That concerning Orwell was first sent to the editor by Karen Hatherley and a clearer version and the document related to Charles Doran, together with the translations reproduced here, were kindly provided by Robert A. McNeil, Head of Hispanic Collections, Bodleian Library. The editor is very grateful to both. The Spanish version of the Orwell document, with some variants, is included by Victor Alba in his El Proceso del P.O.U.M. (Barcelona, 1989), the inside back cover of which reproduces a much-overwritten version of the original. The Doran document is not included either in Alba’s collection or the Complete Works. The trial of the leaders of the POUM took place in Barcelona in October and November 1938 (see letter to Raymond Postgate, 21 October 1938, below). Orwell later corresponded with one of those found guilty, Jordi Arquer (3238, n. 1, XIX/154, and 3651, n. 1, XX/140); see also his letter to Charles Doran, 2 August 1937 (below). Like Orwell and his wife, Doran is also described as ‘trotzkista pronunciado’. Among names in the Doran document is Karl Radek (1885–1939?), who had accompanied Lenin in the sealed train in which Lenin returned to Russia just before the October Revolution (see 3649, n. 3, XX/139), and whom it is stated Doran defended. The newspaper cutting in Doran’s possession refers to Lt Norman Baillie Stewart (‘the prisoner in the Tower’), who had been accused of selling secrets for £90 to German agents through ‘a mysterious girl-friend named Marie Louise’ (Robert Graves and Alan Hodge, The Long Week-End, 1940, 267). Curiously, the description ‘su misteriosa amiga’ also appears in the Spanish document; France, not Germany, is mentioned in the Spanish document. A lengthy afternote to these documents will be found in the Complete Works, XI/31–7.

BARCELONA 13TH JULY, 1937

BARCELONA 13TH JULY, 1937

Eric Blair and his wife Eileen Blair

It is clear from their correspondence that they are confirmed Trotskyists. They belong to the IRP [sic] of England.

ERIC BLAIR was on the ILP Committee functioning in the Lenin Division on the Granja front (HUESCA).

Liaison with the ILP of England (correspondence of D. MOYLE and JOHN MACNAIR).

Among the effects of CHARLES DORAN is found a letter addressed to ERIC B. from JOHN MACNAIR, asking him to write reports for the ILP.–

They must be considered as liaison officers of the ILP with POUM.

They were living in the Hotel Falcon, supported by the POUM Executive Committee.

Credential from the POUM Executive Committee signed by JORGE KOPP (from its character it seems to be a credential in favour of EILEEN B. valid for the events of May. [No closing bracket]

ERIC B. took part in the events of MAY.

Liaison with ALBACETE by means of DAVID WICKES.

Liaison with MOSCOW.–

Eileen B. was on the Huesca front on 13–3–37 (date inscribed on a photograph). She has a credential issued in BARCELONA on 17–3–37. Her husband has a permit to leave the front to go to Barcelona, issued on 14–3–37.

1. Sir Richard Rees, George Orwell: Fugitive from the Camp of Victory (1961), 147. For Burnett Bolloten’s application of the word ‘terror’ to the Spanish experience, see The Spanish Civil War: Revolution and Counterrevolution (1991), 570–71.

Charles Doran

A man of the ILP, in very close collaboration with the ILP Committee on the Huesca front, within POUM.–

It is clear from his correspondence that he is a confirmed Trotskyist.–

In Spain he had very close contact with the FAI, as well as a firm liaison with the Iberian Communist Youth of POUM.–

Liaison with Albacete.–

In his effects the names KOPP and MACNAIR are frequently found, as is material by BLAIR [or as in BLAIR’s effects]. –

In Glasgow, Scotland, in December 1936, he wrote a letter in which he defended Trotsky and Karl Radek against the Moscow trial.

Addresses in Spain found in his effects give reason to suppose the existence of co-religionists in Spain. D., as well as Blair and McNair, has written for the ILP. In his effects is found a newspaper extract relating to the trial for espionage in France of an English lieutenant BAILLIESTE NAST and his mysterious girl-friend MARIA LUISA SCHULE (or MARTIN), who both worked for the GESTAPO.–

On 5 July 1937, Victor Gollancz wrote to Orwell to say that, though he could not be sure until he had seen the typescript, he thought it probable that he would not wish to publish Homage to Catalonia, upon which Orwell was already engaged.