East of England: The War Years

At LeistonMorton, Arthur LeslieLeiston, time in, Morton developedLeiston his argument that folk music was a form of popular culture dying out because of capitalist development. Topics that might have been dismissed as ultraleftismUltraleftism in A People’s History of England were now being taken more seriously by Morton and would anticipate his turn to “history from belowHistory from below” in the 1940s and 1950s. When the War broke out, Morton continued as a party organiser and a regular propagandist in the Leiston Leader. He promoted the party line(s) in denouncing ChamberlainChamberlain, Neville and supporting an alliance with the Soviet UnionSoviet Union and France, and then in supporting the Soviet pact with Germany. Consequently, the early War years involved Morton criticising the government on domestic issues. But after the German invasion of the Soviet UnionSoviet Union, the Communist Party enthusiastically took up the cause against Germany, as Morton did in the Leiston Leader. Morton served in the Royal ArtilleryRoyal Artillery and as a labourer on the Isle of SheppeyIsle of Sheppey, while his activities were monitored by the secret serviceSecret Service (British). He further found himself in trouble by attacking friends of ChamberlainChamberlain, Neville in print as he promoted a form of left patriotism and wider political unity to help build a new Britain after the War.