Samuel George Montague Nathan (20 January 1895 – 16 July 1937) was an English soldier who served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the island was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom. A sep ...

Auxiliary Division The Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary (ADRIC), generally known as the Auxiliaries or Auxies, was a paramilitary unit of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) during the Irish War of Independence. It was founded in July 1920 by Majo ...

during the

Anglo-Irish War The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along wi ...

and the

International Brigades The International Brigades () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front (Spain), Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Bri ...

in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. During his service in the Auxiliary Division, Nathan was suspected of being involved in the assassination of two

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

politicians, which later contributed to the alienation of Irish volunteers in the International Brigades from their British counterparts during the Spanish Civil War. In the Spanish Civil War, Nathan initially commanded the British company of the majority-French Marseillaise Battalion but was appointed battalion commander in early 1937 following the execution of his predecessor for espionage. Nathan later became Chief of Staff of the XV International Brigade and was killed in action on 16 July 1937 at the Battle of Brunete. Even though he had been turned down in his attempt to join the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

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".Eby (2007), p 202

Background

Samuel George Montague Nathan was born in

Hackney, London Hackney is a district in East London, England, forming around two-thirds of the area of the modern London Borough of Hackney, to which it gives its name. It is 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Charing Cross and includes part of the Queen ...

in 1895. His father was

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and the Nathans had been settled in England since the 18th century. His mother was an Englishwoman and was a Christian. George Nathan himself was baptised into the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

at St Mark's,

Bow Street Bow Street is a thoroughfare in Covent Garden, City of Westminster, Westminster, London. It connects Long Acre, Russell Street and Wellington Street, and is part of a route from St Giles, London, St Giles to Waterloo Bridge. The street was ...

on 24 January 1897. Although nominally raised an Anglican and identifying himself as such earlier in life, after 1917 he referred to himself as Jewish.

Military

World War I

During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he fought in the

on the Western Front.''Gurney'' (1974), pp 93–95 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"Monks (1985) 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

Royal Warwickshire Regiment The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, previously titled the 6th Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. The regiment saw service in many conflicts and wars, including the Second Boer War ...

and was never a CSM.

Irish War of Independence

In 1920, Nathan was discharged from the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. On October of that year, Nathan joined the

of the

(RIC) and was posted to G Company as a Section Leader, being stationed at the Lakeside Hotel in

Killaloe, County Clare Killaloe ( ; ) is a small town in east County Clare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It lies on the River Shannon on the western bank of Lough Derg (Shannon), Lough Derg and is connected by Killaloe Bridge to the "twin town" of Ballina, County ...

. The Auxiliary Division was a paramilitary unit of the RIC and fought in the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...

against the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...

, working heavily in conjunction with paramilitary RIC constables known as the

Black and Tans The Black and Tans () were constables recruited into the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) as reinforcements during the Irish War of Independence. Recruitment began in Great Britain in January 1920, and about 10,000 men enlisted during the conflic ...

. Nathan was ordered to return to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

on 30 April 1921 and left the Auxiliary Division on 2 May 1921, returning to London.George Montague Nathan
Auxiliaries.com, 11 November 2016 During his service in the Auxiliary Division, Nathan was suspected of being involved with a series of assassinations in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

which took place on 7 March 1921, when the sitting

mayor of Limerick The Mayor of Limerick is the head of the local government of the Limerick, City and County Limerick, County of Limerick. It is a directly elected office with a five-year term. Following the 2024 Limerick mayoral election, John Moran (Mayor of Li ...

politician George Clancy, councillor and former mayor Michael O'Callaghan and city clerk Joseph O'Donoghue were all shot and killed in their homes. Groups of plainclothes men had knocked on the door of each, claiming to be a search party and once inside struggled with each party, shooting them. George Clancy's wife Máire, who had struggled with the party before they shot her husband, identified George Nathan in a statement. An article published in the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'' by Richard Bennett in 1961 stated that two former Auxiliary Division members had anonymously identified Nathan as the killer of the two mayors. Local rumours in Limerick claimed that Leslie Ibbotson was the other man involved, but this has never been proven. Frank Percy Crozier, a former Auxiliary Division officer, wrote in his book ''Ireland for Ever'' that he agreed with Kathleen O'Callaghan (wife of one of the men killed, Michael O'Callaghan) that the mayors were "murdered by police, acting under orders, as part of a plan to 'do away with' Sinn Fein leaders, and put the blame on Sinn Fein".Shooting in Limerick
Auxiliaries.com, 11 November 2016

Spanish Civil War

After returning from Dublin, Nathan relinquished his commission and rejoined the British Army; this time the

West Yorkshire Regiment The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) was an infantry regiment of the British Army. In 1958 it amalgamated with the East Yorkshire Regiment (15th Foot) to form the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire which was ...

as a private, but had left the military by October 1922 at his own request. Having spent his entire adulthood in the military, Nathan was ill-prepared for civilian life. He worked a number of jobs, such as being a doorman for Peter Jones, but was fired after trying to form a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

. He also worked as a butcher. He briefly rejoined the Army as a private in the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many war ...

but was discharged with ignominy after a

Court Martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the mili ...

on 25 May 1926. He traveled to

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

in February 1928, intending to become a farmer, but only found work as a salesman, staying in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

for some years. His financial state was poor and he wrote to the

British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British Charitable organization, charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants. ...

in 1935, requesting assistance. The

began in the summer of 1936 in the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

, as a Nationalist insurgency was launched by elements of the

Spanish Republican Armed Forces The Spanish Republican Armed Forces () were initially formed by the following two branches of the military of the Second Spanish Republic: * Spanish Republican Army (''Ejército de la República Española'' (1931–1936) and ''Ejército Popular ...

. In September 1936, the

Communist International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internationa ...

under the control of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

decided to found the

to assist the sitting Popular Front government (ranging from the bourgeois liberals of the Republican Union to the Marxist-Leninists of the

Communist Party of Spain The Communist Party of Spain (; PCE) is a communist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is currently part of Sumar. Two of its politicians are Spanish government ministers: Yolanda Díaz (Minister of L ...

) of the Second Spanish Republic. Nathan elected to travel to Spain in December 1936, where he joined the mostly French Marseillaise Battalion of the XIV International Brigade, as a Captain of the British Company with it. Nathan's first action in the conflict was at the Battle of Lopera. This was a disaster for the International Brigade, in their attempt to take the town of Lopera, they were decimated by local Andalusian '' requetés'' and the Moroccan ''

regulares The ("Indigenous Regular Forces"), known simply as the (Regulars), are infantry units of the Spanish Army, largely recruited in the cities of Ceuta and Melilla. Historically, the force, which has also included mounted divisions, has consisted ...

''. 78 of the 145 "British" (which also included Irish) Company died including

John Cornford Rupert John Cornford (27 December 1915 – 28 December 1936) was an English poet and communist. During the first year of the Spanish Civil War, he was a member of the POUM militia and later the International Brigades. He died while fighting aga ...

and Ralph Winston Fox. Comintern were embarrassed by this and so André Marty, the political commissar, had Marseillaise Battalion commander Gaston Delasalle executed for "incompetence, cowardice" and being a "fascist spy" (on the recommendation of André Heussler.) That day Nathan had organised a retreat under fire, which saved even more of his men from being killed.Irish volunteers in the British Battalion
RichardBaxell.info, 11 November 2016 In January 1937, the

British Battalion The British Battalion (1936–1938; officially the Shapurji Saklatvala, Saklatvala Battalion) was the 16th (from November 1937 the 57th) battalion of the XV International Brigade, one of the mixed brigades of the International Brigades, during t ...

of the XV International Brigade was founded, training at Madrigueras. However, problems emerged when some Irish members were unhappy about being referred to as part of a "British Battalion" (the Communist name of the Saklatvala Battalion had not caught on and the Spanish referred to them even more offensively as "''el batallón inglés''"). Irish volunteers from the

Republican Congress The Republican Congress () was an Irish republican political organisation founded in 1934, when pro-communist republicans left the Anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army. The Congress was led by such anti-Treaty veterans as Peadar O'Donnell, Frank ...

also found out that they were subordinated to two former members of the Auxiliary Division from the

; Nathan and Wilfred Macartney.W F R Macartney
TheAuxiliaries.com, 11 November 2016 The tension was such that Nathan, confronted, said to Frank Ryan and the other Irishmen that he had indeed served the Auxiliaries in

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

"If you want to shoot me for what happened in Ireland, all right, but I was under orders."

Nathan denied being a fascist, saying he had come to Spain to fight fascism and that "we are Socialists together now." Joe Monks claims that, "the meeting responded to the spirit of his speech and clapped him." Nevertheless, later that month the Irish volunteers voted 26 for and 11 against the motion to instead join the American

Lincoln Battalion The Lincoln Battalion (), the major component of what came to be known as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, was the 17th (later the 58th) battalion of the XV International Brigade that fought in the Spanish Civil War. Named after United States Presid ...

as the

Connolly Column The Connolly Column (, ) was the name given to a group of Irish socialist volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, Irish republican socialist Military volunteer, volunteers who fought for the Second Spanish Republic in the International Brigades d ...

. Nathan's purported

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

did not go down well with the Communist International representatives (being then defined in official Marxist–Leninist terminology as a "fascist perversion") and though he professed a vague allegiance to

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

, he was not a hardcore Marxist–Leninist and had not been a member of the

before arriving in Spain. However, he proved to be generally popular among the rank and file of the International Brigades, according to the likes of Jason Gurney and Fred Copeman. Aside from this, as a man with proven military experience, he was an asset at a time when the British volunteers consisted mostly of people with little prior training. According to Copeman, Nathan performed well during the

Battle of Jarama The Battle of Jarama (6–27 February 1937) was an attempt by General Francisco Franco's Nationalists to dislodge the Second Spanish Republic, Republican lines along the river Jarama, just east of Madrid, during the Spanish Civil War. Elite Spa ...

in February, one of the most heated contests of the Spanish Civil War. Particularly on the third day, he is claimed to have been the most capable officer of the XV International Brigade. During this battle, the Brigade lost more than half of their men; 375 out of 600 died; including Christopher Caudwell. Nathan finally came unstuck at the

Battle of Brunete The Battle of Brunete (6–25 July 1937), fought west of Madrid, was a Republican attempt to alleviate the pressure exerted by the Nationalists on the capital and on the north during the Spanish Civil War. Although initially successful, the R ...

where he was killed as a result of bomb fragments from a

Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a twin-engined multirole combat aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works. It was used extensively during the Second World War by the ''Luftwaffe'' and became one o ...

aerial bombardment and died on the 17 July 1937. Romantic myth claims he was "buried under olive trees close to the River Guadarrama," but he was actually buried in the village cemetery of Torrelodones, which was along the way on an evacuation route for the combat wounded and dead from Brunete to Madrid.

Quotes

Sources

* Beevor, Antony. ''The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939''. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2006. * Bennett, Richard, "Portrait of a Killer", ''

'', 24 March 1961, pp 471–472 * Cook, Judith. ''Apprentices of Freedom''. Quartet Books, 1979. * Eby, Cecil. ''Comrades and Commissars'', Pennsylvania State University Press, 2007. * Gurney, Jason. ''Crusade in Spain'', 1974. * Copeman, Fred. ''Reason in Revolt'', 1948. Blandford Press * McGarry, Fearghal. ''Irish Politics and the Spanish Civil War'', 1999, Cork University Press. * Monks, Joe. ''With the Reds in Andalusia'', 1985, John Cornford Poetry Group. * Szurek, Alek. ''The Shattered Dream'', 1989. Columbia University Press. * Thomas, Hugh. ''The Spanish Civil War'', 1961. 1st ed. * Thomas, Hugh. ''The Spanish Civil War'', 2003. 4th Rev. Ed

References

External links

George Samuel Montague Nathan
at TheAuxiliaries.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Nathan, George 1895 births 1937 deaths 20th-century British murderers Army Cyclist Corps soldiers British Anti-Francoists British Army personnel of World War I British assassins British people of the Spanish Civil War British military personnel of the Irish War of Independence British military personnel killed in action British war criminals Deaths by German airstrikes English communists English Jews Jewish socialists Police misconduct during the Irish War of Independence Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers officers West Yorkshire Regiment soldiers Military personnel from the London Borough of Hackney International Brigades personnel killed in action People from Hackney, London Jewish military personnel Jewish anti-fascists