by Zoe Streatfield and Lynne Walsh

TWO plaques commemorating Scottish anti-fascist heroes who fought in the Spanish civil war will be unveiled in Aberdeen today, as part of a weekend of events to celebrate the International Brigades.

Nina Kunington will unveil a plaque dedicated to her grandfather John Londragan, who was born in Aberdeen and spent his formative years organising hunger marches and fighting against Oswald Mosley’s attempts at gaining a fascist foothold in the city.

Mr Londragan went on to fight with the International Brigades and later against Hitler’s nazis in the second world war. 

His granddaughter told the Star: “He believed it was his duty to help the Spanish and at the same time be proactive in defending Britain and other countries by preventing fascism from spreading any further.”

Another plaque celebrating the life of Bob Cooney will be unveiled by his nephew Councillor Neil Cooney. Mr Cooney was a leading communist and anti-fascist activist in Aberdeen who went on to be the political commissar of the British Battalion during the Spanish civil war.

He was renowned for his oratory skills and his plaque will bear a line from a poem he wrote: “Because of that great yesterday we are part of the greater tomorrow.”

This will be followed by a visit to the Aberdeen Trades Union Council office to see the International Brigades memorial library and the original Spanish republican flag which was used as a shroud for Aberdonian International Brigaders Archie Dewar and Tom Davidson, who were both killed in Spain in 1938.

And the ATUC and the International Brigades Memorial Trust have organised a march to Castlegate on Sunday led by Grampian District and Drums.