Byron Stanza XCVIII ‘Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage’ – Spanish Civil War Memorial – Sheffield, UK - Etched in Stone on Waymarking.com

The Spanish Civil War was fought by the military against the elected Republican government. It was fought between 1936 and 1939, and there were many deaths on both sides and also accusations of atrocities on both sides.

A number of nations lent support to both sides, and the war also inspired many volunteer combatants on both sides.

In Britain many people saw the Civil War as an attack on freedom by the military and fought on the side of the Republican government.

Because of this the quote on the plaque is also related to freedom, and is taken from Lord Byron’s poem ‘Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage’. The poem is taken to be semi-autobiographical and was published in four parts between 1812 and 1818. It describes the travels and thoughts of a world-weary young man who is disillusioned with a life of pleasure and looks for distraction in foreign lands. It is widely also taken to represent the disillusionment of a generation of people weary of wars of the post-Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras.

Lord Byron’s full title was George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron(22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824). He is regarded as one of the greatest British poets, and was famous for a lifestyle of aristocratic excesses. Like the people remembered on the memorial Byron also fought abroad, in his case for the Greeks against the Ottoman Empire. Wikipedia - Lord Byron

The memorial plaque is in the Peace Gardens, on a wall at the western entrance next to the town hall. The text on the memorial is as follows.

SPANISH CIVIL WAR 1936 - 1939

IN HONOUR OF THE SOUTH YORKSHIRE MEN WHO FOUGHT
ALONGSIDE THE SPANISH PEOPLE IN THEIR STRUGGLE FOR
DEMOCRACY AND OF THE LOCAL MEN AND WOMEN WHO
WORKED IN SUPPORT OF THE CAUSE
THESE DIED IN SPAIN
M. AARONBERG (JARAMA 2:37) G. ALLSTOP (EBRO 8:38)
W.BRENT (EBRO 8:38) A. NEWSUM (COEDOVA 1:37)
H. TAGG (JARAMA 2:37) E. TURNHILL (TERUEL 1:38)
THESE ALSO FOUGHT IN SPAIN
J. ALBAYA A. COOPER T. DEGNAN T JAMES J MAIDEN
R.RYDER C.SMITH A. STIRLING S. WARD H. WINDLE

Yet Freedom yet thy banner torn but flying
Streams like a thunder storm against the wind
BYRON

There are also 2 other plaques near here, one commemorating the peace gardens themselves and, the other to the men of South Yorkshire who fought in the Spanish Civil War.

Address: The Peace Gardens Pinstone St. Sheffield United Kingdom S1 2HH Website: [Web Link]

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