Today in History

1936 NZers march into a besieged Madrid

New Zealanders Griff Maclaurin and Steve Yates were part of the International Column of anti-fascist volunteers who marched into Madrid, bolstering the city's defences against the assault of General Franco's rebel armies.

The Spanish Civil War had broken out in July 1936 with a pro-fascist military uprising against the democratically elected Spanish government. Within a few months these Nationalist forces stood poised to take the capital and assume control of most of Spain. The Republican government's elected representatives had fled the capital for Valencia a few days earlier, with most foreign journalists joining the exodus. One journalist who stayed in Madrid was a young New Zealander, Geoffrey Cox, of the News Chronicle. Cox was on hand to give an eye witness account of the International Column's arrival, an event which provided a huge morale boost to the Madrileños struggling to defend their city.

The International Column of November 1936 was made up of anti-fascist volunteers from all over Europe. It was the forerunner of the International Brigades, which brought volunteers from around the world to defend the Spanish Republic. The column was organised by the Communist Party, but included a range of left-wing anti-fascist volunteers of diverse political persuasions. Among the first column that marched into Madrid was a small unit of ‘English’ machine-gunners. This unit included two Kiwis; Steve Yates, a London electrician reputed to have been born in New Zealand, and Griffith Campbell Maclaurin, a Cambridge graduate originally from Auckland.

The International Column and their Spanish comrades succeeded in stopping the Nationalist assault, but at the price of heavy casualties. Griff Maclaurin and Steve Yates were killed in battle within two days of arriving in Madrid. They were the first of the thousands of New Zealanders who would die over the next nine years fighting fascism. Contrary to the expectations of both Franco and the world's press, Madrid held out under continual bombing and artillery bombardment for another 28 months. The city fell in March 1939 as the war came to an end.

At least twenty New Zealanders served as soldiers in the International Brigades or as medical staff for the Republican forces. Six of the volunteers were killed. Only three New Zealanders are known to have served on the opposing side, with the Nationalist forces. While for most New Zealanders the Spanish Civil War was a far away side issue, a number of groups within New Zealand were strongly involved in fund raising activities. The Spanish Medical Aid Committee, the Communist Party, and a number of trade unions raised enough funds to send three nurses directly from New Zealand to Spain. The nurses, Renee Shadbolt, Isobel Dodds and Millicent Sharples, were supported by New Zealand fund raisers throughout their service in Spain.

Image: detail from Spanish revolution poster (Wikimedia)

1939 NZ Centennial Exhibition opens

More than 2.6 million people visited the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition, which ran from 8 November 1939 to 4 May 1940 at Rongotai, Wellington.

New Zealand's commemoration of the 1940 centennial was a major event. The centrepiece was the Centennial Exhibition or fair at Rongotai in Wellington. There was also a large ceremony at Petone on Wellington's anniversary and another at Waitangi on 6 February. Communities throughout the country held pageants, with hundreds dressing up in colonial costume and parading through the streets. Christchurch's procession on 6 April was two miles long.

The exhibition covered 55 acres (22.2 hectares) of land just west of Wellington's airport. After the exhibition closed the buildings were used as extra accommodation by the Air Force. Following the war they were used to store wool. The buildings burned down in September 1946. 

Image: Funland poster