Catalogue description Arthur William OLDAG, aliases John OLDAY, Frederick FROSTICK, Frank ALLEN, Willi...

Arthur William OLDAG, aliases John OLDAY, Frederick FROSTICK, Frank ALLEN, Willi FREIMANN, Michael PETERSON: British. British-born of a German mother and Scottish father, OLDAG lived in Germany, was active in Communist circles and fled to the UK in 1937. There his political interests turned towards anarchism and as John OLDAY he wrote several books of cartoons, notably in 1943 'The March to Death' and in 1944 'The Life We Live, the Death We Die', both published by Freedom Press. He deserted from the army in 1943 and in 1945 was sentenced to a year's imprisonment for using a false identity card and on release was court-martialled for his desertion and sentenced to a further eighteen months, becoming a cause celebre to the anarchists