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Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion

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Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion
Monument to the Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion in Victoria, B.C.
Active1937–1938
CountryCanada Canada
AllegianceSecond Spanish Republic Second Spanish Republic
TypeBattalion – Infantry
RoleHome Defence
Part of XV International Brigade
EngagementsSpanish Civil War
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Edward Cecil-Smith

The Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion was a Canadian military unit that volunteered to fight with the XV International Brigade on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39).[1] Except for France, no other country had a greater proportion of its population volunteer in Spain as did Canada.[2] The Canadian soldiers were engaged in some of the fiercest battles of 1937-38 and suffered heavy casualties.[3]

After the war, the surviving "Mac-Paps" faced new struggles. The Canadian Foreign Enlistment Act of 1937 had prohibited citizens from participating in foreign conflicts.[1] As a result, Canadian veterans of the Spanish Civil War were investigated as politically suspect by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The veterans were not recognized by national military institutions or in official histories. The prohibition was eventually eased at the end of the 20th century. Three Canadian monuments were erected to honor the Mac-Pap battalion, including a monument commissioned by the federal government and installed in Ottawa in 2001. The names of all known Canadian volunteers are listed there.[2]

History

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1937

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The XVth Brigade—made up primarily of English-speaking battalions from the U.S., Britain and Canada—fought in the early pivotal Battle of Jarama in which eleven Canadian soldiers were killed.[4] By the summer of 1937, an estimated 1,200 Canadians were involved in the Spanish conflict. They had traveled secretly to reach Spain; many of the first volunteers were dispatched with the Abraham Lincoln Battalion of Americans. Later, the Canadians were assigned to the North American George Washington Battalion, with approximately forty Canadians serving in each group.

In May 1937, a separate battalion of Canadians began to take shape. It was formally mustered into the XVth Brigade on 1 July 1937 at Albacete.[3] The volunteers named it after William Lyon Mackenzie and Louis-Joseph Papineau, who led the Rebellion of 1837–1838 in Canada. They became noted 19th century politicians, standing for a responsive, reform-minded government. The Canadian volunteers chose this name as a symbol of their national identity and their commitment to the elected Spanish Republican side against the Nationalist insurgency headed by General Francisco Franco.

In the fighting at Fuentes de Ebro in October 1937, the Mac-Paps were commanded by American Robert G. Thompson.[5] By November, the battalion had its first Canadian commander, Edward Cecil-Smith from Toronto. He was a member of the Communist Party of Canada, an author of the banned play Eight Men Speak, a journalist, and a former militiaman. Cecil-Smith commanded the Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion for most of its existence.[6]

The soldiers who made up the Mac-Paps came from both Canada and the U.S. Initially, there was discussion as to whether a third American battalion should be formed: in the beginning, the Americans outnumbered the Canadians 2 to 1. Later, Canadians made up about half of the unit. Unlike the American and British volunteers who included significant numbers of students and intellectuals, the Canadian contingent was almost wholly working class.[citation needed] Labourers had been attracted to the Canadian Left by the collapse of capitalism during the Great Depression.

Many Canadian volunteers were members of the Communist Party.[1] In general, they were self-educated about the Spanish conflict, and about the possible repercussions for Europe and the world if the Nationalist side prevailed. Other less-radical Canadian groups backed the Spanish Republicans, and had organized the Committee to Support Spanish Democracy. A sizable percentage of Canadian volunteers were recent immigrants, the two largest groups being Finns and Ukrainians. As Mac-Paps casualties mounted, the unit began to incorporate more Spanish-born volunteers and conscripts.[citation needed]

Canadians who wanted to serve in Spain had to travel under false pretenses. The Parliament had passed the Canadian Foreign Enlistment Act in April 1937,[1] and applied it to the Spanish conflict in July 1937, prohibiting participation in a foreign war. Even before the prohibition went into effect, recruits assembled and transported themselves in secret to avoid potential prosecution.

Volunteers usually went first to Toronto, where they met at the headquarters for the operation, located at Queen and Spadina streets. Applicants were screened. For the most part, anyone intending to enlist required a leftist background. Drunken and adventurous types were weeded out, leaving those who were ardent about fighting European fascism. These factors, together with the comparatively mature age of the soldiers – 61.5% were over thirty – resulted in an ideologically committed Canadian contingent. From Toronto they traveled to Montreal or, more frequently, to New York City, where they departed by ship across the Atlantic Ocean to France. They then made their way to Spain either by ship or by foot across the Pyrenees.[citation needed]

1938

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The Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion fought in several major battles in 1938, including the Battle of Teruel (December 1937 – March 1938) and the Aragon Offensive (March–April), more commonly known to the Republican forces as the "Retreats". The Finnish-American machine gun companies successfully repelled the Nationalists, but the collapse of the front on their flanks compelled them to join the withdrawal. Their final engagement was the Battle of the Ebro (July–September). This decisive Nationalist victory broke the back of the Republican forces.[citation needed]

In the end, Spanish Prime Minister Negrín ordered the International Brigades withdrawn on September 21, 1938. Madrid fell six months later on March 28, 1939. By the end of the war, of the 1,546 Canadians known to have fought in Spain, 721 perished.[citation needed]

Returning to Canada was an arduous ordeal for the surviving soldiers, who depended on friends and family to collect the money to get them home; some soldiers were arrested in France. The Canadian government continued its policy of ignoring or prosecuting the veterans of Spain, in accordance with the Foreign Enlistment Act. It was not until January 1939 that the government agreed that the veteran combatants could return to Canada. Upon their arrival, many were investigated by the RCMP because of their Communist Party affiliations and were denied employment. A majority of Mac-Pap veterans volunteered to fight in World War II, but some were rejected as "politically unreliable".[7]

Legacy and commemoration

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Because the Canadian government chose non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War, the Mac-Pap volunteers do not have status in military institutions or in the national honoring of veterans. The Canadians who died in the Spanish Civil War are not included in the Books of Remembrance in the Peace Tower. Their sacrifice is not commemorated on federal war memorials or in Remembrance Day services. Those who survived the war were not entitled to veterans' benefits.

Mackenzie-Papineau plaque in Victoria, BC

A "thaw" occurred at the end of the 20th century. A group known as the Veterans and Friends of the Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion gained government permission to install three monuments to honor Canada's Spanish Civil War veterans. The first was erected in Toronto on June 4, 1995 at Queen's Park. The monument is a large boulder transported from the battlefield of Gandesa, Spain. Attached to the boulder is a federal plaque from the national Historic Sites and Monuments Board, reflecting the status of the Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion as a National Historic Event.[8]

Mackenzie-Papineau monument in Ottawa

A statue to the Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion was unveiled February 12, 2000 in Victoria, British Columbia. [9]

Another monument was erected in Ottawa in 2001 on Green Island Park.[8] This project was also organized and funded by Veterans and Friends of the Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion. The monument lists the names of 1,546 Canadian volunteers, which includes all Canadians who served in the Mac-Paps or other battalions, plus those who served in the medical, communications, transportation, and translation corps. The monument was designed by architect Oryst Sawchuck of Sudbury, selected in a juried competition by the organizers. It shows a figure of Prometheus raising his arm towards the Sun, cut out of a five-metre-high (16 ft) sheet of steel. A 12-metre memorial wall is inscribed with volunteers' names.[10]

Dr. Norman Bethune, a key developer of mobile army medical units for the Republican side, is one of the few Canadians to be officially recognized for his service in Spain.[11]

The Canadian folk band, Hudson Valley Sally, recorded a song entitled "The Mackenzie-Papineau Brigade" (note: it should be "Battalion"). The song details the adventures of the Mac-Paps and their fight in Spain.[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Bowers, Alex (10 April 2024). "Canada and the Spanish Civil War". Legion Magazine. Royal Canadian Legion. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Speech on the Occasion of the Unveiling of the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion Monument". Ottawa: Governor General of Canada. 20 October 2001.
  3. ^ a b Howard, Victor; de Bruin, Tabitha (12 November 2021). "Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion". The Canadian Encyclopedia.
  4. ^ Brooks, Chris (15 June 2016). "Jarama Series: Canadians in the Lincoln Battalion". The Volunteer.
  5. ^ Landis, Arthur H. (1988). Death in the Olive Groves: American Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939. New York: Paragon House. pp. 88–91. ISBN 155778051X.
  6. ^ Landis 1988, p. 104.
  7. ^ Howard, Victor; Reynolds, Mac (1986). MacKenzie-Papineau Battalion: The Canadian Contingent in the Spanish Civil War. McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 978-0-88629-049-8.
  8. ^ a b "Ottawa, Ontario". www.web.net. Archived from the original on 11 December 2004.
  9. ^ "The Spanish Civil War Memorial". Archived from the original on 27 February 2022.
  10. ^ Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion monument
  11. ^ MacLean, Lloyd D.; Entin, Martin A. (2000). "Our surgical heritage: Norman Bethune and Edward Archibald: sung and unsung heroes". The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 70: 1746–1752. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012.
  12. ^ "The Mackenzie-Papineau Brigade" - Canadian International Brigade Song. YouTube. 2023-09-25. Retrieved 2024-09-13.

Bibliography

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  • Beeching, William C. Canadian Volunteers: Spain 1936–1939. Regina: U. of Regina, 1989.
  • Hoar, Victor and Reynolds, Mac. The Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion: The Canadian Contingent in the Spanish Civil War. Toronto (Copp Clark), 1969. OCLC 322528697
  • Howard, Victor, with Reynolds, Mac. The Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion: The Canadian Contingent in the Spanish Civil War. Ottawa: Carleton University, 1986. ISBN 9780886290498 online

Further reading

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