I wrote this for the International Memorial Brigade Trust Magazine, No Pasaran, in recognition of the help they gave me. 

They and many others. 

I have listed those who contributed at the end of the article . I haven’t been able to say as much as I would like about their input but I hope to write more in the fullness of time.  In the mean time please  know that I am very grateful. 

And of course do feel free to contact me, to contribute or to correct.  

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Families are funny things. You wonder how they can possibly fall apart, but suddenly whole chunks of history disappear. Like a cliff face sliding into the sea, the landscape quickly changes and no one remembers quite how it was before.  We lost my grandad to some scandal when my father was in nappies. Consequently we never knew, or even talked much of, that side of the family. It wasn’t till I was browsing on one of those find your family tree sites, that I discovered a whole raft of relatives, including a grand uncle Alexander who died in Spain?!?

Now my family tree is stumpy and stunted. An amorphous mass of mill and cannon fodder, working hard in unremarkable jobs, drifting from country to city ,to live in slums that have long since been cleared.  My origins are plebeian to say the least so I very much doubted Alexander expired from consuming bad oysters on a Mediterranean beach holiday. So what was he doing there? More research and Find My Past revealed that an Alexander Armstrong from Manchester was killed in February 1937, in Jarama. He was listed a British Casualty of the Spanish Civil War. 

Which was almost as unbelievable as the bad oyster. I mean – how could I not know that? On asking, murky family memories resurfaced – yes there had been talk of an Uncle Alec who had died fighting. Blimey! 

It wasn’t until google led me to the International Brigade Memorial Trust that I really got a picture of who Alec was. Both literally and figuratively.  

The Trust of course celebrates the lives of those who went to Spain to defend democracy and fight fascism. It also is a great research resource. Archivist Jim Carmody and historian Richard Baxell have built a data base of as many of the volunteers on whom they can find information. An epic project.  Luckily for me Alexander Armstrong was listed amongst them. Sadly there wasn’t much more personal information but I now knew he was a communist, a volunteer in the International Brigade  and fighting on the right side.

From Britain alone 2,550 men volunteered.  And while that number includes some famous names and well connected, upper-class communists most of the British volunteers were working-class men, with an average age 29,  from the big industrial cities. Men who left hard jobs to go to and fight  a hard fight. Men like uncle Alec.

Born in 1909 in Manchester, Alexander was the 7th of the Armstrong children. His father worked in various jobs, from hoist man to labourer, to keep his large family. But like so many in Manchester in the depression, he was in and out of work. Even at the best of times money was short. The family lived in Hulme, in a small rented house, one of the sprawl of gerry-built terraces. Alec left school young and went to work as a roofer. He too was often unemployed.  He was 25 when he went to Spain. He was one 540 of the volunteers killed out there.

The database biographies of those volunteers are often little more than a few lines. Nobodies like my family often don’t have much in the way of a tangible history. Certainly Alexander’s is sparse. But the Trust records what it can and is a memorial to those who would otherwise be unknown. For which I am extremely grateful. But more than that it is a catalyst.  Those scanty biographies of working class men and women who charged off to fight a fight that wasn’t theirs only raise more questions. And the trust attracts writers and historians  and any one else wanting answers. So thank you Delores (of the Trust) for introducing me to Tony Fox, Mike Wild and Stuart Walsh who were kind enough to talk to me through their research. 

What emerges is a mosaic of Mancunian activism, of protest marches, speedway riders, communism and clashes with the facist Blackshirts. It became apparent that there were multiple connections and interactions.  Some who went to fight in Spain , were also members of the Young Communist League. Others were on the famous 1934 Kinder Mass Trespass  protesting the landowner limitations to ramblers right to roam on Kinder Scout. They were marching alongside  The British Workers Sports Federation, and  members of the street theatre troop the Red Megaphones  – “Our theatre awakens the masses !” And some like Alex did it all.

Eddie Frow, a contemporary, writes  that Alec radiated enthusiasm for the cause and there can be no doubt that he was keen as mustard. He was a member of all the major organisations, went on camps, rambled, leapt fawn like while developing his theatre skills, protested unemployment and of course eventually went to fight and die in Spain. He died so young that he is very much a footnote in other longer histories, but he casts a shadow. Jimmie Miller , folk singer and fellow activist writes of Alec in his autobiography, he features in the Greenwood book ,“Love On The Dole,” and MI5 rather more dourly record his activities. He appears in letters home from Spain, and there is an audio account of him walking to his death by the man who saw him do it.  If you know where to look, there are numerous snippets of information to be found and a flickering picture of Alec develops.  Of course I would never have known where to look  if I hadn’t been helped by people who did.

And yes, the Trust literally had a picture of Alec. There’s a famous photo taken at the Kinder Trespass in 1932. It show a group of jubilant young men and women striding forth to reclaim the moors. It was displayed at the Kinder Trespass 90th Anniversary event in April 2022.  A visitor,  a middle-aged man pointed to a figure in the image and told Mike Wild that that was his Uncle Alec. He then disappeared back into the throng without leaving a name. As with so much of Alec’s history – another tantalising glimpse!  But it reminded me that there very likely were living relatives. I was determined to track him down. Well I haven’t yet , but I did find other relatives and  I now have a verified photo of Alec. And yet more anecdotes. 

Alec died on February 12th, killed in the bloody massacre that was the first day of the Battle of Jarama. His body was never found. There is no grave. His bones are likely scattered in the olive groves. Families can so easily fragment, people disappear their history forgotten and the voices of ordinary people are so often unheard.  But thanks to the International Brigade Memorial Trust,  and all those who work alongside them,  Alexander Armstrong, Uncle Alec, a heroic nobody from the back streets of Hulme , is remembered and celebrated. On a personal level I now know more about him then I ever thought possible. On a practical level, in terms of social history, this extra-ordinary, extraordinary story is preserved for posterity.

Salud Comrades.

With thanks to 

With thanks to 

• International Brigade Memorial Trust
• Delores Long
• Tony Fox
• The Working Class Movement Library
• Stuart Walsh
• Mike Wild
• Richard Baxell
• Dave Toft
• Keith Warrender
• The long lost family

Finding Alec

Between the 1921 census and 1931 there is no further mentions of Alex but in 1931 he bursts onto the Manchester political scene with a vegance. He was at all the major events, a member of the communist party and  related organisations. He was friends with key figures. Some of whose lives have been well documented.