num_pages: 208
description: Spain 1936. Escalating violence between left- and right-wing political factions boils over. Military officers stage a coup against a democratically elected Soviet-backed government. The country is thrown into chaos as centuries-old tensions return to the forefront. Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards choose sides and engage in the most devastating combat since the First World War. For loyalists to the Republic the fight is seen as one for equality and their idea of progress. For the rebels the struggle is a preemptive strike by tradition against an attempted communist takeover.Thousands of foreigners too join the struggle. Most fight with the Soviet-sponsored International Brigades or other militias aligned with the loyalist Republicans. Only a few side with the rebel Nationalists. One of these rare volunteers for the Nationalists was Peter Kemp a young British law student. Kemp despite having little training or command of the Spanish language was moved by the Nationalist struggle against international Communism. Using forged documents he sneaked into Spain and joined a traditionalist militia the Requets with which he saw intense fighting. Later he volunteered to join the legendary and ruthless Spanish Foreign Legion where he distinguished himself with heroism. Because of this bravery he was one of the few foreign volunteers granted an private audience with Generalissimo Francisco Franco.Kemp published his story in 1957 one of the only English accounts of the war from the Nationalist perspective after a prestigious military career with the British Special Operations Executive during the Second World War.
language: English
title: Mine Were of Trouble
publisher: Cassell