Kiwi
Compañeros
New Zealand and the
Spanish Civil War
Mark Derby (Ed.)
May 2009
$45
Paperback, 304pp, b/w illust. & photos
ISBN: 978-1-877257-71-1
240 x 170 mm, 765g
'This is a book that deserves to be on the shelves of every New Zealander because of the stories it tells and the insights it offers into the Kiwi character.' Alister Browne, Manawatu Standard
Kiwi Compañeros is the first-ever account of New Zealand’s role in the Spanish civil war of 1936–39, a war that became a ruthless rehearsal for World War Two.
Volunteers from more than 50 countries arrived in Spain to take sides. This book records the actions of New Zealanders involved, including those who worked for the Spanish cause at home by raising funds, lobbying politicians, writing poems and spreading propaganda.
Here are a few of the extraordinary people whose stories are presented:
- A fighter pilot from Wellington who landed his plane with a shattered shoulder, then left for Hollywood to make movies with Errol Flynn
- A tough young wharfie from Napier who buried 80 of his fellow fighters in a single grave, and later became a union leader and thorn in the side of PM Rob Muldoon
- A Cromwell surgeon who operated as close as possible to the firing line, and was described as ‘the most important volunteer to come from the British Commonwealth’
- A no-nonsense nurse from Akaroa who worked in operating theatres where anaesthetic was a luxury, and married one of her patients at the height of the war
- A Christchurch-born academic who risked his life as an intelligence agent in Spain, and was later termed the handsomest man at Oxford University
- An elegant young Englishwoman who fought with anarchist militia units and, under the guidance of Frank Sargeson, turned that experience into a writing career
- A Wellington film-maker, show-jumper and flamenco dancer who fought for Franco’s Fascists.
Kiwi Compañeros includes contributions from some of New Zealand’s leading writers and historians. It draws on personal letters, recently released military documents and previously unpublished photographs to tell an all-but-forgotten story.
Mark Derby is a writer and historian who has worked for Te Ara (the online encyclopaedia of New Zealand), the Waitangi Tribunal and as South Pacific correspondent for Jornal Expresso, Portugal’s leading newspaper. He has also curated museum exhibitions, made historical documentaries and reviewed films for the Wellington community newspaper City Voice. He is chair of the Labour History Project and lives on Wellington’s south coast with his family.