On behalf of the Adanderado Newsletter I attended the "Memorials of the Spanish Civil War" book launch, on 16th April, at the International Brigade Archives located in the Marx Museum Library. The occasion was attended by several Brigaders, Max Colin, Ted Smith and Dave Marshall, along with British Commander Bill Alexander, Nurse Patience Edny and ex-Labour Party Leader Michael Foot. Also present were co-author Colin ? and Professor Paul Preston, author of several books on the Spanish War. Bill Alexander made a stirring introductory speech explaining the books background and why those that gave their lives should be honoured, and thanked those involved for making the book possible.

Making my vehicle interest known, I later managed to briefly chat to Nurse Edny who explained that the first ambulances that reached and served in Spain were terrible to use and proved inadequate. It was emphasised that higher vehicles were required because the bad roads caused the vehicles undercarriage to scrape along terra firma. I was then introduced to Max Colin, after the nurse mentioned he was part of a medical team. During our conversation I learnt that Max' first trip involvod delivering an ex-London County Council Talbot ambulance to Spain. For those interested, Max was later instrumental in establishing that only one type of fleet vehicle should be sent out to Spain and it became policy to use Bedford's only. Only a couple of days before Julian Bell was killed, Max and the poet were crewing an ambulance together. I was fascinated by these stories and would have enjoyed learning much more.