The Battle of Lewisham

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1. 

   August 14, 2020

   Carl

   There were very few actual Fascists present,the men there were almost entirely the White Working Class, who did not want to see their neighbourhoods changed out of all recognition.

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2. 

   August 14, 2020

   TDK

   I was there and also at Wood Green that same year.
   I recall a few things
   1. The numbered of NF supporters were dwarfed by both the police and the opposition.
   2. The usual crowd were there in force including the SWP (with me!), WRP, CP etc.
   3. The police marched in front of the NF as shown in one of the photos, and I mean march – they were in step. I don’t know what went through the Chief Constable’s mind. At the time it seemed like they were there in support of the NF, but now I suspect it was meant to be a show of force to forestall the riot. As can be seen the police in the march did have riot shields. Those police came from side streets.
   4. When the police tried to break up the crowd it was chaos and no one knew where to go. There seemed no rhyme or reason as to who got arrested. I saw people throw stuff and get away with it. I lost my group and had to get a train back.
   We came on a coach and nobody was local. There were coaches from all over – Universities and College all. The photo marked Lewisham 11 shows a good image (at least from my memory) and that reeks of college lecturers and students (ie. people in my group).
   Now I’ll contrast that with my own local knowledge. My great uncle lived on Ilderton road and took me to a local pub. This is Millwall territory and let’s just say, not noted for progressive white working class attitudes.
   Subsequently every one of my SWP group (including me) started a mythology that the Working Classes beat the fascists. We wanted it to be Cable Street. Don’t misunderstand my point locals were present but they were predominantly young blacks.
   As to Carl’s point. The NF and later the BNP were never a credible group. Their members and supporters were were frequently young men who enjoyed a punch up and if they weren’t on this march would have happily engaged in some Pk Bashing.
   My parents generation (who were from the East End and moved out in the post war period) regarded the NF with horror. They were no fans of immigration but allying themselves to a group that were fans of Hitler was beyond the pale.

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