Jock Cunningham
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
volunteer in the International Brigades
International Brigades
The International Brigades were military units made up of volunteers from different countries, who traveled to Spain to defend the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939....
in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. He became a battalion and brigade commander.
Born in Coatbridge
Coatbridge
Coatbridge is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. The town, with neighbouring Airdrie, is part of the Greater Glasgow urban area. The first settlement of the area stretches back to the Stone Age era...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, he lived at 77b Whifflet Street, Whifflet
Whifflet
Whifflet is now a suburb of Coatbridge, Scotland, which once formed its own distinctive village. Presently located in the North Lanarkshire Council area it was originally known as wheat flats but over time the name appears to have developed into Whifflet...
, Coatbridge
Coatbridge
Coatbridge is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. The town, with neighbouring Airdrie, is part of the Greater Glasgow urban area. The first settlement of the area stretches back to the Stone Age era...
. Cunningham was imprisoned for participating in a mutiny
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders. He led an unemployed march to Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
in 1933. He worked as a miner.
After going to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
he served in several units: the Commune de Paris and the No. 1 Company of the British Battalion
British Battalion
The British Battalion was the 16th battalion of the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War.- Early volunteers :A number of British volunteers, including Tom Wintringham and Nat Cohen, arrived in Spain during August-September 1936 and formed the Tom Mann Centuria - a rifle company in...
. He joined the Machine-Gun Company of Commune de Paris Battalion, XI International Brigade
XI International Brigade
The XI International Brigade fought for the Spanish Second Republic in the Spanish Civil War.It would become especially renowned for providing desperately needed support in the darkest hours of the Republican defense of Madrid on 8 November 1936, when, with great losses, it helped repulse a major...
in November 1936. Member of No. 1 Company XIV International Brigade
XIV International Brigade
The XIV International Brigade was one of several international brigades that fought for the Spanish Second Republic during the Spanish Civil War. It was raised on 20 December 1936 with volunteers mainly from France and Belgium, under General "Walter" . This Brigade was the fourth of the...
at Lopera
Lopera
Lopera is a city located in the province of Jaén, Spain. According to the 2005 census , the city has a population of 3,976 inhabitants....
.
The small 34-year-old played a key role in the February 1937 Battle of Jarama
Battle of Jarama
The Battle of Jarama was an attempt by General Franco's Nationalists to dislodge the Republican lines along the river Jarama, just east of Madrid, during the Spanish Civil War...
. In order to fight at Jarama
Jarama
Jarama is a river in central Spain. It flows north to south, and passes east of Madrid when El Atazar Dam is built on a tributary, the Lozoya River. It flows into the river Tagus in Aranjuez...
one report says that he "left hospital with a fever to go and fight". He was wounded in January '37 at Los Rozas. Along with Frank Ryan
Frank Ryan (Irish republican)
Frank Ryan was a prominent member of the Irish Republican Army, editor of An Phoblacht, leftist activist and leader of Irish volunteers on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War....
he rallied the remnants of the British battalion in a defensive action which held the line outside Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, thereby blocking Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
's attempt to seize the capital. One of the principal military actions of the war, it cost the battalion nearly 500 of the 600 men who had fought.
Cunningham was hospitalised from March 15 until May 1937 after which he was promoted to Captain. He was sent back to Britain in August 1937 and didn't return to Spain.
Sources and references
- George Leeson, 15th Brigade vol - writing in 1947 on 10th anniversary of Jarama
- Fred CopemanFred CopemanFred Copeman OBE was an English volunteer in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War, commanding the British Battalion...
, Reason in Revolt, Blandford Press, London, 1948 - Jason GurneyJason GurneyJason Gurney was a British sculptor who fought in the Spanish Civil War.He was with the International Brigades from December 1936 to August 1937. During that time, he served in the British Battalion, the Lincoln Battalion and XIV International Brigade staff. He was wounded in the right hand by a...
, Crusade in Spain, Faber & Faber, London 1974 - Hugh ThomasHugh ThomasHugh Thomas , is a British historian and life peer.Hugh Thomas may also refer to:* Hugh Thomas , American choral conductor, pianist and educator* Hugh Thomas , Australian rules football coach...
, The Spanish Civil War, 2003 4th Rev. Ed - Antony BeevorAntony BeevorAntony James Beevor, FRSL is a British historian, educated at Winchester College and Sandhurst. He studied under the famous military historian John Keegan. Beevor is a former officer with the 11th Hussars who served in England and Germany for five years before resigning his commission...
, Battle for Spain, 2006 - Joe Monks, "With the Reds in Andalusia", 1985
- Cecil Eby, Comrades and Commissars, 2007