in the poorest parts of the borough and began distributing a newspaper titled Revolt which they along with a small group of associates produced. While conducting political work in run-down housing blocks, she became more aware of the poverty which existed under British capitalism, and came face-to-face with issues such as unemployment. These experiences convinced her that capitalism was a failed system, and both she and her husband joined the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) in July 1932 and turned Revolt into a communist party newspaper. Soon after joining the CPGB, Noreen and her husband moved to Battersea where they became icons of the working class community and Noreen became the secretary of the local CPGB branch in 1936. Anti-fascist and anti-colonial activism Noreen Branson's talent as a communist party activist was noticed by Harry Pollitt who in 1934 dispatched her to Mumbai to smuggle funding to Indian communists resisting the British colonial occupation of India. In 1935 she attended the 7th World Congress of the Communist International in Moscow and spent several months as a comintern messenger to underground parties in Europe without being caught. Her aristocratic upbringing allowed her to move throughout Europe without arousing suspicion. Noreen Branson and Clive Branson dedicated much of their time to opposing fascism, opposing Oswald Mosley and his supporters, but also rallying opposition to Hitler, Mussolini and Franco. Noreen then joined the North Battersea Co-operative Women's Guild and represented the organisation on the Aid Spain Committee, established in 1936 by the Battersea Trades Council. In early 1938 Noreen's husband Clive joined the International Brigades to fight against Nazi backed nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War, however he was captured on the 3rd of April and was kept prisoner for 8 months. Noreen sent Clive and fellow republican prisoners funding to buy cigarettes, as a way of letting the prisoners know that they had not been forgotten. While Clive was being held as a POW, Noreen began working as a researcher for Harry Poillitt and then for the Labour Research Department where she specialised in welfare and social services. She published her first article in the Labour Research Department magazine in September 1938 and continued to routinely contribute to the magazine for another 65 years. She also edited the magazine for 25 years. Second World War Come the beginning of the World War II, Noreen Branson signed up to become an