From: "Jeff Wood", [EMAIL PROTECTED] I should guess most Cybershooters would have a problem with being told who to shoot, and would be volunteers or nothing. Perhaps the most famous volunteers ever are the International Brigades who fought on the side of the Spanish government against Franco's rebellion of 1936. Many were communists; many were simply anti-fascist, or Jews who saw what was happening to their fellows in Germany (not to mention people radicalised by street battles with Mosley's Blackshirts). Largely, they were working class. Not all were Europeans: in the series of articles referred to, there is a reference to an American battalion, and in those days there was an active and tough US Communist Party. There seem to have been a fair number of brave women. Quite a few seem to have had First World War experience, and if they had been better armed the war might have turned out differently. Most seem to have at least had an ancient Russian rifle, but ammo was apparently a problem. There aren't many left, and the Guardian of 10 November 2000 has interviews with as many of the British volunteers as they can find who are well enough to talk. The interviews can be found at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,395343,00.html Points of interest include an interview with Sir Alfred Sherman, one of Margaret Thatcher's gurus, but then a keen anti-fascist who joined the CP, and left the Party over Stalin's bullying of Yugoslavia. There is also an account of one of the most unusual and pointless ways to die that most of us will have come across. There are the references one would expect to contemptible behaviour by the British Government. A couple of quotes: "Russell, now 85, had an advantage over many of his comrades. He knew how to shoot. He looks bashful, strokes his luxuriant moustache. "At university I did something that I always have great difficulty explaining... I joined the OTC, the officer training corps." " "... A working class that doesn't learn the use of arms deserves to be slaves." (The speaker thinks this is from Lenin but can't find the reference. I suspect it to be from one of the Anarchists, though in a sane world any democrat would second the motion. Any offers on the source? JW) The site has links to other materials on the Spanish War, including the Anarchists, who tend to get written out of histories. Yours sincerely Jeff Wood [EMAIL PROTECTED] Public PGP Key at: ldap://certserver.pgp.com Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A http://www.topica.com/t/17 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
