In 1956, Carter was summoned by the British government to perform national service but did not want to take part in Britain's colonial wars, which were at the time happening in Malaya, Kenya, Ireland, Oman, and Cyprus. To help him avoid national service, leading British communist Palme Dutt arranged for Carter to instead travel to the Soviet Union and attend events in socialist countries. During his work for the CPGB and YCL, Carter travelled to Moscow, and also to Cuba where he met Fidel Castro and Daniel Ortega. After hearing that his wife, the actress Corinne Skinner-Carter, had been badly burned on a film set, he returned to Britain to be with her. After returning to Britain to live with his wife, the couple moved to Hampstead.