Maurice Hawkins: An Unconventional Fighter

Some of the International Brigades volunteers were remembered for their unconventional personalities. Maurice Hawkins was among them: a fighter with a witty and rebellious spirit. 

Before the War 

Hawkins was born on October 4, 1912 in Seattle, Washington, the oldest of two siblings. As a young adult he worked as a cargo loader and joined the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and the Sailors’ Union of the Pacific. He later moved to San Francisco, the headquarters of the Sailors’ Union. Labor unions were often recruiting grounds for men to fight against fascism in Spain. Hawkins was one of these men, as were other signatories of the fan, like Madigan, Dean, and Stuivenberg. At the age of 24, Maurice Hawkins set sail aboard the Aquitania on July 14, 1937 and arrived in Spain twelve days later. 

Wartime Troubles 

Hawkins joined the Lincoln-Washington Battalion, 3^rd Company. He fought at Belchite from August 24 to September 4, 1937. When he got injured in the leg in Belchite, he was sent to recover at Benicassim, a former resort used as a hospital by the International Brigades. After three months, Hawkins left Benicassim and became a gunner and political delegate in the Klement Gottwald Anti-Aircraft Battery, which was part of the 129^th International Brigade. During this time, Hawkins fought in the battle of Teruel.

In a letter to “Comrade Rose” in February 1938, Hawkins complained about the chaotic conditions on the frontlines. Some men of an English-speaking group attached to his unit believed they were to defend the coast, others to serve as replacement, while still others thought they were to form the core of an Anglo-American battalion. The situation was desperate.

“Our battery has been under intensive bombardment during the last two days,” Hawkins wrote, “and during the entire operation we gained nothing but practical experience in how to handle ourselves.”

Comrade Rose, to whom Hawkins addressed his complaint, was probably Solomon Rosenblum, a Jewish-American volunteer from New York, also known as Sol Rose. Rose worked in the Personnel Office of an Anglo-American Section at Albacete. His superiors described him as hard working and “politically strong,” but also as having “little military experience.” Volunteers in the trenches, like Hawkins, seemed to have had little confidence in him. Hawkins concluded his letter by asking “for some directives as to our actual status here.” Whether he received an answer is not known. Rose later died during the Ebro offensive in October of 1938.

When the International Brigades had to retreat, Hawkins joined what would be his last unit, the 35^th Anti-Tank Battery, where he met the other signatories of the fan. Hawkins served a total of seven months on the front lines and three months in the hospital. He crossed to France from Spain in January 1939 and returned to the United States in February aboard the President Harding.

Personal Face of War 

In Spain, Hawkins talked to his comrades about his work on the waterfront in San Francisco, referring to himself as “B.I. Hawkins” (“Basic Industry Hawkins”). According to the memories of fellow Brigadista Ben Iceland, Hawkins explained that his nickname was for “people at home, and also here in Spain, [who] were always ‘yapping’ about, and glorifying men from the waterfront or factories.” Iceland as well as Michael Sidorovich and Hans Maslowski described Hawkins as witty and cynical.  

After the war, as editor of The Volunteer, the journal of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB), Iceland recalled a few anecdotes about Hawkins. Iceland remembered Hawkins complaining when waiting for orders to move to the front: “If I know this outfit, we’ll be going to the asshole of creation, with no putas [whores], no flowers, and a sky full of avion[e]s[planes].” On another occasion, when Hawkins, Iceland, and other volunteers were evacuated from Barcelona to get out of Spain, a comrade was inconsolable about leaving behind a Spanish woman he had fallen in love with. Ski Buturla—that was his name—wondered what would happen to her under Franco. Hawkins replied, “Don’t worry Ski… [She] will be able to open up a laundry” with all the soap the International Brigades had given her. “Hawkins,” Iceland recalled, “was like that sometimes.”

Hawkins also had a reputation for getting into trouble. While waiting for repatriation, he was, so the story goes, lured away by a “flirtatious gypsy woman,” only to have his pants and their contents stolen. It exposed him, Iceland wrote, to be “kidded unmercifully.” Hawkins’ repatriation file also contains a form, signed by Sidorovich and Maslowski, a sergeant in the anti-tank battery and owner of the signed fan, that describes him as “completely demoralized.” Hawkins was considered politically weak, weak also in character, and fond of drinking. The form concluded that Hawkins “should be controlled” and that he needed to be instructed politically.

Yet, despite what his superiors may have thought of Hawkins, his comrades seemed to trust him. According to Iceland, Hawkins was always shaky before and after action, but it was “amazing how cool and calm he was” while firing in battle.

After the War 

When Maurice Hawkins returned to San Francisco, he married Mary Anna Cassis Cossi. Trouble followed him after the war. In 1941, he was arrested for reckless driving in a car crash that injured four people. In 1940, he registered for the United States military to fight in World War II. In 1945, while in boot camp, he died of meningitis. He was only 32 years old. He was survived by his wife and two sons, one of whom was born not long after his death. 

Hawkins Profile

FURTHER READINGS 

Ben Iceland. 1983. “A Train Is Bombed.” The Volunteer.  5/2.

Ben Iceland. 1987. “The Big Retreat.” The Volunteer. 9/1.

Ben Iceland. 1990. “Last Days in Spain.” The Volunteer. 12/2. 

SOURCES

“11 Injured in Traffic; Two Are Arrested.” Contra Costa Gazette [Martinez, California]. 29 September 1941, p. 1.

“Maurice Hawkins.” Personal File. RGASPI. Fond 545, Opis 6, File 907. 

“Maurice Harrison Hawkins.” The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives. Biographical Database. 

“Sol Rose (Solomon Rosenblum).” Personal File. RGRASPI, Fond 545, Opis 6, File 976.