WEARING THE GREEN IN SPAIN

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 102, 1 May 1937, Page 27

WEARING THE GREEN IN SPAIN

Ireland's General Owen O'Dufly wanted to know whether Spain's civil war was a private fight or whether anybody could: get into it, writes William P. Carney from Cacer.es,. Spain, to the "New York Times." For many weeks there has been a great deal of "wearin! o' the green" hereabouts by two battalions of tall, broad-shouldered Irishmen. •

The olive-green uniforms of General O'Diiffy's' blue-eyed officers and men. with shining metal harps pm their colJars .and embroidered shamrocks, on their sleeves, have become a; familiar sight here. Likewise everybody here knows their i green ;• ambulances and supply trucks. : ■ - . .

: Participating -in St.- Patrick's Day observances- with General O'Duffy's men' were Salamanca's Irish College. The college was founded in 1592-with the original purpose of. educating sons of Irish chieftains. The present rector is Father-Alexander McCabe and the vice-rector is Father John O'Hara.

The writer found General O'Duffy at his headquarters in the Hotel Alvarez here. He balked at an-interview, however, ■ ■pointing.'-.', out:, that v his,/ Irish Brigade was1 composed entirely o.f volunteers .and. :that the ; Free State Government's adherence : in :■ principle to the international Non-intervention epmrnittee's. regulations made it mad-, visable for him to do much talking, if any. Also he indicated that his re-. ticence was in large measure due to a prudent deference to the restrictions imposed by the military censorship of the', GpS-fefnnaerit-.-of-^General -Francisco:. Franco, the insurgent'leader. ■ '■ ,

General O'Duffy's approximately 1400 Irish volunteers have been with Gen-eral-Franco's troops for almost five months and' are called the "Irish Christian' Front." This;name fully explains why:; ithey^ are'in Spain,, the writer ; Th'ey feel, that the anti-church..*sentiments ~of., Spanish Marxists • hnd-btHer :Lef tistsV- as' dempn-strated^by'the'burning-bf-'churches and, kiUin&Spf■iprie'sts.vnuns,;.and.-:CathpHc laymen;:-cbristitute;" a 'graye'; danger,, for Chris'tianity; ) ;iri=this/country. ;;,In fact;

they believe that a desire to -prevent what they describe as "the Communist. anti-God movement" from ' spreading outside "Russia to any other/countfy is sufficient reason for their' being in; Spain. . .

Some veterans of the Irish Republican Army arid the Irish Republican Brotherhood are now. in' the Irish Brigade, but it is, made, up mostly, of idealistic young men prompted by nothing more than a Christian crusading spirit to leave, their own country and fight for General Franco. Many thousands more in Ireland, are , eager to joMn, according to-General- O'Duffy, but this is now impossible.:, ■ :\;

It is an interesting development that around Ciempozuelos, which the Irish Brigade has been -v assigned1. -" to hold, many British Communists -have been killed:' ■ '■' :•■■ ■ '■;■- '■■"■■\.V -v <-■■■,

Suspicion in. Ireland .that. a. political motive, .might' .be behind-General 6'Duffy's organisation of his volunteer expeditionary force has beery blamed for his failure to bring a larger number of men to Spain. In recent years General O'Duffy's relations with. President Eamon de Valera have been somewhat strained. Beforehe ..was removed as the Free State's police chief in' 1932 General O'Duffy'had been in charge of police arrangements for 'the Eucharistic Congress in- Dublin, earlier in the same year. He founded the Free State • Civic Guard and in May, 1933; he organised' the Blue Shirts, a quasi-Fascist party since dissolved by the de Valera Government.

Nevertheless, Mr. de Valera's Gov:ernrii'erit' recently ordered ..Leopold. J. ■ Kerney to go to Salamanca to. confer with officials of -the Franco Gbvern-' ment and observe .general conditions in the generalissimos-territory. ..-Mr; Kerney was appointed 'as;the'', Free State's first Minister to Spain.in 1935 and left Madrid few days before the civil war broke out last summer. Salamanca, Burgos, and Seville news-papers-hint pointedly, that the report r'l-rKerney makes to Dublin probably will" result: .in the Free Stage's early recbghition'-of - .the =:. '.Franco ;■'_ _GovernmStit.-:' ■:-.;/■ ';tf; /. '■■■ ; ■ ;-■'. .'.■ ".■.•• ...