HOPES for a memorial to be built in Oxford to 31 men and women who fought in the Spanish Civil War have been revived.

The monument would honour Oxfordshire people who volunteered to defend the Spanish Republic against Fascism between 1936 and 1939.

The original plan of the International Brigade Memorial Trust was to site it in Bonn Square, but Oxford City Council said it would clutter the area.

Instead, the city council has suggest the trust could use a grassy site owned by the council near St Giles’ Church.

Woodstock resident Colin Carritt, 70, said the monument was “long overdue” with others already in place in 100 other towns and cities in the country.

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His father, Noel Carritt, was injured in Spain, while his uncle, Anthony Carritt, was one of six volunteers from the Oxford area killed. Both will be named on the memorial.

Others were actor Edward Burke, Lewis Clive of Christ Church, Ralph Fox of Magdalen College, John Rickman of Lincoln College and Herbert Fisher, who attended the Dragon School.

Mr Carritt said: “More literature exists on the Spanish Civil War than on almost any other foreign conflict.

“This is partly due to the involvement of intellectuals and writers. A significant number came from Oxford University.

“These educated, often privileged, men and women fought for democracy alongside workers from Morris Motors, farm workers, labourers and tradesmen, in a rare example of solidarity and singularity of purpose.”

The memorial has been designed by Hampshire artist Charlie Carter, after a contest was held by the trust.

It would go between the present Second World War memorial at the end of St Giles and St Giles churchyard.

The names of the six volunteers killed in Spain out of 31 from the county would be accompanied by an image of a raised fist grasping a scorpion.

There would also be a QR code that can be scanned by smartphones to provide a link to online information about the civil war, in which 2,500 volunteers left Britain to fight.

The total cost of installing the memorial would be £22,500. The International Brigade Memorial Trust has so far raised £14,000.

Mr Carritt said the group hopes to win more grant funding and raise the rest itself.

He added: “We hope to have it installed by next June for the 80th anniversary of the war.”

Visit international-brigades.org.uk