We publish a post by Tony Fox, IBMT member in Middlesbrough.
On Saturday 3rd May 2025 we held our first May Day Partisans Party to launch the North East group of ANPI, it is now just ten weeks later, but we have already made a huge impact.
One of the most interesting results of the May Day Partisans Party was the creation by Harry Gallagher of his poem ‘The Baker’s prayer’. Alfio Bernabei translated it into Italian and it took on a life of its own; not only on social media or in the UK, but in Italy too – three weeks ago, on 25 th June it was read at a civic event in Parma.
On 2nd July we held the Remembering the Arandora Star commemorative event, a civic commemoration held in Middlesbrough Town Hall to mark the 85th anniversary of the disaster. The commemoration was led by my friend and colleague Ian Stubbs, it was attended by relatives of some of the thirteen Teesside Italians who lost their lives, giving them an opportunity to see the Arandora Star memorial which is not on public view; Ian was the principal activists in erecting the memorial in 2009. I had the honour of representing ANPI and of reading the address for ANPI UK. We feel that it is vital that this event is commemorated as it demonstrates the experiences of Italians on Teesside during the period of Fascist rule in Italy.
Swiftly after this commemoration came Saturday 12 th July the date of the 139 th Durham
Miners Gala or ‘Big Meet’ as it is more generally known in County Durham. This year glorious summer weather saw almost 250,000 people from all over the world descend on our beautiful city for the the world’s greatest celebration of Community, International solidarity, and working class life, a unique and inspiring spectacle, our joyous celebration of Durham’s radical heritage. For the past five years I have organised the NEVfL contingent who take part in the banner parade, proudly displaying our colourful flags and banners commemorating the International Brigade; this year, for the first time we gladly added the ANPI tricolour flag to reflect our new objective; to commemorate ant-fascists from all nations, especially Britain, Ireland, Italy and Spain. Meeting in Durham’s historic Market square we found the streets already crammed with people, with banners and of course the brass bands. As we set off music filled the air, not just from the brass bands, but samba bands and the popular Scottish pipe bands as well. We marched the one and a half miles from the Market Square to the Parade ground, the sheer number of contingents, some almost a hundred strong, means it takes a few hours to get to the halfway point: The Royal County Hotel. We marched with supporters, friends and relatives of local International Brigade volunteers. This year as we were crossing the Elvet Bridge, just before the hotel we were joined by Harry Gallagher, he was thrilled to see the ANPI flag and spoke of his continued amazement at the impact his poem has had, he marched with us as we reached the Royal County Hotel where the Gala dignitaries assemble on the balcony to acknowledge the marchers and the bands, a select number of bands are chosen to stop under the balcony to perform for them. From here we made our way, cheered and applauded by the crowds, to the Riverside parade ground, here we listened to the speeches from the leaders of the Durham Miners Association, trade union leaders and memorably we heard the passionate speech from Husam S. Zomlot, the Head of the Palestinian Mission to the United Kingdom.
This year we made an even greater contribution: we were part of the exhibitors on the Parade ground, with Solidarity Sunderland we had a gazebo where visitors could learn about Solidarity Park International, Solidarity Sunderland and, as I had leaflets and scarfs, ANPI UK.
We had propped the flags we had carried in the parade at the Solidarity Park banner, I spoke to two visitors who told me they were from Italy and were at the Gala for the first time as guests of a UK trade union. They asked why we had an ANPI flag, I explained that we had recently set up a North East branch of ANPI UK and offered them a leaflet, they explained they did not need on as they were already members of ANPI. For me this encounter epitomises the spirit of the Big Meet, where like minded activists can enjoy a day of camaraderie and international solidarity.
I am pleased that ANPI NE has had such an impact in our area in such a short space of time,
with invaluable support from Simone and Alfio we have a very firm foundation upon which we can continue to commemorate the Italian Partisans – we have three established dates; in April and July (2) around which we can build a schedule of commemorative events in order to build interest and membership in our region.
