The Basque country is a region in the north of Spain with a distinctive culture where Basque language is spoken. In 1937, a group of 4000 Basque children were sent from Bilbao to England to help them escape death as Bilbao was about to be conquered by Franco's fascist nationalist army.

Southampton was the first English city where the ship with 4000 Basque children arrived. Many of these Basque children were never going to return to Spain again as their parents died in the Spanish Civil War and they had nowhere and no-one to return to. Many of those who dared to reutrn faced prosecution, imprisonment and death in the hands of the winning side, the Spanish fascists. Thus, many of the Basque children were forced to spend the rest of their life in England, becoming English citizen and leading their lives as English citizens although their bonds with the Basque country were never severed.

If you want to know more about this true story I recommend you read Adrian Belll's Only for Three Months, a very good history book based on the oral testimony of the Basque children that are now in their 80's and 90's. Also, if you want to know more about this issue, there is a Basque children association in London www.basquechildren.org/
that promotes awareness and learning about the experiences of the Basque children in England.