Catalogue Number
NBS I/D 413
Object Name
banner
Title
PRINTERS SEND GREETINGS TO BILL ALEXANDER (PAPERWORKERS) - MAJOR ATTLEE-BATTALION INT. BRIGADE
Place
Spain; England & UK
People
Alexander, Bill; Attlee, Major, Clement
Events
War & Spanish Civil War
Creator(s)
NBS National Museum of Labour HistoryNBS National Museum of Labour History
Description
Printers Send Greetings to Bill Alexander banner, about 1937
Bill Alexander was a Communist Party member who volunteered for the International Brigades in 1937. He arrived in Spain soon after the battle of Jarama, in which two thirds of the British Battalion were injured or killed. He quickly rose through the ranks to become Captain and later Commander of the British Battalion in January 1938. One month later he was injured and sent home to England, where he continued to raise awareness of the plight of the Spanish people.
During the Spanish Civil War, Spanish printers were among the first to organise resistance against the Fascist regime. Banners like this were sometimes sent to those fighting on the front line to show support. They were also used at home in order to raise awareness of the Spanish Civil War and raise funds for those fighting in Spain. Bill Alexander belonged to the Print Worker's Union and so this banner was probably sent to Bill in Spain from his colleagues at home.
Materials: White plain woven filled cotton, hand sewn white cotton loops. Design hand painted with water based paint.
Bill Alexander was commissioned as a Captain in the British army in the Second World War and later worked as an industrial chemist. He opened the People's History Museum Spanish Civil War exhibition in 1996.
Multimedia
