At a ceremony in the Wellington City Council chamber in June 2011,, a plaque was unveiled by Mayor Celia Wade-Brown and the Spanish Ambassador, Sr Marcos Gomez. It reads, ‘In grateful memory of all New Zealanders who contributed to the defence of freedom in Spain (1936-1939) “For Spain and Humanity”’.
The phrase ‘For Spain and Humanity’ was the motto of the Spanish Medical Aid Committee, the largest of the relief organisations that raised funds for the victims of the civil war. ‘For Spain and Humanity’ also alludes to the last line of the anthem of Andalusia, which was first performed a week before the outbreak of the civil war. When democracy was restored in Spain after four decades of dictatorship, the song was adopted as the official anthem of the region.
The bronze plaque was installed on the Wellington waterfront, a fitting location since several of the New Zealanders who served in Spain worked on the wharves. One of them was Jim Hoy, a member of the British Battalion of the International Brigades who was later elected secretary of the Wellington Waterside Workers Union. Jim’s widow Maureen and his daughters Dolores and Penny attended the unveiling ceremony in Wellington.
It is the only known memorial to the New Zealanders who took part in the Spanish Civil War.
Main image: Jamie Mackay, 2012
Other image: Mark Derby, June 2011