Charles William Duncan Hutchison (1918–1993) was a British-Ghanaian anti-fascist, soldier, and ambulance driver most famous for being the only Black-British member of the

International Brigades The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...

during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. In Spain he was one of the youngest, one of the longest serving, and one of the first English-speaking volunteers. Citing his experiences as a man of colour and his childhood spent in an orphanage, Hutchison was an ardent anti-fascist and was involved in helping organise anti-fascist activists that took part in the

Battle of Cable Street The Battle of Cable Street was a series of clashes that took place at several locations in the inner East End, most notably Cable Street, on Sunday 4 October 1936. It was a clash between the Metropolitan Police, sent to protect a march by mem ...

. Immediately joining the British military following Britain's declaration of war against Nazi Germany, Hutchison served the British Army between 1939-1946. During this time he took part in the

Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...

, the Italian campaign, North African campaign, and the liberation of

Bergen-Belsen concentration camp Bergen-Belsen , or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, in 1943, parts of it became a concent ...

. Hutchison spent almost 10 years engaged in battles against various fascist forces throughout Europe, before starting a family in 1947 and living the rest of his life quietly in South England. Despite his achievements, the details of his life were not fully revealed to historians until 2019, following a history project kickstarted by London school children.

Early life and orphanage

Charlie Hutchison was born in Eynsham, west of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He was the fourth of five children belonging to Lilly Rose (Harper) from

Eynsham Eynsham is an English village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Oxfordshire, about north-west of Oxford and east of Witney. The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 4,648. It was estimated at 5,0 ...

, and Charles Francis from the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

(now

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

). His father would make frequent visits to the Gold Coast, before unexpectedly disappearing, leaving Hutchison's mother in severe mental and financial hardship. Soon afterwards, Hutchison and one of his sisters were temporarily taken to a National Children's Home and Orphanage in

Harpenden Harpenden () is a town and civil parish in the City and District of St Albans in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The population of the built-up area was 30,240 in the 2011 census, whilst the population of the civil parish was 29,448. Har ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. After spending several years in the orphanage, Hutchison was allowed to leave and was reunited with his mother who was living in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

. By 1935, Hutchison had joined the Young Communist League (YCL) branch in Fulham and quickly became the branch's leader while also working as a lorry driver. As a leading member of London's communist movement, Charlie helped organise anti-fascist resistance in the

against the

British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, fo ...

and played a part in forcing the fascists to abandon their march and retreat.

Spanish Civil War

In December 1936, Hutchison went to Spain and joined the

to fight against the Nationalist faction supported by Fascist Italy and

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

during the

. Becoming a machine-gunner, he was joined by many fellow London activists including

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

's nephew

Esmond Romilly } Esmond Marcus David Romilly (10 June 1918 – 30 November 1941) was a British socialist, anti-fascist, and journalist, who was in turn a schoolboy rebel, a veteran with the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War and, following ...

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

's great-grandson

John Cornford Rupert John Cornford (27 December 1915 – 28 December 1936) was an English poet and communist. During the first year of the Spanish Civil War, he was a member of the POUM militia and later the International Brigades. He died while fighting a ...

, Communist Party intellectual

Ralph Winston Fox Ralph Winston Fox (30 March 1900 – 28 December 1936) was a British revolutionary, journalist, novelist, and historian, best remembered as a biographer of Lenin and Genghis Khan. Fox was one of the best-known members of the Communist Party of ...

. The

British Battalion The British Battalion (1936–1938; officially the Saklatvala Battalion) was the 16th battalion of the XV International Brigade, one of the mixed brigades of the International Brigades, during the Spanish Civil War. It comprised British and Do ...

had not yet been fully formed by the time Hutchison first arrived in Spain, so he joined the British and Irish dominated No. 1 Company of the mainly French Marseilla. Hutchison was not only one of the earliest British volunteers and one of the youngest but was also the only black or mixed-race British volunteer to join the International Brigade. When asked why he fought in Spain, Hutchison said: "I am half black, I grew up in the National Children's Home and Orphanage. Fascism meant hunger and war". During his service, his superior officers described him as "hard working", and commented on how developed his political views were for his age. Hutchison fought for the International Brigade during almost the entirety of the war and was sent to the front-line to fight in the

Battle of Lopera The Battle of Lopera took place between 27 and 29 December 1936 during the Spanish Civil War. This battle took place during the Nationalist's Aceituna offensive. On 27 December, the XIV International Brigade launched an attack in order to occupy ...

shortly after arriving in Spain. During this battle, his fellow communist volunteers Fox and Cornford were both killed, and Hutchison was badly wounded. According to Bill Alexander of the British Battalion, Hutchison refused to be sent back to Britain and instead served as an ambulance driver for the 5th Republican Army Corps. In April 1937, Hutchison's mother contacted the Republican government and pleaded with them to force him to return to Britain. Hutchison requested temporary leave, yet due to a logistics blunder, his leave was never granted. He continued to serve the Spanish Republic until December 1938, when he returned to Britain to continue his activism as a member of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

Second World War

Soon after returning to the UK, Hutchison barely had time to conduct further communist activism when Britain entered

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He immediately joined the British military and served in France before taking part in the 1940

. Afterwards, he served in Northern Africa, fought through Italy, and by 1944 was serving with the British Army in Iran. Near the end of the war, he fought in France and into Germany, where he was among the soldiers who took part in the liberation of the

in April 1945.

Death and legacy

After the end of his military service in 1946, Hutchison returned to Fulham and in 1947 married a fellow communist called Patrica Holloway. He resumed his work as a lorry driver and was an active member of the

Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...

, and was also active within anti-apartheid activism and nuclear disarmament. Spending the remainder of his life as a dedicated communist activist, Hutchison died in Bournemouth in 1993, aged 74. In 2019, a memorial event was held at the

Marx Memorial Library The Marx Memorial Library in London, United Kingdom is a library, archive, educational, and community outreach charity focused on Marxist and wider socialist bodies of work. England and Wales charity number: 270309. Its collection comprises over ...

in London to celebrate the life of Charlie Hutchison as a part of

Black History Month Black History Month is an annual observance originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It has received official recognition from governments in the United States and Canada, and more recently ...

. The attendants included 16 members of Hutchison's family, and students from

Newham Sixth Form College Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) is a sixth form college located in the East London borough of Newham. Situated on a single site in Plaistow, the college was established in 1992 to provide for students in Newham and neighbouring boroughs who ...

who showcased their art and poetry projects to celebrate Hutchison's life and examine his reasons for fighting in Spain. During the event, Hutchison's son John spoke of his experiences being raised by his father, describing Charlie's love of boxing and that their home was filled with "books by Marx, Salinger, Steinbeck and Hugo". The research into Hutchison's life conducted by the same sixth-form students would lead to the creation of their college's 'African Studies Centre'. One of the students was Noah Anthony Enahoro, grandson of Nigerian independence leader

Anthony Enahoro Chief Anthony Eromosele Enahoro (22 July 1923 – 15 December 2010) was one of Nigeria's foremost anti-colonial and pro-democracy activists. He was born the eldest of ten children in Uromi, present-day Edo State of Nigeria. His Esan parents we ...

, was one of the researchers who presented their findings to Hutchison's family. Much of the information historians know about Charlie Hutchison's life has only been discovered very recently and has been recorded in few histories of the Spanish Civil War, two being

Richard Baxell Richard Baxell is a British historian and the author of three books on the Spanish Civil War. Between 2015 and 2018 he was the Chair of the International Brigade Memorial Trust. He received his Doctor of Philosophy from the London School of Eco ...

's '' Unlikely Warriors'' (2012), and the

Communist Party of Britain The Communist Party of Britain (CPB) is a communist party in Great Britain which emerged from a dispute between Eurocommunists and Marxist-Leninists in the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1988. It follows Marxist-Leninist theory and s ...

's ''Red Lives'' (2020).

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hutchison, Charlie 1918 births 1993 deaths British Army soldiers Military personnel from Oxfordshire International Brigades personnel Black British activists People from Witney Black British soldiers English people of Ghanaian descent English anti-fascists Communist Party of Great Britain members British people of the Spanish Civil War British Army personnel of World War II

Early life and orphanage

Spanish Civil War

Second World War

Death and legacy

See also

Citations