In memory of Sammy Morris
Sammy Morris was born in 1908. He became a coal miner in Ammanford. In 1925 he was one of 58 miners who were imprisoned for picketing and other activities during a strike at collieries in the region. He joined the Communist Party in that year.
He was arrested again in 1935 for taking part in a protest in Ammanford in support of bus workers who wanted union recognition. He was chairman of the miners’ union at Rhos Colliery by the time he joined the International Brigade in 1936 and travelled to Spain to help the Republicans in the civil war.
Sammy wrote letters to his mother in Ammanford while he was in Spain. He was badly wounded in one of his legs during fighting in December 1936, but insisted he would not return home “until we stop International Facism or I am wiped out”. After three months in hospital, he returned to the fray.
He died in the Battle of Brunete, near Madrid, in July 1937. He was 29 years old. Jack Williams, his friend from Ammanford, was with him at the time.
For this information and photo we are grateful to Terry Norman, whose website has more information about local men who joined the International Brigade here
Return to listing page - Spanish Civil War memorial, Cardiff
