Editing Alan Bush (section)

===Second World War===
When war broke out in September 1939, Bush registered for military service under the National Service (Armed Forces) Act of 1939.<ref name= Cons>{{cite journal|last= Marcus|first= Philip|title= Some Aspects of Military Service|jstor=  1282941|journal= Michigan Law Review|volume= 39|issue= 6|date= April 1941|page= 930|doi= 10.2307/1282941|url= https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol39/iss6/4}} {{subscription required}}</ref>{{refn|The Act was passed into law on 3 September 1939, the day of Britain's declaration of war against Germany. It superseded all existing conscription laws, and extended liability to males between the ages of 18 and 41.<ref name= Cons/>|group= n}} He was not called up immediately, and continued his musical life, helping to form the WMA Singers to replace the now-defunct LLCU, and founding the William Morris Music Society.<ref name= Craggs18/> In April 1940 he conducted a [[Queen's Hall]] concert of music by Soviet composers which included the British premieres of [[Dmitri Shostakovich|Shostakovich]]'s [[Symphony No. 5 (Shostakovich)|Fifth Symphony]], and [[Aram Khatchaturian|Khatchaturian]]'s [[Piano Concerto (Khachaturian)|Piano Concerto]]. [[William Glock]] in ''[[The Observer]]'' was disdainful, dismissing the Khatachurian concerto as "sixth-rate", and criticising the inordinate length, as he saw it, of the symphony.<ref>{{cite news|last= Glock|first= William|title= Music and Musicians: New Works|newspaper= The Observer|date= 4 April 1940|page= 11|id= {{ProQuest|481718236}}}} {{subscription required}}</ref>
[[File:Vaughan-williams-hoppé.jpg|thumb|upright 0.7|Ralph Vaughan Williams, who led the opposition to the BBC ban on Bush's music in 1941]]
Bush was among many musicians, artists and writers who in January 1941 signed up to the communist-led [[People's Convention 1940-41|People's Convention]], which promoted a six-point radical anti-war programme that included friendship with the Soviet Union and "a people's peace".<ref>Gardiner, p. 297</ref> The BBC advised him that because of his association with this movement, he and his music would no longer be broadcast.<ref>{{cite news|title= BBC Extends its Veto: Mr Alan Bush|newspaper= The Manchester Guardian|date= 8 March 1941|page= 7|id= {{ProQuest|484846061}}}} {{subscription required}}</ref> This action drew strong protests from, among others, [[E. M. Forster]] and [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]].<ref name= Lucas>Lucas, p. 160</ref> The ban was opposed by the prime minister, [[Winston Churchill]], in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]],<ref name= Lucas/> and proved short-lived; it was annulled following the [[Operation Barbarossa|German invasion of the Soviet Union]] in June 1941.<ref name= Craggsix>Craggs, p. ix</ref>

In November 1941 Bush was conscripted into the army, and after initial training was assigned to the [[Royal Army Medical Corps]].<ref name= Jones/> Based in London, he was given leave to perform in concerts, which enabled him to conduct the premiere of his First Symphony at a BBC Promenade Concert in the [[Royal Albert Hall]] on 24 July 1942.<ref>Foreman, p. 154</ref> He also performed regularly with the London String Orchestra, and in 1944 was the piano soloist in the British premiere of [[Dmitri Shostakovitch|Shostakovich]]'s Piano Quintet.<ref name= Craggsix/> His wartime compositions were few; among them were the "Festal Day"  Overture, Op. 23, written for Vaughan Williams's 70th birthday in 1942,<ref name= ABMTOrch/> and several songs and choruses including  "Freedom on the March", written for a British-Soviet Unity Demonstration at the Albert Hall on 27 June 1943.<ref>Craggs, p. 19</ref>

Bush's relatively calm war was marred by the death, in 1944, of his seven-year-old daughter Alice in a road accident.<ref name= Jones/> As the war in Europe drew to its end, Bush was posted to the Far East despite being well over the normal age limit for overseas service.  The matter was raised in Parliament by the Independent Labour member [[D. N. Pritt]], who enquired whether political factors were behind the decision. The posting was withdrawn;<ref>{{cite journal|title= Questions to the Secretary of State for War|journal= Hansard|volume= 410|page= 1853|date= 8 May 1945}}</ref> and Bush remained in London until his discharge in December 1945.<ref name= Craggsix/>