Last Uk-based IB survivor dies at 94
Woman found dead at stadium
LONDON, Dec 24, (AFP): The last surviving Britishbased member of the International Brigades who fought in the Spanish Civil War has died aged 94, The Independent newspaper reported Monday.
David Lomon was a 19year-old rag-and-bone man in east London when he volunteered to join leftwing forces battling General Francisco Franco’s nationalist troops in the 1936-1939 conflict.
Some 35,000 foreign fighters, including some 2,800 Americans and 2,000 Britons, came to Spain from 52 countries to fight fascism, joining the vain bid to stop Franco overthrowing the Second Republic.
From a Jewish family, Lomon volunteered after clashing with British Union of Fascists supporters at the Battle of Cable Street in east London in 1936.
He later served in the British navy in World War II.
“He was very modest and unassuming,” said Jim Jump, secretary of the International Brigade Memorial Trust.
“He had a conventional life when he returned. He was not the type to boast about what he did. He was a lovely man: very polite; a classic English gentleman,” The Independent quoted him as saying.
Lomon died in Slough, west of London, on Friday.
His death leaves one surviving British volunteer: Stan Hilton, who lives in a nursing home in Australia.
Also: LONDON: A woman was found dead at Reading’s Madejski Stadium, having suffered serious head injuries, police said Sunday.
The 22-year-old was found at the bottom of a stairwell at 12:50 am on Saturday, Thames Valley Police said.
She was discovered in the Millennium Madejski Hotel, which forms part of the English Premier League side’s ground. Reading lies 40 miles (60 kilometres) west of London.
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
“The woman had been attending a Christmas party at the time of the incident,” said Detective Inspector Phil O’Neil.
“We are treating her death as unexplained and there are a number of inquiries taking place to establish the full circumstances of what happened.”
No arrests had been made, he added.
Reading played away from home against champions Manchester City on Saturday.