 The subsequent outlawing of the POUM (16 June 1937) resulted in its members being arrested and thrown into jail, and Orwell refers to his last-minute, and ineffectual, attempts to get Kopp released from prison.Kopp was finally released after 18 months, after having been interrogated by NKVD agents, and in 1939 managed to reach England, where he was nursed by Lawrence O' Shaughnessy, a thoracic surgeon and Orwell's brother-in-law (Eileen O'Shaughnessy's brother), and his wife, Gwen.At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, he joined the French Foreign Legion and fought in the Battle of France in May–June 1940.