Welcome

 

 
stoneham_camp_1.jpg
Some of the children, teachers and helpers shortly after their arrival at North Stoneham, Eastleigh.

Welcome to the official website for the Basque Children of '37 Association UK!

In 1937, during the Spanish civil war, a group of almost 4,000 children were evacuated from Bilbao in the Basque region of Spain. They embarked from Santurce, Bilbao, on the ‘Habana’ on Friday 21st May and dropped anchor at Fawley, at the entrance to Southampton Water, on Saturday evening. The following morning, Sunday 23rd, they docked at Southampton.

Our main aim is to remember and preserve the story of these children, the niños vascos, in its proper historical context.

Through this website you will be able to find a wealth of historical information about the Basque children, including information about the different colonies the children were sent to. You will also find our newsletters, forms for joining the Association.

See information about current events below, and past events here.

To find out more about the Association, go here

To contact us, go here

We hope you enjoy your visit and we look forward to hearing from you!

 

Latest News, Coming Soon and Current Events 

 

  • New articles:

Extracts from biographies of Edgar Phillips and, Jim and Ruth Pennymans at the colonies of The Oaks, Carshalton,  and Hutton Hall respectively

 

 

  • December 2009- June 2010

Touring Exhibition and Events "The School of the Second Republic 1931-1939" (with the collaboration of BC'37A UK)
Visiting; London, Southampton, Manchester, Birmingham and Ireland.

 

The Exhibition:    The Spanish Constitution of 1931 was the first to establish the right to education as an obligation of the State.This exhibition illustrates the republican plans for education and shows the validity of the teaching methods that underpinned them.
It also pays homage to a generation of teachers who worked hard to bring their country out of poverty and illiteracy. The military uprising, the war and the eventual insurgent victory would take a hard toll: most of them would either face unemployment, imprisonment, exile or murder.
 
Related activities:   The main topic of the exhibition is also the subject of a wide array of parallel activities: documentaries, films, discussions, lectures, auditions,testimonies, teaching resources...
The programme also includes events that have been especially tailored
for Spanish students in schools and will feature aspects related to recent Latinamerican history.
 

 

 

  • 3rd - 30th November

Europa Gallery, Sutton Library, Sutton.
This exhibition is part of Archive Awareness Month – a national event that takes place every November. This year’s nationwide theme is “Flight” which, at Sutton,  has been interpreted to depict the flight of the Basque refugee children to this country and the links established between the local community and the colonies at ‘The Oaks’ and ‘Culvers’ at Carshalton.
http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/local/suttonnews/4706644
 

  • 9th -11th November

University of Exeter. The Cultural and Literary Meaning of the Spanish Political Exile of 1939. 
The Francisco Largo Caballero Foundation, the Universidad Complutense de Madrid together with the University of Exeter have organised an international colloquium aimed at teachers and students of Spanish literature, history and culture. The colloquium will be dedicated to the study of those writers and intellectuals prominent in the post-civil war Spanish diaspora who through their work were to enrich the cultures of the lands which they would come to regard as their own.
 
 11th November 
 10.00 am.Natalia Benjamin will be giving a plenary lecture based on the book “Recuerdos” in the section “Personal Testimonies”
 
 
 

Comments and corrections to webmaster@basquechildren.org

Website last updated 24/11/2009