Last Wednesday, I picked up on the Daily Worker's reaction to the Fleet Street reporting of the early stages of the London Blitz, publishing as a "taster" a copy of a cartoon which commented on the the game being played by the press. This built on my complaint about Vernon Bogdanor who had characterised the Second World War as the "People's War" because of the supposed "humanity" of our war leaders.

As the official organ of the Communist Party of Great Britain, which had adopted in its manifesto improved ARP, it campaigned for better provision and, when this failed, charted the tragedy as it unfolded in September 1940 and onwards – attempting to bring relief to the people of the East End - until it was closed down by the government on 22 January 1941.

One can accept and understand that the establishment and the media (very often the same thing), should be chary about the Communists – they were, after all, seeking to foment revolution, and were quite open in their detestation of "capitalist warmongers", "profiteers" and other "parasites".

But despite that, over the years – and especially in the frenetic period of September 1940 - the Daily Worker's reporting was largely accurate, relevant and honest. It needed to be for, in taking its anti-government line, it laid itself wide open to censure under the Defence Regulations, and a Cabinet which was taking a personal and direct interest in its affairs, seeking an excuse to close it down.

Time and again, its accuracy is shown by reference to authoritative sources, not least then top secret Cabinet papers. Had the newspaper published falsehoods, or had it made errors in its report, doiubtless it would have been closed down much sooner than it was.

Notwithstanding its political bent, therefore, from this distance in time, it is possiible to asert that the paper took a courageous and responsble stance, showing up the other papers that chose deliberatly to ignore the growing tragedy and have to this day have perpetuated a distorted view of events, amounting to a cynical cover-up of quite staggering proportions.

Charting the story here, in a political blog, is not the best format for dealing with the subject, but its implications are as relevant to us today as they were then – in pointing out how easy it is for the media to lie, and then perpetuate a cover-up.

Thus, I will make a start today, and keep returning to the story, building up the picture, over the days and weeks, until it is complete. I will, in due course, integrate the material into the Days of Glory blog, which is my running narrative of the Battle of Britain, on which my book was based.

So, where to start? Well, we already did with the cartoon at the top of the page, which makes the point about the predictablity of the tragedy. But what is so telling about the cartoon is its date.

Published on 15 February 1939, more than six months before the war started – and more than 18 months before the start of the London Blitz, it shows that the Daily Worker was not relying on hindsight. The weaknesses in government policy were known, many complaints had been made, and the consequences were entirely predictable, as the cuttings I have used then show. 

The first of this sequence (above), dated Saturday 7 September 1940, was published the very morning of the day which marked the start of the London Blitz. Uniquely amongst the national newspapers, attention is drawn to the parlous state of London's shelters. 

There was no Sunday edition, so the next cutting is drawn from the Monday, 9 September (above), in which the casualty toll is highlighted, together with reference to the "notoriously cheerful" official communique. 

The government strategy was to distract public attention by focusing on the daylight air battles, so while, the next day the Daily Worker (above) tells us: "Central London hit in 10-hour raid", the establishment Daily Express focused on 47 aircraft shot down during the day battle (below). Only then are we allowed to know that the night Blitz continued. 

And, as always, the RAF's "cricket score" had been grossly exaggerated. Luftwaffe losses from all causes the previous day, had been 27, including at least five lost to accidents. Only twelve had been Me 109s, shot down during the day fighting.  Bomber losses had been minimal.  By contrast, Fighter Command had actually lost 21 aircraft. Bomber Command had added five, bringing total RAF losses on the day to 26.  

The contrast in reporting, though, was far from accidental. The one paper was pursuing the Communist Party line of pointing out the inadequacies of government policy. The other, with its proprietor, Lord Beaverbrook, soon to join the War Cabinet, was trying to paper over the cracks with a barrage of propaganda.

Behind the scenes, though, another battle was being played out, one in which the Daily Worker played a central part - the opening shot seen in the headline "People Act for Shelter", which the other newspapers ignored. Therein lay the real scandal, to which we will return tomorrow.

Part 3 of "The Shelter War" here.