On Tyranny in Manchester and Spain

Tens of thousands of international volunteers stood against the tyranny of fascism during the Spanish Civil War, Jim Higgins among them. Most volunteers had already acted against tyranny more than once. For Jim, the first time was at school in England when he was no older than thirteen. 

Jim had been orphaned during the Great War, and around the age of eight, after a short stay on a country estate with caring staff in an orphanage for eight boys, he was taken to the Ardwick Industrial School in Manchester. He studied there for several years before going on to a small secondary school in Bristol.

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The raised fist salute of the Republicans countered the flat-palmed salute of Franco's fascists.

“Fighting for Democracy: The True Story of Jim Higgins (1907-1982), A Canadian Activist in Spain’s Civil War” TBP August 2020

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.

“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

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Hounded by the RCMP

I received Jim Higgins’s RCMP file in Spring 2019 under a Freedom of Information request. Not only did the Royal Canadian Mounted Police file document many of his activities during the Great Depression, and after, it also held an intriguing glimpse into his romantic life, a couple of years before he met his wife, Reta Palliser.

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The “007 Stuff”

“Just the facts, ma’am.” That line came from Dragnet—a 1950s TV show with detective Joe Friday. I was reminded of it a few months ago when retired academic Ray Hoff, one of my invaluable fact-checkers, cautioned me against speculating about what Jim Higgins was up to in the Spanish Civil War, especially after the international brigades were withdrawn. I was advised to “forget the 007 stuff”. Good advice. Still……

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Who was Captain Medina?

“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.

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Deciphering Jim Higgins

“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?

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Reflections on being 75

Today is my birthday. My 75th. I’m not telling you this to garner birthday greetings, but rather to reflect on the fact that Jim Higgins was 75 when he died. He’d been frail and failing for several years by then, and writing what is mostly the first draft of his memoir during that time was all he could handle.

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Tantalizing Threads to Pursue

Time 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. 

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Remembrance Day 2018

Remembrance 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. 

1948-The Higgins family in Peterborough. The war was so far away for us children.
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You are history. You are legend.

These oft-repeated words ring through the years as an emotional tribute to tens of thousands of people who left their countries, often illegally, to help the people of Spain in their fight against fascism in the Spanish Civil War.

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