To mark the 80th anniversary of the arrival of the Basque child refugees in Southampton, the Archives Hub feature for May 2017 is the Basque child refugee archive in Special Collections, Hartley Library, Highfield Campus.
In the aftermath of the bombing of Guernica, Spain on 26 April 1937, almost 4,000 Basque children were evacuated from northern Spain to England. The SS Habana docked in Southampton on 23 May 1937 and the refugees disembarked to a makeshift camp of tents which had been erected at North Stoneham, now part of Southampton airport.
The Archives Hub provides an online gateway to many of the UK’s richest historical archives, fulfilling a vital and unique function in revealing the incredible wealth of material held within institutions.
The University’s Special Collections is one of nearly 300 UK institutions which contribute to this online research resource.
You can find out more about the Basque child refugees archive by clicking here.
