Sage Four

PEOPLE’S

ADVOCATE

June 4, 193%

Canadian Ambulance Cam

_ Serving today in the Mac-
kenzie - Papineau battalion
—in the famous Interna-
tional Brigade — are some
of the most devoted and tal-
ented members of the Com-
munist party of Canada.

They are men who could ill be
spared from the many difficult
tasks in Canada, but they are
needed in the strugele in Spain
where is the frontline of the
fight between democracy and
fascism, between the forces of
progress and the forees of re-
action. ~

And so, these men who have
proven their worth in the class
struggle in Canada have calmly
assumed their positions in Spain
facing capitalism in its most re-
actionary role.

Wone can deny that Commun-
ists in Canada have initiated and
Jed many activities on behalf of
the Spanish people in the past
year. But the Communist party
is the first to admit that tens of
thousands of Canadians are un-
acquainted with the great issues
which today are being decided in
Spain and which must, inevi-
tably affect the Canadian people.

Tt was with this idea of brine-
ing home to Canadians the true
significance of these issues that
the Communist Party of Canada
decided to make June 8 to 12 a
special Spain Week.

Within the next few days every
city, town and hamlet where
there is a braneh of the Com-

The
Terror
At Guernica

By BECKIE EWEN

For long centuries the
little town of Guernica,
holy city and traditional
capital of the Basques,
dreamed in the north of
Spain, secure in its ancient
rights. Armies marched
across Europe and a people
rose to win a new freedom,
while the democratic rights
and liberties of other peo-
ples were trampled in the
dust.

But these things ouly remotely
touched the inhabitants of
Guernica in their daily lives.
Guernica might have been a
little town nestling in the Welsh
hills or the Fraser Valley.

Wot until one day last month,
when General Hermann Goering
decided ‘“‘to vindicate some of
his strategical and tactical con-
ceptions” of modern warfare,
when wave upon wave of German
planes methodically swept down
upon the city, machine-gunning
and bombing with
intent, was the full meaning of
Fascism brought home to
Guernica and those of its 10,000

inhabitants who somehow es-
caped the slaughter.

By their ruthless wiping. out
of an undefended town, worth-
jess from a military yiewpoint,
the Fascist invaders of Spain
have aroused a shocked world to
a full realization of the menace
of Fascism.

Across the world a ery of pro-
test has arisen from Catholic
and Protestant, Communist and
Zuiberal alike, a cry that in the
Jjabor movement is rapidly being
transiated into action.

In the International Brigade,
composed of the world’s finest
anti-Pascists who have already
covered themselves with glory
and in which 500 Canadians are
fighting to vindicate the honor ot
Canada, is the answer to Hascist
barbarism.

Hitler and Mussolini are deter-
mined to make Spain the theatre
for world war. And the Canadian
government is following in the
footsteps of the British national
eovernment which has in reality
aided and abetted Franco. The
non-intervention pact has been
exposed as a farce. To the com-
mon people of those countries
whose democratic governments
are deliberately blind to demo-
eratic responsibility belongs the
task of strenethening and sup-
porting those who are fighting
for democracy in Spain.

*k

This is the purpose of the
Spain Week campaign—to mohbil-
ize Canadian public opinion in
defense of Spanish democracy,
to revere the memory of those
who have paid the supreme sac-
vifice in a cause that is our own
and to render aid and assistance
+o the Canadians in the Mac-
kenzie-Papineau company by pro-
viding the finances for establish-
ment of an ambulance.

Only a strong mass movement
ean force abandonment by the
British national government of
its hypocritical policies. Only a
stron mass movement can
throw out the Canadian Foreign
nlistment Act which is 4 dis-
erace to the country. Only 2
strone mass movement can Pre-
vent Fascism from developing in
Canada.

The common people remember
Badajoz, Malaga, Guernica, and
realize that unless Iascism is
erushed now it must ultimately
threaten the whole country. And
only unity of the people will sutf-
fice to crush Fascism “This unity
must come. ”

demoniacal ¢«

munist Party will see some form ism.

of activity designed to serve the

cause of the Spanish people.

Mass meetings, distribution

fore Canadian democratic rights
are likewise threatened by ‘Fasc-

of
pamphlets, radio addresses, sew-
ing cireles, soliciting for dona-
tions—all these things to arouse
communities to redouble their ef-
forts for Spanish democracy, be-

asked to contribute its share for

cause were worthy, this one

In British Columbia the pro-

As a national organization, the
Communist Party plans to equip
an ambulance which will be given
to the Canadian Blood Transfu-
sion Unit, headed by Dr. Norman
Bethune. Pach province is being

this worthy cause—and, if ever a

CANADIAN -BLOOD
ION SERVICE ©

“al

vincial executive of the Commun-
ist Party has assigned Arthur
Evans, one of the most popula;
and dynamic of its members, to
eonduct a tour of the province
to assist existing committees con-
ducting Spanish defense work
and to set up new committees
in localities at present unorgan-
ized.

The following itinerary is pub-
lished as a guide for all support-

ers of Spanish democracy whose

Co-operation in this tour is
sought:
New Wrestminster, Sunday,

June 6; Hope, Monday, June 7;
Lytton, Tuesday, June 8; Nicolai
Mine, Wednesday, June 9; Mer-
ritt, Thursday, June 10; Prince-
ton, Friday. June 11; Hedley,
Saturday, June 12; Penticton,
Sunday, June 13; Rossland, Tues-
day, June 15; Trail, Wednesday,

Canadian Makes Medical History

Last fall a lean, blue-
eyed Canadian surgeon ar-
rived in Madrid, sent out to
command the Canadian
medical unit by the Cana-
dian Committee in Aid of
Spanish Democracy.

Loyalist fortunes were at a
eritical juncture. Despite their
heroic attempts to stem the
Fascist advance, government
militiamen were being forced to
retreat steadily before the on-
slaught of the superior military
machine commanded by General
Franco. Wanting in unified
command, lacking weapons and
ammunition, untrained in war-
fare, Loyalist troops were falling
back on Madrid.

Toledo had fallen to the Moors.
The Fascist advance guard was
almost at the gates of Madrid
and Franco was already boast-
ing that he would enter the capi-
tal “in a few days.”

Within Madrid itself the situ-
ation was serious. Thousands of
refugees had fled into the city
from the surrounding country-
side before the Fascist advance.
Wounded were dying for want
of medical attention. And the
greatest need of all was a blood
transfusion service.

*

The rest is history, Under the
competent direction of Dr. Nor-
man Bethune the Canadian
medical unit has organized a
blood transfusion service which,
in six months, has not only saved
thousands of lives but has won
the praise of medical science for
its experimental work carried on
under tremendous difficulties.

Today it possesses modern
equipment, serves several fronts,
is Known as the Instituto His-
pano-Canadiense de Transfu-
sion de Sangre (Spanish-Cana-
dian Blood Transfusion Insti-
tute), is the first unified blood
transfusion service in medical
history.

Canada has every reason to be
proud of the significant achieve-
ment of Dr. Bethune and his
assistants, Hazen Sise, 30-year-
old Canadian architect, who left
his studies in London to join the
unit, and Henning Sorenson, of
Montreal, who gave up his posi-
tien in the Spanish department
of a life insurance company to
aid Bethune in Spain.

The work of the unit has cap-
tured the imagination of Cana-
dians everywhere. Thousands
have donated to make these
achievements possible, to Save
the lives of Spain’s gallant fight-
ers for democracy and freedom.
Leading progressives have plead-
sd the cause of the Spanish
people from the platform, over

the air, in the press, and the _

public thas responded magnifi-
sently to their appeals.
*k

Dr. Bethune himself gave up
his position as chief surgeon at
the Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart)
Hospital, Montreal, to head the
Canadian medical unit. _Previous-
ly he had been chief surgical
assistant at the Royal Victoria
Hospital in Montreal, He had
gained for himself an enviable
reputation as a chest surgeon.

But, as he said in a broadcast
from Madrid, ““When first I came
to Madrid, I heard on all sides,
‘your Civil war,’ ‘your revolu-
tion’ —now it has become ‘our
civil war’ and ‘our revolution.’

“Wictory for you is a victory
for us, a victory for the free-
thinking people of Canada, Amer-
jea and Europe. Your defeat
would set back the world for
more than a hundred years.”

As a fifth year medical stu-
dent with the first Canadian Ex-
peditionary Forces, Dr. Bethune
served throughout the world war
with the 2nd Field Ambulance.
War is not new to him.

Frederick Griffin, globe-trotting
Toronto newspaperman, tells of
standing in the elevator hall on

Dr. N. Bethune

the fourth floor of Madrid’s only
skyseraper, the Telephone Build-
ing, during a bombardment.

loze Street.
«<Wello” said Dr.

Behind The

It was in the night at Oviedo
and the Loyalist troops moved
forward silently, for it was a sur-
prise attack om the Fascist troops
in the besieged city. The Loyalist
troops moved forward silently
and fast, moved skillfully for-

ward, Asturian miners on the
mareh in the night to save
Spain.

They stopped suddenly. A wave
of horror and anger rippled down
the columns of silent moving men
and far in the rear there was
anxious questioning, for the Loy-
alists troops of Spain have learn-
ed to look for scenes of horror,
reaching a Fascist stronghold.

And here was a scene .-
~ Babies of ten and not as old
tied with ropes to the para-
pets of the Fascist fortifications.
And some of the babies hung
stiffly, for they were already dead
with fright and with pain. And
some hung limply, unconscious,
put sobbing a bit in their sleep
and moaning.

Babies sacrificed by Fascist
troops in a desperate effort to
save their own lives, for they
knew the Loyalists would not fire
on children.

Children hanging by ropes.
Baby bodies splattered into bits
by Fascist bombs in Guernica, in
Malaga, Madrid, Badajos, Dur-
ango. A generation blasted from
the earth, because of the insane
ambitions of Fascist dictators in
Berlin, from Rome. A country
full of children without arms and
lees, lying dead, running blood.

That's Spain today, where
Canadians are fighting that
same horrors may not be visited
on Canadian cities.

*

This is a story of the first

days of the Fascist rebellion .. -

When the news reached the
villages, the miners rushed to
Oviedo Like voleanic lava

from the hills, they flew to this,
their still half-ruined, but doubly
beloved city. Tens of thousands
of miners gathered in the city
park. They demanded arms.
Colonel Aranda came to the meet-
ing platform. He said:
Comrades! The Oviedo garri-
son is loyal to the Republic of
the Toilers. We will not betray
you. We are your brothers.
Go to Leon. There is a rumor
that the army regiment there is
in rebellion. Do not fear your
your wives and children. We

the enemy's first high
explosive shell of the afternoon
hit somewhere in nearby Herto-

Bethune,

pausing for a moment to glance
through the window at the ris-
ing cloud of smoke and brick
dust. . . . Then he went on talk-
ing about blood transfusion.

“Two or three explosions, this
time invisible, sounded nearby
and he did not even pause; he
just went on talking. A fourth
scored a direct hit on the Tele-
fonica, making a fearful bang
on the floor above us and mak-
ing the tall building shudder... -

“But Dr. Bethune merely
stopped long enough to say, ‘He's
got the range all right,’ and went
on talking. ...”

In March, Dr. Bethune and
Henning Sorenson narrowly es-
caped death on the Madrid front
when the Ford ambulance in
whieh they were transporting
wounded from the front lines to
a dressing hospital came under
machine gun fire, several bullets
striking the ambulance.

*

Behind the lines, Canadians are
rendering invaluable medical as-
sistance to the Loyalist cause. In
the trenches, Canadians are
fighting and giving their lives
that the tragedy of Spain may
not be repeated in Canada.

And in Canada, thousands of

“Babies . .

. tied t

common people, aware of the is-
sues at stake, are contributing
the necessary funds to enable this
splendid medical service to be
maintained and extended. Not
their elected government which
made its eloquent election appeal
in the name of democracy, but
the people of Canada are making
Ganadian democratic tradition an
inspiring force in Spain.

June i6; Salmo, Thursday, June

17; Y¥mir, Thursday, June 17;
Nelson, Friday, June 18; Cran-
brook, Saturday, June 19; Kim-
berley, Sunday, June 20; Yahk.
Monday, June 21; Kitchener,
Tuesday, June 22; Creston, Wed-
nesday, June 23; Ainsworth.
Thursday, June 24; Kaslo, Fri-
day, June 25; Nakusp, Saturday,
June 26; Sandon, Sunday, June
27, 2 p.m.; Silverton, Sunday,
June 27. 8 p.m.; Slocan. Monday,
June 28; South Slocan, Tuesday,
June 29; Grand Forks, Wednes-
day, June 30; Midway, Thursday.
July 1; Greenwood, Friday, July
=: Kelowna, Sunday, July 4, 2
p.m.; Wernon, Sunday, July 4,
8 p.m.; Armstrong, Monday, July
5; Enderby, Tuesday, July 6; Sal-
mon Arm, Wednesday, July 7;
Salmon Arm, Thursday, July 8;
Kamloops, Friday, July 9; Chu
Chua, Saturday, July 10; Ash-
eroft, Sunday, July 11; Lillooet,
Monday, July 12; Minto Mines,
Tuesday, July 13; Goldbridge,
Wednesday, July 14; Bralorne
Mines, Thursday, July 15; Pioneer
Mines, Friday, July i6; Clinton.
Saturday, July 17; Wingdam.
Sunday, July 18, 2 p-m.; Wells,
Sunday, July 15, 7 p-m-; Stanley.
Monday, July 19; Quesnell, Tues-
day, July 20; Prince George,
Wednesday, July 21; Prince
George, Thursday, July 22; Burns
Lake, Friday, July 23; Telkwa,
Saturday, July 24, 5 p-m.; Smith-
ers, Saturday, July 24, 8 p-m.;
New Hazelton, Sunday, July 24;
Prince Rupert, Monday, July 26.

From a Fascist paper we learn
that each city captured from the
“Reds” is to be thereafter “spon-
‘sored’? by a Fascist one. As the

dates of these captures are ap-
parently based more on hope than
on reality, a certain Fascist city.
recently sent a shipment of food
and clothing to its protege city,
only to learn to its dismay that
not only had the city not been
captured, but that Franco’s
troops were retreating from it
with some speed. The militia did
not, however, allow the food to
be wasted.

GUERNICA

Voices in the dark to voices cry
All through the night. The trees ablaze
High on distant hills. A smoky haze

One by one blots out the stars in a droning sky.

Like lights going out on some fac street.
Men's voices shouting, frantic, fraught
With fear. Women weeping low, distraught,

And ominously near the sound of marching feer.

Smoke rising to a moon blood red,
Planes diving low across a square.
The dead, but the dead are everywhere
On bullet-riddled streets, in blazing homes. The dead

Haunting now wherever children play,
Wherever freedom lives on still,
What dreams tvithin the dusk, until
A world outraged shall sweep the Fascist threat away.

aS $3

=

0 the Fascist fortifications.”

—Harold Griffin.

From Spain

Below are excerpts from a
letter received recently by a
young Vancourer worker
from Bruce Ewen, one of the
many Canadians now with
the International Brigade in
Spain. Bruce Ewen is a son
of Tom Ewen, provincial sec-
retary of the Commuanast
party.

T came over here in Feb-
ruary and, along with many
other fellows, was accorded
a reception by the people
that would make W. L. M.
King turn green with envy-
At every railway station

and all along the route we
were greeted with inspiring en-
thusiasm by the people of the
towns and villages. We came to
this city, which only a few nights
previously was yiciously bombed
for five hours, and saw that the
“Saviours of Spain’ considered
this a good method of “saying”
the country from the “Reds.”

While at the camp I was with
the greatest group of fellows one
could ask for. The American
group, of which I was a mem-
ber, had boys from the industrial
states of the east, from the mid-
dle west and the south, seamen
from the Pacific and the Atlan-
tic and the Great Lakes-

We had also men from Eneg-
land, France, Germany, aimost
any country you could mention
(in all there are about 52 na-
tions represented in the Interna-
tional Brigade) and all language
difficulties were surmounted
when it came to our sport and
recreation.

A few evenings ago I took a
walk into the outskirts of this
city. I came to what appeared
to be an open field and there
Were standing out of the ground
what appeared to be cairms over
the graves of some long forgotten
dead.

These cairns were chimneys.
The houses were holes in the
ground. The same families had
lived in them for generations.
I hall not attempt to describe the
conditions under which these
people were forced to live. There
is no Glasgow slum or Bast Side
tenement to which one could
compare them.

Close by, in the process of con-
struction, are single-storied apart-
ment buildings. There is an indi-
vidual apartment for each fam-
ily, complete with sanitary equip-
ment, built-in-stove, etc., with a
common courtyard in the centre
of the building. This is what the
People’s government is doing to
rid the country of destitution and
poverty, even in the midst of a
terrible war.

Well, keep up the good work.

viedo

will protect them against the
Fascists.

They went to Leon. Manuel
Otero, a hero of the October days,
was in command. They had ‘no
‘arms. With Knives and old shot--
guns, they fought against the
Wascists for three days and final-
ly conquered them. They did
break through to Leon — where
the commander said:

Go to Ponitferrada. They have
a large arsenal. There you will
receive rifles, machine guns, and
hand grenades.
only thirty rifles.

And they fought their way
through to Pontferrada. They
were lined up on the main plaza
of the town. It is such a lovely
plaza, with an old city hall, old
buildings and a tenderly murmur-
ing fountain. And the miners
Stood there, lined up in orderly
fashion, peacefully waiting for
the distribution of arms.

But in the window of the city
hall, in the windows of the old
houses around the plaza, there
were concealed machine-gun
nests. The Fascists opened fire
upon the miners. A few hundred
were killed on the spot. The rest
fought their way back to their
trucks. But the miners did not
Want to leave their comrades.
They went back to pick up the
wounded. And the Fascists, from
the windows of the lovely old
homes, gleefully again shot them
down. There, on the plaze, they
killed Otero. .

The miners rushed back to
Oviedo; Colonel Aranda is there,
defending their wives and chil-
dren against the Fascists. He
must need their aid... .

Only when they near Oviedo do
they realize the treachery.

Colonel Aranda shot hundreds
of workers. He took as hostages
the wives and parents of the
Popular Front leaders: Deputy
Manso’s old father and _ sister,
Depuiy Bueno’s old mother,
Deputy Fernandez’s wife. And
Colonel Aranda sent a radio mes
‘sage: “‘Suay down your arms 0!
T’ll kill the hostages’’ The mir
ers replied: “If you do not war
to fall into our hands, blow yot
brains out.” ...-

T read today in the “‘Norde :
Castille,’ published by the Fas
ists: “In QOveida, the childre
demoralized by Marxist teache
threw themselves upon t
officers.”

I ean give you

Feinnnansreyipeasiasiie

een

wh hhatishenee ye rd :

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