Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Sir Desmond Morton (13 November 1891 – 31 July 1971) was a British military officer and government official. Morton played an important role in organizing opposition to

appeasement Appeasement in an international context is a diplomatic policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power in order to avoid conflict. The term is most often applied to the foreign policy of the UK governm ...

of Germany under Adolf Hitler during the period prior to World War II by providing intelligence information about German re-armament to

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

. At this time Churchill did not have any position in the government. In 1940 Morton was Churchill's personal assistant when he became prime minister.

Early years in military service

Morton joined the Royal Artillery in 1911. He saw action in World War I, and was shot in the heart at the Battle of Arras in 1917. However, he survived and recovered, serving again with the bullet still inside. He served as aide de camp to Sir Douglas Haig, commander of the British Expeditionary Force from 1917 to 1918. He looked after the Minister of Munitions on several trips to the front during the war.

Civil Service

He was seconded to the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

in 1919 where he was head of the Secret Intelligence Service's Section V, dealing with counter-Bolshevism in the mid-1920s. In 1924 he was transferred by Churchill to the War Office and, was Head of the Industrial Intelligence Centre of the

Committee of Imperial Defence The Committee of Imperial Defence was an important ''ad hoc'' part of the Government of the United Kingdom and the British Empire from just after the Second Boer War until the start of the Second World War. It was responsible for research, and som ...

from 1929 to 1939, responsible for providing intelligence on the plans and capabilities for manufacturing munitions in other countries. From 1930 to 1939 he was also a member of the CID sub-committee on Economic Warfare. From 1929, as he "found himself idle much of the time" he assisted Churchill who was writing his history of the Great War, ''

The World Crisis ''The World Crisis'' is Winston Churchill's account of the First World War, published in six volumes (technically five, as Volume III was published in two parts). Published between 1923 and 1931: in many respects it prefigures his better-know ...

''. During 1930s he leaked documents and material information to bolster Churchill's fight against the rise of Fascism in Europe. Morton claimed that he had tacit approval by successive Prime Ministers, MacDonald, Baldwin and Chamberlain for this secret activity, but the evidence for this is unfounded because witness statements have not come forward. Morton lived only one mile away from Chartwell where he would walk across the fields to divulge his information to Churchill.Jenkins, pp.479-80

World War Two and post war

In 1939, he became the Principal Assistant Secretary at the Ministry of Economic Warfare, and became Churchill's Personal Assistant at no.10 Downing Street in 1940. Morton used to handle Ultra codes from Bletchley Park, as important messages were sent directly to the Prime Minister's Office. Later in the war these informal arrangements fell away to be replaced by a more structured bureaucracy, and with it Morton's influence declined. He served on the UN's Economic Survey Mission for the Middle East in 1949, and served in the Ministry of Civil Aviation from 1950 to 1953.

Honours and film portrayal

He was awarded the Military Cross in 1917, and a knighthood in 1945. Morton was portrayed by Moray Watson in the 1981 mini-series '' Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years'' and by

Jim Broadbent James Broadbent (born 24 May 1949) is an English actor. He won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for his supporting role as John Bayley in the feature film ''Iris'' (2001), as well as winning a BAFTA TV Award and a Golden Globe for hi ...

in the 2002 film '' The Gathering Storm''.

Early years in military service

Civil Service

World War Two and post war

Honours and film portrayal

See also

References

Further reading