A remarkable period of North East history has been brought to life for school pupils, who have learned how children evacuated from the Basque country during the 1930s Spanish Civil War found sanctuary in the region.
The evacuation was sparked by the bombing of Guernica in April 1937, a campaign planned to maximize civilian casualties. With a pause after the initial bombing, during which people came out of their shelters, they then faced a devastating second wave. Trapped in the open, an estimated 1,500 civilians were killed. The ancient town was destroyed.
The devastation led to the evacuation of 22,000 children from the Basque country, with almost 4,000 coming to the UK. Forty were housed at Hutton Hall near Guisborough, the Victorian hall built for Quaker industrialist and MP Joseph Pease. In 1937 it was owned by his son, Alfred Pease. Ruth Pennyman of Ormesby Hall, Middlesbrough, persuaded Alfred to allow the Teesside Basque Refugee Committee to use Hutton Hall to house the children.
And now youngsters at Billingham South Community Primary School have been learning about their story, even meeting the daughters of one of the Guisborough Basque refugees.
Sharon Hardy, who lives in East Harlsey, near Northallerton, and Julia Lee, from Stockton, are daughters of Fermin Magdalena, a Basque boy who stayed at Hutton Hall and later settled in the region. They recently visited the Billingham school to meet pupils in teacher Jess Brownlee’s history club. Supported by the GMB trade union, the club is researching the Spanish Civil War and the connections to Stockton and Billingham.
Sharon and Julia described their father, aunts, uncle and grandparents. Sharon recalled how her grandparents walked over the Pyrenees to avoid Spanish dictator General Franco’s forces. In Britain, Fermin had a Home Guard role during the Second World War. Sharon told the children that she had recently discovered that her father had to answer the telephone at Ormesby Hall, if there was an air raid warning.
She says: “It’s been lovely to re-read old newspaper articles and re-listen to interviews of our dad, which we’re lucky to have. And to pick-up on things that may have been forgotten.”
Julia adds: “We want to thank the Billingham children for inviting us to their school. We really enjoyed listening to what they have learnt about the Spanish Civil War.”
Collaborating with The Association for the UK Basque Children, the Billingham schoolchildren researched the evacuees and their experiences at Hutton Hall, looking especially at siblings Julia, Fermin, Pilar and Federico Magdalena, four of only five refugees who did not return to Spain before the Second World War. They discovered, for example, that as a punishment the Basque children were given potatoes to peel.
One remarkable coincidence is that the Basque children performed three times on-stage at the Billingham Co-operative Hall, which is very near to the school – both are on Belasis Avenue.
The children have also studied Picasso's famous work "Guernica," painted in response to the bombing, and Stockton's new International Brigade memorial, in the Wasps Nest Yard. It features a re-imagining of Picasso’s painting by Stockton artists.
Teacher Jess Brownlee says: "We're proud of these students who have loved learning about the history of the Spanish refugees. The local connections make history seem much-more real, with photographs of individuals, meeting relatives and listening to recordings of people's experiences. It has been so interesting to learn about other people's histories so close to where we live now.”
The school history club is supported by the GMB trade union because Ron Dennison, a Billingham-based International Brigade volunteer, killed in Spain in 1937, was a member of the National Union of General and Municipal Workers, which later became the GMB.
Today, the GMB is supporting the pupils in learning about Dennison and the eight other Stockton International Brigade volunteers who served in the International Brigade in Spain. The GMB is supporting a campaign for a Billingham memorial to Dennison.
The Billingham pupils are also planning the first "Billingham Brigaders" event on April 27. It will commemorate Dennison, along with Guernica, the 40th anniversary of the dedication of the Teesside International Brigade memorial at Middlesbrough Town Hall in 1984 and the first anniversary of the dedication of the Stockton International Brigade memorial.
Other school pupils, parents, councillors, International Brigade Memorial Trust members and local supporters will be attending the commemoration on Billingham Green.
- Further details can be found from the North East Volunteers For Liberty group's Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091841936969 or email NEVolunteersforliberty@gmail.com
- The fundraiser for the memorial to Ron Dennison is at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Ron-Dennison-Memorial
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