After joining the army, his first post was in Cyprus as a machine gunner in Dhekelia, the military said.

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Arriving in Spain from Brooklyn in March 1937, he'd served first as a medic, then as a machine-gunner in the Washington Battalion.

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However, the Arsenal manager has conceded that even a first-choice defence would face a stern examination from Didier Drogba and former Gunner Nicolas Anelka in the league-leaders' attack.

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