George Nathan

Who was George Nathan?

George Montague Nathan was a British volunteer in the International Brigades in Spain. He initially commanded the British Company of the otherwise French Marseillaise Battalion but was appointed battalion commander in early 1937 following the execution of his predecessor for espionage.

He later became Chief of Staff of the XV International Brigade and was killed on 16 July 1937 at the Battle of Brunete. Even though he had been turned down for Communist Party membership — either because of his "sexual orientation" or because of his unwillingness to "pretend great political enthusiasm" - Comintern observers admired him for his "cool arrogance under fire".

During the First World War, he fought in the British Army on the Western Front. He rose from private to company sergeant major and "after three years and 334 days in the service, he was commissioned in the field on 9 April 1917" to become "the only Jewish officer in the Brigade of Guards". This is what he claimed but Nathan was, as his medal index card shows, commissioned into the Warwickshire Regiment and was never a CSM.