ABSTRACT
These words by W. H. Auden, taken from his poem about Spain, were chosen by Frida Stewart to introduce the chapter of her memoirs describing the fall of the Republic in 1939. The lines resonated with her own sense of grief at what she could only view as a tragedy of immense proportions, and with her remorse at the failure to prevent it from happening. Studies of British women and the world wars can shed light on reactions to victory, but the Spanish war, although not officially ‘our’ war, can help us to understand some of the responses to defeat.2 Not only were the many British women who had taken an active role on Spanish soil forced to confront the overthrow of the forces they had supported, but those in Britain too had to deal with the failure of the cause they had espoused, and the return of defeated husbands, fathers and friends. Women working here with Basque refugee children had to face problems that Franco’s victory brought for their charges. This chapter therefore contains a range of events and emotions, divided into two parts. The first examines the fall of the Republic and its immediate aftermath from the perspective of the British women who had been involved with the war. The second addresses the process of coming to terms with defeat, a subject that entails the consideration of issues surrounding memory, reminiscence and remembrance. Through exploring how women in this study have used memories of the war within their narratives, and how they, themselves, are remembered or forgotten, a little more can be understood about their lives, and of the processes associated with remembering the past.
