Bristol Evening Post, p46, February 5, 2008

Call for info on soldier - [Archie Doran]

Do any BT readers, I wonder, know anything about Arthur (or Archibald) Lester Doran, the only Somerset man known to have been killed fighting in the Spanish Civil War?

A commemoration service is being held in Taunton on Friday, February 15, and it would be helpful if we could find any relatives, anyone who knew him or indeed, anyone with any more information about him.

Born in 1913, he gave his address as The Lawn, Locking Road East, Weston-super-Mare.

Archibald, who worked as a machinist-surveyor, was a member of the Shop Assistants' Union and of the Glastonbury Branch of the Labour Party.

He had previously been a flight-lieutenant in the RAF, but had been discharged due to defective eyesight.

A volunteer in the British Battalion of the 15th International Brigade, Archibald arrived in Spain in January 1937.

He was killed defending Madrid, aged of 23 or 24, on the second day of the Battle of Jarama, February 13, 1937.

The event - organised by the Somerset Association of Trade Union Councils - coincides with the 101st birthday of Taunton resident "Andy" Andrews, who took part in the Spanish Civil War as part of a volunteer medical unit attached to the Spanish Army.

If you can help with any information please contact either myself or Dave Chapple. Email: davechapple@btinternet.com

Ken Keable, email:keableken@yahoo.co.uk