Volunteers
In late 1936 some 7,000 men volunteered, of whom about 700 were selected. By now Franco was less keen on having an Irish Brigade, and O'Duffy had difficulty persuading him to arrange a ship to transport his men; a ship expected in October was cancelled. 200 travelled to Spain in small groups, and eventually 500 others embarked on the German ship Urundi at Galway in November 1936. O'Duffy had had to charter the ship himself, and so presented Franco with a fait accompli when it docked at El Ferrol.
Read more about this topic: Irish Brigade (Spanish Civil War)
Famous quotes containing the word volunteers:
“Friendship is but another name for an alliance with the follies and the misfortunes of others. Our own share of miseries is sufficient: why enter then as volunteers into those of another?”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)