Research rabbit hole ~ Southampton and the Spanish Civil War

The civil war in Spain might seem a strange subject to research for a novel set in Southampton in 1937, but it was a rabbit hole I fell down when writing The Luck Of The Draw. At first glance, the war between Franco’s Nationalists and Republicans loyal to the Spanish Government, seems unconnected to the quiet port town of Southampton over six hundred miles away, but on 23 May 1937, the two became forever connected.

The war started in July 1936 with an attempted coup d’état. A group of generals, led by General Emilio Mola, tried to take down the Republican government. It left Spain divided, with the Nationalists and Republicans wrestling for control. By 21 September, General Franco had become the chief military commander of the Nationalists. Soon after, he declared himself Caudillo (the Spanish equivalent of the Italian Duce and the German Führer—meaning director, or maybe that should be dictator). Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany and Portugal supported the Nationalists with munitions and soldiers, and the Soviet Union and Mexico took the side of the Republicans. The UK followed a policy of non-intervention but continued to recognise the official Republican government of Spain. Ordinary citizens had different ideas, though. Over a thousand British men travelled to Spain and joined pro-Republican International Brigades. Author George Orwell was among them. In Watts Park, a memorial commemorates four Southampton men who died fighting with the International Brigades. 

On 26 April 1937, German bombers supporting Franco attacked the Basque town of Guernica. The bombing of a civilian population caused an outcry, and the Basque government and the National Joint Committee for Spanish Relief organised an evacuation of children. The British government refused to contribute towards the upkeep of these refugees, so a Basque Children’s Committee was formed, financed by local volunteers, church groups and trade unions. A newspaper report explains how, “Every one of the 200 people who attended a meeting called by the local representatives of the National Joint Committee for Spanish Relief and held at the Civic Centre, Southampton, last evening, came with offers of help in connection with the accommodation, feeding and clothing of the 4,000 Basque refugee children expected at Southampton next week.”

On 23 May 1937, 3,682 children arrived in Southampton on the SS Habana, a ship designed to carry just 800 people. The children had left the port of Bilbao with 95 teachers, 120 helpers, 15 priests, 2 doctors and 5 Red Cross nurses. Imagine how those poor children must have felt. They’d seen their countrymen at war with each other, some had witnessed the bombing of their town, and then they’d been crammed onto a ship and taken to a strange country where they knew no one and didn’t speak the language.

When they embarked on 21 May, they were given cardboard discs with identification numbers to pin to their clothes. They left behind their parents and everything familiar, with no idea when or if they would ever see them again. The ship was so crowded that some slept in lifeboats, and many were seasick in the rough seas around the Bay of Biscay. They arrived in Southampton to see thousands of strangers on the quayside.

Before they knew what was happening, they’d been loaded onto buses and were driven through a strange town they’d probably never heard of. Everywhere they looked, they saw bunting. Perhaps they thought it was for them, although it was actually for the coronation of King George VI ten days earlier.

The buses took them to North Stoneham, where a camp had been set up in three fields donated by a local farmer, Mr Brown. Most of the children had come from working-class districts of Spanish cities where they lived in small apartment blocks. Fields full of tents in a damp British spring was a far cry from everything they knew. Volunteers from the local community had set everything up over the preceding two weeks. They’d worked round the clock to put up tents, dig latrines and gather supplies. Local businesses, churches, Boy Scout troupes, the Red Cross, and individual citizens donated food, clothes, tents and whatever else they thought the children might need. They’d expected 2,000 children, but almost double that number arrived. The tents were crowded, sanitation was an issue. Thankfully, sickness did not take hold.

The story of the Basque Niños of 1937 inspired the plot of The Luck of the Draw. The camp in North Stoneham was close to the Flower Estate in Swaythling, and this local working-class community may have felt empathy for the displaced children. Local people certainly helped at the camp. Ultimately, North Stoneham was merely a dispersal camp. Over the next few months, groups of children moved to more permanent homes, where they were cared for by families, churches or other organisations. Some stayed in Southampton in places like Moor Hill House in West End. By September, the camp was empty. 

The Spanish Civil War ended on 1 April 1939. Some children returned to Spain, but the outbreak of World War II that September meant that some remained in Britain. Many of those had no homes or families to return to. Their parents were dead or imprisoned, so they made new homes and lives in Britain. Many see the Spanish Civil war as a prelude to the Second World War. It was certainly the start of the battle against fascism. Although Hitler and Mussolini had supported Franco during the civil war, Spain remained neutral throughout this new war. Franco controlled Spain as prime minister until 1973 and as head of state until his death in 1975. The Basque camp in North Stoneham has been largely forgotten, but I’m proud that the people of Southampton did all they could to help the Basque Niños in their hour of need.

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