Spanish Civil War

Walking by the Clyde River in Glasgow we came across this statue of Dolores Ibarruri, one of the leaders of the Spanish Civil War (July 1936 until 1 April 1939). Dolores Ibarruri was known as La Pasionaria. A quotation from La Pasionaria reads - Better to die on your feet than live forever on your knees. The sign beneath the statue reads:

The

City of Glasgow 

and the British

Labour Movement

pay tribute to the

courage of those

men and women

who went to Spain

to fight Fascism

1936-1939

2,100 volunteers 

went from Britain,

534 were killed,

65 of whom came

from Glasgow

The British volunteers were part of the International Brigade, volunteers from more than 50 countries, who went to Spain to assist supporters of the republican movement in that country. Members of the International Brigade were primarily trade unionists and members of political organisations from the centre to the left of the political spectrum, including the Communist Party. The Fascist army and supporters were better organised than those fighting for the republican cause. Numbers of new recruits for the International Brigade were declining by 1938 and the group was disbanded in October with the British volunteers returning home in December of that year.

La Pasionaria Memorial - BBC Scotland

La Pasionaria - Glasgow City of Sculpture

La Pasionaria fading icon - HeraldScotland 5 December 2009

Scots who fought against Franco - STV News 23 August 2010

Spanish Civil War monument, Glasgow - Panoramic Earth

Dolores Ibarruri (1895-1989) - Encyclopaedia Britannica

Dolores Ibarruri (1895-1989) - New York Times 13 November 1989

International Brigade - British volunteers

Glasgow Cenotaph

The Glasgow Cenotaph is located in George Square, Glasgow.

The monument was unveiled on 31 May 1924 and is the place for remembrance ceremonies in the city.

The tall granite obelisk is decorated with a bronze sword above a carving of the Glasgow city seal. Two lions guard the entrance to the cenotaph. When we visited the George Square there was a chain across the entrance with a sign requesting that people did not use the space as a seating area and pointing out that this is not a playground for children - a sign of the times?

The inscription on the back of the Cenotaph states that 200,000 soldiers from the city served during World War I.

Glasgow Cenotaph - War Memorials Online

Glasgow's Cenotaph - Their names will be remembered for evermore

In Honour's Cause - Glasgow's World War I Memorials

Upstairs at the  St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, near the Glasgow Cathedral,is a photographic exhibition of images of the many war memorials relating to World War I in the city.

The framed photographs with commentaries are of public memorials as well as memorials in churches, educational buildings and places of work.

Among the photographs are replicas of stained glass windows - memorials to those who served in the different services.

A review in HeraldScotland 23 August 2014 provides a description of the exhibition. The exhibition themes include Fallen Comrades, Places of Learning, Faith in Action, From Office and Factory Floor, Local Heroes, Leisure and Pleasure and For King and Empire.

This simply presented exhibition provided a moving representation of the number and variety of memorials within the city.

Glasgow Cathedral - World War I memorial

Another memorial on the walls of the cathedral in Glasgow is to the local men who died during the First World War.

The tribute reads:

To the Glory of God

and in Remembrance of the Men of this

Congregation who Gave their Lives in

the Great War

The names of the many men who died are then listed.

Glasgow Cathedral - Crimean War memorial

On the walls of Glasgow Cathedral are a number of memorials relating to men who died in different campaigns.

This memorial is dedicated to local men who died during the Crimean War between 1854 and 1856.

The men surved with the ninety-third Sutherland Highlanders. Their stand against the Russians on 25 October 1854 has since been referred to as The Thin Red Line.