THE last known British survivor of the International Brigades died on Sunday, aged 99.

London-born Geoffrey Servante went to fight in the Spanish civil war in the summer of 1937 — to win a bet.

A man in a Soho pub told him that it was no longer possible to join the anti-fascist forces as the French authorities had closed the Spanish border.

Mr Servante wagered £100 that he could make it there and later boarded a boat to Spain, where he jumped ship at Valencia.

He was posted to an artillery unit, which was less hazardous than the front line, after admitting that he was only 18.

Mr Servante’s unit was forgotten by the collapsing republican government when the International Brigades were formally withdrawn in November 1938.

He had to flee across the Spanish border in early 1939 with the aid of the Red Cross.

Mr Servante went on to serve in Egypt during WWII before becoming a Vauxhall car factory worker. He settled in the Forest of Dean.

Like all International Brigades veterans, Mr Servante received honorary Spanish citizenship.

He was a public advocate of Catalan independence and voted in the 2017 referendum for the autonomous province to secede from Spain.

In an interview that year, he said: “I heard on the radio that there were no more International Brigades left, and I said: ‘Well, that’s nonsense. There’s still me’.”

Paying tribute, International Brigade Memorial Trust secretary Jim Jump said: “With Geoffrey Servante’s death, an important chapter in British radical history has closed.

“But the memory of these men and women who volunteered to join the International Brigades will live on as an example and inspiration for all those continuing the fight against fascism and for social justice.”