Events
The Association is involved both with the recuperation of historic memory and with providing a cultural and social programme for Members.
Our Association has been involved in organising several talks, which have been given to our members and interested others, mainly in London and Oxford:
Here we will let you know about events with which we are or have been involved, or which may be of interest to you
Current and future events go to home page
Recent events(2011)
Exhibitions,
Commemorative plaques,
Past events and activities (2004-2010)
- 2008
- 2007
- 2007 70th Anniversary
- 2006
- 2005
- 2004
Recent Events
2nd July 2011
IBMT Memorial Day was held at the monument Jubilee Gardens, London SE1 8NY
5th March 2011
International Brigade Memorial Trust Day
Held at Imperial War Museum
Celebration of Sam Lesser's life.
Len Crome Memorial Lecture, Dr Linda Palfreyman talked on 'The Medical Services in Spain during the Civil War'
26th February 2011
Our AGM was held at Consejería de trabajo e inmigración in Peel Street, London
and was followed by the Members lunch, again at Sugo's, Notting Hill Gate.
15th October 2010
BC'37A UK Annual Lecture
The lecture was given by Prof Paul Preston on "The lies of Franco". at Kensington and Chelsea Library Meeting Room.
No transcript available
3rd October 2009
1st BC'37A UK Annual Lecture
4th July 2009
5th June 2009
21st May 2009
12th May 2009
1st - 3rd April 2009
Coming home? Conflict and return migration in twentieth–century
More information http://www.southampton.ac.uk/ml/research/cominghome.html
30th and 31st March 2009
28 March 2009
26th March 2009
25th March 2009
24th March 2009
Acto de Encuentro con BC'37A UK
San Sebastian. Salón de Trono, Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa
Proyección "Los Ninos de Guernica" y intervenciónes de Carmen Kilner y Manuel Moreno.
Press reports in Spanish and Basque.
17th March 2009
16th March 2009
14th March 2009
11.00 Remembering Bob Doyle.
14.30 Len Crome Memorial Lecture given by Dr Francisco Romero Salvador
8th March 2009
At the Renoir Cinema, Brunswick Square, London WC1
by The London Socialist Film Coop . Further details see http://socialistfilm.blogspot.com/
21st February 2009
30th January 2009
Exhibitions
The Association now has a collection of 29 display panels mostly dedicated to different colonies, with photographs of the niños and newspaper reports, as well as tickets, posters and other material.
Exhibitions of the display panels have been held at
- Hutton Hall, Ormsbey Hall and Middlesborough. 23rd May - 26th July
- 70th Anniversary Commemoration at the Conference Centre of Solent University, Southampton, on May26th 2007.
- The Sutton Exhibition and Resources Centre, Sutton-on-Hull (November 2006).
- Worteley Hall, Sheffield (July 2006),
- The Instituto Español Cañada Blanch, London (May 2006)
- Nottingham Trent University (March 2006),
- Eastleigh (July 2005),
- Bradford (June 2005),
- Southampton University (December 2004),
- Southampton Civic Centre (November 2004),
In addition, the Association collaborated with the exhibition “El Exilio de los Niños” which toured Spain from December 2003 to May 2005.
Commemorative Plaques
A major endeavour with which we have become involved is the erection of Blue Plaques to mark the sites of previous colonies and to acknowledge the care and support of the local people. It involves contacting and liaising with local councils, historical societies, and local papers. It often unearths surprising new facts, details, memories and occasionally a new niño or niña is found, so these can be a very emotional event all round! These popular events are always well supported locally , and, together with the publicity they produce, have become a valuable way of educating the public and attracting new members to our Association.
We recently erected a plaque outside the Southampton City Library to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the arrival of the niños at Southampton .
Our most recent plaque was erected in Montrose, the only Basque children's colony in Scotland
The following is a list of the Blue Plaques that have been erected by the Association at the sites of previous colonies:
- Montrose (October 2008)
- Southampton (May 2007)
- Worthing (May 2007)
- Hull (November 2006)
- Cambridge (May 2005)
- Caerleon, South Wales (October 2004)
- Aston, Oxfordshire (July 2003)
Further details will be found in the relevant newsletter, and in the past events section below.
Past events and Activities
Events and activities 2008
3rd December 2008
Showing of Steve Bowles' film "The Guernica Children" at Phoenix Film Society Southampton
12th October 2008 in Montrose, Scotland
There was the unveiling of a blue plaque at Mall Park House, the colony which hosted Basque children from 1937-1939. This is the seventh plaque
that the Association has had put up.
Here is a report of the event from the Courier- a local Dundee paper about the unveiling that took place in Scotland on 12th October. It was a very moving occasion; Tom Borland who did the unveiling, was the son of a niña who was at Mall House, but unhappily she died of TB when she was 21, so he never really knew her.
Here is a report by our member Carmen Coupland.
There were about 50 people present, local dignitaries, people from the libraries and museums, relatives, three children of niños, as well as the MP, the Provost and the Spanish Consul for Edinburgh. After speeches lasting for about half an hour, the party repaired to a nearby hotel for refreshments which were kindly provided by Angus Town Council.
August 2008 Clarion cycle ride, Glasgow to Barcelona
A report on the event by Colin Carritt.
Report from the press 'Diario de Noticias de Alava'
Three further press reports including "El Mundo" and "El Pais"
Another press report from "El Mundo"
Clarion Cycle Club news article
June 19th 2008 (no longer online)
Online exhibition at Imperial War Museum in London
The story of the Basque children in Britain continues to spread. At the Imperial War Museum in London an online exhibition was launched on Thursday 19 June which included a strong element on the Niños Vascos.
The virtual exhibition called Through My Eyes formed part of the Their Past Your Future project which is funded by the National Lottery. The aim is to produce a web-based learning resource based on individual testimony. The exhibition includeed film interview material recorded by Steve Bowles at Eye Witness Productions and photos and other visual material supplied by the Basque Children’s Association.
Director of the Museum, Sir Robert Crawford underlined the key role of the Imperial War Museum in education and emphasized how at the heart of the Museum’s raison d’être was the notion of toil and sacrifice as a result of war rather than any sense of military glory.
May 2008 Manuel Moreno receives 'Orden de Merito Civil'
On May 13th,at the Spanish Embassy, Manuel Moreno, chairman of the Basque Children of '37 Association, was awarded the 'Orden de Merito Civil' by Carlos Miranda, the Spanish Ambassador, on behalf of King Juan Carlos and the Spanish government.
Manuel reports; "The event went off very well with over 50 people attending, including International Brigaders, the IBMT, Jersey contacts, Ninos, friends and family.
The Ambassador gave a very positive speech covering the pain of the past under the dictatorship; the exiles, the Spanish Republican slave labourers in Jersey, “historic memory”, and the positive role that I have played in this, covering many areas.
The ambassador went on to say "Although this decoration will only be bestowed on to him, deservedly so, I do however believe there are lots of us here who can associate ourselves with this dignity. Manuel represents, in this sense, all of those who have fought to keep alive the memory of their struggle for democracy and that of their ancestors." "
The speech for the investiture given by Spanish Ambassador, Carlos Miranda
Acceptance speech given by Manuel Moreno
June 2008 Homenaje a los Ninos de la Guerra Bilbao
This event was organised by Idi Ezkerra and a full report with pictures and video can be found on the website www.idiezkerra.org/posthomenaje/ing/index.html
and in Spanish www.idiezkerra.org/posthomenaje/index.html
A report by Herminio Martinez "Discurso en el Palacio Euskalduna"
21st June 2008 Talk by Professor Michael Alpert:
“The Blockade of Bilbao” at the Marx Memorial Library
Professor Michael Alpert, who has written extensively about the Spanish Civil War, gave a talk to Members of the Basque Children’s Association UK and interested parties. A transcript is available on the articles page.
25th May 2008 Niños’ Lunch.
May 2008 The Guernica Children goes nationwide!
Following on from the successful screenings of The Guernica Children through the Summer and Autumn, the film is now set to go nationwide via the British Federation of Film Societies.
At the beginning of December the film’s director Steve Bowles and Association stalwart Herminio Martinez made their way to Sheffield for the launch of The Guernica Children at the BFFS annual conference. Herminio gave a brief account of his own experience as one of the Basque children and Steve told how excited he was that the film would get such a wide airing. The film was very well received and scored one of the highest ratings ever for a BFFS screening.
The BFFS operates a scheme for screening films via film clubs and societies in the UK. There are currently more than 250 such organizations around the country.
The Association will collaborate closely with the BFFS with showings of The Guernica Children and where possible will send a representative to present the film.
Perhaps you are a member of a BFFS-affiliated film society? If so, you could request a screening of The Guernica Children in your area!
See www.bffs.org.uk for more information.
26th April 2008 ¡Viva la República!
Fiesta from 3-11.30 pm with poetry, dance, film, music etc to remember and celebrate the Spanish Republic. Spanish meal and bar. At the Ya Asantewaa Centre, 1 Chippenham Mews, London W9. Bus: 18 or 36, stops Harrow Road and Sutherland Avenue. Tube: Royal Oak, Warwick Avenue or Westbourne Park.
8th March 2008 International Brigade Memorial Trust Day
Imperial War Museum. Tube: Elephant and Castle, Waterloo. Showing of “The Guernica Children” at 11 am, followed by selected readings from “Beyond the Barricades” by John Langdon Davies.Len Crome Memorial Lecture at 2.30 pm by Dr Angel Viñas: “Old Wine in New Bottles – Resilience and resurgence of old myths about the Spanish Civil War.”
28th February 2008 The Guernica Children Documentary Scoops Prestigious Royal Television Society Award.
The epic documentary film project The Guernica Children, directed and produced by Steve Bowles at Eye Witness Productions, won the award for Best Non-Broadcast Production at last night’s Royal Television Society Awards held in Southampton.
The film tells the story of the four thousand Basque refugee children who were evacuated to Britain in 1937 in the wake of the bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.
At a packed event, Steve said how pleased he was that the film should be recognised in the city where the story had its beginnings just over seventy years ago. He dedicated the award to the memory of the Basque children and the ordinary people of Britain that cared for them.
More information on the Royal Television Society at www.rts.org.uk - Julia Bradshaw, RTS Southern Centre Awards Co-ordinator: jabradshaw@hotmail.co.uk
More information on screenings of The Guernica Children at www.bffs.org.uk
To see the full press release click here
31st January 2008 Guernica Children
The Guernica Children on the TV.10.00pm on BBC. Order the full feature-length version of the film from the web-site!!
24th Jan - 6th Feb 2008 Art Exhibition.
Works by Herminio Martínez, Koke Martínez and Dalia Guzmán at the Centro Social de Mayores, 52 Camden Square, London NW1 9XB. Open Tuesday to Saturday 2-6 pm. Tube: Camden Town.
70th Anniversary celebrations
On the 70th anniversary of their arrival – on Saturday 26 May 2007– hundreds of the Basque ‘children’ and their families gathered in Southampton to commemorate this extraordinary episode in history. For a report, photographs, copies of the speeches and links to press reports go here.
Other Events and activities 2007
10th -13th October 2007
Los Niños - The extraordinary story remembered and retold in a week of live performance, film and exhibition.
The Point, Eastleigh commorated the events of 1937 with a week of new arts commissions, collaborations with Basque artists, discussion and exhibitions. Steve Bowles presented his film 'The Guernica Children' and Natalia Benjamin put the week in context on the 10th October. There was a performance by The Point Young People’s Theatre of a specially commissioned piece Javier Maria and Me. The play, funded by The Heritage Lottery Fund will tour local schools telling the children's story and deal with current refugee themes and will feature with the premier of a new dance collaboration. One of the associate companies of The Point, Lila Dance, will work with the Basque choreographer Jon Maya Sein of Kukai Dance Company to produce a new dance collaboration with specially composed music. Michael Portillo, himself the son of a Basque refugee gave an ‘Audience with’ evening before introducing the performance from Basque region’s Kukai Dance/Tanttaka theatre company for their performance of 1937: Along the paths of memory on the 12th.
There was also a symposium; Exploring the Experience of Exile, organised by The University of Southampton and the Basque Children of '37 Association UK on Saturday the 13th October as well as an exhibition throughout the week in collaboration with the Association and the Red Cross.
May 23rd unveiling of a plaque at Worthing
The unveiling of a plaque at the Worthing colony was attended by a niña from Venezuela who had travelled especially for this and the 70th anniversary event.
28 April - Day School on "Basque Refugee Children of the Spanish Civil War.
Rewley House, Oxford
9 March - Dedication of the Leah Manning Room
Homerton College, Cambridge. Lectures on her life and work, followed by tea.
3 March - Lecture by Julian Casanova
Imperial War Museum. A lecture was given by Julian Casanova for the International Brigade Memorial Trust. Films were shown before and after the lecture.
17 February - AGM
AGM followed by Members' Lunch.
Events and activities 2006
A poetry reading in London in April 2006 on Spanish poetry in general.
Members participated actively in the Jornadas Culturales on Los Niños de la Guerra held at the Instituto Español Cañada Blanch, London, (May 2006).
Events and activities 2005
Dr Adrian Bell: “The Basque Children and the British Government”, Marx House, London, (June 2005). Members have given talks to local historical societies and to universities about the exile of the niños.
Events and activities 2004
Professor Valentine Cunningham: “Women and Children First: the Literature of the Spanish Civil War”, Corpus Christi College, Oxford University (May 2004).
A poetry readings was held in London, in April 2004 on the theme of the Spanish Civil War.