6. John McNair (1887–1968), a Tynesider, was an indefatigable worker for the cause of socialism all his life. He left school at twelve, and ran into trouble with employers because of his left-wing sympathies. In order to find work, he went to France and stayed for twenty-five years, becoming a leather merchant, founding a French football club with eight teams, and lecturing on English poets at the Sorbonne. He returned to England in 1936, rejoined the ILP and was its General Secretary, 1939–55. The first British worker to go to Spain, where he remained from August 1936 to June 1937, he was the representative in Barcelona of the ILP. A constant contributor to the New Leader, the weekly organ of the ILP (later Socialist Leader). In a footnote to Homage to Catalonia, see p. 141 [VI/151], Orwell gives the purchasing value of the peseta as ‘about fourpence’; 500 pesetas would be about £86s 8d or $41.00. See also p. 16, n. 3.

7. Eileen again began writing ‘Eric’, over which she wrote ‘George’.

8. Almost certainly Orwell’s aunt Nellie Limouzin, then living at The Stores, Wallington, the Orwells’ cottage.

9. Eileen must here mean her husband.

10. Before writing ‘George’, Eileen wrote ‘Eric’, but crossed it out.

11. The Road to Wigan Pier.

12. Possibly an aunt of Eileen’s whose second name was Maud.

13. Eileen’s mother, her brother, ‘Eric’, and his wife, Gwen.

[364]

To Eileen Blair

[5? April 1937] Handwritten; undated

[Hospital, Monflorite]

Dearest,

You really are a wonderful wife. When I saw the cigars my heart melted away. They will solve all tobacco problems for a long time to come. McNair tells me you are all right for money, as you can borrow & then repay when B.E.¹ brings some pesetas, but don’t go beggaring yourself, & above all don’t go short of food, tobacco etc. I hate to hear of your having a cold & feeling run down. Don’t let them overwork you either, & don’t worry about me, as I am much better & expect to go back to the lines tomorrow or the day after. Mercifully the poisoning in my hand didn’t spread, & it is now almost well, tho’ of course the wound is still open.² I can use it fairly well & intend to have a shave today, for the first time in about 5 days. The weather is much better, real spring most of the time, & the look of the earth makes me think of our garden at home & wonder whether the wallflowers are coming out & whether old Hatchett is sowing the potatoes. Yes, Pollitt’s review³ was pretty bad, tho’ of course good as publicity. I suppose he must have heard I was serving in the Poum militia. I don’t pay much attention to the Sunday Times reviews⁴ as G⁵ advertises so much there that they daren’t down his books, but the Observer was an improvement on last time. I told McNair that when I came on leave I would do the New Leader an article, as they wanted one, but it will be such a come-down after B.E’s that I don’t expect they’ll print it. I’m afraid it is not much use expecting leave before about the 20th April. This is rather annoying in my own case as it comes about through my having exchanged from one unit to another – a lot of the men I came to the front with are now going on leave. If they suggested that I should go on leave earlier I don’t think I would say no, but they are not likely to & I am not going to press them. There are also some indications – I don’t know how much one can rely on these – that they expect an action hereabouts, & I am not going on leave just before that comes off if I can help it. Everyone has been very good to me while I have been in hospital, visiting me every day etc. I think now that the weather is getting better I can stick out another month without getting ill, & then what a rest we will have, & go fishing too if it is in any way possible.