Welcome to the official website for the Basque Children of '37 Association UK!

In 1937, during the Spanish civil war, a group of almost 4,000 children were evacuated from Bilbao in the Basque region of Spain. They embarked from Santurce, Bilbao, on the ‘Habana’ on Friday 21st May and dropped anchor at Fawley, at the entrance to Southampton Water, on Saturday evening. The following morning, Sunday 23rd, they docked at Southampton.

Our main aim is to remember and preserve the story of these children, the niños vascos, in its proper historical context.

Through this website you will be able to find a wealth of historical information about the Basque children, including information about the different colonies the children were sent to. You will also find our newsletters, forms for joining the Association, and information about forthcoming events.

To find out more about the Association, go here

To find out about past events go here

To contact us, go here

We hope you enjoy your visit and we look forward to hearing from you!

Latest News 

New Entries to Articles and Colonies pages. (29/6/2008)

Transcript of the talk;'The Blockade of Bilbao' given by Michael Alpert at the Marx Memorial Library on 21st June .

Launch of Online Exhibition at Imperial War Museum in London

The story of the Basque children in Britain continues to spread. At the Imperial War Museum in London an online exhibition was launched on Thursday 19 June which includes a strong element on the Niños Vascos.

The virtual exhibition called Through My Eyes forms part of the Their Past Your Future project which is funded by the National Lottery. The aim is to produce a web-based learning resource based on individual testimony. The exhibition includes film interview material recorded by Steve Bowles at Eye Witness Productions and photos and other visual material supplied by the Basque Children’s Association.

Director of the Museum, Sir Robert Crawford underlined the key role of the Imperial War Museum in education and emphasized how at the heart of the Museum’s raison d’être was the notion of toil and sacrifice as a result of war rather than any sense of military glory.

You can see the exhibition at www.throughmyeyes.org.uk

 Books, DVDs and CD now for sale

• The bilingual book "Recuerdos" about the recollections of more than 60 of the niños.
• The new edition of Adrian Bell's "Only for three months"
• The feature lengthe re-edition of the documentary DVD "The Guernica Children"
• A DVD of the 70th Anniversary Commemoration Event at Southampton
• A CD of  "Songs of the Basque Children" - a recording by children of the Cañada Blanch School in London of songs sung by the Basque children in fund-raising concerts, together with a remastering of an original recording by the ninos.

Further information, prices etc from Natalia Benjamin

secretary@basquechildren.org

Saturday 21st June.  Talk; 'The Blockade of Bilbao'

Professor Michael Alpert, who has written extensively about the Spanish Civil War, gave a talk to Members of the Basque Children’s Association UK and interested parties. A transcript is available on the articles page

The Guernica Children Documentary Scoops Prestigious Royal Television Society Award.

February 28th. The epic documentary film project The Guernica Children, directed and produced by Steve Bowles at Eye Witness Productions, won the award for Best Non-Broadcast Production at last night’s Royal Television Society Awards held in Southampton.

The film tells the story of the four thousand Basque refugee children who were evacuated to Britain in 1937 in the wake of the bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.

At a packed event, Steve said how pleased he was that the film should be recognised in the city where the story had its beginnings just over seventy years ago. He dedicated the award to the memory of the Basque children and the ordinary people of Britain that cared for them.

More information on the Royal Television Society at www.rts.org.uk - Julia Bradshaw, RTS Southern Centre Awards Co-ordinator: jabradshaw@hotmail.co.uk
More information on screenings of The Guernica Children at www.bffs.org.uk
 
To see the full press release click here 

Website last updated 29/06/2008