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What did the Special Branch do in the war, Daddy?
• YOUR article “Why Jack Gaster Never Went to War” (March 13) is a powerful indictment of the Special Branch.
Its initial cock-eyed failure to prevent him from joining the forces, and then its ham-fisted efforts to keep him from active service are mind-boggling.
Reports indicate that Gaster was not involved in secret work that could have been of interest to a foreign country, and that what scared the Special Branch was Gaster’s potential to arouse discontent among the troops.
To fail to prevent him from being called up, and then be fearful of the consequences of a summary discharge, reads like an episode from a Carry On film.
Jack was a powerful advocate, but it is reasonable to assume that his participation in barrack room discussions would be in accordance with Communist Party policy to defeat Nazi Germany.
Indeed, most rank and file communists (and I was one of them) were doing precisely that, so why were we not all threatened with discharge or exclusion from active service?
Perhaps the Special Branch had learned a lesson from the case of Ted Willis, of later fame as Lord Willis of Dock Green.
Willis and a fellow comrade, Mick Bennett, who were both well-known communists, were suddenly discharged from the army some time in late 1941.
No explanation for their dismissal was given.
But if the object was to prevent the spread of left-wing ideas, it failed miserably, for on their discharge both men were in the forefront of building the Young Communist League, an organisation that had considerable influence among young people, especially those about to go into the forces.
So what did the Special Branch do in the war, Daddy?
Well, among other things, it wasted a great deal of time and energy looking for Reds under the bed when the majority of them were up and active on the public stage.
PETER RICHARDS
Highgate Road, NW5
Peter Richards is the author of Bombs, Bullshit and Bullets, published by Athena Press
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