found: Wildemeersch, M. George Orwell's commander in spain: the enigma of Georges Kopp, 2013:t.p. Georges Kopp) p. 1, etc. (engineer, inventor, soldier, spy; born in St. Petersburg, June 23, 1902. Antisemitic pogroms drove the family to relocate in Belgium in 1909 and emmigrated to Lausanne in 1915. He had been living in Belgium for about 25 years when he volunteered to fight for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. During that war, he met and became friends with author George Orwell. In 1939, he was evacuated to England and began undercover work for M15. He died in Marseilles, France July 15, 1951 from complications caused by his war wounds. It is believed he was the inspiration for the character of O'Brien in Orwell's Nineteen eighty-four)
