|
Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, collective designation for some 1300 Canadian volunteers who served in international brigades recruited to assist the communist-supported republican government against Franco's fascists during the Spanish Civil War (July 1936-March 1939). There was also an actual battalion, named after the leaders of the REBELLIONS OF 1837, mustered into the XVth "English-Speaking" International Brigade on 1 July 1937, in Albacete, Spain. Other Canadians joined the Abraham Lincoln Battalion, the British Battalion and other units, including medical and transportation detachments.
Dr Norman BETHUNE, undoubtedly the most famous Canadian there, created and led a blood transfusion service. The "Mac-Paps" fought in 5 major campaigns, including the assault on Fuentes de Ebro on 13 October 1937, the defence of Teruel in December-January, the "Retreats" in March-April 1938, and a counterattack across the Ebro River in the last summer of the war. The battalion was led by Edward Cecil-Smith, the military commander and a Toronto labour journalist, and Saul Wellman, a New York union organizer and the unit's political commissar. When the Mac-Paps withdrew from the conflict in September 1938, it is said, only 35 men were left on their feet. Although celebrated by well-wishers on their arrival home in early 1939, the survivors, half the original number, received no official welcome. In April 1937 the Canadian government had passed the Foreign Enlistment Act, outlawing participation by Canadians in foreign wars, and the Customs Act, which provided for government control over arms exports. The Mac-Paps were an official embarrassment, and so languished in obscurity until the 1970s when a number of books, films and plays documented their history.
Blood Transfusion UnitTwelve hundred Canadian supporters of the republican cause went to Spain to fight under the banner of the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion. Norman Bethune, who performs a transfusion, was the most famous (Courtesy Library and Archives Canada/C-67451)
Bethune, NormanPortrait of Norman Bethune taken in Madrid, Spain, 1937 (courtesy Library and Archives Canada/PA-114788).
Author
VICTOR HOWARD
Suggested Reading
V. Hoar, The Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion (1969).
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| David Thompson was an outsider, struggling to find a foothold in the empire that had consumed his country... |
|
| Pierre Elliott Trudeau, politician, writer, constitutional lawyer, prime minister of Canada 1968-79 and 1980-84 (b at ... |
|
|
| Few countries were affected as severely as Canada by the worldwide Depression of the 1930s. It is estimated that ... |
|
|
| Louis Riel, Métis leader, founder of Manitoba, central figure in the NORTH-WEST REBELLION (b at Red River ... |
|
|
| Few countries were affected as severely as Canada by the worldwide Depression of the 1930s. It is estimated that ... |
|
|
| Evangelical Christian Church, often called the Christian Church (Christian Disciples), is a denomination stemming from ... |
|
|
| The Group of Seven was founded in 1920 as an organization of self-proclaimed modern artists. The original members - ... |
|
|
| Sears Canada Inc, headquartered in Toronto, is a Canadian retailer incorporated in 1952. In 1953 operating under the ... |
|
|
| John Ware, "Nigger John," horseman, rancher (b near Georgetown, SC 1845; d near Brooks, Alta 11 Sept 1905). ... |
|
|
| Land claims are dealt with by a process established by the federal government to enable INDIANS, INUIT and ... |
|
Browse the rich visual resources of The Canadian Encyclopedia through thematic galleries of Canadian Art, History, Nature, People, and Science and Technology.
Illustrations, lively text, animations, sounds and games help make learning about Canadian history, art, geography, architecture and other topics entertaining as well as informative.
The ultimate test of your knowledge of Canada, trivial and otherwise. You can choose from more than 60 dynamic quizzes with visual or text clues. Your scores depend on the speed with which you answer and the number of clues you need. Results are sent to you by email and high scores are posted on the site.
This unique resource includes more than 6000 events from Canadian and world history. It can be searched by era, subject, keyword or date. To find out what happened on your birthday, select the month and day of your birth.
This selection of the 100 "greatest" events in Canadian history was made by editor in chief James H. Marsh to draw attention to events that have left an indelible memory in the minds of later generations.
| THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MUSIC IN CANADA |
|
| David (Karl William) Wilcox. Guitarist, singer, songwriter, b Montreal 13 Jul 1949. Raised in Toronto, he began his career there in the early 1970s with Ian and Sylvia Tyson's Great Speckled Bird, then toured and recorded with ... |
|
|