Every year Australians and Hellenes come together to commemorate the fight against fascism in the Second World War. We remember Greece’s resistance to Mussolini on Oxi Day and we remember the Greek campaign of 1941 when thousands of Allied troops – including thousands of Australians – joined in the defence of Greece against the Axis invasion throughout April and May.
Yet for many at the time the fight against the rise of fascism in Europe began three years before the outbreak of war in September 1939. The years before had seen fascism’s rise threaten democracies and resulted in the destruction of independent Austria and Czechoslovakia in Europe and Abyssinia in Africa. The suspension of Greek democracy with the imposition of the Metaxas regime in August 1936 was in many ways part of the authoritarian trend sweeping Europe. Meanwhile in 1937 Imperial Japan and its military had begun its march across Asia with their invasion of China.
All of this had been preceded by the eruption of civil war in Spain in July 1936. The ensuing war in defence of the democratic Spanish Republic against the military revolt that would be led by General Franco came to be seen by many across the world as the beginning of the resistance to the rise of fascism. Franco’s force received substantial military aid from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, aid to the Republic constrained by a non-intervention policy of most other European powers. After initial support from France, the Soviet Union would be the only major power to provide military and other aid to the Republic.
In response to this situation, supporters of democracy and opponents of fascism from across the world acted to support the Spanish Republic. Spanish Aid Committees were established in many countries, including Australia, to raise funds and assistance for the Republican cause. Tens of thousands of volunteers also made their way to Spain itself to help in the defence of the democratic Republic.
These volunteers came from many different backgrounds and political persuasions, making their way to Spain. Unlike the tens of thousands of German and Italian military personnel who made their way to Spain with the active support of their governments, most of the volunteers for the Republic had to do so illegally, crossing into Spain in defiance of the non-intervention policy.
Some would serve in non-military capacities (including as nurses and medical staff), others as part of the military defence of the Republic with an estimated 35,000 from sixty-one countries joining the International Brigades, a military formation serving alongside the Spanish Republic Army and other volunteer military units such as that of the POUM. The Brigade would attract volunteers from across the political spectrum, from liberals to communists and to those of no particular political conviction. But they would be united in their desire to help in the military defeat of fascism in Spain.
Hellenes and Australians volunteer
The International Brigade volunteers would serve on the various battle fronts of the war, meeting Franco’s fascist forces head-on, taking part in some of the wars major engagements and making a significant contribution to the military defence of Spain. The largest single national contingent came from France. Estimates suggest that between 300 and 400 Hellenes joined the Brigades, including nearly 60 from Cyprus. Many served in a separate Hellenic company of the 15th International Brigade commanded by the former carpenter Yiannis Pantelis.
The International Brigades would serve in Spain until their disbandment by the Republic in late 1938 in a vain effort to gain international support. Some 10,000 Brigadiers gave their lives in the conflict, including the 24 year old blacksmith from Cyprus Antonis Anastasiou, who was killed in March 1938. The defeat of the Republic came in April 1939, the formally eruption of the Second World War breaking out in September.
Along with these Hellenes were a number of volunteers from far off Australia. Some 72 Australians joined in the fight against fascism, serving as soldiers, nurses, ambulance drivers and journalists. They came from all walks of life; there were labourers, seaman, printers, ironworkers, boilermakers, teachers, artists, storemen, nurses and a doctor. Eleven of the volunteers were women, working as nurses, journalists, propagandists or providers of support to refugees on behalf of the republican cause. Seven of the volunteers were Spanish nationals living in Australia who returned to defend the Republic.
Those who volunteered from Victoria included the boot maker Sam Aarons, Ralph Baynham a printer, the artist Harvey Buttonshaw, Lloyd Edmonds and Margaret Howells – both teachers – and Agnes Hodgson a nurse, to name only a few. Sixteen of the volunteers died in the conflict. One of those who was killed in Spain was a young man from Melbourne, Kevin Rebbechi, who was wounded during the Ebro offensive and subsequently died in hospital.
In common with their fellow volunteers, these young Australians were united around one common commitment – to oppose fascism. In many ways, all of the volunteers can be seen as the first to fight in what would become an international war against fascism as the Spanish Civil War drew to a close and the Second World War erupted. As the Australian writer and activist Nettie Palmer wrote in 1948, “they went to Spain for the same reason as Australians a few years later went to El Alamein and Tobruk … because they saw a fight between freedom and tyranny, and they had to be in it on freedom’s side.”
A new memorial for Melbourne
Since the return of democracy in Spain and increasingly in recent years across Spain itself, those who defended the country against fascism and for democracy are being honoured. Locations and streets are being re-named, battle sites commemorated and grave sites identified. Similarly, memorials to those who served in Spain have been erected in many of the countries from which the volunteers came. While a memorial was erected in Canberra in 1993, until now there is no such memorial in Melbourne.
A new Melbourne committee aims to correct this omission. A year or so ago the Australian International Brigade (Spanish Civil War) Memorial Committee was formed in Melbourne committed to honouring the memory of these volunteers who left Australia to support the defence of the Spanish Republic against fascism in the Spanish Civil War. The Committee has a broad membership and includes Jim Rebbechi, the nephew of Kevin who died serving in Spain.
Donations needed
The Memorial Committee is seeking to raise approximately $30,000 to erect this memorial to honour their service and sacrifice. The memorial will be erected in the Melbourne Trades Hall precinct and will be made of locally sourced bluestone, with brass plaques fixed to the front and back. The memorial will acknowledge those who served, with the front plaque designed to incorporate representations of both a female and a male volunteer.
Fundraising has been underway for a number of months. Significant contributions have already been made by a number of trade unions, community organisations and individuals.
The creation of this new memorial is a great opportunity for Melbourne’s multicultural community to come together in recognition of those who joined in this early fight in the defence of democracy and opposition to fascism. Melbourne’s large Hellenic community has a particular stake in this commemoration. Not only did Hellenes serve alongside these Australian volunteers in Spain but this solidarity would continue with the Greek campaign in 1941 and beyond. The experience of military dictatorship in Greece under the Junta in the 1960’s and 1970’s certainly adds to the relevance of this memorial to many in the community.
In considering support for this new memorial Hellenes across Australia could do worse than think of the words of one John Kambides. John was a Hellenic International Brigade volunteer from Canada who served with the Brigade’s US Abraham Lincoln Battalion until his capture following the second battle of Guadalajara in 1938. The historian Paul Strongos quotes the following words written by John – “Enslaved Soil, Spanish Soil; It has been watered with Greek blood.”
Readers who wish to contribute to this worthy fundraising effort can make their donations directly to the Memorial Committee’s bank account using the following details: Bank – Commonwealth Bank; Account Name – Australian International Brigade (Spanish Civil War) Memorial Committee Incorporated; BSB – 063010; Account Number – 14880378. Please include your name or your organisation with your deposit so your support can be acknowledged.
Jim Claven is a trained historian, freelance writer and published author who has researched various aspects of the Hellenic link to Australia’s Anzac story for many years. His latest publication is From Imbros Over The Sea: Imbros & Gallipoli Revealed, published by the Imvrians’ Society of Melbourne. Readers seeking more information on the international volunteers to the Spanish Civil War are referred to Giles Tremlett’s The International Brigades, Amirah Inglis’ Australians in the Spanish Civil War, Paul Strongos’ Spanish Thermopylae: Cypriot Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War and Demetres Palaiologopoulos’ Greek Anti-Fascist Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War (in Greek) as well as the excellent website and database of the International Brigades Memorial Trust. Jim is Vice-President of the Australian International Brigade (Spanish Civil War) Memorial Committee. He can be contacted via jimclaven@yahoo.com.au