A MEMORIAL to the brave Merseysiders who fought and died in the Spanish Civil War is to take pride of place in Liverpool.
The memorial is to be unveiled at the new Unite building, in Islington, which is to be named in honour of city trade union veteran Jack Jones, who also fought and was wounded in the conflict.
Up to 200 volunteers travelled to Spain from Merseyside to take part in the war against General Francisco Franco’s nationalist rebels.
The plaque bears the name of 27 Liverpool men who joined the International Brigade to fight the fascists.
Mr Payne said the Spanish Civil War, which began in 1933, had captured the imagination of young Merseysiders who were the forerunners of the anti-fascist movement.
He said: “There’s an idea all those who went to fight were poets and Cambridge graduates, but there was more than 3,000 volunteers and overwhelmingly they were ordinary working-class lads, from docks and coal mines.”
