During the 1930’s militant anti-fascist responses to Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts were established amongst the Bristolian working-class. Discouraged by their defeats in the inner-city districts of Bristol, the British Union of Fascists (BUF) turned their attention to south Bristol, Bedminster and the new garden suburbs springing up on the outskirts of the city.
This illustrated talk traces the migration of pre WWII physical resistance to fascism in Bristol from the smoky and overcrowded slums to the spacious and leafy suburbs, and investigates who the anti-fascist street fighters were, including a Knowle Wester who, it was claimed by Oswald Mosley, tried to stab him at the Colston Hall.
It also examines the supporters of the BUF, men and women. Who were these defenders of privilege, discrimination, and racism? And why did the majority of the Bristolian working class find the policies of the BUF so repugnant?
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Gary Palmer
I just came across your website and though I would share some of my family history. My grandparents were housed in Knowle West due to being victims of the first bombing raid during World War 2. My grandfather returned on leave from the RAF to find his home and his brother’s home and family (who lived across the road from him) gone. He lost his brother and his brother family during the same raid. During the raid my grandmother had hidden under a table with my mum, who was 10 days old at the time, in her arms. When they were rescued, they were separated, and the hospital staff did not believe that my grandmother had a child and thought she was suffering from shell shock.
My mum was missing for 10 days, and turned up 10 days later on in a carry cot on the hospital reception desk, she was wearing the same clothes she had on when she went missing but they had been washed. Strangely there was no note. Our families were always Labour voters and had a lot of respect for Tony Ben, who my grandparent’s believed was directly responsible for their post war housing in Knowle West. Churchill on the other hand was seen was a ‘war monger’ and the attitude he showed over the air raids and lack of housing the victims left a bitter taste in many peoples mouths for many years.