Category: Ayr

George Gowans

Extract of George Gowan’s  account in Voices from the Spanish Civil War (Living Memory) by Ian MacDougall

This is George Gowans of Old Cumnock, Ayrshire.

Canadians from Ayrshire

An interview with Mike Arnott, Scottish Secretary of the International Brigade Memorial Trust

There were over 50 people who emigrated to Canada from Scotland who ended up in Spain fighting with the MacKenzie Papineau Battalion, a number of which were from Ayrshire. 

Ayrshire and the Spanish Civil War

An interview with historian Daniel Gray, author of Homage to Caledonia

Miners at the Beoch Colliery in Dalmellington, Ayrshire in the 1930’s. 

John Smith

An interview with Mike Arnott, Scottish Secretary of the International Brigade Memorial Trust

John Smith was the only person from Irvine to volunteer for the International Brigades. On September 8 1938 he was killed on the Ebro front. Pictured is his memorial, which resides in Irvine Library to this day. 

La Pasionaria

The words of Dolores Ibárruri, La Pasionaria (The Passion Flower)

Barcelona, Spain – 1938. Dolores Ibárruri, also known as La Pasionaria (the Passion Flower), delivering a speech to the departing International Brigade soldiers, including members of the 549 from across Scotland.