One Welshman’s war against Franco and his fascist gangsters - Need to Read - News from @walesonline

One Welshman’s war against Franco and his fascist gangsters - Need to Read - News from @walesonline

Putin blames US for stoking Russian protests - ABC Newcastle NSW - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Do they really want to piss off the sleeping bear? Apparently so. Well, they have got it's attention now. No room to complain when it turns and takes a mighty swipe back. Those old paws got big sharp claws.

Putin blames US for stoking Russian protests - ABC Newcastle NSW - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

What is Anti-Imperialism?

SDL EDL BNP YOU'RE AN EMBARRASSMENT

Germany shocked by secret service link to rightwing terror cell

Beate Zschäpe, Uwe Böhnhardt and Uwe Mundlos, the three key members of the neo-Nazi terror cell linked to the so-called Döner Killings. Photograph: Reuters

Undercover officer was at scene of Turk's murder as rightwingers killed 10 times but stayed free for 13 years

Helen Pidd in Zwickau
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 15 November 2011 19.59 GMT

An agent working for Germany's answer to MI5 was at the scene of one of the 10 murders carried out by neo-Nazi terrorists, the domestic intelligence agency has confirmed, fuelling speculation that the killers' movements were known to the authorities during their 13 years on the run.

The undercover officer was in an internet cafe in the central city of Kassel in Hessen when a 21-year-old Turk was shot at point blank range on 6 April 2006, a spokesman for the Hessen branch of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) said on Tuesday.

The admission has added yet more controversy to an already contentious case, which the chancellor, Angela Merkel, has described as "mortifying" for Germany.

The investigation into the activities of the so-called National Socialist Underground was broadened on Tuesday to take in previously unsolved crimes across the country, amid fears that a network of supporters may have helped them carry out further attacks.

These include suspected terror attacks in Cologne and Düsseldorf from 2000 to 2004 that injured more than 30 people, most of them foreigners, and the attempted 2008 murder of a Bavarian police chief who was stabbed by a masked assailant who yelled: "Greetings from the national resistance!".

Critics say German authorities have played down the existence of rightwing extremism, concentrating instead on the threats posed by leftwing terrorists and Islamic fundamentalists. Whether they deliberately turned a blind eye or genuinely did not have a handle on the violence being wrought by neo-Nazis is open to interpretation.

Authorities in the state of Thuringia, where the three key members of the terror cell all come from, admit they have 24 ringbinders full of intelligence on the trio.

"The intelligence service has completely failed," said Hans-Christian Ströbele, a member of the parliamentary committee which monitors Germany's secret service agencies, following an emergency meeting on Tuesday. "It's probably the biggest secret service cock-up since German reunification," said the Berliner Zeitung newspaper in an editorial.

The scandal has gripped Germany for days as the country struggles to understand how the rightwing terror cell managed to evade capture for so long despite being apparently responsible for 10 murders, including the death of a policewoman, at least 14 bank robberies and two vicious nail bomb attacks between 2000 and 2007. The group has been dubbed the Brown Army Faction, a reference to the Red Army Faction, also known as the Baader Meinhof gang, a leftwing terrorist group that committed a series of murders in the 1970s and 80s. In Germany, brown remains a colour inextricably linked with the Nazi uniform.

The case came to light earlier this month when two known neo-Nazis, Uwe Mundlos, 38, and Uwe Böhnhardt, 34, were found shot dead in a burnt out campervan in what appeared to be a twin suicide pact. Hours later, their flat in the quiet suburbs of the east German town of Zwickau was blown up, an explosion detonated by alleged accomplice Beate Zschäpe, 36, who turned herself into police days later.

When investigators searched the charred remains of the van and the house, they found a number of highly incriminating pieces of evidence, including the gun carried by Michele Kiesewetter, the 22-year-old police officer believed to have been shot dead in Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg in 2007. They also discovered a bizarre Pink Panther-inspired homemade DVD gloating that the National Socialist Underground was responsible for a series of unsolved murders known as the Döner Killings, which targeted mostly Turkish immigrants in Germany, some of whom worked in fast food stalls, between 2000 and 2006.

Until now, German detectives have suggested that foreign gangs, probably from Turkey, were responsible for the murders: their investigation was even codenamed Operation Bosphorus.

Relatives of the victims say the reputations of the dead men were besmirched by investigators. Kerim Simsek, whose father Enver was shot down on 9 September 2000, claimed police said his father "was mixed up with the mafia and smuggled drugs – no one even mentioned a rightwing extremist motive," he told Bild.

Ströbele said Germany's elite had totally underestimated the threat of rightwing terrorism. "They have been determined to play it down. Just a few weeks ago, Hans-Peter Friedrich, the interior minister, was saying there was no rightwing terrorism in Germany," he said. "They are always very quick to jump to conclusions if they think leftwing terrorists or Islamist fundamentalists are responsible for a crime and yet they didn't want to believe there could be a serious problem with neo-Nazis."

Ströbele said that 160 officers worked on Operation Bosphorus, investigating 11,000 people "Why didn't they follow the trail to rightwing radicals?" he said, as he called for a thorough investigation to discover how the terror cell managed to evade capture. More information was needed to establish how and why the secret service agent was in the Kassel internet cafe when the shots were fired in 2006, he said. Until now, the agent has insisted it was an unhappy coincidence he was at the crime scene "either during the murder or within a minute or two of it", said Ströbele.

The agent was arrested after other witnesses noticed he was the only customer who failed to call the police. After being questioned as a suspect, he confessed his identity and no charges were brought. A spokesman for Hessen's BfV said he was subsequently moved out of intelligence work and into a less sensitive department of Hessen's regional council.

The national BfV continues to deny any contact with the three suspects or any knowledge of their whereabouts since 1998, when a warrant was issued for their arrest following the discovery of a bomb-making factory in a garage rented by Zschäpe. The Hessen branch said it had found no evidence that its agents were in contact with Mundlos, Böhnhardt and Zschäpe.

Germans try to make sense of scandal

Germany has been gripped by the scandal unfolding around the neo-Nazi National Socialist Underground. But so much of what has emerged so far does not quite make sense. Here are some questions ordinary Germans would like answering:

1. Why did Beate Zschäpe decide to turn herself in to the police? Is she hoping to turn supergrass and give state's evidence in return for a shorter sentence?

2. Did Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Böhnhardt really kill themselves? One man was shot in the head; another in the chest (the latter is an unusual form of suicide). Could Zschäpe have murdered them both? Did they set fire to their campervan before killing themselves or did someone else light the match afterwards?

3. Why did the two men burn the money they had apparently stolen from a Zwickauer bank that day rather than give it to Zschäpe?

4. How did the Pink Panther confession DVDs survive flames in the trio's Zwickau flat despite temperatures being so hot that investigators say they found melted guns?

5. How did the National Socialist Underground choose their victims? Were they all chosen at random?

6. Can the group be linked to any other unsolved crimes?

7. Did the authorities have any contact with the group during their 13 years on the run?

8. Why did investigators looking into the nine so-called Doner Killings blame foreign mafia rather than properly investigating rightwing hatred as a motive, considering that all the victims were immigrants?

EDL's Stephen Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) getting a wee slap (@1:45)

Oxford Uni Tory Students Sing Nazi Songs At "Policy making" Piss-ups

Typical upper-class, tory scum. These are your future rulers. This is the same Oxford Tory Club that produced David Cameron and the rest of the Bullingdon boys. Born and bred to be psychopathic, immoral, lecherous, greedy parasites.

These are "the elite". An oligarchic perversion.

If these people where born into a different class, a different section of society, they would be neds, getting pissed on Bucky instead of Bollinger, bullying old folk and spraying racist graffiti on the local asian run shop. In the working-class these dregs sink to the bottom and fester like a cancer in our communities. Among the rich, through patronage and privilege, they rise to the top and are groomed for power.

Their bare faced hypocrisy is on a such an incredible scale that it would be almost impressive in its arrogance were these not the people who end up deciding our fate.

These are the future judges, officer corps, corporate directors and politicians of England. And England votes for them in its millions. - The REAL SDL


Oxford University launches inquiry after drunk Tory students 'sang song saluting Nazi killings'

One video said to show student singing 'Dashing through the Reich' to tune of Jingle Bells

By TOM KELLY AND ELEANOR HARDING
Last updated at 11:47 AM on 5th November 2011

Oxford University last night launched an investigation into claims that Tory students sang a ‘despicable’ song celebrating Nazi massacres during meetings.
Members of the university’s Conservative Association were alleged to have given renditions of the song that revels in the killing of Jews during ‘port and policy’ nights.

One video, filmed in the common room at Corpus Christi college, is said to show a student drunkenly chanting: ‘Dashing through the Reich’, before being silenced by another member.

Oxford University Conservative Association president James Lawson with a friend. They were not involved in the alleged racist singing

The song’s full version, to the tune of Jingle Bells, continues: ‘Dashing through the Reich / in a black Mercedes Benz / killing lots of kike / ra ta ta ta ta.’
The word ‘kike’ is a derogatory term for Jewish people.

One member of the Conservative Association, who declined to be named, told the Oxford Student newspaper: ‘Lots of people were singing it that night, and indeed on many other nights, and the general attitude is that that was OK.

‘The thing is, lots of members do find that song, and songs like that one, absolutely despicable, though little is done to stop it. I am very worried with the direction the society is going in at present.’

Pictures taken from ‘port and policy’ nights during the past year also showed members of the society rolling around drunk on the floor.

One was photographed pouring port into a friend’s mouth through a pith helmet.

Excess: A member drinks port poured through a pith helmet. Neither was involved in the Nazi singing

Another photo shows two members dressed as Margaret Thatcher next to a coal miner outfit bearing an offensive placard which reads: ‘I love shafting.’

Last night, Joe Cooke, a former president of the Oxford University Conservative Association, told the Daily Mail he was resigning from it in protest about the ‘debauched’ behaviour of many of his fellow members.

The third year PPE student said: ‘It is disgusting and goes against everything the Conservative Party stands for. I am completely disillusioned.

'I came from a single-parent family and went to a state school and had to work for everything I have achieved.

‘But unfortunately the majority of members are rich former public schoolboys with a great sense of entitlement who are far more interested in drinking port than discussing policy.’

A former treasurer of the association recently wrote to members to complain about the ‘excessive and crass’ singing at meetings.

He wrote: ‘The dissonance is enough to inflict pain as short, spotty, still-pubescent boys struggle to fix their unsteady voices on any pitch at all.
‘This unbridled clamour is disturbing finalists who live near the Union, many of whom are sounder Conservatives than most, but who don’t feel the need to dress up in ridiculous clothes or pretend that we still have an empire.’

David Cameron and former Tory leaders Michael Howard and Iain Duncan Smith have all given talks to the association in recent years.

Its former presidents include Cabinet members William Hague and Jeremy Hunt.
The OUCA is affiliated with Conservative Future, the party’s youth wing, and regularly supports candidates in local elections.

During last year’s General Election, five former presidents stood for parliamentary seats.

The Nazi song allegation is just the latest controversy to hit the association in recent years.

Two years ago it was temporarily banned from using Oxford University in its title after members were urged to compete to see who could tell the most offensive racist joke.

Yesterday an Oxford University spokesman said: ‘The university proctors, who are responsible for discipline, have been made aware of the [Oxford Student] article and will be considering whether there are grounds for further investigation.
‘The university strongly condemns any form of racism or discrimination.’
James Lawson, the current president of the Conservative Association who took over after the alleged racist singing took place, said he had started an investigation into the allegations.

He said: ‘If it turns out this person is a member we will take immediate action to expel them from the association. Racism has no place in the association or our society.’

Additional reporting by James Rothwell


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2057785/Oxford-Tory-song-salutes-Nazi-killings--Drunken-students-facing-inquiry.html#ixzz1cqjUZU4O

Tory cuts and English colonialism: The Problem Is Not Lack Of Money

An absolutely brilliant text produced as a leaflet for the Occupy protests from the blog Rebel Griot. Essential reading. Share far and wide...

Leaflet for the "Occupy" demonstrations
The problem is not lack of money

According to the Sunday Times “Rich List”, the 1000 wealthiest individuals in Britain increased their wealth by £60billion between May 2010 and April 2011. This is not on the back of economic growth; the economy, as we all know only too well, has been stagnant. Therefore, this money has come directly from other sections of society; a redistribution of wealth from the working and middle classes to the very richest (75% of British people saw their real incomes decline in the same time period). Warren Buffet, the world’s third richest man, put it very clearly: “It’s class warfare. But it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war. And we’re winning.”

Three years ago, the banks were bailed out with public money, to the tune of hundreds of billions of pounds. We are now told that we need to lose the bulk of our hard-won public services in order to pay off the huge debt this bailout incurred. Cameron said “frontline services” would not be affected, but this was a lie, as is now becoming more and more obvious. Bristol Council has already announced plans to close ten of its twelve residential nursing homes, and to abolish homecare services for the elderly completely. Even the NHS, who Cameron told us would be exempt from cuts, has now been told to find £20billion “efficiency savings”.


We are often told that there is “no alternative” to public spending cuts, because we need to “reduce the deficit”. This is nonsense. The total private wealth in Britain amounts to £9000 billion (£9 trillion). Just under half of this - £4trillion – is owned by the richest 10% of the population. A one-off wealth tax of just 20%, to be paid only by the richest 10%, would pay off the entire national debt of the country (£800billion) in one go. A Yougov poll commissioned by the Glasgow Media Group found that 74% of the British population supported this idea. But this alternative does not even get an airing anywhere in the mainstream media. Instead, we are told that public spending cuts are the only solution, despite the fact that they will not only cause misery and unemployment to millions, but will not even begin to pay off the national debt, and will in fact plunge the economy into an even deeper recession.

So why is the establishment (all three mainstream parties and the entire media circus) so committed to this path, and so deaf to the calls to do something to challenge the power of the banks? In a word, because they are all owned by the banks (in the case of the media) or sponsored by them (in the case of the politicians). They rely on them for election campaign donations and for advertising income. They will not bite the hand that feeds them. But they do not feed us; they rob us – and we most definitely should be biting their hand.

The problem is too much capital

So why do the banks want the government to close down all our public services? The big problem for the banks at the moment is that they have more money than they know what to do with. If money cannot be profitably invested, it loses its value. But in a recession, there are very few places to profitably invest. They are nervous of investing in the housing market, because another big crash is looming. There is no point investing in manufacturing (e.g. the car industry etc), because markets are already glutted- there are already too many products that cannot be sold. This is where public spending cuts come in. Cameron says he expects the private sector to step in where the public sector gets cuts back. Put into plain English, this means you will increasingly have to pay private companies to do what you used to get for free from the state (good quality schooling, weekly rubbish collections, a local library, decent healthcare provision, etc). All of this will open up whole new avenues of investment for those billionaires desperately looking for somewhere to invest their money, as once-public services are turned into profit-making concerns.

This is the first part of the strategy. The other big problem now facing the owners of massive wealth is that their use of the third world as a source of dirt cheap labour and raw materials is seriously threatened by the shifting balance of power in the world. For five hundred years, the ruling elites running the Western world have been able to use their overwhelming firepower and technical superiority to force their own terms of trade onto the nations they impoverished in Africa, Asia and Latin America. However, this period of history is now coming to an end with the rise of places like China, India and Brazil as powerful, economically developed countries. They are not only less reliant on the export markets of the West to sell their goods, but are also increasingly demanding higher wages and fairer prices for their raw materials – and giving a lead to the rest of the global South in doing so. This threatens the ability of the world’s richest to continue making money out of global poverty in the way they have been doing for generations.
All this is increasingly pushing the billionaire bankers and the governments to which they dictate policy in the direction of war. Only war can reverse the tide of economic development in the third world, and ultimately only war can destroy enough of the world’s surplus capital (products, housing, factories etc) to pave the way for a successful new round of profitable investment.

We have been here before. Capitalism always has periodic booms and crashes, but there have only been two crashes gigantic enough to bring about the near total collapse of the world economy similar to that we face today. The first was the “Great Depression” of 1870 – 1896, and the second the “Great Depression” of the 1930s. Both had the same causes as today’s crisis – the drying up of profitable avenues for investment – and both were ultimately ‘solved’ by colonialism and world war, the second of which was so successful a solution, that it paved the way for the “golden era” of capitalism – an unprecedented two-decade long boom period of growth based on rebuilding what had been destroyed in the world’s biggest ever mass slaughter.


This is the context in which we have to see Britain, the USA and France’s destruction of Libya. Anyone who thinks the British ruling class was momentarily distracted from dealing with its profitability crisis by a small group of Arabs in distress is living in cloud cuckoo land. 50,000 bombing raids were carried out against Libya, totally destroying huge swathes of advanced infrastructure, not to mention entire cities (in the case of Sirte) and at least 35,000 people. Within days of the conquest of Tripoli, Britain’s Defence Minister Philip Hammond was calling on British companies to “pack their suitcases and head for Libya” in search of the lucrative “reconstruction” contracts that will soon be dished out by NATO’s puppet government. Furthermore, in destroying Libya – a wealthy oil state which was continent’s leading force pushing for African unity and economic independence, and had $30billion set aside for African development and a new African currency – the old imperial states are intending to put the clock back on African development for generations. Most importantly of all, Libya will soon host the first sizable African base for the USA’s new AFRICOM section of the US army, set up in 2007 to invade African countries. This is part of the overall drive to use war in order to resolve this crisis of profitability, a war ultimately aimed at China, but likely to take in Syria, Iran, Algeria, South Africa and Venezuela along the way.

David Cameron is, for once, telling the truth, when he says “Whatever it takes to help our businesses take on the world – we’ll do it.” ‘Whatever it takes’ means not only the destruction of our public services; it also means the destruction of entire countries. We need to recognise that the attacks on public services and living standards here in Britain is part of a much bigger picture - the class warfare being waged by the rich against the poor, and especially against the most organised and independent sections of the third world. The constant warfare waged by the Western world for the last ten years has all been part of this struggle to maintain the class power and privilege of the dominant elites.

Their only solution is poverty and war

There are many in the third world who are resisting this onslaught, and we need to make common cause with them. When the next victim is being lined up for destruction by the media propaganda machine, we need to stand in solidarity with those under attack. We should learn the lessons of the destruction of Libya, a war which was sold to us with lies even more preposterous than those used to justify the destruction of Iraq. Do you remember the stories about 10,000 killed by Gaddafi in Benghazi? According to Amnesty International, the true figure was 110 - including those killed by the rebels - who we now know were armed from the first day of the insurrection. Do you remember the claims that Gaddafi was feeding his soldiers Viagra so they could carry out mass rape? Again, after looking into these allegations for months, Amnesty could not find a single credible case of rape by government troops. Do you remember the claims that Gaddafi had carried out aerial assaults against Tripoli? This too was false – as later verified by Russian satellite pictures. Do you remember the reports about rebel militias rounding up and lynching innocent African migrant workers by the dozen, from the very start of the revolt? Of course you don’t – although true, they were rarely reported. “But surely Gaddafi was a bad man” many people say. Even if this were true – and there are millions of Libyans who would dispute this – it is surely better to live in a functioning, peaceful and prosperous country with a bad leader, than in a dysfunctional wreck of a society like those that have been created in Iraq or Afghanistan.



But there is plenty of hope in the world. Latin America has been at the forefront of a successful, popular and organised rejection of the rape of their continent by the financial institutions of the Western world. Every major economy on the continent – with the sole exception of Colombia – is now governed by popular movements committed to the use of their natural wealth and labour to raise living standards for all, rather than simply as sources of profit for financial vampires. Venezuela’s slum dwellers now have free healthcare and education – and a constitution they actually helped to draft – for the first time ever. These governments have been involved in discussions with other independent-minded third world countries – including China, Iran and Libya before the invasion - about how to defend themselves against the war and poverty long imposed on them. We need to learn from and unite with these movements – and, above all, to reject any attempts by our own government to try to destroy them by force.

The views expressed here are only those of myself and (sadly!) do not necessarily represent those of the movement as a whole…

The Occupy movement provides a forum for all those disgusted with the exploitation, degradation and war they see being imposed by the world’s financial elites to come together and share their thoughts, analyses and strategies. Get involved and join the movement to end the dictatorship of capital.

The referendum no one is talking about

NEW STATESMAN

Scottish National Party Leader and Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, addresses the SNP conference. Photograph: Getty Images.

Posted by George Eaton - 25 October 2011 15:43
While Westminster is fixated on the EU, Scotland is moving ever closer to independence.


While the Tories have been warring over whether to hold a national vote on EU membership, Alex Salmond has been quietly devising his strategy for a different referendum. As the SNP leader confirmed at his party's conference last weekend, the ballot paper will contain two questions. The first will be a straight yes/no question on Scottish independence, the second will be on full fiscal autonomy or "devolution max" (devo max).

Aware that he may not be able to win a majority for independence, Salmond is attempting to ensure that the SNP ends up with a consolation prize. But no one should underestimate how radical a step fiscal autonomy would be. Scotland would win complete control over spending, borrowing and taxation, leaving Westminster in charge of foreign affairs and defence. In an ingenious move, Salmond is attempting to turn the SNP into the party of independence and the party of devolution. The distance between the two is smaller than some imagine. An independent Scotland would retain the Queen as its head of state, British military bases (although the Trident subs would go) and the pound until, in Salmond's words, "it was in Scotland's economic advantage to join the euro" (in other words, indefinitely).

However, there is every reason to believe that Scotland will vote for full independence in the second half of the five-year Holyrood parliament. The SNP has already amassed a £1m campaign war chest and the polls are moving its way. A ComRes survey published on 15 October showed that 49 per cent of Scots now favour independence, with just 37 per cent opposed. Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie posed the question: "What if devo max got 99 per cent 'yes' and one per cent 'no' in the vote while the independence option got 51 per cent 'yes' and 49 per cent 'no'?" But Salmond has already confirmed that a slim majority for independence will trump a large majority for devo max. A brilliant politician and strategist, he will wait until discontent with the Westminster coalition is at its height before calling a referendum.

Labour and the Tories, leaderless as they are in Scotland, are not even close to devising a strategy to combat Salmond. After the SNP's remarkable victory in May, David Cameron vowed to defend the United Kingdom with "every fibre in my body". But we've seen little evidence of that so far. As for Ed Miliband, he has largely avoided the subject since forgetting the name of one his party's leadership candidates (Ken Macintosh), even though Scottish independence would automatically strip his party of 41 seats. For now, all the momentum is with Salmond and the SNP. This must change. And soon.

English 'Til I Die - Al Jazeera World - Al Jazeera English

English 'Til I Die - Al Jazeera World - Al Jazeera English

New series on al Jazeera examining the rise of the fascist English Defence League.

Salmond defiant on Scottish army question

Scottish capital hails heroes who signed up to stop fascists

Volunteer nurse Annie Murray lays a wreath at the Spanish Civil War memorial in Princes Street Gardens in 1980

Published on Friday 14 October 2011 12:06

THE Capital will today mark the 75th anniversary of Scottish involvement in the Spanish Civil War.

Almost 600 brave Scots volunteered to fight the fascists for the republican cause during the 1936 to 1939 battle, many of them from Edinburgh who had never left the city before.

Around one third – up to 200 – lost their lives, and there are now no living Scottish volunteers.

A commemoration ceremony was to be held this afternoon at the Spanish Civil War memorial in East Princes Street Gardens, to which people were invited to bring flowers in the red, yellow and purple of the Spanish republic.

An event will also be held tonight to commemorate those who paid the ultimate sacrifice after leaving Scotland to fight – or nurse – in the war.

Co-organiser, Leith-based author, Daniel Gray said: “The people who fought in the war are heroes who deserve to be talked about and remembered. We can learn a lot from them – they were extremely gallant and bold people, and really inspirational.”

The Spanish Civil War started in July 1936 with large numbers of Scots travelling to Spain in October 1936. The conflict ended in April 1939. Today’s commemorative events focus on the start of the Scots going to Spain.

Tonight, Stories and Songs of Spain will take place at the Pilmeny Youth Centre in Leith from 7pm. The free event will feature live anti-fascist Spanish music from Gallo Rojo and a rare screening of a documentary, Scotland and the Spanish Civil War.

Daniel Gray will also read from his book, Homage to Caledonia, in which he traced the stories of the Scots who volunteered.

Among his discoveries were letters from 37-year-old Edinburgh shoe repairer Harold Fry’s wife following his death on the battlefields.

Mrs Fry, who was left a widow with a month-old baby her husband had never seen, wrote: “His experience of fascist methods of warfare and their brutal treatment of prisoners behind the lines only helped to strengthen his determination to carry on the fight until Franco, Hitler and Mussolini were beaten.”

City nurse Annie Murray was one of only a handful of Scottish women to serve in the war.

She left her career at the Royal Infirmary to volunteer in the British Medical Aid Committee. Near Barcelona, Annie saw young children blown to pieces by bombs dropped by Italian planes, disguised in sweet tins.

In a letter to her sister Agnes, she said: “The poor little mites of children picking up what they took to be the long-desired chocolate and quickly opening them were suddenly left handless, their faces burned beyond recognition.

“Nothing could surely be more brutal. What a bloody awful war this has been.”

Co-organiser of the commemorative events, city councillor Gordon Munro, said: “The contribution these people made was immense.

“You’re talking about ordinary working men and women going across to Spain and fighting.

“We were conscious that their contribution needed to be marked and remembered.”

laura.cummings@edinburghnews.com

http://www.scotsman.com/edinburgh-evening-news/edinburgh/around-the-capital/capital_hails_heroes_who_signed_up_to_stop_fascists_1_1910936#.TptMahT9MwM.facebook