Meeting: No Other Way: Oxfordshire and the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39

Speaker: Liz Woolley​

Wednesday 11th November 2020; 7:30 pm​

Woodcote Village Hall, Reading Road, Woodcote, RG8 0QY

Due to COVID-19 this Meeting has now been re-scheduled as a BMMHS Virtual Talk

The original Meeting scheduled for 11th November in Woodcote Village Hall has been cancelled due to COVID-19. This Meeting however will now take place as a BMMHS Virtual Talk. Click on the BMMHS Virtual talks & Zoom logo below for registration and joining details.

No Other Way: Oxfordshire and the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39

In July 1936 right-wing army officers staged a coup against the democratically-elected government of Spain, prompting a three-year civil war. More than half a million died, the majority of them civilians, and the conflict became a tragic precursor to World War II. This talk tells the story of how the people of Oxfordshire responded to the Spanish Civil War. More than thirty went to Spain to fight or as doctors and nurses, whilst thousands more joined in fundraising and awareness-raising campaigns at home. Still others welcomed and housed hundreds of Basque refugees who had fled to Britain to escape the fighting. These events accompanied profound political changes, in Oxford in particular, and the uniting of ‘town’ and ‘gown’ in a popular front never seen before (and perhaps since) in the city.

Spanish Civil War
THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR, 1936-1939 (HU 39817) With the fall of Madrid, the Spanish war ends. The Spanish nationalist soldiers are greeted with cheers by the population in a suburb of Madrid, 24-31 March 1939. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205041691
Spanish Civil War
THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR, 1936-1939 (HU 34702) Refugees fleeing from the embattled city of Madrid after the fascist bombing of 1937. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205093439

Biographical notes – Liz Woolley

Liz Woolley is a local historian specialising in aspects of the history of Oxford and Oxfordshire. She is particularly interested in the history of the city’s “town” – as opposed to “gown” – and in the everyday lives of rural people across the county, chiefly during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Liz has lived in Oxford since 1984. She completed an MSc in English Local History (with Distinction) at the University of Oxford’s Department for Continuing Education in 2009, having gained a Diploma (also with Distinction) in the same subject in 2007. She is an experienced speaker, guide, tutor, researcher and writer who is keen to help individuals and groups to enjoy finding out about the history of their local area.

Liz's books

Liz’s books, ‘Oxfordshire & the Spanish Civil War’ and ‘Oxford’s Working Past’, are available in Blackwell’s on Broad Street in Oxford.
 
No Other Way: Oxfordshire and the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39 by Chris Farman, Valery Rose and Liz Woolley, published January 2015 by the International Brigade Memorial Trust.
 
Copies can be obtained from:-
John Haywood ajhaywood92@gmail.com at 1 Queens Road, Banbury, OX16 0EB.
Tel. No.: 07785 235715. Cost: £9 and £3 p&p. Cheques made payable to Oxfordshire International Brigade Committee. People can buy through Bank transfer – details to be provided on request.
 
37a, Clerkenwell Green, London, EC1R 0DU.
 
Oxfordshire International Brigade Memorial Committee www.oxibmcomm.org.uk  
Liz Woolley
IBMT
International Brigade Memorial Trust

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