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Researcher: Hannah Moon, Stuyvesant '26

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Martin Madsen-Hompland was a Norwegian immigrant born on June 12th, 1906 to Mads Mauritnsen Hompland and Anna Gulena “Lena” Torjesdatter Regevik. He arrived in the United States on August 22nd, 1924 aboard the Aquitania, a ship that transported immigrants between Southampton, England and New York. He arrived in the United States at a time where major quotas were set on immigration via the Immigration Act of 1924, which made it extremely difficult to settle. Prior to this act, waves of Norwegian immigrants settled in the United States and primarily lived in Brooklyn, particularly in areas such as Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, and Red Hook. Martin Madsen Hompland also settled in Brooklyn, on Domicile 402 Street (which no longer exists).

Madsen had only seven years of formal schooling, all of which were in Norway. Upon arriving in New York, where there were limited job opportunities, he was a laborer and had no prior military experience. As a lower class member of society, the idea of communism inspired him, motivating him to join the Communist Party. This ideology carried with him when he volunteered to fight abroad against fascist forces in Spain.

On October 9th, 1937, Madsen boarded the Vollendam and landed in Figueras, Spain on October 24th, 1937 via Massanet. During the Spanish Civil War, Figueras, which is located in the northeast corner of Spain in the province of Girona, Catalonia, was a republican stronghold that suffered intensely from the bombings of German and Italian forces. Only about ten days after he arrived in Figueras, Madsen was sent to Albacete, a Spanish province located in the southeast. He trained to be a soldier in Company 4 in Tarazona.

Following his training, Madsen served with the XV International Brigade (Abraham Lincoln Brigade), which was an American volunteer military unit that fought against Franco’s fascist forces. In particular, Madsen was part of the Lincoln and Washington Battalions. Both units suffered major casualties (over fifty percent) against Spanish forces, which led them to be merged in 1937. Within these units, there existed army ranks. The rank of soldado was the lowest, standard infantry rank. A rank higher was soldado de primera, who were identified by their red inverted chevron on their sleeves. The highest rank was the cabo (corporal), who led the forces. Madsen, being without military experience and having low proficiency of English, was of the soldado rank.

His commitment led him to the front lines, where he fought in the Battle of Belchite. At this battle, Republican forces surrounded the town and prepared to take action. Franco’s forces were in the middle of the town, and the Republicans, knowing they didn’t have much time, decided to attack. The Republicans cut the water supply, which made Franco’s forces suffer severely in the summer heat. Their artillery blasted at Franco’s men, leaving the town devastated. The town of Belchite was taken by the Republicans on September 6th after a battle that took over five thousand lives. It was at this tragic battle that Martin Madsen Hompland was killed in action.

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Sources

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Universidad de Barcelona. MADSEN, Martin, https://sidbrint.puntzero.cat/brigadista/madsen-martin.
VSCW. Belchite, www.vscw.ca/en/node/85.

The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives. Volunteer Directory, https://alba-valb.org/volunteer-directory/.

NYU Libraries. Special Collections and Archives, https://library.nyu.edu/about/collections/special-collections-and-archives/.