ing the brunt of.the.battle. ~-There is the odd exception to
this like*Shapcott.an_d Tom..Co.chrane. These men are respect»
ively 57 and .58 yearszoftagel .Butwhe,n pressed they admit
they found it somewhat ;dif.fiC.ultnto~~keep up the pace oflthe
youth. And_ in just such a fight as this youth is the great sec’
ret of victoryand the invincible fortification for recovery.

Healthy bodies battered and. cut and wounded. ,. Arms
gone. Legs severed and gone..; Bones blown out of.their_plaoes,_
wounds like deep . holes slashed out of men’s: sh~ould€$r§s.
Faces all distraught with pain and suffering, . distorted with
broken bones. Here is where youth is a?fortification.. .Here.is
where- young-men become; grey. headed, -in a .feW ‘hours, but
they keep their dauntless .spirit,,an.d they have still a clear,an,d
unwaveringrsense of what they are doing. a I - I I :

To me these men are unique in the worlds history. They
are-political volunteers‘. =As- President Azana declared on July
18th last; “Nothing 5told. lthem to fight on our side except their
own political consciouisne‘ss;"7 These antiwfascist youth, in the
Peoples ‘Armyand lying wounded in the hospitals of :Sp‘ain»to’
day are in my opinion the glorylof the youthiof vthenworld.
Some have given the full’ measure of-devotions, their; names
shall never perish from the ‘memory of freedomdoving people.

One has a _peculia_r feeling enteringa zhospitalpwardtto visit
men who have been wounded in". a war like this. .,I felt thatit
was rather a privilege that was being extended me, than
any service that I was doing for them.

They were distinguished men everyone of them. I scan’
ned their faces closely to see if I could detect any sign of an
appeal against what they were called upon to bear. I talked
with them carefully to see if they were confused or weakening
in their own ideas about the issue or about the outcome of the
war against fascism. I found the firmest confirmation of
cause. Fascism must be destroyed, man after man expressed
himself in agreement with this objective. The burning desire

__45__.