International Brigade Volunteers lapel badge : C E Walters, XV International Brigade

Lapel badge for volunteers of the International Brigade. The circular badge features a central design of a raised fist in front two crossed guns. Below this is a star encased within a globe with the years '1936' and '1937' either side of the globe. Around the outside of the badge is written in Spanish: 'VOLUNTARIOS INTERNACIONALES DE LA LIBERTAD'. The badge was gold plated by its owner Charles Walters.

This lapel badge was presented to Charles Edward Walters in recognition of his volunteer service with the International Brigade that fought in the Spanish Civil War. Born in Sussex, England in 1899, he emigrated to Australia in 1916 at the age of 17 years. During the 1930s, Walters was active in socialist and workers' causes in Hobart and Launceston, which occasionally brought him to the attention of authorities. In one instance, when supporting the rights of the unemployed in an anti-eviction campaign, Walters was served with a deportation order by Hobart police. However, when this was protested by several community leaders, including members of the clergy, the order was rescinded. When the Spanish Civil War erupted in July 1936, Walters collected the newspaper clippings reporting on the conflict and was quoted as saying: 'They haunted me until I was compelled to go.' Walters made his way to Spain via England and on foot from France. He joined the XV International Brigade, which was comprised of mainly English speaking volunteers from Britain and her Dominions and the United States, though a Balkan battalion and a French battalion also helped formed the brigade. The XVth was raised at Albacete in January 1937 and fought its first battle at Jarama a month later in February. Walters was wounded badly in the Battle of Tereul which raged from December 1937 to February 1938. He spent five months convalescing and in September 1938 he was given an authorised pardon to leave Spain, being medically unfit to serve. When he returned to Australia, Walters addressed meetings around the country and was appointed assistant secretary of the Spanish Relief Committee in Adelaide. He had one son Max, to his first wife Charlotte in 1942, and remarried to Dorothy in 1954. Charles Walters passed away in 1979 at Dora Creek, NSW at the age of 80.