A couple weeks ago I wrote about a reply Sam and Bessie Wild received to an invitation to their wedding; see – https://foxburg.edublogs.org/2020/11/08/circles-and-links/ showing some of the links and the circle of friends they possessed.

Martin Levy, from the Communist Party of Britain Northern District spoke at our Volunteers for Liberty event in Middlesbrough, we have discussed various ways the event has been promoted, we also spoke about this blog, and realised we had a mutual interest in Tom Mann.

A a consequence Martin sent me a link he had received from Lars Ulrik Thomsen, a Danish member of the Communist Review editorial board, this link is to a 17 minute video of The Danish Communist Party’s (DKP) National Conference in Odense, held between the 4th and 6th of June 1938, Lars happens to come from Odense. Click on the image to view the film.

There were 400 delegates at the National conference, as well as speakers from all over Europe, of obvious interest to us is the Eighty Two Year Old Tom Mann.

Ever the gentleman, on sending me the link, Martin apologised for the lack of English subtitles, but unbeknownst to him I have a secret weapon: my cousin JJ senior (John Julius Flounders not to be confused with my eldest son John-James Fox who is also known as JJ) who is currently studying in Aarhus, Denmark. As he attended a Danish School in Germany and has an English Father, he is fluent in Danish, as well as English and German.

I asked JJ snr to look at the National Conference clip and let me know what the Tom Mann captions said. As usual he surpassed himself, and surprised me by submitting a report which translates the full film : Translation_fynens_forum

 

 

 

 

 

 

using JJ’s report we get a clearer picture of the conference, as well as seeing the response to Tom Mann, we also see a further link to Sam Wild, for in Tom Mann’s speech, on 6th July 1938, he talks about the War in Spain, saying

“We must help Spain. The antifascists in all countries should stick/work together!” JJ’s Translation

As Tom Man was speaking in Odense, Sam Wild was in Spain preparing to lead the British Battalion, as part of the 80,000 strong Republican Army preparing to assault across the Ebro River, in the last campaign of the International Brigades.

This reminded me that Tom Mann volunteered to fight in Spain in 1937; at Eighty One, he would have been the oldest man in the British Battalion, an accolade claimed by one of the Stockton volunteers; George Bright of Thornaby on Tees. Tom did manage to get to Spain in the Spring  of 1938, but as a VIP guest; I have recently listed to Bob Cooney  relating this in his IWM interview

Also of interest is the reading of the names of the 28 Danish International Brigade Volunteers who had fallen in Spain (The International Brigades would be withdrawn just over 10 weeks after the conference in Odense finished).  Not only did this recall the Volunteers for Liberty event in which I read out the names of the seven volunteers from Teesside who fell, but also the story of the Danish Front Fighters;  the story of an International Brigades banner which for many years was housed at the DKP’s party house in Absalonsgade in Odense. Providing a further link to our event; for as the Danish Banner had a reproduction produced in 1996, you can see Bob Beagrie and myself holding David Marshall’s banner, it too is a reproduction, David had it produced in 1996 to honour the men and women he served with in the Thälmann Battalion.

But the links and circles continue, in 1936 David Marshall fought in the Tom Mann Centuria, which at the time was part of the Thälmann Battalion of the XII International Brigade.

It is remarkable to find that most of the 550 Danish volunteers were enrolled into the XI International Brigade, and they were placed in its 3rd Battalion, which was named after Ernst Thälmann, or as it was known the Thälmann Battalion.

I think it is noteworthy to find that the links and the circle of friendships shown by the 1938 film are replicated in 2020; not only do officials in the Communist Parties of Britain and Denmark still work together, but the events and artifacts have a remarkable synergy. I think this demonstrates the impact of the Spanish War, not only for contemporaries but also the resonance it still possesses for us to this day. I must admit none of these links would have come to light without the work John put in, the document he has produced is a valuable contribution, thank you JJ.