The man holding Fighting for Democracy is Ben Pratt, a full time firefighter/paramedic in Augusta; Maine’s state capital.
So what is my father’s book doing in a fire station in Maine and why is it featured in this image.
Continue readingLea la traducción al español aqui.
I knew little about Juan José Ibañez Esnal, the man behind the Spanish translation of Jim Higgins’ book, Fighting for Democracy, A Canadian Activist in Spain’s Civil War. I set out to learn more about his family but more importantly, I wanted to know why he did it. His reasons are somewhat surprising.
Continue readingThis Remembrance Day, as always, the veterans of the Mackenzie Papineau Battalion are not amongst those officially honoured here in Canada; unless they also fought in the First or Second World Wars, as many did.
Today, November 11, 2020, I went to the Mac-Pap memorial in Toronto on the grounds of the Ontario Legislature to honour them in my own small way. The memorial is a boulder from the battlefields near the town of Gandesa Spain; a place where the Mac-Paps fought and where many lost their lives.
Continue readingI’m thrilled to have a feature article, A Mac-Pap Amongst the Lincolns, published in The Volunteer, the magazine of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in New York, Click on it, and learn why Jim Higgins ended up seeking refuge there during the winter of 1940/41.
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Edward Cecil-Smith was commander of Canada’s Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Other than his battle reports, that’s about all we’ve known. Oh, other than the gossipy (slanderous?) bit about him deserting his troops. It’s bare bones, one dimensional and some would say, unjust.
Tyler Wentzell’s biography, Not for King or Country, puts flesh on those bones, lays the gossip to rest with facts (leaving it for the reader to decide), and fills a void in the history of Canadians—known as Mac-Paps—who volunteered to fight in Spain’s civil war.
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Jim Higgins defied Canadian law to fight for democracy in the Spanish Civil War. On return, he was branded a communist, hounded by the RCMP, and welcomed by Lincoln Battalion comrades when he sought refuge in New York.
Continue reading“I was riveted. There are few workers’ memoirs as excellent…engaging, informative, and very well written.” James L. Turk, Centre for Free Expression, Ryerson University and Author, Free Speech in Fearful Times
“The fact that (Jim) was involved in secret ops makes this book particularly memorable…a key read for historians looking for new details of the Battle of the Ebro.” Jason Webster, Author, Violencia: A New History of Spain
“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.
Continue reading“The volunteers, led by Cecil-Smith and Jim Higgins, the commissar for the trip home, marched onto the stage to thunderous applause.”
Really? It made sense to me that Edward Cecil-Smith would be leading. He was the battalion commander. But Jim Higgins?
Continue readingTime for an editing update. Since I joined the social media crowd in August, some intriguing information has come to light about my father’s time in the Spanish Civil War. As I tease things out, with help from people I’ve met online, it seems that Jim Higgins was no ordinary soldier.
At first, when I heard him comment on one of his audiotapes, that he “wasn’t the average guy”, or that he “knew things others didn’t”, I pushed it aside. I knew deep down these weren’t idle comments, but I didn’t have any evidence of what he meant. If anything, he underplayed his role in his memoir, so no help there.
Now, it turns out, his cryptic comments mean something.
Continue readingRemembrance Day is different for me this year.
When I was a child, I didn’t understand anything about war. A friend had lost two older brothers in WW II, and I was curious about their photos on her family’s piano, but it all seemed remote; nothing to do with me. In my own extended family, I was aware of no one who’d been to war.
