BOB SMILLIE
Designation: International Revolutionary
Born: 8TH June 1916
Died: 1937
Bio Notes:
Robert (Bob) Smillie of Patrickbrae House
Grandson and namesake Robert Ramsay Smillie (1857-1940), the great socialist, miner and founder member of the Independent Labour Party with James Keir Hardie.
Stayed in the parish of Stonehouse at Patrickbrae House overlooking the Avon river between the two villages.
Born in Lanarkshire in 1917, Bob’s parents ran a small farm from Patrickbrae House which stands in the beautiful setting of the Avon gorge overlooking the river near St. Patrick’s holy well. Having joined the Independent Labour Party he was involved in the establishment of the Guild of Youth, an organisation that became part of the International Revolutionary Youth Bureau. During the 1930s Bob took part in a number of political campaigns and activities which brought him to the attention of other left wing organisations and indeed the government authorities who were wary of his communist sympathies. Whilst studying chemistry at Glasgow University he participated in the hunger marches and campaigned against the rising tide of fascism in Britain which was led by Oswald Mosley.
When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, he joined the International Revolutionary Youth Bureau in Barcelona where he received basic military training. Early the following year he volunteered with other Independent Labour Party members including author George Orwell to fight at the Aragón Front. Together they fought with the Workers Party of Marxist Unification (POUM). Their commanding officer, Georges Kopp recalled Bob’s character when he wrote “We have had a complete success, which is largely due to the courage and discipline of the English comrades who were in charge of assaulting the principal of the enemy’s parapets. Among them I feel it my duty to give a particular mention to the splendid actions of Eric Blair (George Orwell), Bob Smillie and Paddy Donovon.”
By April 1937, Bob and his comrades made their way to Barcelona for a period of leave from the battle front. However having been granted permission to go to Paris to promote the cause back home he was arrested by the police in Figueras who were under the control of the Spanish Communist Party (PCE). In what was a politically unstable and confusing scene across Europe, Bob was held by the authorities in Valencia who were unsympathetic to the political presence of POUM in Spain. He was consequently charged with handling “materials of war” (two discharged hand grenades which he intended to take home as souvenirs). He was later charged with “rebellion against the authorities”. Many attempts were made to seek his release unsuccessfully. It was during his captivity in June of 1937 that he is said to have experienced stomach pains which was later diagnosed as appendicitis. Unfortunately he succumbed to peritonitis on 12th June 1937 before he could receive medical attention.
However, back home rumours were circulating that Bob had in fact been murdered after a beating in his cell. One of those who supported this theory was George Orwell who visited other Independent Labour Party members in prison and came to the conclusion that he had been murdered for his political activities. Although the Independent Labour Party’s formal position was that he died of natural causes, Bob’s father Alex and George Orwell’s strong suspicions ensured the conspiracy theories persisted for some time.
Some writers have speculated that it was George Orwell’s experiences fighting in the Spanish Civil War that changed his political leanings and in particular his meeting with a young Bob Smillie at the battle front. It has been suggested that it was this meeting that inspired Orwell to move to Jura in Scotland in 1945 to write ‘1984’ following the death of his first wife.
Orwell recalls his meeting with Bob stating “Here was one of the toughest men I ever met. He was the only person who went three months in the trenches without a day’s illness. This brave and gifted boy who had thrown up his career at Glasgow University in order to come and fight fascism and whom as I saw at the front had done his job with faultless courage and willingness; and all they could find to do with him was fling him in jail and let him die like a neglected animal.”
Even Bob’s own commanding officer Georges Kopp, was convinced that Robert had been murdered stating “The doctor states that Bob Smillie had the skin and the flesh of his skin perforated by a powerful kick delivered by a foot shod in the nailed boot; the intestines were partly hanging outside. Another blow had severed the left side connection between the jaw and the skull and the former was merely hanging on the right side. Bob died about 30 minutes after reaching the hospital.” George Orwell claimed to have uncovered a file documenting Bob Smillie’s torture and death. The event had a profound affect upon Orwell who despite the fact he and his comrades were fighting on the same side as the communists, enraged his hatred of Stalin and his efforts to subdue any influences that might threaten his own communist party at home and abroad.
Additional Information on Bob can be found on this web page
Source: Information supplied by John Young