Who was Jack Brent?

Plaque to Jack Brent by The Pend at Whithorn

In Whithorn on a wall by the Pend where the butchers used to be is a small plaque, to a man that the International Brigade honour, his name was Jack Brent and here is his story.

Jack Brent 'nom de guerre' (George Dickie) was a legendary figure. Badly wounded in the Spanish Civil War, he spent many years in and out of hospitals on his return. A secretary of the International Brigade Association, he tirelessly continued the fight against fascism, speaking at meetings, distributing pamphlets and selling the Daily Worker. Stanley Harrison, a Morning Star journalist, produced a book, “Good to be Alive: The Story of Jack Brent”, based on Jack’s letters, IBA records and recollections from family and friends.

Jack Brent, born in Canada 1912, Jack Brent moved to Whithorn while still a small child. He was apprenticed to a local butcher but at the age of 17 left to join the Cameronian Highlanders. He deserted in 1933 and spent time in London where he developed an active interest in left wing politics. In 1936, soon after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, he was accepted with the International Brigades, a world-wide volunteer organisation of men and women who went to Spain to defend the Republican government from attack by Franco's fascist army.

In 1937, at the battle of Jarama, Brent was shot through the spine while helping to collect the wounded. He never walked again without the use of crutches and was in near constant pain for the rest of his life.

On his return from Spain he joined the Communist Party. Living in London during the  Second World War he worked to improve conditions in the city's air raid shelters. He was also active in attempting to gain the release of International Brigaders interned in concentration camps in France, Spain in North Africa. He was Secretary of the International Brigade Association and one of his successes was the campaign to free Luis Longo, Inspector General of the International Brigades who had been handed over to Mussoloni's secret police. Brent obtained signatures of support from 275 MPs and members of the House of Lords and persuaded the Pope to intervene in Longo's favour. Longo was eventually freed from jail and risk of execution.

A biography, 'Good to be Alive - the story of Jack Brent', by Stanley Harrison was published in 1949.

Brent died in Whithorn in 1951. In 2006 the International Brigade Association erected a commemorative plaque in the town in his honour.

From Future Museum
See also Galloway Gazette here