Alicante honours the Welsh captain of the 'Stanbrook'
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By h.b. - Mar 30, 2009 - 7:52 AM
Seventy years to the day, the son and daughter of the 'Stanbrook' pay homage to their father in Alicante

Several survivors of the 2,683 republicans who escaped from Alicante on the British ship ‘Stanbrook’, the last ship to leave Spain before the end of the Spanish Civil War, were back in the city on Sunday to pay homage to the Welsh captain of the vessel, Archibald Dickson, in an emotional ceremony led by the sailors son Arnold Dickson and daughter Dorothy Dickson.

On the day of the exile, March 28 1939, 70 years ago to the day, Arnold and Dorothy were just 3 and 5 years old, but yesterday they threw some flowers into the water from the same dock from where the Stanbrook set sale for Algeria, just hours before Alicante fell.

Sunday’s ceremony was witness by about 1000 locals and memories were revived for many of them. Arnold expressed his thanks for all the affection he and his sister had been shown in Alicante over the past few days, and for the act in honour of his father, who died in November 1939 in a German U boat attack. He said they had been particularly moved by meeting some of the Stanbrook survivors, and said he was proud of what his father had done to help the Spanish refugees.

Irish Hispanic, Ian Gibson, was on hand at the ceremony and spoke of his admiration for the Capitan who was, he said, a real hero.

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