Page 261 - They Also Served

Demobbed at the end of the war, Alexander returned to CPGB activism, becoming assistant general secretary in 1959. However, he stood down in 1967 and became a chemistry teacher at Sydenham School. He was also president of the Marx Memorial Library in London and ran the International Brigade Association. Alexander wrote three books on the Spanish Civil War, bringing the role of the 2,200 British volunteers to public attention. His efforts bore fruit in 1985 when a memorial to the brigade was unveiled in London. In 1996, he returned to Madrid at the head of a dwindling contingent of surviving volunteers to be awarded honorary Spanish citizenship.
Alexander fiercely guarded the reputation of the brigade and the sacrifices made by the volunteers. In 1997, he denounced the Cider with Rosie author Laurie Lee, accusing him of exaggerating his Spanish Civil War exploits in his memoir A Moment of War. As he grew older, Alexander’s views mellowed, and he did not mourn the demise of the CPGB in 1991. However, he thoroughly approved of environmental activism, but had no time for New Labour. Bill Alexander died on 11th July 2000.
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