0:00:08 > 0:00:12I'm Richard Harrington. I've been an actor for most of my life.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17I'm currently playing a detective in the BBC crime drama Hinterland.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21But there is one mystery that I've never been able to solve.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27It involves my grandfather, Timothy Harrington, a man I never knew.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34The story begins on the night of the 17th of April, 1937.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38While his wife and children were asleep, he crept downstairs,
0:00:38 > 0:00:41put a few things in a bag, and left.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47The only clue was a note saying, "Gone to Spain."
0:00:57 > 0:00:59My grandfather left Merthyr Tydfil,
0:00:59 > 0:01:01and with hundreds of other miners from Wales
0:01:01 > 0:01:05he travelled to Spain to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11Their aim - to fight tyranny, oppression,
0:01:11 > 0:01:14defend democracy and create a better world for all.
0:01:14 > 0:01:15GUNSHOT
0:01:18 > 0:01:20My grandfather was a man of action.
0:01:21 > 0:01:26He just knew that what was happening in Spain was fundamentally wrong,
0:01:26 > 0:01:28and he was going to do something about it.
0:01:28 > 0:01:34And that has a certain amount of zeal and conviction and passion.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38Perhaps I'll find a purpose for my passion and anger one day.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40HE CHUCKLES
0:01:43 > 0:01:47I've decided to follow the journey my grandfather took to Spain
0:01:47 > 0:01:49nearly 80 years ago.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55Where I hope to discover what really made him leave his home and his family
0:01:55 > 0:01:57to fight in another country's war.
0:02:19 > 0:02:20When I'm not away filming,
0:02:20 > 0:02:23I spend as much time as I can with my two boys Ralff and Ned.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27They know nothing about my grandfather Tim
0:02:27 > 0:02:30or what he stood for, but I'd really like them to.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37Tim lived and breathed politics,
0:02:37 > 0:02:40but like many of my generation I can take it or leave it.
0:02:43 > 0:02:48What I do know I learned from Tim's son, my uncle Illtyd Harrington,
0:02:48 > 0:02:51who became a leading light in the Labour Party of the 1970s and '80s,
0:02:51 > 0:02:54and was deputy leader of the Greater London Council.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58I envy Tim and Illtyd
0:02:58 > 0:03:01because they stood up for what they believed in.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07My grandfather kept diaries for most of his life
0:03:07 > 0:03:10and there is one that intrigues me more than more the others,
0:03:10 > 0:03:14the one from 1937, the year he left for Spain.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20I've started to look into the war he joined
0:03:20 > 0:03:23and at the propaganda that came from both sides.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35This slogan's for Spain.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39"None shall pass." Do you like them?
0:03:39 > 0:03:41- Yeah.- Which one's your favourite?
0:03:43 > 0:03:45- That one.- Why?
0:03:45 > 0:03:47- Hm?- Why?- Because people are dead.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49RICHARD LAUGHS
0:03:51 > 0:03:53Yeah, that's a nice one.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58My grandfather left his family to fight for a cause.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02I could never imagine doing such a thing.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07But his eyes had been opened and he could see no other way.
0:04:12 > 0:04:13Bye!
0:04:13 > 0:04:16- Bye!- Bye.- Bye.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34So why did the war in Spain happen?
0:04:34 > 0:04:38In February 1936, Spain had elected a left-wing government.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43They had radical plans to redistribute vast quantities of land
0:04:43 > 0:04:45and give it to the poor.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48This outraged the wealthy landowners and their supporters.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51In July of that year,
0:04:51 > 0:04:54with the backing of the Fascist party and the Catholic Church,
0:04:54 > 0:04:58the army led a coup d'etat against the democratically elected government.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05The eventual leader of this resistance, General Francisco Franco,
0:05:05 > 0:05:09saw right-wing dictatorship as the only way forward for Spain.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17This led to a civil war between the coalition of nationalists, fascists,
0:05:17 > 0:05:20and the Catholic Church against the people of Spain,
0:05:20 > 0:05:24who were supported by volunteers from all over the world
0:05:24 > 0:05:28who came together in what became known as the International Brigade.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36I've come to the Marx Memorial Library in Central London
0:05:36 > 0:05:39where some of the records of the International Brigade are held
0:05:39 > 0:05:42in the hope of finding an entry for my grandfather.
0:05:42 > 0:05:47The archivist Meirian Jump's grandfather was also an International Brigader.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54- Here we've got... - Timothy Harrington, yeah.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58Arrived in Spain 29th of May, 1937.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03"He's an outstanding case of a comrade who should never have gone
0:06:03 > 0:06:07"and been sent back, and one look by a doctor would have rejected him."
0:06:07 > 0:06:13I see, because he must've looked emaciated even prior to the war, I guess.
0:06:13 > 0:06:14"Tends to grumble."
0:06:14 > 0:06:17That's a Harrington trait.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20I'm quite proud of Tim, actually, for being grumbly because, I guess,
0:06:20 > 0:06:24you know, I mean, these are kind of characters that...
0:06:24 > 0:06:26have gone out from their own will,
0:06:26 > 0:06:28so they must be strong-minded people,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31they're not going to be pushed around lightly.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33So, the fact that he grumbles is a good thing, I guess.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35I bet he grumbled about a lot of stuff.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37But I think that's just...
0:06:37 > 0:06:40They are all very self-effacing men and they know what they want.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43We've had a few people come here, actually, who...
0:06:43 > 0:06:46You know, people just went off without telling anyone in their family.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48- Yeah, well, my grandfather did. - Yeah.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51He left a letter saying, "Gone to Spain."
0:06:51 > 0:06:54We had someone come in saying they'd gone to the grocery shop.
0:06:56 > 0:06:57In Spain!
0:06:58 > 0:07:00Is your grandfather in here?
0:07:00 > 0:07:02He's not on this list, no.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04We do have some records that relate to him, though.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06You do? What was his name, by the way?
0:07:06 > 0:07:07- Jimmy Jump.- Jimmy Jump?- Yeah.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13My God, I could see a play forming in my mind now.
0:07:15 > 0:07:20The largest grouping of British Brigaders were minors from South Wales.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24The recollections of some of them were captured on film.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27The night before we went,
0:07:27 > 0:07:30I took my daughter to bed.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32It was...
0:07:32 > 0:07:35I made the decision right then, you see,
0:07:35 > 0:07:38but I knew that once the die was cast I had to carry it through.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43I left home without saying a word to my father and mother.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46I asked for an early call in the morning to get me up in time
0:07:46 > 0:07:49and I left the house without a word to anyone.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51I hated fascism,
0:07:51 > 0:07:53I hated authoritarianism
0:07:53 > 0:07:57and I wanted to prevent a Second World War, if you like,
0:07:57 > 0:08:00and this was the reason I went to Spain.
0:08:00 > 0:08:05Then Meirian showed me some images that must have horrified Tim and others like him.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09They're of dead children who were bombed by the fascists.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11Oh, no!
0:08:11 > 0:08:12Oh, my God!
0:08:13 > 0:08:15Oh, no!
0:08:18 > 0:08:20Oh, dear God!
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Oh, my God! That's just heartbreaking.
0:08:28 > 0:08:29Children.
0:08:29 > 0:08:30Oh...
0:08:33 > 0:08:36"If you tolerate this, then your children will be next."
0:08:40 > 0:08:41Oh, this is just...
0:08:43 > 0:08:45Don't know what to say, really.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53I mean, these are the pictures,
0:08:53 > 0:08:55these are things that are happening today in our world
0:08:55 > 0:08:57and we're not seeing pictures of them.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04I mean, if I'd have been...
0:09:04 > 0:09:06you know, a young man with a young family...
0:09:08 > 0:09:11..living in a country where there was a threat of something
0:09:11 > 0:09:14that could take away our lives and our welfare...
0:09:15 > 0:09:19- And these photographs have obviously being released.- ..that would have...
0:09:19 > 0:09:21..that would have galvanised me to...
0:09:22 > 0:09:24..to do something about it, I guess.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33Tim and others like him felt compelled to act.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39But Britain and France had signed a pact of non-intervention
0:09:39 > 0:09:42making it illegal to travel to Spain to fight.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46Even getting out of the country would be a victory in itself.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52We went in twos to Victoria Station,
0:09:52 > 0:09:55got our weekend tickets and walked up and down.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58Suddenly, two big detectives come onto us.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00They had the usual big feet and they said,
0:10:00 > 0:10:02"We think you're going to Spain."
0:10:02 > 0:10:06I said, "We're going for a jolly weekend to Paris."
0:10:06 > 0:10:09He said, "I think you're going to Spain."
0:10:09 > 0:10:10I said, "No."
0:10:10 > 0:10:14"Well, you'd better be back on Monday or you'll be in trouble."
0:10:31 > 0:10:35Well, all his other diaries are pretty lucid and they flow very well.
0:10:36 > 0:10:41They don't just depict times and places, the people that he met,
0:10:41 > 0:10:43but they...
0:10:43 > 0:10:45express a feeling, you know, a consciousness.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47Whereas these are very cryptic in lots of ways.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53And I guess that was for the fear of capture
0:10:53 > 0:10:56because you can't really...
0:10:56 > 0:11:00Or he couldn't have really put down his actual thoughts.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02Just little...
0:11:02 > 0:11:06things that probably would have reminded him of how he was feeling at that time, you know?
0:11:06 > 0:11:11"Premium clothed, left our seating behind, climbed stairs."
0:11:11 > 0:11:13Not sure what that means yet.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15"Long dusty road to the opera."
0:11:15 > 0:11:18I'm sure he wasn't talking about Tosca.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29He wasn't a young man.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31He must've travelled with lots of young men. He was 35 years old.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35That was considered to be over the hill. We've read the archives,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38he wasn't well, he was emaciated, you know.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40The guy should have been holed up in bed, really,
0:11:40 > 0:11:44he shouldn't have been on a train, certainly not be travelling.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46That's stressful enough.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50But the will of some of these people is what we're talking about
0:11:50 > 0:11:53and that's what we're trying to find out, isn't it?
0:11:53 > 0:11:54It's what...
0:11:54 > 0:11:59What drives a person to leave their family
0:11:59 > 0:12:01to fight for a cause that...
0:12:03 > 0:12:05..we all should have been fighting for, really?
0:12:11 > 0:12:15Tim and his comrades then travelled by boat and train before finally
0:12:15 > 0:12:20arriving in Paris at 9:15pm on the 18th of April, 1937.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25There was still a real danger of them getting caught,
0:12:25 > 0:12:26arrested and sent home.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31Local communist agents were there to greet them
0:12:31 > 0:12:33and take them to safe houses.
0:12:35 > 0:12:40We'd been up all night, singing all the way over from England.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43We hadn't had any sleep.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46The instructions we had from the start, "Don't talk to anybody,
0:12:46 > 0:12:48"don't tell anybody where you're going."
0:12:48 > 0:12:50It was all very hush-hush.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54There were groups of people coming from other countries at the same time,
0:12:54 > 0:12:59and I found there was about 400-odd International Brigaders,
0:12:59 > 0:13:03if you like, or potential, at that time.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07I've arranged to meet up with Roberto,
0:13:07 > 0:13:11who's a member of the Friends of the Fighters in Republican Spain
0:13:11 > 0:13:15and whose grandfather was imprisoned for many years by General Franco.
0:13:15 > 0:13:16So when they arrived in Paris,
0:13:16 > 0:13:18how many nights would they have stayed here?
0:13:18 > 0:13:22It depends. It could be one week, two weeks, three weeks.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24It depends how...
0:13:25 > 0:13:27..the journey was prepared or not.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29But they were staying in hotels?
0:13:29 > 0:13:33- Hotels or...- Or with people? - With people, yes.
0:13:33 > 0:13:34- Families?- Yes, yes.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38Because a lot of these men had left their families. It must have been...
0:13:38 > 0:13:42No, you had a big...
0:13:42 > 0:13:46organisation here to receive the people.
0:13:46 > 0:13:52Control whatever there was any control to be done with their health,
0:13:52 > 0:13:54with their spirit or so.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58You have to remember also that at this time there was a lot of spies.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03When you think about it, it's amazing
0:14:03 > 0:14:06to go to a country that you don't know, you don't speak the language,
0:14:06 > 0:14:08you don't even know what's there.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10A lot of these people had never fought.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13- Never fought. They are pacifists. - Yeah.
0:14:13 > 0:14:14So what was the feeling then?
0:14:14 > 0:14:17I'm trying to engage with what the feeling was,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20the feeling of that dread of fascism,
0:14:20 > 0:14:24that notion that democracy was going to be crushed.
0:14:24 > 0:14:25What was that feeling,
0:14:25 > 0:14:29what was that tangible feeling that must have been so apparent in the air
0:14:29 > 0:14:31in France and across the world?
0:14:31 > 0:14:36No, it was apparent for the people who fought in Spain.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40But to leave your family, to leave your family to go to Spain.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44Where I was from, which was miles away, it was like Timbuktu,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47- it was another world.- When you ask these people this question,
0:14:47 > 0:14:49the Brigaders, the answer most of the time...
0:14:51 > 0:14:53.."I had to be there."
0:14:54 > 0:14:57Without sometimes too big an expression.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01So it was a strong feeling that we have to be there.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03- To our grandfathers?- Oh, yes.
0:15:05 > 0:15:06Thanks, Roberto.
0:15:12 > 0:15:13Under the cover of darkness,
0:15:13 > 0:15:18Tim and his fellow Brigaders came out of hiding from all corners of Paris
0:15:18 > 0:15:20and made their way to the train station.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23There were spies and police everywhere
0:15:23 > 0:15:26trying to spot volunteers leaving for Spain.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38Tim was getting further away from home
0:15:38 > 0:15:40and further away from his family,
0:15:40 > 0:15:44but, like many others, the need for justice drove him on.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59It must've been a hell of a sense of liberty to arrive in Paris
0:15:59 > 0:16:02and know that you've finally got an identity for your beliefs,
0:16:02 > 0:16:04you congregate in a place where...
0:16:06 > 0:16:09..kindred spirits are from all over the world
0:16:09 > 0:16:12and you've suddenly found something international to defeat...
0:16:13 > 0:16:17..a fascist state, by means of democracy.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20Extraordinary, extraordinary situation.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27I've always been told that my grandfather was a hard, uncompromising man.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32Born in Merthyr from Irish Catholic stock, he was an atheist,
0:16:32 > 0:16:38a coal miner, a champion boxer and a soldier who was gassed in the First World War.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42He married Sally and had five children, one of which was my father.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47The Depression of the 1930s brought unemployment
0:16:47 > 0:16:49and poverty to South Wales.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52Tim became a committed and radical communist
0:16:52 > 0:16:55and led a hunger march to London in 1934.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59He was then blacklisted and found work hard to come by.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03And it's difficult to imagine the frustration and anger he must have felt.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11I guess it's the spirit, the spirit of people, of working class-ness,
0:17:11 > 0:17:14is that people are happy to work for a shilling.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18But don't take away our liberty.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21I'd much rather live in a place where...
0:17:27 > 0:17:30There's something in here that equates to that.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33"I'd much rather live in a place where...
0:17:33 > 0:17:39"nobody called anyone Senor or Don, everyone called each other comrade."
0:17:39 > 0:17:40I'd much rather be there.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Equality is what it was about, I think.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50Tuesday, April the 20th, 1937.
0:17:50 > 0:17:55Tim arrived in Perpignan on the Spanish border at 9:30am.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02I have no idea how he must've felt walking these streets,
0:18:02 > 0:18:05knowing that he was about to join a war that was happening only a few
0:18:05 > 0:18:08kilometres away on the other side of the Pyrenees.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13By all accounts, this town hasn't really changed.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15Very peaceful, I guess.
0:18:15 > 0:18:20This would have been the last stop or a point of turning back
0:18:20 > 0:18:22if you had any doubts.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26He knew this was going to be really bloody, I think.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36The more I read his diaries, the more I feel almost similar to him.
0:18:36 > 0:18:37I've been writing stuff myself.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41And I'm a stickler for times and dates.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46And so was he. You know, it's in the blood, isn't it?
0:18:48 > 0:18:53There's an anger inside me as well, which I feel about the world.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56I don't know, I feel powerless as to what I can do about it.
0:18:56 > 0:19:01I guess I've got to make my home a good place, I think, and my children,
0:19:01 > 0:19:03instil goodness into them.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08Tim was a very angry man but, then,
0:19:08 > 0:19:11doing this journey, the reasons why we're doing it, you can see why.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14Angry men is what made this war happen.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18Angry men is what ultimately destroyed fascism
0:19:18 > 0:19:22and restored democracy. Angry men do that.
0:19:22 > 0:19:27So perhaps I'm an angry man, but I'm glad for it, really.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48Tim writes in his diary,
0:19:48 > 0:19:53"I climbed the stairs before taking the long, dusty road to the opera."
0:19:53 > 0:19:55Now I think I know what he meant.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58He was crossing the Pyrenees into war.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10Tim and his comrades were told of an old smugglers' route through the
0:20:10 > 0:20:14mountains that would give them a chance of reaching the safety of
0:20:14 > 0:20:18Republican-held Figueres on the north-eastern coast of Spain
0:20:18 > 0:20:20without getting captured or killed.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26The altitude and terrain would be difficult.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30Tim had been gassed in the First World War and had damaged his lungs.
0:20:31 > 0:20:32It would be a struggle.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44As it was getting late, about 5am, we were climbing a narrow track.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49The guide shouted, "Allez! Get moving, quick!"
0:20:49 > 0:20:54As we reached the top of the path, on the top was a stone monolith.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57On one side it said, "France."
0:20:57 > 0:20:59On the other side, "Espana."
0:20:59 > 0:21:02We were in Spain and we were in the Civil War.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14By the time Tim arrived in Spain,
0:21:14 > 0:21:18the Civil War had been going on for around nine months
0:21:18 > 0:21:20and tens of thousands had already died.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27Despite some military support from the Soviet Union,
0:21:27 > 0:21:31the Republicans were severely hindered by the international embargo,
0:21:31 > 0:21:35initiated by the British and French governments, which aimed to prevent weapons,
0:21:35 > 0:21:37soldiers and supplies from reaching them.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44Franco had made a covert pact with Hitler and Mussolini.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46They would supply him with substantial airpower,
0:21:46 > 0:21:48arms and troops.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53And the inferior arsenal of the Republicans were no match for
0:21:53 > 0:21:55the advanced weaponry of the Nationalists.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04After crossing the Pyrenees safely,
0:22:04 > 0:22:07Tim and his fellow Brigaders headed for an old military fort on
0:22:07 > 0:22:09the outskirts of Figueres.
0:22:09 > 0:22:15This was the main meeting point for the volunteers arriving in northern Spain.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18Men and women from all over the world congregated here,
0:22:18 > 0:22:22where they were given a uniform, a paybook, some very basic training
0:22:22 > 0:22:25and whatever weapons they could get their hands on.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36The first training we had was with wooden sticks.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40It was only two days before we had orders to move into action
0:22:40 > 0:22:42we were issued with rifles.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45We didn't fire the darn things because most of them wouldn't fire.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49The one I had, I think it had a barrel about four feet long.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52It might have been used by Napoleon in the
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Battle of Waterloo, for all I know.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59Franco's forces were made up of trained soldiers,
0:22:59 > 0:23:03police and troops from North Africa and the Foreign Legion.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07They had the latest weaponry, including tanks and bombers.
0:23:07 > 0:23:12The Republicans and the International Brigade were not nearly as well equipped.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21Tim writes in his diary about shooting an old gun and attending lectures
0:23:21 > 0:23:24on aerial bombardment in French, German and Spanish,
0:23:24 > 0:23:26and not understanding a single word.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32He receives the Merthyr Gazette,
0:23:32 > 0:23:35goes swimming in a lake and attends a May Day concert.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38But then he begins to lose sleep.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43He was an experienced soldier and knew the war was getting closer.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57The bars of Figueres would have been Tim's last chance of normality
0:23:57 > 0:23:59before being sent into battle.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06He writes in his diary about singing Republican songs and drinking cognac
0:24:06 > 0:24:08with Dave from New York.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13Listen, I'm a Harrington, do you know what I mean,
0:24:13 > 0:24:15of Irish stock.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19Harringtons are great drinkers, storytellers, raconteurs, you know.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23And even though the images I have of him are quite ghostly and emaciated
0:24:23 > 0:24:25and a bit withdrawn from life,
0:24:25 > 0:24:28I'm sure that's the direct effects of what he'd seen.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31I'm sure as a young man he was incredibly exciting.
0:24:31 > 0:24:36Must have been. Must've been full of humour, stories, history, passion.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38I imagine he was a very passionate man.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43He was also...
0:24:45 > 0:24:48Which I overlooked first of all when I read it because...
0:24:49 > 0:24:52..obviously you stick to the diary, but there's a lot of memoranda stuff
0:24:52 > 0:24:55in it, addresses in the back.
0:24:55 > 0:24:56It's all very exotic, you know?
0:24:56 > 0:25:01"L O'Toole from 858 West Side, Jersey, New York.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05"J Murphy, 505 West 43rd Street, New York."
0:25:05 > 0:25:07I mean, that's...
0:25:07 > 0:25:10It must have been exciting to write those addresses down and to feel a
0:25:10 > 0:25:13kinship with people that lived across the pond, you know.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17And there's stuff in the diary here as well about drinking champagne,
0:25:17 > 0:25:19and...
0:25:19 > 0:25:21It must have been a lot of
0:25:21 > 0:25:23comradeship and bravado.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28But the one thing in here is that
0:25:28 > 0:25:31it feels as if, and I'm not speaking out of turn,
0:25:31 > 0:25:34he remained very true to Sally.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38He writes to her, he talks of his disappointment of not receiving any letters.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42She was obviously not very happy with his decision to go.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46But a letter eventually does come,
0:25:46 > 0:25:50and I think he talks about going for a long walk
0:25:50 > 0:25:52as soon as he's read that letter.
0:26:13 > 0:26:14In his diary,
0:26:14 > 0:26:18there are references to him writing to Sally several times
0:26:18 > 0:26:20and that he was always waiting for a reply.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26He'd left Sally behind to look after
0:26:26 > 0:26:28the children with no means of support.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34Even though she publicly stood up for her husband against those in her
0:26:34 > 0:26:37community who hated the communists,
0:26:37 > 0:26:41privately she must have deeply resented the situation
0:26:41 > 0:26:43her husband had left her in.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48Life isn't black and white.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52It's a struggle to keep a family together.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55Guilt and shame is a useless, wasted emotion.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57You can't do anything with it.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00I think it's important to feel it,
0:27:00 > 0:27:02but to carry it with you does nothing...
0:27:04 > 0:27:05..nothing whatsoever for...
0:27:06 > 0:27:11..your welfare or for the people that you're responsible to.
0:27:12 > 0:27:17Tim was fighting a cause in Spain, but he was actually
0:27:17 > 0:27:21doing it for his home, his own children.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26That's what I'm learning. They were good people,
0:27:26 > 0:27:29and evil triumphs when good people do nothing.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39On the 3rd of June, 1937,
0:27:39 > 0:27:43Tim makes a note in his diary about going into battle in Madrid.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45He was there for ten days,
0:27:45 > 0:27:49but there are no details of his involvement in the battle.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58It was thought at the time that gaining control of the capital city
0:27:58 > 0:28:00would prove crucial to the outcome of the war.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05Franco decided to attack from the west.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07In his way was the University of Madrid.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11Members of the International Brigade joined students and Republican troops
0:28:11 > 0:28:14to try and defend the university buildings.
0:28:16 > 0:28:21To understand more about what happened here, I met with Almudena Cros,
0:28:21 > 0:28:23the president of the association of the friends of the International
0:28:23 > 0:28:27Brigade, who showed me evidence of the fighting that took place here
0:28:27 > 0:28:29during the early battles of Madrid.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34You have a combination of basically bullets and machine-gun fire.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37You have heavier-calibre weapons.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40You have here, you start seeing them.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43The sort of thing you'd normally see on the news in Syria or something.
0:28:43 > 0:28:48You wouldn't expect it to be in modern-day Spain,
0:28:48 > 0:28:52- even though this was over 80 years ago.- Mm-hm.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54So this is a piece of shrapnel, OK?
0:28:55 > 0:29:00- This is some of the pellets that would have been inside mortars. - Mm-hm.
0:29:00 > 0:29:02This is...
0:29:02 > 0:29:06- a live...- Bullet?- A bullet. Fascist bullet.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17So these guys are there kneeling,
0:29:17 > 0:29:19using the radiators and books,
0:29:19 > 0:29:21and, you know, sandbags and whatever.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24And they are fighting from the classrooms.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26When you think about the students these days,
0:29:26 > 0:29:28coming here to learn medicine,
0:29:28 > 0:29:32and this is a building that was the sight of a lot of injuries and a lot
0:29:32 > 0:29:35of deaths, it's very interesting.
0:29:35 > 0:29:38So the testimony in the journal of John Summerfield,
0:29:38 > 0:29:41it says in here, "It was almost done.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44"Shells were falling now and there was much shooting.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48"Machine guns stood by the doors and there were sandbag barricades.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50"The tile floor was thick with dirt and brick dust."
0:29:50 > 0:29:53So these guys are building barricades with books,
0:29:53 > 0:29:57and in the university library museum they have still some books.
0:29:57 > 0:30:02- Oh, my goodness!- So it's really interesting to kind of
0:30:02 > 0:30:04think about the attack on culture
0:30:04 > 0:30:07and the attack on universal education
0:30:07 > 0:30:09that these people were defending.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11How literature saved their lives in lots of ways.
0:30:11 > 0:30:13Exactly. German philosophy.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16- Germany philosophy, it saved them. - Yeah.
0:30:18 > 0:30:23The students and the Republicans held the university and the city,
0:30:23 > 0:30:26but it was still surrounded by fascist troops
0:30:26 > 0:30:28and Madrid was now under siege.
0:30:41 > 0:30:45On the outskirts of Madrid is the small village of Brunete.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49This was the location of one of the most crucial battles of the Civil War.
0:30:53 > 0:30:57The Republican Army hoped to strike a devastating blow to Franco's forces.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02Tim was part of the 15th International Brigaders,
0:31:02 > 0:31:05who made their way here in July 1937.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19A few days before the battle,
0:31:19 > 0:31:23Tim writes in his diary that he dreams of his young son Illtyd running towards him,
0:31:23 > 0:31:25and just before they embrace,
0:31:25 > 0:31:29he wakes up to find himself not at home in Merthyr Tydfil,
0:31:29 > 0:31:31but in Spain and about to go into battle.
0:31:41 > 0:31:45All your politics has to be done before you arrive, so the thing,
0:31:45 > 0:31:49the most natural thing to do is to go over the top and do it,
0:31:49 > 0:31:51you know.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53He was a man of action.
0:31:53 > 0:31:54He did it.
0:31:59 > 0:32:03The Republican troops made their way towards the front line.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06The Nationalist troops were significantly outnumbered,
0:32:06 > 0:32:10but they were better trained and had the support of superior German airpower.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17The ultimate aim of the Republicans was to gain control of the area
0:32:17 > 0:32:19and cut off supplies to the Nationalists,
0:32:19 > 0:32:21who were besieging the capital.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25But to succeed, they would have to capture the two small villages of
0:32:25 > 0:32:29Brunete and Villanueva de la Canada.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31It would be a bloody battle.
0:32:39 > 0:32:43Two local historians, Ernesto Vinas and Sven Tuytens,
0:32:43 > 0:32:45have studied the Battle of Brunete in detail.
0:32:47 > 0:32:48So, paint a picture for me now -
0:32:48 > 0:32:52if we were stood here in 1937 on July the 6th,
0:32:52 > 0:32:54what would we be looking at now?
0:32:54 > 0:32:58Well, the first day of the offensive they reached Brunete,
0:32:58 > 0:33:01that's the village beyond Villanueva de la Canada.
0:33:01 > 0:33:05So the troops that attacked Brunete, they reached their objectives.
0:33:05 > 0:33:07The problem was, Villanueva de la Canada,
0:33:07 > 0:33:11they thought it would fall like Brunete, but it didn't fall.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17There was a small village before reaching Brunete,
0:33:17 > 0:33:19and I remember we got into that village
0:33:19 > 0:33:21and there were women and children
0:33:21 > 0:33:23lying about in the streets being killed,
0:33:23 > 0:33:26and you had to get used to this kind of thing.
0:33:26 > 0:33:30And then to get used to seeing your own colleagues being wiped out.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37One man on the right, who was very tall, he was about 6'2",
0:33:37 > 0:33:39a shell came and blew his head off,
0:33:39 > 0:33:42and he was still walking for the next 20 or 30 yards.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50This is also one of the first times that the Germans,
0:33:50 > 0:33:53the German aeroplanes, dropped napalm.
0:33:55 > 0:33:56So everything here was...
0:33:56 > 0:33:58Blown.
0:33:58 > 0:33:59- ..was on fire.- On fire, yeah.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03We have testimonies of Brigaders that are telling us that
0:34:03 > 0:34:06the soles of their shoes were melting down.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10This delay in the taking of these two small villages allowed
0:34:10 > 0:34:13the Nationalists to bring in reinforcements,
0:34:13 > 0:34:16which enabled them to overpower the Republican Army.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23The fascist planes and tanks were everywhere.
0:34:23 > 0:34:27Their mortars rained destruction everywhere. It was absolute hell.
0:34:31 > 0:34:33Despite being under constant attack,
0:34:33 > 0:34:36Tim and his fellow soldiers fought on.
0:34:36 > 0:34:41In his diary, he gives a typical factual description of his involvement in the battle.
0:34:41 > 0:34:47"Left wood at 3am, advanced at 5am, went over the top at 12."
0:34:55 > 0:34:59There is one final entry for the 6th of July 1937.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02It simply says, "Collapsed."
0:35:18 > 0:35:20This is the actual field where Tim's war came to an end.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27Today there are no signs of the horrific battle that took place here
0:35:27 > 0:35:29nearly 80 years ago.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34It must've been a very frightening thing for him.
0:35:34 > 0:35:37I mean, he comes out all this way, he trains for...
0:35:38 > 0:35:43..almost two months in order to start this offensive
0:35:43 > 0:35:45and he doesn't get shot,
0:35:45 > 0:35:48there's no glory in it, he's exhausted
0:35:48 > 0:35:50because he's a 35-year-old man
0:35:50 > 0:35:54with half his lung capacity working and not very well.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57It must've been a devastating moment for him, you know.
0:35:57 > 0:35:59I think he probably would have liked to have gone on.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03I'm sure Tim would have stayed for three years, if he had the choice.
0:36:03 > 0:36:04He was just old and frail.
0:36:08 > 0:36:11Ernesto and Sven have found a record of what happened to Tim
0:36:11 > 0:36:13after he left the battlefield.
0:36:16 > 0:36:17We have a surprise for you.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19It's our homework we've done.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22Look, page three and read at the top.
0:36:25 > 0:36:26Harrington...
0:36:26 > 0:36:30This is a list of the 5th Brigade,
0:36:30 > 0:36:34of the 15th Brigade, and it's a list of casualties.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37So, Harrington.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40Tim, Tom,
0:36:40 > 0:36:44English, 16th battalion,
0:36:44 > 0:36:47was hospitalised in Madrid.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50Yes, and the day fits absolutely, July the 7th.
0:36:50 > 0:36:52- With his diary.- Yeah.
0:36:52 > 0:36:56He's hit the 6th, and he's listed here the 7th.
0:36:56 > 0:36:58- So it is the same person. - And it says here, doesn't it,
0:36:58 > 0:37:00"I arrive in hospital..."
0:37:00 > 0:37:02"I arrive in hospital on the 7th,"
0:37:02 > 0:37:04and the official document says the same.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06And here you have the name of the hospital.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09- The name of the hospital.- Madrid.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12And here you have all the names of his company
0:37:12 > 0:37:14- who were...- That joined him.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17Who joined him in hospitals, different hospitals.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21- Oh, my goodness! - This is all casualties.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24Well, it's great because...
0:37:24 > 0:37:27I'm glad he was sick so there's a record of him.
0:37:27 > 0:37:32- I'm sure there's probably lots of people that went home that didn't have that, right?- Yes.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35It's kind of an honour to be on this, is it?
0:37:35 > 0:37:36Thanks, guys.
0:37:39 > 0:37:40Thank you very much.
0:37:47 > 0:37:52The fighting continued for almost 19 days, with nearly 40,000 casualties,
0:37:52 > 0:37:54the majority of which were Republican soldiers.
0:37:56 > 0:37:58The International Brigade was virtually annihilated.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01It was a massacre.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07The men destroyed here came from all over the world,
0:38:07 > 0:38:1135,000 of them, and we should, you know...
0:38:11 > 0:38:13What have they got to show for it?
0:38:15 > 0:38:19Their aim was to capture that town and to restore democracy.
0:38:19 > 0:38:21The sad thing is that, you know,
0:38:21 > 0:38:26here we are 80 years later and there are still Francoites out there,
0:38:26 > 0:38:28still protecting his name.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31That angers me, that makes me feel angry.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43Tim would spend two weeks in the hospital in Madrid
0:38:43 > 0:38:46before beginning his long journey home to Wales.
0:38:47 > 0:38:53The war raged on. Tens of thousands continued to die on both sides.
0:38:53 > 0:38:58Towns and villages all over Spain were either destroyed or left in ruins.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10Belchite is one such place.
0:39:42 > 0:39:44I know I asked a question earlier about...
0:39:46 > 0:39:50..was there any point dragging up a war that happened 80 years ago?
0:39:51 > 0:39:54And yet we find ourselves in the middle of southern, you know,
0:39:54 > 0:39:57the middle of Spain,
0:39:57 > 0:40:02a town that was hammered during the Spanish Civil War by...
0:40:06 > 0:40:12..the fascist army and democratic army, and yet it's been preserved.
0:40:14 > 0:40:16By which side, I don't know.
0:40:18 > 0:40:19But there must be a reason for that.
0:40:19 > 0:40:21To remind everyone of what it was about.
0:40:23 > 0:40:25I guess there is a reason to...
0:40:26 > 0:40:28..to not forget the past.
0:40:31 > 0:40:33It's quite eerie, but quite beautiful as well.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42It was up to Belchite.
0:40:42 > 0:40:44We'd captured the small town,
0:40:44 > 0:40:48but 500 fascists had made a fortress out of the church,
0:40:48 > 0:40:50so they wouldn't surrender.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54So we had to make them surrender, and we had to blow out the church.
0:40:54 > 0:40:59When I looked at the churches that we had to destroy or damage very badly,
0:40:59 > 0:41:02it always hurt me, and indeed any building,
0:41:02 > 0:41:04because some of the buildings were very beautiful,
0:41:04 > 0:41:06and churches in particular.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08There was...
0:41:08 > 0:41:11a feeling that I was doing the wrong thing.
0:41:11 > 0:41:15But, you see, the fascists used these churches as fortifications.
0:41:15 > 0:41:22This young lad, he told me that the local Father was a member of
0:41:22 > 0:41:25the fascist party. When the hostilities broke out,
0:41:25 > 0:41:29he had got them into the church tower and he was shooting at the women
0:41:29 > 0:41:33and children where they draw water from and do their washing.
0:41:35 > 0:41:40And two brothers went up into the tower and they caught this priest,
0:41:40 > 0:41:44they put the rope around his neck and threw him out.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46His head was on the rope and his body was on the floor.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58Franco and his army, with the help of Germany and Italy,
0:41:58 > 0:42:01eventually defeated the Republican forces.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06Over half a million would die.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24Juan Simon is in charge of protecting the ruins of Belchite.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29In the years of Franco,
0:42:29 > 0:42:33this is a place only for the Francoists,
0:42:33 > 0:42:41for the fallen of the National Army and the National...the rebels.
0:42:43 > 0:42:48This cross doesn't look like it's survived the war,
0:42:48 > 0:42:50it feels as if it's a monument...
0:42:50 > 0:42:54- Si, yeah. - ..that was placed after the war.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58- Is that true?- It's a symbol of the Nationalist government,
0:42:58 > 0:43:00the Francoist regime.
0:43:00 > 0:43:01There's something very similar...
0:43:01 > 0:43:04Only for the fallen of one side, one side.
0:43:04 > 0:43:08All the monuments made...
0:43:09 > 0:43:15..in this period were only for one side, the Francoist side, of course.
0:43:15 > 0:43:19So the suggestion that God was only on one side.
0:43:19 > 0:43:23Mm-hm. Because the nature of
0:43:23 > 0:43:28the regime is very segregationist, I think.
0:43:28 > 0:43:34So the Republic offensive was a direct attack on God.
0:43:34 > 0:43:37On God, maybe, yeah.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40For the Francoists, for the rebels, yeah.
0:43:42 > 0:43:43Mm-hm.
0:43:45 > 0:43:47RICHARD SIGHS
0:43:47 > 0:43:48Jesus, man.
0:43:48 > 0:43:52Franco kept this place because he wanted to remind his people of
0:43:52 > 0:43:54what he did, how he saved them from...
0:43:56 > 0:43:58..a democratic rule.
0:44:01 > 0:44:04The paradox is he was oppressing them, suppressing them.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10You know, part of me thinks that they should really just flatten it, really.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16I didn't find any comfort while I was there, it's a horrible place.
0:44:23 > 0:44:25In the years immediately after the war,
0:44:25 > 0:44:29Francisco Franco ordered the execution of over 100,000 people.
0:44:31 > 0:44:33With the support of the Catholic Church,
0:44:33 > 0:44:37tens of thousands of children were forcibly taken from their parents
0:44:37 > 0:44:39and given to pro-Franco families.
0:44:41 > 0:44:45As the Cold War escalated, and with the threat of communism looming,
0:44:45 > 0:44:50Franco was now regarded as a key ally by most Western governments,
0:44:50 > 0:44:51including the UK.
0:44:56 > 0:44:59He would reign as a dictator for another 36 years,
0:44:59 > 0:45:01until his death in 1975.
0:45:07 > 0:45:13Julen Robles is a Basque film producer that helped with the making of this documentary.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16To understand the effect the reign of Franco has had on the Spanish people,
0:45:16 > 0:45:19and on Julen himself,
0:45:19 > 0:45:22he wanted to take me to a place called the Valley of the Fallen,
0:45:22 > 0:45:24where Franco's body was laid to rest.
0:45:27 > 0:45:32Franco killed hundreds of thousands of people after the war.
0:45:32 > 0:45:36The police would arrive in the night-time and they'll say,
0:45:36 > 0:45:39"No, we're taking you for a walk," and disappear.
0:45:41 > 0:45:46Spain is the second country in the world with more people disappeared
0:45:46 > 0:45:52just after Cambodia. There's 150,000 people disappeared,
0:45:52 > 0:45:56mostly in the sides of the roads.
0:45:56 > 0:46:00They will, boom, kill them and bury somewhere.
0:46:00 > 0:46:05- Really?- Yeah. There are 150,000 people still have not been found
0:46:05 > 0:46:08and the government is not helping at all.
0:46:08 > 0:46:10Why, why aren't they excavating these mass graves,
0:46:10 > 0:46:12why aren't they finding them?
0:46:13 > 0:46:18Because all the democracy in Spain is built over the silence.
0:46:20 > 0:46:24Let the time pass and let the people forget.
0:46:24 > 0:46:25But people is not forgetting
0:46:25 > 0:46:28because it's difficult to forget when your family was killed.
0:46:31 > 0:46:33This will happen again.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36I don't know if it's going to be in Spain or in Germany
0:46:36 > 0:46:40or in Greece or in Poland, I don't know, but this will happen again
0:46:40 > 0:46:45because we're not thinking for ourselves.
0:46:50 > 0:46:52JULEN MUTTERS IN SPANISH
0:46:54 > 0:46:58People need more culture, more knowledge, to understand
0:46:58 > 0:47:01that this cannot happen again.
0:47:01 > 0:47:05In Spain, it happened in Spain, it could happen everywhere, everywhere.
0:47:35 > 0:47:37Fascists still come here,
0:47:37 > 0:47:39on a pilgrimage to pay homage to the great leader
0:47:39 > 0:47:42Generalissimo Francisco Franco.
0:47:44 > 0:47:48So what is your...? What is your T-shirt, what do they mean?
0:47:48 > 0:47:50Can you explain to us what it means?
0:47:50 > 0:47:54THEY SPEAK SPANISH
0:47:54 > 0:47:56The legend...
0:47:59 > 0:48:01Here it says,
0:48:01 > 0:48:03"This is my flag."
0:48:03 > 0:48:05What is the flag?
0:48:05 > 0:48:09- The flag is the Francoist flag.- OK.
0:48:09 > 0:48:10HE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:48:10 > 0:48:17And this is, the legend is a battalion of the Spanish army.
0:48:17 > 0:48:19MAN SPEAKS SPANISH
0:48:19 > 0:48:24They are a very strong, right-wing battalion inside the Spanish army.
0:48:24 > 0:48:28What do you think about what Franco would want now?
0:48:28 > 0:48:31Would you like to see somebody like him reign again in Spain?
0:48:31 > 0:48:36THEY SPEAK SPANISH
0:48:40 > 0:48:42Yeah, hopefully...
0:48:42 > 0:48:43SHE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:48:43 > 0:48:48Hopefully will, someone like him, at least a year,
0:48:48 > 0:48:50just to restore things again.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53Do you think Spain should be an inclusive place for everybody?
0:48:53 > 0:48:56Any colour, any creed, any religion?
0:48:56 > 0:48:58HE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:49:01 > 0:49:03- No.- No.- No.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06- No.- No.
0:49:06 > 0:49:08Who is not welcome?
0:49:08 > 0:49:13THEY SPEAK SPANISH
0:49:13 > 0:49:16Islamists are not welcome.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19THEY SPEAK SPANISH
0:49:19 > 0:49:22They don't come to work, they come to robbery.
0:49:22 > 0:49:25HE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:49:25 > 0:49:28No people from South America, people from Morocco,
0:49:28 > 0:49:31they would rather not to be there.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34- They prefer European people.- OK.
0:49:35 > 0:49:37OK, great, thank you so much.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40THEY SPEAK SPANISH
0:49:53 > 0:49:56I don't know what to say, really.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58- They're fascist.- Yeah.
0:50:02 > 0:50:04I mean, the thing about it is,
0:50:04 > 0:50:08the cold front of it is they appear to be as normal as you.
0:50:08 > 0:50:12And they have their opinions and their ideology's one thing.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15I don't feel any anger towards them at all.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17It's their opinion, they're in love
0:50:17 > 0:50:22and it's what they believe in. But, you know,
0:50:22 > 0:50:25I don't know what a collective noun of all those people are called,
0:50:25 > 0:50:29but I can certainly think of a couple of things.
0:50:29 > 0:50:31I don't know, I'm lost for words, really.
0:50:34 > 0:50:37I should really hate everything that they stand for,
0:50:37 > 0:50:40but they seem like amiable people.
0:50:40 > 0:50:44But their politics is dangerous, I believe. It's...
0:50:47 > 0:50:48They're not a democratic...
0:50:48 > 0:50:51They don't believe in a democratic system, so...
0:51:01 > 0:51:06You saw how emotional Julen was in the car arriving here.
0:51:10 > 0:51:13He had some pent-up anger, and I'm feeling a little bit like that now,
0:51:13 > 0:51:15to be honest.
0:51:15 > 0:51:17Is this what all those people died for, for this?
0:51:20 > 0:51:23It's quite sad, really. I think I want to smash it down.
0:51:25 > 0:51:27It's not a symbol of freedom.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31It's not a symbol of democracy
0:51:31 > 0:51:35because we've been followed up here by skinheads in cars as well.
0:51:38 > 0:51:41This is a huge echo to hate and hatred.
0:51:41 > 0:51:42This isn't...
0:51:43 > 0:51:47This isn't what all those people came out here to fight for.
0:51:47 > 0:51:50This is the sunny Spain, the viva espana that you don't see
0:51:50 > 0:51:53when you fly over here and go to the beaches.
0:51:55 > 0:51:57This is quite sickly, I think.
0:52:02 > 0:52:06Populated the world with hatred, not with love.
0:52:06 > 0:52:08There's no love here at all.
0:52:09 > 0:52:14I feel sorry for the bloke in his mother's arms there.
0:52:15 > 0:52:19But is that how you portray it, a Christ as colourful as he was?
0:52:19 > 0:52:20Grey?
0:52:20 > 0:52:23Is that how you portray a symbol of love?
0:52:25 > 0:52:26No.
0:52:28 > 0:52:30No. This isn't how I was raised.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34This isn't part of my ideology.
0:52:34 > 0:52:37It's beautiful to see those people over there with red and yellow
0:52:37 > 0:52:39and pink and vibrant colours.
0:52:39 > 0:52:41Look at it. Look.
0:52:41 > 0:52:43Almost out of place, children.
0:52:43 > 0:52:46They have no idea where they're coming.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49I hope their teacher educates them.
0:52:51 > 0:52:55It's nice to hear children's laughter here, isn't it?
0:52:55 > 0:52:58That is wonderful, that makes me want to weep.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06Yes, that's what it should be, this.
0:53:06 > 0:53:08That sound is what it should be.
0:53:09 > 0:53:10Laughter.
0:53:12 > 0:53:14Have a good laugh at him.
0:53:23 > 0:53:25Terrible.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32It's weird. I didn't expect that.
0:53:40 > 0:53:43And what do they know about General Franco?
0:53:43 > 0:53:44JULEN SPEAKS SPANISH
0:53:44 > 0:53:46TRANSLATION:
0:54:09 > 0:54:12What do you think works, democracy or dictatorship?
0:54:12 > 0:54:15THEY SPEAK SPANISH
0:54:15 > 0:54:17- ALL:- Democracia!
0:54:17 > 0:54:19Can we make this place echo with that word?
0:54:19 > 0:54:20Yeah, OK.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23- JULEN SPEAKS SPANISH - One, two, three.
0:54:23 > 0:54:26- KIDS SHOUT:- Democracia!
0:55:03 > 0:55:06Over 40 years after the death of Franco,
0:55:06 > 0:55:10Spain and its people are still trying to deal with the ghosts of the past.
0:55:14 > 0:55:16But there is hope for reconciliation.
0:55:19 > 0:55:23A new political party, Podemos, which means simply "we can",
0:55:23 > 0:55:27have caught the imagination of sections of the Spanish people.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33Their message is one of fresh hope for the future,
0:55:33 > 0:55:35and an inclusive and peaceful Spain.
0:55:44 > 0:55:46Nearly 80 years ago,
0:55:46 > 0:55:49Tim decided to make a stand against an evil ideology.
0:55:52 > 0:55:56But fascism would eventually lead to the Second World War,
0:55:56 > 0:55:57costing millions of lives.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04Throughout Europe, and even on our own doorstep,
0:56:04 > 0:56:07the far right are on the rise once again.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10We can't afford to ignore what's happening
0:56:10 > 0:56:14because all it takes for evil to triumph is for good men and women
0:56:14 > 0:56:16to do nothing.
0:56:29 > 0:56:34When Tim returned to Merthyr Tydfil on 13th September, 1937,
0:56:34 > 0:56:35there was no hero's welcome.
0:56:37 > 0:56:39But Sally was there.
0:56:42 > 0:56:45She'd come to understand that once his eyes had been opened,
0:56:45 > 0:56:46there was no other way.
0:56:49 > 0:56:53Tim and Sally both died in 1973, six months apart.
0:56:56 > 0:56:59My boys will now know who their great-grandparents were
0:56:59 > 0:57:03and what they sacrificed to try and make a better world for them.
0:57:06 > 0:57:08My father pointed out to me one day that...
0:57:10 > 0:57:14..his dad used to like coming to sit at this tree occasionally, as well.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17So it's become sort of symbolic to me, really.
0:57:19 > 0:57:22Some of my grandfather's ashes were actually scattered around this area,
0:57:22 > 0:57:26and I've been carrying Uncle Illtyd with me today.
0:57:26 > 0:57:31And I feel it's only appropriate to put some of Illtyd here, too.
0:57:31 > 0:57:37This tree has become inherently symbolic of who my grandfather was.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40And now I bring my own kids here.
0:57:40 > 0:57:44You know, they run around this place, but it's embedding into them now,
0:57:44 > 0:57:48not just historically, but it's the future as well.
0:57:48 > 0:57:49It's a place where...
0:57:50 > 0:57:52..you just come and feel a belonging to who you are
0:57:52 > 0:57:54and what you are and where you came from.
0:57:57 > 0:58:01Well, yeah, like it or lump it, boys, I mean,
0:58:01 > 0:58:05yeah, I guess I'm doing this to pass it onto them,
0:58:05 > 0:58:07for them to pass it on to their children.
0:58:07 > 0:58:10I think those things are really important.
0:58:10 > 0:58:12And this will become a symbol of something else to them, really.
0:58:12 > 0:58:16But as long as it's here, I'll still be here.
0:58:18 > 0:58:20- Innit?- Yeah.