Forgotten British cemetery in Spain, resting place of civil war dead, is finally restored

Niches at the British Cemetery in Tarragona before restoration

A dilapidated Spanish cemetery which is the last resting place of nine British merchant seamen who died when their ships were sunk in the civil war has finally been restored after a campaign by a retired diplomat.

The sailors were from the SS Stanwell and SS Thorpeness, which were bombed by the Italian Air Force in separate attacks in 1938, despite Britain playing no role in the 1936-1939 war.

Geoff Cowling, the former British Consul General in Barcelona, came across the British Cemetery in Tarragona in 2005 and campaigned to restore it after it fell into disrepair. The British government spent £63,300 repairing the cemetery, which is about 100km south of Barcelona.

“Many of the grave niches were broken with coffins and the contents on view. Particularly shocking was the discovery of a jumble of bones and skulls in two broken niches open to view,” Mr Cowling said.

“My last act in my 40-year career in the Foreign Office was to close these niches and record the names of the seamen on the outside. They lost their lives in a conflict not of their choosing. I am pleased their final resting place is finally being renovated.”

The British Cemetery in Tarragona

The men from the SS Thorpeness were George Sydney Mogg, 26, Harry de Klerk, 22, Thomas Taylor, all from Grimsby, Arthur Frank Jerrot, 40, from Barry in Wales, Walter Jones, 42, from Bristol, Claude Welsh, 47, from Chester and John James Walker, 22, from South Shields.

In a separate attack on the SS Stanwell, records showed J Mulholland, 52, from Aldershot, and T King, 45, from Ayrshire, died alongside their Danish captain, who is also buried at the site. Both attacks took place in Tarragona harbour, in January and March 1938.

Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany backed the Nationalist uprising led by General Francisco Franco which led to the 1936-1939 civil war. Britain and France maintained a policy of non-intervention while the Soviet Union offered limited military aid to the Spanish Republican government, which lost.

About 35,000 volunteers joined the International Brigades to fight General Franco, of whom 2,500 were British. Some 500 Britons lost their lives in the war.