writing

A portrait of Dan Davin and his wife Winifred Gonley taken in London.

Davin’s short story ‘The Hydra’ was based on the life of Alex MacLure, a communist who was killed in the Spanish Civil War. It was later published in his collection, The gorse blooms pale (1947). Davin fought in Greece and Crete during the Second World War. He wrote a novel and a collection of short stories about his wartime experiences, as well as the official history of the Battle for Crete.

A charismatic ex-soldier, orator and propagandist, John A. Lee was a dynamic figure in the Labour Party from the 1920s until 1940, when he was expelled for attacking the leadership of M.J. Savage.