From a torrid sky the sun blazed on a landscape of red brown hills, covered in parts with stunted scrub. This was the front at La Maronosa. It was a scene which seemed devoid of life. But here and there, where there had not been time to camouflage upturned earth, a trench could be detected. Living like moles were the Irishmen who formed the 15^th Bandera.

Occasionally there was a whine and flutter in the brazen sky, followed by a roar and a sudden up shooting of stony earth as a group of shells from the Red batteries across the river exploded.

Shuddered

Sometimes after these bursts the Irishmen saw red-hot shell splinters or wicked looking fragments of shrapnel buried in the trench walls. To them this was part of their life, an incident that was commonplace. Those who were imaginative shuddered at what they knew these fragments of steel could do to the human body. But these were thoughts they did not encourage.

Week by week wounds, dysentery, rheumatic fever and sometimes-complete physical exhaustion were taking their toll of the Bandera. Sleep, whenever it was allowed, would not come to men who were tired almost beyond endurance, Their dug-outs hewn out of the sides of trenches were dens of vermin.

Some of them spent hours trying to divert the onward march of columns of tiny red ants into the entrance of dugouts in the hope that the ants would devour the lice which were a legacy of the Moorish troop occupation.

Hardship

It was a time of great hardship for the Brigade. Theirs was a holding position, a section of the ring drawn by General Franco near Madrid. The duty of the Irishmen was to watch and wait, but while they watched, and waited, they were subjected to a continual and merciless deluge of shell-fire. And most of them felt that they were forgotten.

At home in Ireland few gave a thought to the men who had left in a spirit of crusade. Only the thoughtful in Ireland realised that these young men were fighting for something that was greater than Spain. The Russian bear was grasping for a foothold on the shores of the Mediterranean. How close Communism came to gaining it we know today.

Speculation

In Ireland the headlines told of thousands at the RDS Spring Show. The great airship Hindenburg had crashed in flames at New Jersey with appalling loss of life. There was speculation on the marriage date of the Duke of Windsor to Mrs Simpson. A place with the queer name of Rineanna near Limerick was being drained by huge machines with the idea of making a giant air terminal.

Among the Bandera were many natural soldiers, men who were gay and daring. One of them was Michael Weymes, son of Mr P J Weymes, Mullingar, a former chairman of Westmeath Co. Council. Michael left to fight in Spain with his two brothers, Andrew (who died a week or so ago in Scotland), and Patrick, who is now in Canada.

Leader

Michael Weymes, educated at St. Fenian�s College, Mullingar, and at Castleknock College, served in the Irish Army, later joined the Civic Guards and then went to Spain with his former chief, Gen. O�Duffy. In Spain he became a leader men would follow willingly. But illness struck Michael Weymes and he was in Caceres Hospital when the Brigade returned to Ireland.

Michael Weymes recovered in time to take part in the toughest battle of the Spanish war. He was leading his platoon at Villafranco, Astilllo, when he was cut down by a stream of machine-gun bullets.

For ten weeks at La Maronosa the Brigade had never been out of their uniforms. Peter Munnelly, Crossmolina, Sergeant John Muldoon, Navan, Tony Monaghan, of St. Benedict�s Garden�s Dublin, and Patrick Reddy, now of Bellyfermot, Dublin, wondered how many people were enjoying the salty Atlantic on holidays in Ireland. But around them was nothing but the arid earth and the brazen sky. That night they knew they would shiver as the temperature moved sharply downwards.

Stopped

The Irish Brigade badly needed rest, but of that there was no hope. The flow of recruits had been stopped by the hurriedly passed non-intervention law at home and by the appointment of observers on Spain�s borders. In addition it was found that 120 members of the Bandera were under 21 years of age. There was diplomatic pressure brought to bear on General Franco for the return of these young men to Ireland. All of them had exaggerated their true age when enlisting.

General O�Duffy clearly put the difficulties off the Brigade in June, 1937, when he said: �They have now been in front line trenches without a break since February 19, on which date they received their baptism of fire. Since then they have been subjected to almost unceasing shellfire and bombing day and night.

Suffering

�Some are suffering from shell-shock, pulmonary diseases or rheumatic fever developed in the trenches during the incessant rains of February and March. I fear some of them may never fully recover. By the end of March we had 150 in hospital. The almost complete absence of water in recent weeks, either for drinking or sanitary purposes, has had a serious effect on their health.�

He continued: �We received some medical supplies, but we were short of essentials during the whole campaign. We went into action without iodine, dressings, morphia, anti-tetanus or chlorodyne. Through the kindness of the hospital authorities at Ciempozuelos, we got all we required to treat our wounded. We moved to the Jarama front carrying no medical supplies whatever. Immediately the Brigade occupied its new positions, I rushed to General Mola�s headquarters 200 miles away and got sufficient medical supplies for the duration of our stay in Spain.�

Discipline

But despite all these troubles General O�Duffy could still report: The discipline and morale of the Brigade are good. There has not been a single case of cowardice or shirking of duty.� The Irish Brigade had done what it had promised to do.

General O�Duffy when he had first met General Franco had told him that the Irishmen would fight for the duration of the war in Spain, or for six months - from November 1936, to May 1937 � whichever would be the shorter. It was a gentleman�s agreement, and General O�Duffy and the men of his Bandera honoured it.

Now that circumstances made it almost impossible for the 15^th Bandera to continue as a separate unit, General O�Duffy had an obligation to the men he led. He had given them an undertaking that they would always fight as an Irish Brigade and no attempt would be made to split their force among other troops.

Relieved at last from their shell-cratered positions in the hills above La Maronosa, the Brigade entrained and marched to Caceres � the town they knew so well. There they occupied the barracks they had helped to re-fit before they had undertaken their initial training. In Caceres the Irish were remembered with affection.

Tribute

In tribute to the young Irishmen who had fought for general Franco�s cause the Mayor of Caceres offered in perpetuity the vaults in which the dead of the Brigade were interred. In making that offer the Mayor said: �I should like to indicate to you the veneration in which the people of Caceres will hold your fallen comrades, and to assure you that the city of Caceres will know how to guard the memory of those who, while fighting for Spain, knew how to die gloriously for her.� It was an offer accepted. The Irish dead continue to rest in that Spanish town.

After three weeks had passed in Caceres, General O�Duffy addressed the men of his Brigade. He put the grave position before them and explained the circumstances which now made their maintenance as a unit of Irishmen almost impossible.

Appreciation

The men agreed with their leader that, much as they desired to remain in Spain, all the circumstances were against them. The task of getting the Bandera back to Ireland was a heavy and onerous one for General O�Duffy.

General Franco showed his appreciation of the help he had received from Ireland by directing that they should get the best transport. By this order a 5,000-ton Portuguese liner, Mozambique, was chartered and arrangements made for the Irishmen to embark at Lisbon.

On June 17^th, 1937, the trains carrying the 15^th Bandera drew up alongside the liner at Lisbon docks. There had been a typhoid outbreak in Caceres and the Irish were not allowed any contact with the people of Lisbon.

Luxury

General Franco was as good as his word. The transport with which he provided the 15^th Bandera was the best that could be provided. On the sea journey to Dublin the young Irishmen ate the best of food, slept in spotlessly clean bedclothes, could bathe and wash in sparkling pure water. It was luxury to the men who had endured cruel hardship without complaint.

At noon on June 21 the Mozambique sailed into Dublin Bay. The Irishmen crowded the rails for their first sight of their homeland since they had set out on their great adventure.

Dr Russell, Port Sanitary Authority, went on board, and after a long examination he gave the ship and its passengers a clean bill of health. At 2 p.m. the Irish brigade began to file down the gangways. Their uniforms were threadbare, some of their boots were broken, but they held their heads high.

Triumphal

Formed up on the quayside they heard their last order from Comdt. Dermot O�Sullivan: �In columns of three, right turn�march.� Behind the stirring music of pipe and brass bands the Bandera marched though Dublin streets. The people gave them a triumphal return. At the Mansion House there were speeches of welcome. And when the reception was over the men of the Brigade dispersed to the four corners of Ireland.

Few learned in detail of the gruelling fight they had fought in Spain. The war clouds of 1939 were rising over the European horizon and the Nazi sabre was rattling. The men of the 15^th Bandera were forgotten.

Workless

In Dublin city more than half of their number were without work. Those who had left secure employment found on their return that their jobs had been taken by others and many employers felt themselves under no obligation to provide work for adventurous crusaders. Many of those who were without work had families to support. General O�Duffy�s plea on their behalf went largely unheeded.

He said: �Surely it is not too much to expect from this great Catholic land to find suitable employment for a few hundred men who deserve well of it!�

Nowadays the men of the Brigade are fewer � much fewer � than the gallant 700 who overcame tremendous obstacles to fight in Spain. Death and emigration have thinned their numbers. Many of them are in America, in Canada or in the cities of Britain.

Postscript

To this story which I have been proud to write there is a postscript. It was written in 1955 when an Aer Lingus plane landed at Barcelona airport on a proving flight for the company�s scheduled service from Dublin. The date was May 17.

The Aer Lingus party was met by Senor Matamoras-Scott, of Iberian Airways, who had been liaison officer to the Irish Brigade in Spain. He handed to the Irishmen a pennant of green, white and orange - the battle flag of the Irish 700. The pennant bore the autographs of General O�Duffy and Major Patrick Dalton. The pennant came back to Dublin.

It should be carefully kept. Although it is faded cloth and its edges are worn and tattered, it forms a link like steel between Ireland and Spain.

The End