“Captain Medina was the sort of officer soldiers dream about commanding them, but seldom do. I had been in some tough situations with him, and we saved one another’s lives more than once. I was shifted around so much that most of the time I did not know where I was or who the comrades were who were fighting with me. He was a constant presence, and I will always consider him the best officer I had alongside me in battle.” Jim Higgins

Higgins reported to Captain Jose Medina for much of the time he was in Spain and, in his soon-to-be-published memoir, writes about one of those times when Medina (and his horse) probably saved his life when he was caught behind enemy lines. Besides the serious business of saving each other’s lives, Medina once figured in a humorous incident involving Higgins.

Higgins doesn’t write about the incident in his memoir. It came out when he was interviewed by journalist Murray Hogben for a January, 1981 article in the Kingston Whig Standard Magazine. Hogben had asked Higgins if there hadn’t been any good times. Higgins’ answer was that “he was too busy fighting to have much time for fun, other than joking with his comrades”. Then, he admitted to attending a fiesta, where he and his buddies got into a winery.

We know when this was because, amongst his papers, Higgins had a permission note, dated May 13, 1938. It attests that James Higgins, Joaquin Serra and Jose Diaz had permission to attend a fiesta as representatives of their company. It was signed by Jose Medina, (acting) commander of the Battalion, and Nick Myers, Commissar of company 3a.

Hogben reports, “On his return, Higgins managed to get picked up by Spanish troops, and was taken before his battalion commander. Since something had to be done about the charges against him, the commander, who’d been in a lot of battles with him, gave him the duty of sweeping out the headquarters. Higgins laughs at how, leaning on his broom, he saw the rest of the battalion going on a 20-mile route march with full pack.”

That comment is somewhat ironic, considering that when Higgins saw a National Film Board of Canada feature on the Mac-Paps, “Los Canadienses”, he told Hogben that the many scenes of parades of men in uniforms didn’t seem to him like his war, because he had always been in the middle of the fighting. It seems that, even at rest, he escaped not only those parade marches, but the grueling route marches as well.

I would like to know more about Captain Medina, but can’t find much. Tyler Wentzell, author of the upcoming Cecil-Smith biography, “Not for King or Country” tells me he’d like to know more as well. In Wentzell’s case, Jose Medina reported to Edward Cecil-Smith, the Commander of the Mac-Paps, filling in as commander when Cecil-Smith was removed for awhile, and in mine, Higgins reported to Medina.

All three were interesting men, playing hugely different roles in the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion during the Spanish Civil War. We are about to learn more about two of them through Jim Higgins’ memoir and Tyler Wentzell’s biography of Cecil-Smith.

But what about Captain Medina? He was a Spanish officer in the International Brigades. What was his fate? Did he survive? Did he go into exile? Did he stay on in the resistance? Was he imprisoned, tortured, executed, as were so many? Did he end up in a mass grave? I, for one, would like to know more. 

***

Postscript: I am beyond grateful that Murray Hogben took the time to interview my dad in such depth. Although there was loads of publicity in 1978 and 1980, most focused on Higgins’ rescue of Manuel Alvarez. I’ve had so many unanswered questions, and Hogben’s article answered some of them.

© Janette Higgins

NOW PUBLISHED: Fighting for Democracy: The True Story of Jim Higgins (1907-1982), A Canadian Activist in Spain’s Civil War (2020) is available worldwide from Independent Bookstores, Chapters-Indigo, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon. Kindle version on Amazon. Orders of three or more: Friesen Press

I encourage you to obtain it from your local Indie bookseller or library. And if you can leave a review or “star” it somewhere, like Amazon or Goodreads, that would be much appreciated!

Fighting for Democracy by Jim Higgins is the latest book about the Mac-Paps, Canadians in the Mackenzie Papineau Battalion, which was part of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. Other books about Canadians in the Spanish Civil War include Not For King or Country by Tyler Wentzell , Mac-Pap by Ronald Liversedge with David Yorke and Renegades by Michael Petrou.