Moore Bill

Bill Moore

He was born on 6th March 1911 in Scunthorpe, possibly under the name of Enos Leslie. But his mother died when he was two weeks old and his paternal grandmother in Attercliffe, Sheffield brought him up. His father was killed in action in May 1917 outside Ypres. Moore won a free scholarship to grammar school in 1922, the first boy from Attercliffe to do so.  In 1930, he won a scholarship to read history at Oriel College, Oxford. An athlete at university, he was out of work in the depression, after vainly seeking work as a history teacher. 

At Oxford, he voted in 1933 for the Student Union resolution 'not to fight for king and country' and worked for the Peace Ballot in Sheffield in early 1935. In the autumn of 1935, he joined the Communist Party and was allocated duties with the Party group at Sheffield University. Became secretary of local Peace Council from January 1936.

Married by 1937, his father-in-law, who was fuel manager at Firth Browns, got him a job in the Engineers' Tool Department, as assistant to the commercial manager. Called up in October 1940, he served five and a half years in the army, first at Catterick in the Royal Armoured Corps, teaching driving and maintenance of tanks. After Russia was attacked, he took a commission.

Returning from the war in 1946, he began work as a teacher, winning 729 votes in a local election centred on the area around his school, Neepsend, in May 1950. He began full time work for the Yorkshire District in 1952, when his wife, Francis, resumed her career as a teacher. Moore was West Yorkshire Secretary for 3 years, followed by Yorkshire District Organiser for 11 years. Thereafter, he looked after the Party’s district bookshop and retired in 1976. He was Chair of CPGB History Group from 1984-1991 and died peacefully at home on Thursday evening, 17th July 2008.

Sources: Bill Moore – 90th Birthday celebrations brochure March 2001; other sources