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Sources |
Bob Doyle's MemoirsMemoir of the War Against Franco John Burke Even though Dubliner Bob Doyle was far from his native Wolfe Tone Street when he and 100 fellow International Brigadiers faced a firing squad in the desolate Spanish countryside in March 1938, he could have reflected that if he was about to die, at least he had packed much adventure into the previous 22 years of his life. His life in Dublin, also chronicled in his memoirs, was as chaotic as his Mediterranean soldiering. Wolfe Tone Street became home for Doyle, living with his "turbulent, and at times crazy, parents." After joining the IRA as a teenager, he later shared a room in Capel Street with famous IRA man and labour activist Kit Conway. Following Conway to Spain in the mid 1930s, as Dublin became too dangerous for the increasingly recognisable IRA engineer, Doyle witnessed fierce fighting between the Spanish Republicans and Franco's army. The price of war was high. His friend Conway was killed. In March 1938 his troop of International Brigadiers was captured by Italian fascist troops and he spent the following 11 months in a prison camp near Burgos. As foreigners, the Brigadiers were spared the firing squad, but he recalls the immediate execution of Spanish republicans captured by Franco's men. Doyle's memoirs are to be published in Spanish, and an English language version is expected on the shelves soon. |