lebrating in good old July Fourth fashion. The Canadians be-
ing modest (sic) didn't say how they were going to celebrate 
Dominion Day. We made preparations quietly and when 
Dominion Day rolled around we decided first to despatch a 
telegram to the folks back home informing them that the Cana-
dians in Spain were celebrating the day when our country 
became a nation. We recalled the traditions of our fore-
fathers who had fought for parliamentary institutions in our 
country. We were here today celebrating Dominion Day on 
the soil of Spain because we knew we were the heirs to those 
traditions. It was a quiet celebration. Not sombre. Not too 
serious, but quiet. And so the Americans told us again, wait 
till July Fourth comes around. The morning of July Fourth 
found us on trucks on our way to a new front. The faces of 
the American boys were just a wee bit downcast. All the 
plans for a July Fourth celebration were unhappily scotched 
as the orders came to move on.

Avenge Bilbao

THE news of the fall of Bilbao had the effect of making us 
more determined. We knew that the Basques were cut 
off from the rest of Republican Spain, that they had 
no planes, no tanks, no munitions and we were going to avenge the fall 
of Bilbao and the massacre of Guernica. Our Spanish com-
rades were bitter. They were eager for action. They were 
going to show the fascists that when they came up against an 
army that had arms, they would run.

July 5th. We went into action. We were healthy and 
rested after our three weeks in Albares. Canadian officers 
were leading us. Ed. Cecil-Smith, Bill Hallowell and Bryce 
Coleman were company commanders. We had been ordered 
to march through Villanueva de La Canada. When we came 
to march through it we found that before we could march 
through it we had to take it. We did. After sixteen hours 
of fighting. Bryce Coleman was mortally wounded. One of

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