0:00:15 > 0:00:18They came in 1937.
0:00:18 > 0:00:204,000 Basque children fleeing the
0:00:20 > 0:00:22horrors of the Spanish Civil War.
0:00:24 > 0:00:25Many were on their own,
0:00:25 > 0:00:27some were as young as five.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32It was the largest contingent of refugees ever to land in Britain,
0:00:32 > 0:00:35the first to consist solely of children.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41Earlier this year, the survivors met in Southampton to celebrate
0:00:41 > 0:00:43the 75th anniversary of their arrival.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47It was their last reunion, as many are now too old
0:00:47 > 0:00:48and frail to attend.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53This programme is one of the last commemorations to take place,
0:00:53 > 0:00:57an opportunity to witness the event through the eyes of refugees
0:00:57 > 0:00:59who stayed.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01The British Government didn't want them.
0:01:01 > 0:01:02Only under extreme pressure,
0:01:02 > 0:01:06did they allow them in and refused to help them financially.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08But ordinary people had more compassion, much more,
0:01:08 > 0:01:12and the children who arrived in Wales received a huge
0:01:12 > 0:01:14welcome from miners and their
0:01:14 > 0:01:16families who were desperately
0:01:16 > 0:01:18poor and hungry themselves.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20It is one of the most remarkable
0:01:20 > 0:01:23and telling moments in the story of Wales,
0:01:23 > 0:01:26and yet, today, it's been largely forgotten.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48SHIP'S HORN BLASTS
0:01:50 > 0:01:53About 50 of the children came here, to Newport station.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58There was a festive feel on that Saturday in early July in 1937.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02The station itself was decked out with bunting, left over
0:02:02 > 0:02:06from the coronation of King George VI a few weeks earlier.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09This carnival atmosphere stood in contrast to
0:02:09 > 0:02:11the mood of the refugees.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21Many of them were traumatised by the terrors of war,
0:02:21 > 0:02:23by being separated from their parents.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35The children had witnessed the birth of a new form of warfare -
0:02:35 > 0:02:37mass terror from the air.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44A few weeks before, the Basque town of Guernica had, in effect,
0:02:44 > 0:02:47been carpet bombed by German and Italian aircraft under
0:02:47 > 0:02:51the command of General Franco, who led a military revolt
0:02:51 > 0:02:55against the democratically elected Republican government of Spain.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02It was one of the first raids in aviation
0:03:02 > 0:03:05history on a defenceless civilian population.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Guernica was bombed into oblivion.
0:03:11 > 0:03:12With Franco and his forces
0:03:12 > 0:03:15getting nearer to Bilbao by the day,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18many Basque parents made the agonising decision
0:03:18 > 0:03:20to send their children abroad.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27Only children between five and 15 were eligible.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31For some, it was the last time they saw their parents.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36In this programme, we tell the story of three who came to Wales.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41Josefina Savery, 14 when she arrived,
0:03:41 > 0:03:43and now nearly 90, who lives
0:03:43 > 0:03:45in Risca, has raised a family there,
0:03:45 > 0:03:47and never saw her father again.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50Her brother Gerard, seven years younger,
0:03:50 > 0:03:52who lives on the Welsh Borders,
0:03:52 > 0:03:55and has rejected the chance to be a Spanish citizen.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59And Jose Armolea, an 11-year-old refugee.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02The memory of saying goodbye to his mother, 75 years ago, still
0:04:02 > 0:04:04haunts him.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06I said goodbye to her...
0:04:06 > 0:04:09in 1937...
0:04:09 > 0:04:11and never saw her again.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14And that...
0:04:16 > 0:04:18that hurts me very much.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23That's a feeling that I will always remember,
0:04:23 > 0:04:26even at my silly age of 87.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28A man crying because of his mother,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31but I never saw her again.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43They said goodbye to us at the station, in Bilbao, so you can
0:04:43 > 0:04:46imagine it was a very harrowing experience,
0:04:46 > 0:04:48just to say goodbye.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51It was the last time I saw my father.
0:04:55 > 0:04:56The Habana, a cruise ship
0:04:56 > 0:04:58designed to carry 400 passengers,
0:04:58 > 0:05:00carried 10 times that number
0:05:00 > 0:05:03across a stormy Bay of Biscay to Southampton.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07Under pressure from public opinion, the British Government
0:05:07 > 0:05:09belatedly agreed to allow nearly
0:05:09 > 0:05:124,000 children to enter the UK.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16But only if they were paid for and looked after by volunteers.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20It was a difficult journey in more ways than one.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25The journey was absolutely horrendous.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29The Bay of Biscay is one of the worst places in the world, I think.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31The ship was rocking,
0:05:31 > 0:05:34it was dreadful.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36I was terribly sick.
0:05:36 > 0:05:37I lost my bunk,
0:05:37 > 0:05:42and I spent my time leaning overboard, I think.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46- REPORTER:- The best foreign news of the week,
0:05:46 > 0:05:48from the horrors of civil war, to the peace of England,
0:05:48 > 0:05:50come 4,000 Basque children,
0:05:50 > 0:05:54refugees from the scenes of bombing and bloodshed at Bilbao.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56When the ship docked at Southampton,
0:05:56 > 0:05:57the mood combined relief,
0:05:57 > 0:06:00sadness, apprehension and excitement.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06First stop was a reception camp at Southampton,
0:06:06 > 0:06:08hastily constructed out of bell tents.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14For many, it seemed like a Boy Scout and Girl Guide adventure,
0:06:14 > 0:06:16and there were regular meals,
0:06:16 > 0:06:19unlike the starvation rations the children had been used to at home.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30When Bilbao fell to Franco a few weeks later,
0:06:30 > 0:06:31the children were deeply traumatised,
0:06:31 > 0:06:33and fearful for their parents.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43After about a month, the children were dispersed to more suitable
0:06:43 > 0:06:45accommodation throughout the UK
0:06:45 > 0:06:47and about 200 came to Wales,
0:06:47 > 0:06:50to Caerleon, Swansea, Brechfa in Carmarthenshire
0:06:50 > 0:06:53and Old Colwyn in North Wales.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Indeed, the children chosen to come to Wales had been told they were
0:07:00 > 0:07:02lucky, because the Welsh were so
0:07:02 > 0:07:05supportive of the Republican cause.
0:07:05 > 0:07:06This is Hywel Davies.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09Hywel, can you describe the scene here?
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Yes, the great and good of Wales were here.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14Almost everybody who was anybody in Welsh society was
0:07:14 > 0:07:16gathered on this platform.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18You had people from academia,
0:07:18 > 0:07:20you had an MP from Pontypool,
0:07:20 > 0:07:23Arthur Jenkins, who was the father of Roy Jenkins,
0:07:23 > 0:07:25and you had people from trade unions,
0:07:25 > 0:07:27you had people from the business world,
0:07:27 > 0:07:30they were all here to welcome the children.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33Do we know how the children reacted to all this?
0:07:33 > 0:07:35They were overwhelmed,
0:07:35 > 0:07:39the people I have spoken to remember this day vividly,
0:07:39 > 0:07:42they remember the welcome they got here, they remember the flags that
0:07:42 > 0:07:46were up, and the remember leaving here and getting on the bus, and
0:07:46 > 0:07:49the crowds, it was a very big day
0:07:49 > 0:07:51they thought they were coming home.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56The Newport arrivals came here to nearby Caerleon.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59There is nothing left of the old workhouse that was
0:07:59 > 0:08:00converted into their home,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03except a name - Cambria.
0:08:03 > 0:08:04Cambria House,
0:08:04 > 0:08:07the home that set the gold standard.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11Funded by voluntary contributions from across South Wales,
0:08:11 > 0:08:13Cambria House was a place of safety,
0:08:13 > 0:08:16a refuge from the horrors of war.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19It provided the Welsh not only with an opportunity to identify
0:08:19 > 0:08:22with the Basques, but with a popular front which
0:08:22 > 0:08:26united people of all political persuasions.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28At first, the children were delighted to be indoors,
0:08:28 > 0:08:30rather than under canvas.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33But their initial impression of Cambria House was not
0:08:33 > 0:08:34entirely happy,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37the regime was very strict and the building still
0:08:37 > 0:08:40bore signs of being a former workhouse,
0:08:40 > 0:08:41and an old people's home.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45We used to peel potatoes for the whole colony, 50 of us,
0:08:45 > 0:08:48and I think the room where we...
0:08:48 > 0:08:51peeled the potatoes was used to lay out bodies at one stage,
0:08:51 > 0:08:53that's what we thought, anyway.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57Nevertheless, Cambria House offered the children a lifeline at a
0:08:57 > 0:08:59critical time, restoring a degree of
0:08:59 > 0:09:03security to their shattered lives.
0:09:03 > 0:09:0775 years on, Josefina Savery now looks back with
0:09:07 > 0:09:11detachment at the moment her life changed for ever.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14Was that taken in Caerleon?
0:09:14 > 0:09:15Yes.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17Her family life had been destroyed -
0:09:17 > 0:09:20her father killed by Franco's forces,
0:09:20 > 0:09:22her mother in exile in France.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24Luckily, like most of the children,
0:09:24 > 0:09:28Josefina soon found a substitute mother at Cambria House.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31Mrs Hernandez...
0:09:31 > 0:09:34was one of the most wonderful women I ever met.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38When she came to Caerleon
0:09:38 > 0:09:42and took over from a lady who was
0:09:42 > 0:09:46so strict that one of the children asked Mrs Hernandez,
0:09:46 > 0:09:50"Senorita, are we allowed to breathe?"
0:09:50 > 0:09:52And when she came
0:09:52 > 0:09:54she allowed people to come in,
0:09:54 > 0:09:57she allowed the children to go out
0:09:57 > 0:10:01and altogether the whole atmosphere of Cambria House changed
0:10:01 > 0:10:03from a miserable place...
0:10:03 > 0:10:05to a very happy place.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12The children kept their culture alive and funds flowing in,
0:10:12 > 0:10:16with activities like dancing and singing in national costume.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21The Cambria house football team was a sensation,
0:10:21 > 0:10:23rarely losing a match,
0:10:23 > 0:10:26even playing before thousands at Ninian Park,
0:10:26 > 0:10:30where they beat league champions, Moorland Road School.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33Josefina was overwhelmed by the warm Welsh welcome.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37There were so very kind.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41From the time we arrived at Newport...
0:10:41 > 0:10:44to the time we were in Caerleon,
0:10:44 > 0:10:48we were taken to various places -
0:10:48 > 0:10:49Pontypool,
0:10:49 > 0:10:51Abertillery,
0:10:51 > 0:10:52the Rhondda Valley,
0:10:52 > 0:10:54and you know the miners were not
0:10:54 > 0:10:56working in those days,
0:10:56 > 0:11:00and yet they always gave us a wonderful welcome.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06The Lady of the Lamp in Tonypandy,
0:11:06 > 0:11:10she has seen more revolutionary meetings than Karl Marx.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14One of the things she saw when she was in Tonypandy Square
0:11:14 > 0:11:19was a meeting in the 1930s by Oswald Mosley's black shirts,
0:11:19 > 0:11:23trying to recruit support for the British fascist party.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26They were chased out of town by the miners.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29Welsh miners were fighting fascism, at the same time
0:11:29 > 0:11:32as refugees from fascism were
0:11:32 > 0:11:35arriving in Wales from Spain.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42Both the Basques and the Welsh had long experience of poverty
0:11:42 > 0:11:43and oppression.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46In the Valleys of the Thirties, mass unemployment was widespread,
0:11:46 > 0:11:49aggravated by savage Government cuts to benefits.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54The Great Hunger March of October 1936 was still
0:11:54 > 0:11:58fresh in the memory when the Basque children arrived.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03At first, the Labour Party towed the Government line
0:12:03 > 0:12:05about non-intervention in Spain,
0:12:05 > 0:12:08only dropping the policy in October 1937.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14Likewise, the party did not want to be associated with protests
0:12:14 > 0:12:19and disturbances, so, it was left to the South Wales Miners' Federation
0:12:19 > 0:12:23and the Communist Party to take the lead at street level.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27When the Spanish Civil War occurred,
0:12:27 > 0:12:32it was merely extending the battle lines internationally,
0:12:32 > 0:12:35fighting for jobs,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38rioting and disturbances against the means test,
0:12:38 > 0:12:41that was struggling against fascism, already.
0:12:41 > 0:12:46They had already characterised the reactionary forces
0:12:46 > 0:12:49opposed to them as fascism - they understood it,
0:12:49 > 0:12:53so this was a long tradition of working class struggle that
0:12:53 > 0:12:56extended far beyond Parliamentary politics,
0:12:56 > 0:12:59this was extra-parliamentary, it was international, as well.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Internationalism struck a strong chord with the miners,
0:13:03 > 0:13:05as witnessed by the numbers who
0:13:05 > 0:13:08joined the international brigades on the Republican side.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12The Basque children were their children, the war in Spain
0:13:12 > 0:13:16was their war, but they didn't just fight on the frontline.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22Throughout the Valleys, there was a tidal wave of giving, as Communist
0:13:22 > 0:13:25leader Will Paynter noted, there was always the pound of sugar
0:13:25 > 0:13:29the tin of condensed milk, or money from even the poorest families.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35There are examples of many of these children going on holidays to
0:13:35 > 0:13:38places like Abertillery,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41where poverty was like, 90%, in the Valleys,
0:13:41 > 0:13:43but they felt at home there,
0:13:43 > 0:13:47it was not unlike the homes from which they had been taken.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56A few years ago, on the front of Pendragon House,
0:13:56 > 0:13:59here in Caerleon, a blue plaque was erected to record the fact
0:13:59 > 0:14:03that 30 of the Basque children were moved here after Cambria House
0:14:03 > 0:14:06was requisitioned for the war effort.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08The plaque commemorates the community as much as the
0:14:08 > 0:14:11children, as acts of kindness came from everywhere
0:14:11 > 0:14:13and from all ages.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16George Phillips was just 18
0:14:16 > 0:14:19when he started helping out at Cambria House.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22A coach driver, he used to borrow the bus for the afternoon
0:14:22 > 0:14:26on Sundays, to bring about a dozen refugees back to his parents'
0:14:26 > 0:14:28terraced house in Newport, for tea.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32George, one of eight children,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35was from a family where a little had to go a long way.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39I think my father...
0:14:39 > 0:14:42and his family never had very much,
0:14:42 > 0:14:44so they could relate to people who
0:14:44 > 0:14:46were also in those circumstances.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48Those children had nothing, they'd left their families,
0:14:48 > 0:14:50they'd left their mums and dads,
0:14:50 > 0:14:52they'd left everything they knew, come to a strange
0:14:52 > 0:14:55country and they had nothing,
0:14:55 > 0:14:57so he must have thought it'd be nice if they had a little bit of
0:14:57 > 0:15:00family life, and see a mum and dad
0:15:00 > 0:15:03and have tea round a family table.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07It wasn't just the poor who responded to the children.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10Support came from across the social spectrum.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13This is Emlyn House in Cardiff Bay.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16Nowadays it's the Butetown History & Arts centre,
0:15:16 > 0:15:19but back in the '30s it was the headquarters of a shipping line,
0:15:19 > 0:15:22taking coal from Cardiff to Bilbao
0:15:22 > 0:15:24and coming back full of iron ore.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28The company belonged to John Emlyn Jones, a staunch Republican
0:15:28 > 0:15:32supporter, and a prime mover in setting up Cambria House.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37John Emlyn Jones knew how to live the good life,
0:15:37 > 0:15:40a man fascinated by the technology of his time.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45A former MP, John had extensive contacts in the Basque Country,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48and was one of the prime movers behind Cambria House.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52Here he is at the children's first Christmas party.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55His son, Alun, remembers the price John paid
0:15:55 > 0:15:57for supporting the Republican cause.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00He knew, of course, the consequences
0:16:00 > 0:16:03would be serious for his business if...
0:16:04 > 0:16:06if Franco won.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10He knew that, of course, but his feeling of principle about it
0:16:10 > 0:16:14was so great that he went on with his crusade because
0:16:14 > 0:16:16he just felt it in the heart,
0:16:16 > 0:16:18it was something he needed to say.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20When Franco did win,
0:16:20 > 0:16:22he was put on the blacklist,
0:16:22 > 0:16:25and overnight lost two thirds of his shipping business.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27And I shall never forget, Eddie,
0:16:27 > 0:16:30what he said to me at the time.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34He said, "That, my son, is the price of principle."
0:16:38 > 0:16:41Now, if you were thinking this was a bit too good to be true,
0:16:41 > 0:16:42you'd be right.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45People were far from united in their response to the refugees,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48and there was trouble at t'mill.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50One of the most infamous incidents took place here,
0:16:50 > 0:16:52at Brechfa in Carmarthenshire,
0:16:52 > 0:16:55right here when this place was a pub.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57It even made the headlines in the New York Times.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04The camp at Brechfa was everything that Cambria House was not.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06Poorly organised, ill-equipped, and with
0:17:06 > 0:17:08inadequate care of the children,
0:17:08 > 0:17:10trouble occurred within a week.
0:17:10 > 0:17:11SMASHING GLASS
0:17:15 > 0:17:19A window was broken in a local pub.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23A car was damaged and there were clashes with the police.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26There were calls in the right-wing press for the refugees to be
0:17:26 > 0:17:27sent home.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32Jose Armolea was 11 when he came to Brechfa.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35Now 87, he's come back to tell his son about the events of that
0:17:35 > 0:17:39day, events he thinks were vastly overblown.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41I felt it was a minor item
0:17:41 > 0:17:45of two or three boys being naughty,
0:17:45 > 0:17:50like we all are, and don't forget we had very little supervision.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55There were three boys that had gone down to the village,
0:17:55 > 0:17:59and the story was that they had gone into a sweet shop
0:17:59 > 0:18:01and helped themselves to some of the sweets
0:18:01 > 0:18:03and the storekeeper had caught
0:18:03 > 0:18:06them and given them a slap across the ear
0:18:06 > 0:18:09and sent them home, kind of thing.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14There was a group of the older boys that started to march down to
0:18:14 > 0:18:16Brechfa, "Oh, we'll show them that
0:18:16 > 0:18:21"they can't treat our boys like that."
0:18:21 > 0:18:23As I said, there was no discipline,
0:18:23 > 0:18:27there was nobody in charge.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32In the end, 15 alleged ringleaders were sent back from Britain,
0:18:32 > 0:18:35but to France, not Spain as reported in the press.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41The story has a happy ending.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43The media storm soon blew itself out,
0:18:43 > 0:18:47and local people showed their character with lots of support.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50Ordinary working class people from Carmarthen came down in busloads,
0:18:50 > 0:18:53on Sunday afternoons there were an awful lot of people here.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56The children suddenly found
0:18:56 > 0:18:58that they were supported by decent
0:18:58 > 0:19:00ordinary people and it was only
0:19:00 > 0:19:03a minority of the political elite,
0:19:03 > 0:19:05who had longed for this experiment to fail.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08They'd never really wanted the children here,
0:19:08 > 0:19:10and they had wanted something like this to occur,
0:19:10 > 0:19:12so they could label these children
0:19:12 > 0:19:14as Christ-hating communists.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20Brechfa cast its shadow over the setting up of another Basque
0:19:20 > 0:19:22refugee colony at Old Colwyn,
0:19:22 > 0:19:25as this letter makes clear.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38Widely supported, it was the brainchild of Douglas Hyde,
0:19:38 > 0:19:43the only Communist Party member between Chester and Holyhead
0:19:43 > 0:19:46who lived on a small-holding with a goat called Karl Marx.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51Rooftree House, the only colony in North Wales,
0:19:51 > 0:19:55opened in August 1937 with 20 youngsters.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00Another driving force behind Rooftree House
0:20:00 > 0:20:02was journalist John Williams Hughes,
0:20:02 > 0:20:03who also raised enough money
0:20:03 > 0:20:05to send two ambulances to Spain
0:20:05 > 0:20:08in support of the Republican cause.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13His collection of children's drawings,
0:20:13 > 0:20:16typical of many done by Basque children, gives an insight
0:20:16 > 0:20:20into how their young minds were haunted by the traumas of war.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28ARTILLERY FIRE
0:20:34 > 0:20:38The fourth and final Basque refugee colony was here at Sketty Park House
0:20:38 > 0:20:39in Swansea.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42The house where the children stayed has long gone,
0:20:42 > 0:20:46all that remains is this tower, a kind of folly.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49There were over 80 children here, and like Cambria House,
0:20:49 > 0:20:54it was well organised and well supported by the Swansea community.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58After the crowded conditions of camp
0:20:58 > 0:21:00life in Southampton,
0:21:00 > 0:21:02Sketty Park House must've seemed like paradise.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06It had huge rooms, and acres of parkland to run around in.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09It was a happy home, and the children prospered.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13Even so, memories of the war shadowed their young lives.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15From the archives of the South Wales Miners' Library,
0:21:15 > 0:21:18part of Swansea University, there is footage of one of the care
0:21:18 > 0:21:22workers who welcomed them to Sketty Park House.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25The children were very, very upset
0:21:25 > 0:21:27for the first couple of weeks,
0:21:27 > 0:21:29the little ones used to call me Mama,
0:21:29 > 0:21:33because I was a sort of substitute and they got to know me.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37The children were terrified of aeroplanes, if they were
0:21:37 > 0:21:41playing in the fields after school, and an aeroplane passed over,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44which of course, in those days, were very small planes,
0:21:44 > 0:21:47they used to scream for help
0:21:47 > 0:21:49and it took us, all the adults
0:21:49 > 0:21:54and myself to tell them that they weren't enemy planes.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58Perhaps the warmth of the refugees' reception in Swansea also had
0:21:58 > 0:22:02to do with the exploits of local sea captain, Potato Jones,
0:22:02 > 0:22:05who played a key role in rescuing hundreds of Basque
0:22:05 > 0:22:07refugees from the clutches of Franco.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10He became so famous in 1937 that a
0:22:10 > 0:22:13musical song was written about him.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15# Old Potato Jones
0:22:15 > 0:22:16# Old Potato Jones
0:22:16 > 0:22:18# He's a roving son of the sea
0:22:18 > 0:22:20# Finest skipper as ever could be
0:22:20 > 0:22:22# They toast him in the fleet
0:22:22 > 0:22:24# As he roams the danger zones
0:22:24 > 0:22:26# He's a grand old man of the sea
0:22:26 > 0:22:28# Old Potato Jones. #
0:22:28 > 0:22:31He earned the name Potato because of the cargo
0:22:31 > 0:22:35he carried to the starving Basque people, and also to distinguish
0:22:35 > 0:22:38him from Corn Jones and Ham and Egg Jones,
0:22:38 > 0:22:39two of many other boat owners
0:22:39 > 0:22:41who braved Franco's naval blockade
0:22:41 > 0:22:44to rescue Republican supporters.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49Now, if all this makes it appear that Wales was totally
0:22:49 > 0:22:51united behind the Basque children
0:22:51 > 0:22:54and the Republican cause, it wasn't.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58For instance, the Marchioness of Bute visited nationalist Spain
0:22:58 > 0:23:01and wrote a glowing report of life there.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03It was published in the Western Mail.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06And there have been rumblings recently that the children
0:23:06 > 0:23:09were pawns in a game controlled by Moscow.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12But perhaps the most surprising response
0:23:12 > 0:23:14came from the leadership of Plaid Cymru here.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17They were indifferent to the children.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22In 1937, the party was still embroiled in the wake
0:23:22 > 0:23:24of the attack of the previous year,
0:23:24 > 0:23:27on the RAF base at Penyberth
0:23:27 > 0:23:29in the heartland of Welsh-speaking Wales.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Party leader, Saunders Lewis, along with David Williams,
0:23:32 > 0:23:35and Lewis Valentine, became a cause celebre
0:23:35 > 0:23:39when they were imprisoned in Wormwood Scrubs for the attack.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43Preoccupation with prison was not the only issue influencing
0:23:43 > 0:23:48Plaid's response to the Basque children, as Hywel Davies explains.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52They had a feeling that Europe was being engulfed by communism,
0:23:52 > 0:23:54and that the struggle, the essential struggle,
0:23:54 > 0:23:57was between the Christian tradition,
0:23:57 > 0:24:00and what they saw as a red menace.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04They failed, really, to identify with the Basques as a national
0:24:04 > 0:24:07movement, as a fellow national movement.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11And looking at modern-day Plaid Cymru that seems very strange
0:24:11 > 0:24:12and fairly inexplicable.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16Didn't Plaid realise that their stance might jar with what the
0:24:16 > 0:24:18rest of Wales was thinking?
0:24:18 > 0:24:20Plaid was a very small party,
0:24:20 > 0:24:22and its support base was largely
0:24:22 > 0:24:25in the Welsh-speaking heartlands.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27I don't think Saunders Lewis, anyway,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30understood or identified at all with the South Wales Valleys,
0:24:30 > 0:24:33or had any sympathy for the sort of proletarian culture that was
0:24:33 > 0:24:35a big feature of life there.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40- REPORTER:- The first contingent of Basque children go home again.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42In 1939, after Franco had won,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45the British Government began putting pressure on the voluntary
0:24:45 > 0:24:49groups who'd helped the Basque children to send them back to Spain.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53Many supporters of the refugees were suspicious of letters allegedly
0:24:53 > 0:24:58from Republican parents, asking for the children to be returned.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02Nevertheless, the majority did go back.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05A lot of our parents...
0:25:05 > 0:25:08erm...
0:25:08 > 0:25:10they didn't want us to go back,
0:25:11 > 0:25:13Franco, by hook or by crook,
0:25:13 > 0:25:16was determined to get us to go back.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20My sister was sent back, at the beginning of the second World War...
0:25:20 > 0:25:23was sent back to Spain
0:25:23 > 0:25:27and had nobody to look after her there.
0:25:34 > 0:25:35Not all returned.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39Out of 3,861 children who came to Britain,
0:25:39 > 0:25:42around 250 settled down here.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45What have been the consequences for the ones who stayed?
0:25:45 > 0:25:47What impact has it had on their lives?
0:25:51 > 0:25:55Gerry Alvarez, for instance, seems to have rejected his Spanish
0:25:55 > 0:25:58roots and has taken out Australian and British nationality.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05When Zapatero came in, he said that all the children who came
0:26:05 > 0:26:08over to England could have a Spanish passport.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10I really don't want one.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13I've got an English...British and an Australian passport.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18We became men of the world, as it were,
0:26:18 > 0:26:19you know,
0:26:19 > 0:26:23we were born in Spain, we will always, and even now,
0:26:23 > 0:26:27I will always remember that I am Spanish,
0:26:27 > 0:26:29or Basque to the core,
0:26:29 > 0:26:31erm...
0:26:31 > 0:26:33like a good Welshman would be...
0:26:35 > 0:26:40but also I have great affection for Britain,
0:26:40 > 0:26:42Great Britain as it is,
0:26:42 > 0:26:45and that includes the Welsh and the English.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47In this one, you were really pretty, weren't you?
0:26:47 > 0:26:51Gerry's sister, Josefina, seen here with granddaughter Rachel
0:26:51 > 0:26:55and son John, has created her own family in Wales after
0:26:55 > 0:26:58the life of her Spanish family was blown to pieces.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02Who are these two girls with you in the photo, then?
0:27:02 > 0:27:06That was Maricho, I don't know if she's alive...
0:27:08 > 0:27:10Resilient, and resourceful,
0:27:10 > 0:27:14she is nevertheless aware that it marked her for life.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18You are terrified of anything happening to your family.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22And both my children grumble at me because I worry.
0:27:22 > 0:27:24If they are late I worry,
0:27:24 > 0:27:27if something happens, I worry.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29You become too possessive in a way,
0:27:29 > 0:27:31because you don't want to lose them.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33You don't want...
0:27:34 > 0:27:36anything to happen to them,
0:27:36 > 0:27:38anything like it happened to you.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46There's one more question to ask before we leave this haunting
0:27:46 > 0:27:49yet illuminating story of the Basque children in Wales.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52If 4,000 refugees came across the water,
0:27:52 > 0:27:54asking for shelter today,
0:27:54 > 0:27:56how would we react?
0:27:56 > 0:27:59So much of our society has changed on the outside,
0:27:59 > 0:28:03have we been changed on the inside, too?
0:28:07 > 0:28:09World culture has changed.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13We were taken to these places without any questions being asked.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15Nowadays you would have to consult the police
0:28:15 > 0:28:18and the social services, and goodness knows what,
0:28:18 > 0:28:20you just couldn't do it.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23I know that all sorts of issues have come up about immigration and so on,
0:28:23 > 0:28:26but I think it's in the nature of
0:28:26 > 0:28:29Welsh people to want to stand up for
0:28:29 > 0:28:31minorities who are being overwhelmed
0:28:31 > 0:28:34by larger groups of people.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40I would hope that anybody who looks for asylum, wherever they go,
0:28:40 > 0:28:41they would be looked after
0:28:41 > 0:28:45because there must be some reason to get away.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47If the circumstances were similar somewhere else,
0:28:47 > 0:28:51perhaps the people would react in the same way but...
0:28:51 > 0:28:52I don't know.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05Subtitles by Red Bee Media