque was unveiled by her three children, and that amongst the speakers was Cllr Eddy Newman who was Shelia’s husband and the present Lord Mayor.

Chris Hall and Jeff Smith MP

The unveiling was followed by a social event across the road in the Library where there was food, music, and information panels telling the story of the Spanish Civil War, the involvement of the International Brigade and the men and women who went from Greater Manchester.

Anyone wishing to know more about the plaque can contact Chris at, christoff_hall@yahoo.com or on 0161 861 7448





Location; Chorlton

The plaque

Pictures, the plaque unveiling on May12 2018, pictures from the collection of Andrew Simpson
















*Madge Addy, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Madge%20Addy

There's a valley in Spain called Jarama* ……

I grew up with stories of the International Brigade whose men and women went out to fight alongside the democratically elected Government of Spain against the forces of General Franco, his African army and a rat bag of conservative, ultra-nationalist and Fascist groups.

Spain Fights for Independence, For Peace and Solidarity Among All Peoples, 1936

Their battle honours included the defence of Madrid, the battles of Jarma, Brunete, Aragon, Teruel  and Ebro.

Their units were drawn from Britain, The USA, as well as Italy and Germany and the rest of Europe. 

Between 40,000 and 59,000 members served in the International Brigades with some 10,000 who died in combat

I was lucky enough to have met some of those who participated in the war including the writer Ted Willis who organised and drove food convoys to Spain.**

Later still I wrote about Madge Addy who worked in hospitals on the Republican side and was the last nurse out of Spain before the defeat of the Government and the victory of  Franco’s Nationalist army.***

Aid for the Basque Heroes,

So, I was intrigued by a conversation with my old Facebook chum Tony Flynn on a proposed plan for a lasting memorial to those from Salford who participated in the Spanish Civil War.

 Heading up the story he wrote, “I was speaking to Barrie Eckford an active member of Salford Trades Council and the International Brigade Memorial Trust which keeps alive the memory and spirit of the men and women who volunteered to defend democracy and fight fascism in Spain”.

Tony named the men from Salford who went out to Spain and in a fascinating article made an appeal for more information on the those who went and others who as yet have not been recorded.  

The article can be read by following the link and you can contact him at tony@salford.media or via messenger on Facebook.

Location; Spain and Salford

Pictures; Spain Fights for Independence, For Peace and Solidarity Among All Peoples, G. M. 1936-39,  Aid for the Basque Heroes, S H Prives, from The Palette and the Flame, 1980, and Nurse Madge Addy giving a blood transfusion; Daily Worker, November 11, 1938

 Nurse Madge Addy from Chorlton giving a blood transfusion, 1938

* Jarama Valley, ,Alex McDade, of the British Battalion, XV International Brigade, 1938  

**Whatever Happened to Tom Mix, Ted Willis, 1970

***Madge Addy, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Madge%20Addy

****PROPOSED PLANS FOR A LASTING MEMORIAL TO LOCAL PEOPLE WHO FOUGHT AND DIED IN THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR, Tony Flynn,  https://salford.media/news/local-news/proposed-plans-for-a-lasting-memorial-to-local-people-who-fought-and-died-in-the-spanish-civil-war-r510/?fbclid=IwAR0UbZdnj0U-oWBkqhcgFzKf5rscJHE8vLlHSvXnU4d5ngpuBwC_eBYZ1HY

"I am Spain"* ........ remembering the Spanish Civil War ...... today at Manchester's Central Ref

It is 86 years since the start of the Spanish Civil War, which many regard as a rehearsal for the Second World War.

On one side was a democratically elected popular Government, committed to sweeping away the power of the establishment, and challenging a system which had tolerated poverty and the exploitation of the many.  

And on the other a military uprising which was supported by the Church, the rich and all with a vested interested in maintaining the centuries old status quo.

To this can be added the intervention of Fascist Italy, and Nazi Germany on the side of the Nationalist uprising, using the war to try out tactics and weapons which would later be employed in the Second World War.

This in turn was set against the failure or unwillingness of the European democracies to assist the legitimate Government, who instead received a wave of volunteers who fought in the International Brigades, helped staff the hospitals, and organized convoys of food and medicine.

And so on the eve of the Battle of Jarama which started on February 6th, 1937 when Nationalist forces attacked the Republican lines east of Madrid but failed to make a final breakthrough there is a major event at Central Ref in Manchester to commemorate and explore the defence of democracy against the forces of totalitarianism.

Tom Mooney Company from the Lincoln Battalion. Jarama, c. 1937

The death toll was high with he British Battalion losing 225 of its 600 men and the Lincoln Battalion  125 out of 500.***

Leaving me just to add a reference to that song the Battle of Jarama, with its opening verse, 

“There's a valley in Spain called Jarama

It's a place that we all know so well

It was there that we fought against the fascists

We saw a peaceful valley turn to hell”**

Location; Central Reference Library, Manchester

Pictures; Poster of the events, and Tom Mooney Company from the Lincoln Battalion. Jarama, c. 1937, from the Lincoln Battalion, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Battalion

*Spain, W.H.Auden, 1937, 

**The Battle of Jarama, Woody Guthrie, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORP5-017gKM

And the version by Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI9XjWskM0w

***Beevor, Antony, The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939. 

A bullet holed ambulance, and a shadowing story of a secret agent ....... Madge Addy from Chorlton

The story of Madge Addy is a fascinating one, not least because there is still more to discover.*

Madge Addy, 1938

On Saturday over 50 people gathered in front of number 34 Manchester Road to remember a very remarkable woman who was an active participant in two wars, was awarded the OBE and briefly worked here in Chorlton.

She remains a shadowy figure and until December 2016 I knew nothing about her, and even now the references to her work as a nurse during the Spanish Civil War and then her role as a secret agent in occupied France are fairly limited.

She wrote articles about the Spanish war which appeared along with her photograph in the Daily Worker, and there are fleeting references to her in books on both the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War.

And then like so many war heroes, she fades from the limelight.

But now there is a plaque which was unveiled on Saturday at 34 Manchester Road, which was attended by Cllr Eddy Newman, the Lord Mayor, and Jeff Smith MP for Manchester Withington, along with a representative from the British Legion.

In Marseilles

And interest is building.

Chris Hall, who organised the efforts to get the plaque, received a picture of Ms Addy with Wilhelm Holst during the Second World War, possibly in Marseilles.  Mr Holst was Madge Addy’s second husband and the picture comes from his grandson.

In time I am sure some of the gaps in the story will be filled, and only today I got an email from Margaret Riley who commented that Ms Addy was “Inspirational” and went on to say “I saw her bullet holed ambulance when she returned from Spain. Always remembered it.

The only ambulances I’d seen were the Disney printed ones, which would pick children up for tonsillectomies in the morning and bring them back in the afternoon.  I couldn’t see why this one had holes in it, and I can’t remember where I saw it, as I was taken to Stalybridge via Dukinfield and Ashton”.

The unveiling, 2018

Now I find that memory fascinating.  The news value of that bullet riddled ambulance will have been immensely useful in making the public aware of the war in Spain, and in particular, the illegal act staged by a group of the military against the democratically elected Government of Spain.

So, given that the date must be around 1938, a trawl of the Daily Worker and even the local Manchester papers may turn something up.

We shall see.

Picture; Madge Addy from the Daily Worker, 1938, in the company of Wilhelm Holst, date unknown, courtesy of Mr Host’s grandson and at the unveiling of the plaque, May 12, 2018 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Madge Addy, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Madge%20Addy

Liberty’s Volunteers remembering the Spanish Civil War ...... tomorrow

Now I have returned to the story of Madge Addy who worked in Spain during the Civil War, went on to serve as an agent in occupied France during the Second World War and briefly lived in Chorlton.

Her contribution to both conflicts will be remembered tomorrow at a conference on the Spanish Civil War at which there will be a collection towards financing a blue plaque to commemorate her activities.

Along with a series of short talks, a question and answer session there will be songs from the Civil War, and a showing of the film Voices from a Mountain, which was inspired by the astonishing discovery of an intact memorial to a group of International Brigaders, who were killed during the Battle of the Ebro in the late summer of 1938 and contains interviews with former brigaders, all of whom have now passed.

Location Manchester

The Manchester Conference Centre

& Pendulum Hotel

Sackville Street Manchester M1 3BB

Tel: 0161 955 8000

www.manchesterconferencecentre.co.uk

£10 entrance only

(payment on the day)

Payment to IBMT by cheque/PayPal/bank transfer to:

Charles Jepson

Aysgaard, Beardwood Brow, Blackburn, Lancs, BB2 7AT

Tel: 01254 51302 

Email:clarioncc@yahoo.co.uk

(please note no receipts will be sent out)

For further information on the conference:

Dolores Long: 0161 2262013 doloreslong@fastmail.fm

Charles Jepson: 01254 51302 clarioncc@yahoo.co.uk

Hilary Jones: 01625 527540 hilary.m.jones@btinternet.com

Another piece in the story of Madge Addy ...... secret agent, Civil War nurse and resident of Chorlton

Madge Addy was a remarkable woman who not only went out to Spain during the Spanish Civil War but went onto serve as an agent in occupied France.*

It is a story I have been uncovering for a while and was prompted by a request from Cll Shelia Newman to research the life of Madge Addy who lived in Chorlton.**

Interest has grown in Ms Addy since Chris Hall suggested that there should be a memorial plaque to this brave woman and there may be some who also have knowledge of Madge or would like to make a contribution to the cost of the plaque and if so please contact Chris by email at christoff_hall@yahoo.com or on 0161 861 7448.

The campaign for the blue plaque is fully supported by Chorlton's three councillors.

And as part of that campaign I wrote a short article in the Chorlton edition of Open Up and here the story takes a twist.***

My old friend Ida read the story and  was in the process of reading Silk and Cyanide by Leo Markes about  the operations of the British Special Operations Executive.

In a previous conversation Ida had suggested that this was the book which might offer up a clue about MS Addy

And sure enough in a one line sentence there is a reference to an unnamed agent who carried secret documents from Denmark to Sweden on a German civilian aircraft.  It might not be Madge but we know she did travel this route during 1940.

So perhaps a little bit more has come to light.

Location; Chorlton, Spain, France


Picture; Nurse Madge Addy giving a blood transfusion; Daily Worker, November 11, 1938 and Madge Addy, 1938

*Madge Addy, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Madge%20Addy

**Cllr Shelia Newman, cllr.s.newman@manchester.gov.uk  0161 234 1841 (Town Hall)

***Open Up, http://openupmagazines.co.uk/chorlton/

Remembering Madge Addy at the Town Hall this Sunday

Now Miss Madge Addy was a remarkable women.

She went off to Spain at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, served as a nurse on the side of democratically elected Government who were fighting a Nationalist insurrection and was the last British nurse to leave the country the war zone.

She then went on to work as an agent in occupied France during the Second World War, assisted escaping allied prisoners of war and smuggled secret documents on German civilian aircraft.

But despite these achievements few people have heard of her.

And so this Sunday there be is an event to raise money for a plaque to commemorate her work, which it is hoped will go up on the wall of the house she lived in on Manchester Road in Chorlton.

The campaign to bring Miss Addy out of the shadows has been led by Christoper Hall who writes, that Madge is to be honoured as part of the "annual Jarama  commemoration and this year we are concentrating the on the lives of two local Spanish Civil War volunteers Madge Addy and George Brown. 

I am doing the talk on Madge. The Clarion choir will be singing song from the period and wreaths will be laid at the memorial in the Town Hall to those Greater Manchester men who died fighting Fascism in the Spanish Civil War. There will be a bucket collection at the event to raise money towards Madge's blue plaque.

I have also on our website setup a fund raising page for Madge Addy see http://www.international-brigades.org.uk/catalog/conferencestalks “

So it would be good to see you all at Manchester Town Hall on Sunday February 26.

The event will last from 10.30 through to 11.30.

Location; Manchester

Picture; Madge Addy, 1938

Madge Addy ........ nurse and secret agent comes out of the shadows

Now the remarkable story of Madge Addy is about to reach a much wider audience and with that I hope we are one step nearer commemorating her achievements in two of the major armed conflicts of the 20th century.*

Ms Addy was born in Rusholme, lived in Chorlton and volunteered to serve as a nurse during the Spanish Civil War.

She wrote regular letters home highlighting the bravery and the hardships endured by the supporters of the democratically elected Government of Spain which was fighting a rebellion of Nationalist army officers.

The war marked the fault line between the progressive and democratic forces of Europe who were pitched against the conservative and far right groups which included Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

After the defeat of the Republican Government by the Nationalist Ms Addy went on to serve as an agent for the British in occupied France during the Second World assisting escaping allied POWs and carrying secret documents on commercial German airliners.

Her activities have been largely forgotten and neither the Guardian or the Times carried an obituary when she died in 1970.

But this is now being rectified by Chris Hall who has not only been researching her life but is working towards the erection of a blue plaque.

And now after four stories on the blog Ms Addy has featured in the Manchester Evening News, will be in the next edition of Chorlton’s Open Up magazine and will appear on Granada News and Nursing Standard.

It is only as it should be for a woman who risked much but never seems to have wanted to publicise her achievements.

There may be some who also have knowledge of Madge or would like to make a contribution to the cost of the plaque and if so please contact Chris by email at christoff_hall@yahoo.com or on 0161 861 7448.

The campaign for the blue plaque is fully supported by Chorlton's three councillors.**

Location; Chorlton, Spain, France


Picture; Nurse Madge Addy giving a blood transfusion; Daily Worker, November 11, 1938 and Madge Addy, 1938

*Madge Addy, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Madge%20Addy

**Cllr Shelia Newman, cllr.s.newman@manchester.gov.uk  0161 234 1841 (Town Hall)

Looking for Madge Addy from Chorlton ........ a new development

This is the continuing story of Madge Addy who worked in Chorlton, was a nurse in the Spanish Civil War and was awarded an OBE for her wartime work as an undercover agent in occupied Europe during the last world war.

Ms Addy, 1938

It is a story I keep coming back to but one made difficult because while most of the references give her name as Madge she was actually Marguerite and was married three times, first to an Arthur Wilson Lightfoot later a Mr Holst finally Mr Hansen.

All of which makes trawling the records that bit more difficult.

But bit by bit that story is coming to light and here I have to declare that most of the hard research has been done by Chis Hall.

It was he who discovered that she had been married three times and not the twice as cited  by many sources.

And it was discovery that led Chris to an address in Chorlton where she was living in the mid 1930s.

This was 34 Manchester Road, which is still there and is the third house down from Selbourne Road.

In time we may also find where she was working as a hairdresser/masseur now that we have her married name.  A previous trawl of the directories using Addy failed to locate the business, but of course she may not have owned the shop only worked there.

Wilbraham Road, Chorlton, 1938

Still we now have her home address and this will help the move to erect a blue plaque to commemorate this courageous woman.

The cost of the blue plaque will be met by voluntary subscriptions and anyone who would like to make a contribution or share memories of Ms Addy should contact Chris by emailing him at christoff_hall@yahoo.com or on 0161 861 7448.

Location; Chorlton, Spain, & France

Pictures; Ms Addy in 1938 Chorlton in the 1930s from the Lloyd Collection

*Madge Addy;  https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Madge%20Addy