16 25 420 https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/a70ac2c345baf8bf55e1e60c10f65d87.pdf 575c2d6a7f03c8baa4e18e9f7099ccc5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Solidarity: Scotland Description An account of the resource Solidarity was a libertarian socialist group founded in 1960 which grew out out of rank-and-file shop steward networks and the emerging anti-nuclear movement. Stuart joined the Scottish chapter of Solidarity after tearing up his membership card of the Labour Party in 1961/2. Andrew Stevens' <a href="https://www.3ammagazine.com/politica/2004/apr/interview_stuart_christie.html">3am interview</a> with Stuart in 2004 explores the broader context of Solidarity and the activity Stuart was involved in. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Solidarity - Scotland - Vol 2, No.2, 1966 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Various Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available <a href="https://libcom.org/">https://libcom.org/ </a> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 1966 Amsterdam Housing activism Industrial action internationalism Rent strike Scotland Strike https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/359e170fe843d85ef57d529041c69622.pdf c5660c161167325d5a93f5c553ffe3ab Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Solidarity: Scotland Description An account of the resource Solidarity was a libertarian socialist group founded in 1960 which grew out out of rank-and-file shop steward networks and the emerging anti-nuclear movement. Stuart joined the Scottish chapter of Solidarity after tearing up his membership card of the Labour Party in 1961/2. Andrew Stevens' <a href="https://www.3ammagazine.com/politica/2004/apr/interview_stuart_christie.html">3am interview</a> with Stuart in 2004 explores the broader context of Solidarity and the activity Stuart was involved in. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Solidarity - Scotland - Vol 2, No.3, 1966 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Various Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available <a href="https://libcom.org/">https://libcom.org/</a> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource November 1966 Hungary Industrial action Rank and file Scotland Trade Unions Workers Councils https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/8f5e0be09c5b9b35a27073028ca7151c.pdf 22dd4c350906dd8ff1f2faf6b7691781 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Solidarity: Scotland Description An account of the resource Solidarity was a libertarian socialist group founded in 1960 which grew out out of rank-and-file shop steward networks and the emerging anti-nuclear movement. Stuart joined the Scottish chapter of Solidarity after tearing up his membership card of the Labour Party in 1961/2. Andrew Stevens' <a href="https://www.3ammagazine.com/politica/2004/apr/interview_stuart_christie.html">3am interview</a> with Stuart in 2004 explores the broader context of Solidarity and the activity Stuart was involved in. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Solidarity - Scotland - Vol 2, No.5, 1967 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Various Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available <a href="https://libcom.org/">https://libcom.org/</a> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July, 1967 Aberdeen Anti-War Glasgow Industrial action Strike Vietnam https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/2fef434499fc81fe35675d174280eda7.pdf fe65fc850cb5fa3de50296247b4fe914 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Solidarity: Scotland Description An account of the resource Solidarity was a libertarian socialist group founded in 1960 which grew out out of rank-and-file shop steward networks and the emerging anti-nuclear movement. Stuart joined the Scottish chapter of Solidarity after tearing up his membership card of the Labour Party in 1961/2. Andrew Stevens' <a href="https://www.3ammagazine.com/politica/2004/apr/interview_stuart_christie.html">3am interview</a> with Stuart in 2004 explores the broader context of Solidarity and the activity Stuart was involved in. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Solidarity - Scotland - Vol 3, No.2, 1968 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Various Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available <a href="https://libcom.org/">https://libcom.org/</a> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1968 Anti-War Industrial action Peace Movement Riot Strike Students Vietnam West Germany https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/4664a68adc1e74553b33c41dc50a3da8.pdf 3e110d0df326d1d55a84234d7c43aa14 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Solidarity - Scotland - Volume 2 - Number 1 - March-April 1966 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Solidarity: Scotland Description An account of the resource Solidarity was a libertarian socialist group founded in 1960 which grew out out of rank-and-file shop steward networks and the emerging anti-nuclear movement. Stuart joined the Scottish chapter of Solidarity after tearing up his membership card of the Labour Party in 1961/2. Andrew Stevens' <a href="https://www.3ammagazine.com/politica/2004/apr/interview_stuart_christie.html">3am interview</a> with Stuart in 2004 explores the broader context of Solidarity and the activity Stuart was involved in. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Solidarity - Scotland - Vol. 2, No.1, 1966 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March-April 1966 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived https://archive.leftove.rs/documents/ZLR/info Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Various https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/6d6827fadba2e42c3d5af005fe985a28.pdf ccb3658c10a0fda720b92e2abf3dc931 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Solidarity - Scotland - Volume 2 - Number 6 - October 1967 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Solidarity: Scotland Description An account of the resource Solidarity was a libertarian socialist group founded in 1960 which grew out out of rank-and-file shop steward networks and the emerging anti-nuclear movement. Stuart joined the Scottish chapter of Solidarity after tearing up his membership card of the Labour Party in 1961/2. Andrew Stevens' <a href="https://www.3ammagazine.com/politica/2004/apr/interview_stuart_christie.html">3am interview</a> with Stuart in 2004 explores the broader context of Solidarity and the activity Stuart was involved in. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Solidarity - Scotland - Vol. 2, No. 6, 1967 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource October 1967 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived https://archive.leftove.rs/documents/ZLU/info Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Various https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/5436ffbd67ac07ec3db5f1152c8d56d0.pdf 42d41acf067085e6c878905435d78d3d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Solidarity - Scotland - Volume 3 - Number 1 - January 1968 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Solidarity: Scotland Description An account of the resource Solidarity was a libertarian socialist group founded in 1960 which grew out out of rank-and-file shop steward networks and the emerging anti-nuclear movement. Stuart joined the Scottish chapter of Solidarity after tearing up his membership card of the Labour Party in 1961/2. Andrew Stevens' <a href="https://www.3ammagazine.com/politica/2004/apr/interview_stuart_christie.html">3am interview</a> with Stuart in 2004 explores the broader context of Solidarity and the activity Stuart was involved in. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Solidarity - Scotland - Vol. 3, No. 1, 1968 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1968-01 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived https://archive.leftove.rs/documents/ZLV/info Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Various https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/b6110b11c3cbebfcb3d2959f9ef94363.jpg b65bd5eb92a01eff19f52c75bd83b620 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Photographs Description An account of the resource Photographs of Stuart's friends, comrades, and acquaintances over the years. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Spanish anarchist Federico ‘Fede’ Arcos and Albert Meltzer in front of the Haymarket Martyrs' Monument Description An account of the resource <span>"Remembering <a href="https://www.fifthestate.org/archive/395-winter-2016-50th-anniversary/remembering-federico-arcos/">Federico ‘Fede’ Arcos</a> (l) (July 18, 1920-May 23, 2015 — with Albert Meltzer at the Haymarket Martyrs' Monument, The Forest Home Cemetery, Chicago, 1993). ‘Fede’ was one of the principal financial mainstays of Cienfuegos Press, Refract Publications and ChristieBooks from the early 1970s until his death last summer, and it was primarily through him we were able to publish José Peirats’s 3-volume history of the CNT in English. The last time we met was at Heathrow Airport a few years ago when he was en route to Barcelona, but we spoke regularly by telephone. Sorry not to have been closer during those last difficult months for him. A toast to ‘Fede’ — ¡presente! ¡Salud y Libertad!"<br /><br />Stuart Christie, July 2011</span> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <span>All material uploaded on this site is licensed under a </span><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a><span>.</span><br /><br /><span>Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at <a href="mailto:stuartchristiearchive@maydayrooms.org">stuartchristiearchive@maydayrooms.org</a></span> Albert Meltzer Barcelona CNT Spanish anarchism https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/8d1e83872b280a4cbea4b2d9b553527c.jpg d2f98b588f7db691a77961e2b80a2935 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Photographs Description An account of the resource Photographs of Stuart's friends, comrades, and acquaintances over the years. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Spanish anarchist Germinal García Campo in front of an old CNT 'safehouse', Rue de Lancry, Paris (1997) Description An account of the resource Stuart Christie (2011): 'The entrance to Germinal’s apartment building in the 10th arrondissement. This Paris safehouse was used by fugitives and anti-Francoist guerrillas of the CNT’s Defence Commission such as José Lluis Facerias, ‘Face’, (killed in a guardia civil ambush in 1957) and Francisco Sabaté Llopart (‘el Quico’ ambushed in January 1960 by the guardia civil – from which he escaped, hijacking a train in the process – only to be gunned down in a San Celoni street by a Falangist sometent, a standing fascist posse comitatus). It was here that Lucio Urtubia, the bank robber who almost brought down Citibank with his forged travellers’ cheques in 1977, met Sabaté for the first time. In the 1960s 12 Rue de Lancry was used as a safehouse by the anarchist Defensa Interior (D.I.), a clandestine section of the MLE/CNT-in-exile (Spanish Libertarian Movement) which, from 1962 until 1964, organised a number of international actions and three assassination attempts on the dictator. Subsequently the D.I.’s role was taken over by the ‘First of May’ affinity group At the end of the Spanish Civil War, 13-year old Germinal was interned in Argeles-sur-Mer concentration camp where he was cared for by an unknown English woman, to whom he was ever grateful. Stowing away on a Danish freighter, the Kitty Skov, from the port of Barcelona, he escaped to the United States, where he remained for a time in New York, passing himself off as a French citizen, returning later to France to became active in the anti-Francoist struggle. Shunning the limelight, but always active in the background, Germinal was secretary of the Paris Local Federation of the MLE; as an employee of Aerolíneas Argentinas he travelled freely and frequently, maintaining close links with the international Spanish anarchist diaspora, especially in Central and South America. In 1960, prior to the state visit to France of Soviet premier Nikita Khruschev, President De Gaulle’s security services knocked on his door early one morning and ordered him to pack a bag as he was leaving the country.* Escorted to a military airfield on the outskirts of Paris along with other Spanish and French anarchists, they were put on board a French air force plane and flown to Corsica for the duration of Khruschev’s visit where the French government put them up in first class hotels, paid all their expenses and salaries — and apologised to their employers for the inconvenience caused by their temporary deportation. * In 1976, following the death of Franco and the accession of his annointed successor, Juan Carlos, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing’s government sent ex-Falangist prime minister Adolfo Suárez a formal invitation for a state visit to France. Prior to the Spanish king’s arrival, French Interior Minister Michel Poniatowski repeated the 1960 expulsion and ordered the arrest and temporary deportation of the most prominent, mainly Spanish, anti-fascist activists. The Basques he dispatched to the Île de Ré, and the anarchists, around 20 perhaps, including Octavio Alberola and Ariane Gransac, Lucio Urtubia, Vicente Martí, José Morato, Juan Busquets, Alicia Mur, Gonzalo Sánchez and Carlos Andreu, to the luxurious three star Le Grand Large Goulphar Hotel on Belle-Île-en-Mer, an island off the Britanny coast, where they were guarded for five days by 130 CRS and officers of the Renseignements généraux. Gabriel Auer made a feature-dopcumentary about this farce — ‘Vacance royales’ —in 1980' Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1997 Anti-fascism CNT Defensa Interior Exile First of May Group Germinal Garcia MLE Paris Spanish anarchism Spanish Civil War https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/713233216c9d17f968b092162249e8e8.jpg 06649cfe5d9748d306c7c3f1316e40ca Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Photographs Description An account of the resource Photographs of Stuart's friends, comrades, and acquaintances over the years. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Spanish exile, José Vicente Ortuño, Sanday (1980) Description An account of the resource Stuart Christie: 'José Vicente Ortuño, comrade, author of 'Bitter Roots' and 'Legion of the Lost', former French Legionnaire, sword cane master and an all-round Renaissance Man you could rely on in a tight corner. Even the 'kye' were impressed ('Over the Water' in the background).' Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Anti-Franco Exile Jose Vicente Ortuno Orkney Over The Water https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/0d8df1ef54b30b941c5f38cbf9f736fd.pdf 7388b414f0f43c98b54fd36e5470a340 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Postcards from Spain Subject The topic of the resource Spanish anti-Francoist resistance Description An account of the resource A collection of ephemera, pamphlets, photos and personal correspondence on the anarchist and anti-Francoist resistance in Spain. This collection includes letters written by Stuart from the Spanish prison of Alcalá de Henares in 1967 and received by his friend, Ross Flett. Stuart was transferred from Carabanchel prison to Alcalá following an aborted escape plan with his co-conspirator, cellmate and CNT member Luís Andrés Edo. These letters include references to his campaign for release, letter smuggling, the First of May Group and the machine gunning of Grosvenor Square. Persons mentioned: Luís Andrés Edo, Juan Busquets, Alain Pecunia, Groups and publications: Syndicalist Workers' Federation, Freedom, Anarchy, the International Times. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Ross Flett Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 06/04/1967-09/09/1967 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Scanned document Language A language of the resource English Physical Object An inanimate, three-dimensional object or substance. Note that digital representations of, or surrogates for, these objects should use Moving Image, Still Image, Text or one of the other types. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Spanish press clippings on Stuart’s release Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Various Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1966-1967 Description An account of the resource 3 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Press clippings https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/1357b8ec98bbe98438586ff4c9d21824.pdf bf513df4343eb016b224f69d47b6ec20 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Black Flag Description An account of the resource Black Flag magazine was established in 1970 as the mouthpiece of Anarchist Black Cross. After returning from imprisonment in Spain in 1967, Stuart Christie refounded the Anarchist Black Cross (the ABC) with Albert Meltzer. With its initial premises set up in Coptic Street in London, the ABC provided a support network for Franco’s anarchist prisoners while also operating a ‘Spanish Liberation fund’ to subsidise activist groups throughout the country. Its activity was divided into two tasks; first to provide material support, in the form of ‘food parcels and medical supplies’, and latterly to aid the Spanish Resistance movement with ‘everything it needs, including ‘[print] duplicators, typewriters and guns’. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Special Branch Annual Report (1976) Description An account of the resource 'By comparison, the Anarchist Black Cross remains the most potentially dangerous of all anarchist factions, as it advocates individual acts of violence by its members. Led by Stuart CHRISTIE and Albert MELTZER, the group maintains links with arerchist movements abroad, and regularly publishes its monthly magazine, "Black Flag", which has a circulation of about 1,000 copies, although it boasts a "hard-core" of only 100 members. Outside London, the main area of support lies at Glasgow. Although the group's views do not usually manifest themselves in public protest, they have recently joined the Anarchist Workers Association in proclaiming support for the Murray Defence Group.' p.46. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://www.ucpi.org.uk/">https://www.ucpi.org.uk/</a> Anarchist Black Cross Angry Brigade Baader-Meinhof Black Flag Direct Action Murray Defence Group Special Branch Undercover police https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/2fa2cad15f108cd7cbc786c4a90a648f.jpg c04e265873f3073a846c69cd12f47154 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource CND and Committee of 100 Subject The topic of the resource Anti-nuclear activism Description An account of the resource The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) was founded in the late 1950s by Bertrand Russell and J.B Priestly. While the initial group was formed by establishment intellectuals, the CND rapidly morphed into a cross-class movement. After Britain exploded its first megaton hydrogen bomb on Christmas Island in 1957, anti-nuclear groups gained hundreds and thousands of new members. <br /><br />As a young teen, Stuart became involved in the anti-nuclear Committee of 100. A split from the ‘celebrity-and-politician dominated’ CND, the Committee of 100 mobilised against nuclear armament and militarism with direct action. This collection includes bits of ephemera and leaflets handed out on anti-nuclear demonstrations by the CND and C100. Also included in t<span>his collection is the original 'Spies for Peace' mimeograph which was handed out on the 1963 Aldermaston March. </span> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Various Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Stuart Christie Memorial Archive (Mayday Rooms) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-1970 Language A language of the resource English Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Pirate Broadcast Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Pamphlet Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Spies for Peace Pirate Broadcast Subject The topic of the resource Anti-nuclear direct action Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bill Davidson Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Stuart Christie Memorial Archive, Mayday Rooms Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource N/D [Est, mid-1960s] Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Bulletin Language A language of the resource English Anti-nuclear Civil Disobedience Direct Action London Pirate radio Spies for Peace https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/0c80e4124320f9e835541ef76787d4c9.pdf 25a50dc818b26dd032ee703cba785303 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Angry Brigade and Persons Unknown Description An account of the resource This collection includes pamphlets, press commentary, and police reports relating to the trials of the 'Angry Brigade' (1972) and 'Persons Unknown' (1978-79). In 1972, eight activists, drawn mainly from the milieu of the libertarian left, appeared at the Old Bailey on charges of conspiracy. According to the British police authorities, these activists belonged to the so-called 'Angry Brigade', a clandestine, armed terror group responsible for a string of bomb attacks between 1970 and 1972. Stuart stood on trial as one of the eight that were accused because of the number of explosive incidents that were focused on Spanish targets.<br /><br />In 1978, the 'Persons Unknown' case put pressure on Christie yet again, as the Special Branch and the newly formed Anti-Terrorist Squad arrested five anarchists on the charge of 'conspiracy to cause explosions'. The arrests were co-ordinated by Inspector Roy Cremer, one of the lead detectives on the Angry Brigade case. Cremer's attention focused on Ronan Benett, an Irish anarchist, who had recently left Long Kesh prison in the North of Ireland (following a successful appeal for the murder of a Belfast policeman). Arriving in England shortly after his release, Bennett made contact with the Anarchist Black Cross, having become interested in anarchism during his time in prison.<br /><br />The evidence with which the five anarchists were charged was spurious, to say the least. After eighteen months of imprisonment (on remand), the jury decided to acquit all the defendants. For a concise look at the Persons Unknown trial, see <a href="https://christiebooks.co.uk/2015/03/the-persons-unknown-case-order-in-the-court-stuart-christie-city-limits-january-1980/">Stuart Christie's 1980 report in City Limits.</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Stoke Newington 8 Defence Group, 'A Political Statement' (1972) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://thesparrowsnest.org.uk/">The Sparrow's Nest</a> Angela Weir Angry Brigade First of May Group Hilary Creek Jake Prescott Jim Greenfield John Barker Kate MacLean Mutual Aid Prisoner defence Stoke Newington 8 Stuart Christie https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/66b467e399f23cacba30534a086232d1.jpg 8e8b997947b5dcf113ddc1d97d442085 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Photographs Description An account of the resource Photographs of Stuart's friends, comrades, and acquaintances over the years. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Stuart and comrades at Hyde Park Description An account of the resource "Hyde Park Corner. Unfortunately, of the girls I can only remember Barbara's name. L2R: Ricky Cook, Barbara, and Ross Flett (with white mouse on his knee). Directly behind Ross is Ken Sutherland and me (SC) holding the SWF 'Strike Strategy' pamphlet we'd recently published." Stuart Christie, July 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1964 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All material uploaded on this site is licensed under a <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.</a><br /><br /><span>Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at </span><a href="mailto:stuartchristiearchive@maydayrooms.org">stuartchristiearchive@maydayrooms.org</a> Anarchism Stuart Christie Syndicalist Workers' Federation https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/69fbdf1cd4e05d08cf3a3de9d854eb82.jpg e6a620d146a0ea307dd0fac9ba2f4838 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Photographs Description An account of the resource Photographs of Stuart's friends, comrades, and acquaintances over the years. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Stuart Christie and Albert Meltzer Description An account of the resource "Lewisham, London (early 1980s). a cheery Albert (modelling his Sanday knitters jersey) and I on the balcony of his Lewisham high-rise. Just received it from a dear NYer friend and comrade — Hadn't seen this one before." Stuart Christie, July 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <span>All material uploaded on this site is licensed under a </span><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a><span>.</span><br /><br /><span>Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at <a href="mailto:stuartchristiearchive@maydayrooms.org">stuartchristiearchive@maydayrooms.org</a></span> Albert Meltzer Anarchism London Stuart Christie https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/0756875dd7073893e56bdd970f9007c5.jpg 4015615e173cf4d979724e7defbd22e3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Photographs Description An account of the resource Photographs of Stuart's friends, comrades, and acquaintances over the years. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Stuart Christie and Albert Meltzer Description An account of the resource Photograph taken by Ken Sutherland, The Queens' Hotel, Crouch End, Hornsey, 1969 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ken Sutherland, Stuart Christie Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1969 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <span>All material uploaded on this site is licensed under a </span><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a><span>.</span><br /><br /><span>Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at <a href="mailto:stuartchristiearchive@maydayrooms.org">stuartchristiearchive@maydayrooms.org</a></span> Albert Meltzer Anarchism London https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/1aa311aa8b76e64b86b805d20ed736e0.jpg 8116d4bbdd70df1cf709e64925898520 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Photographs Description An account of the resource Photographs of Stuart's friends, comrades, and acquaintances over the years. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Stuart Christie and Albert Meltzer, Crouch End Broadway Description An account of the resource "1968, Queen’s Hotel, Crouch End Broadway: Albert Meltzer (born London, January 7, 1920; died, Weston-Super-Mare, North Somerset, May 7, 1996), anarchist printworker, writer, troublemaker and tireless anarchist activist, one of the most important figures in twentieth century British anarchism. (Photo by Ken Sutherland) Albert Meltzer was one of the most enduring and respected torchbearers of the international anarchist movement in the second half of the twentieth century. His sixty-year commitment to the vision and practice of anarchism survived both the collapse of the Revolution and Civil War in Spain and the Second World War; he helped fuel the libertarian impetus of the 1960s and 1970s and steer it through the reactionary challenges of the Thatcherite 1980s and post-Cold War 1990s. Fortunately, before he died, Albert managed to finish his autobiography, I Couldn't Paint Golden Angels, a pungent, no-punches pulled, Schvejkian account of a radical twentieth century enemy of humbug and injustice. A life-long trade union activist, he fought Mosley's Blackshirts in the battle of Cable Street, played an active role in supporting the anarchist communes and militias in the Spanish Revolution and the pre-war German anti-Nazi resistance, was a key player in the Cairo Mutiny [after] the Second World War, helped rebuild the post-war anti-Franco resistance in Spain and the international anarchist movement. His achievements include Cuddon's Cosmopolitan Review, an occasional satirical review first published in 1965 and named after Ambrose Cuddon, possibly the first consciously anarchist publisher in the modern sense, the founding of the Anarchist Black Cross, a prisoners' aid and ginger group and the paper which grew out of it - Black Flag. However, perhaps Albert's most enduring legacy is the Kate Sharpley Library ( http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/), probably the most comprehensive anarchist archive in Britain. Born in 1920 into a mixed marriage in the London of Orwell's Down and Out in which there were few homes for heroes, but many heroes fit only for homes, Albert was soon enrolled into political life as a private in the awkward squad. His decision to go down the road of revolutionary politics came, he claimed, in 1935 at the age of 15 - as a direct result of taking boxing lessons. Boxing was considered a “common” sport, frowned upon by the governors of his Edmonton school and the prospective Labour MP for the area, the virulently anti-boxing Dr Edith Summerskill. Perhaps it was the boxer's legs and footwork he acquired as a youth which gave him his lifelong ability to bear his considerable bulk. It certainly induced a lifetime's habit of shrewd assessment of his own and opponents' respective strengths and weaknesses. The streetwise, pugilistic but bookish schoolboy attended his first anarchist meeting in 1935 where he first drew attention to himself by contradicting the speaker, Emma Goldman, by his defence of boxing. He soon made friends with the ageing anarchist militants of a previous generation and became a regular and dynamic participant in public meetings. The anarchist-led resistance to the Franco uprising in Spain in 1936 gave a major boost to the movement in Britain and Albert's activities ranged from organising solidarity appeals, to producing propaganda, working with Captain J R White to organise illegal arms shipments from Hamburg to the CNT in Spain and acting as a contact for the Spanish anarchist intelligence services in Britain. Albert's early working career ranged from fairground promoter, a theatre-hand and occasional film extra. Albert appeared briefly in Leslie Howard's Pimpernel Smith, an anti-Nazi film that did not follow the line of victory but rather of revolution in Europe. The plot called for communist prisoners, but by the time Howard came to make it, in 1940, Stalin had invaded Finland, and the script was changed to anarchist prisoners. Howard decided that none of the actors playing the anarchists seemed real and insisted that real anarchists, including Albert, be used as extras in the concentration camp scenes. One consequence of this meeting was Howard's introduction to Hilda Monte, a prominent but unsung hero of the German anarchist resistance to Hitler, which may have contributed to his subsequent death en route to Lisbon. Albert's later working years were spent mainly as a second-hand bookseller and, finally, as a Fleet Street copytaker. His last employer was, strangely enough, The Daily Telegraph. While by nature a remarkably gentle, generous and gracious soul, Albert's championship of anarchism as a revolutionary working class movement brought him into direct and sustained conflict with the neo-liberals who came to dominate the movement in the late 1940s. Just as people are drawn to totalitarian movements like fascism and communism because of their implicit violence and ideological certainties, many otherwise politically incompatible people were drawn to anarchism because of its militant tolerance. Albert was vehemently opposed to the re-packaging and marketing of anarchism as a broad church for academia-oriented quietists and single-issue pressure groups. It was ironical that one of this group, the late Professor George Woodcock, should publicly dismiss anarchism as a spent historical force in 1962, blissfully unaware of the post-Butskellite storm which was about to break and the influence anarchist and libertarian ideas would have on this and generations yet to come. It was his championship of class-struggle anarchism, coupled with his scepticism of the student-led New Left in the 1960s which earned Albert his reputation for sectarianism. Paradoxically, as friend and Black Flag cartoonist Phil Ruff points out in his introduction to Albert's autobiography, it was the discovery of class struggle anarchism through the “sectarianism” of Black Flag under Albert's editorship that convinced so many anarchists of his and subsequent generations to become active in the movement'. The dynamic and logic of Albert's so-called sectarianism continued to bring countless young people into the anarchist movement then and for a further thirty years until his untimely stroke in April 1996. It is difficult to write a public appreciation of such an inscrutably private man. Albert Meltzer seemed often like a member of a tug-of-war team; you never quite knew if he was there simply to make up numbers or if he was the anchor-man of the whole operation. To Albert, all privilege was the enemy of human freedom; not just the privileges of capitalists, kings, bureaucrats and politicians but also the petty aspirations of opportunists and careerists among the rebels themselves. Much of what he contributed to the lives of those who knew him must go unrecorded, but he will be remembered and talked about fondly for many years to come by those of us whose lives he touched." Stuart Christie, July 2011 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 29 September 1969 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <span>All material uploaded on this site is licensed under a </span><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a><span>.</span><br /><br /><span>Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at <a href="mailto:stuartchristiearchive@maydayrooms.org">stuartchristiearchive@maydayrooms.org<br /></a><br /></span> Albert Meltzer London Stuart Christie https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/e5e6a72ab3461cbcd230670f9733614d.jpg b4e6ac2747379c7395877aa9984207ec Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Postcards from Spain Subject The topic of the resource Spanish anti-Francoist resistance Description An account of the resource A collection of ephemera, pamphlets, photos and personal correspondence on the anarchist and anti-Francoist resistance in Spain. This collection includes letters written by Stuart from the Spanish prison of Alcalá de Henares in 1967 and received by his friend, Ross Flett. Stuart was transferred from Carabanchel prison to Alcalá following an aborted escape plan with his co-conspirator, cellmate and CNT member Luís Andrés Edo. These letters include references to his campaign for release, letter smuggling, the First of May Group and the machine gunning of Grosvenor Square. Persons mentioned: Luís Andrés Edo, Juan Busquets, Alain Pecunia, Groups and publications: Syndicalist Workers' Federation, Freedom, Anarchy, the International Times. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Ross Flett Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 06/04/1967-09/09/1967 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Scanned document Language A language of the resource English Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Stuart Christie and fellow British prisoner Jimmy Wagner, Madrid (1967) Description An account of the resource Stuart Christie (2011): 'Alcalá de Henares Penintentiary with Jimmy Wagner (Jimmy was serving 30 years for murdering a moneylender). For Glaswegian style aficionados, my shirt is a Bob Fletcher original . . . Alcalá penitentiary, originally — pre-Franco — the 17th century Convento de Santo Tomás — is now, believe it or nor, a luxury hotel, a Parador no less!' Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1967 Madrid Mutual Aid prison Solidarity Spain https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/81028057c978e670b0f1278fa7f68634.jpg be4838221862e662550d0aa624979d28 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Postcards from Spain Subject The topic of the resource Spanish anti-Francoist resistance Description An account of the resource A collection of ephemera, pamphlets, photos and personal correspondence on the anarchist and anti-Francoist resistance in Spain. This collection includes letters written by Stuart from the Spanish prison of Alcalá de Henares in 1967 and received by his friend, Ross Flett. Stuart was transferred from Carabanchel prison to Alcalá following an aborted escape plan with his co-conspirator, cellmate and CNT member Luís Andrés Edo. These letters include references to his campaign for release, letter smuggling, the First of May Group and the machine gunning of Grosvenor Square. Persons mentioned: Luís Andrés Edo, Juan Busquets, Alain Pecunia, Groups and publications: Syndicalist Workers' Federation, Freedom, Anarchy, the International Times. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Ross Flett Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 06/04/1967-09/09/1967 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Scanned document Language A language of the resource English Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Stuart Christie and fellow British prisoner, Jimmy Wagner, Talleres Penitenciarios de Alcalá de Henares (1967) Description An account of the resource Stuart Christie (July 1967): 'Jimmy Wagner* and me in the patio of the printshop where, among other publications, I was a printer on the weekly Francoist propaganda sheet ‘Redención’. The print-run, if I remember correctly, was about 10,000 copies, a bit down on its peak of 37,000 in 1943. Published continuously since 1 April 1939 (the date of Franco’s victory), ‘Redención’ was written and edited by a motley collection of ultra-Catholic integrists, followers of ‘Our Lady of Fatima, determined to spread the social reign of Christ the King and roll civilisation back by 400 years or more. Prisoners were obliged to purchase the newspaper, like medieval indulgences, in order to make a public display of repentance and to ensure they benefitted from the occasional general partial pardons (‘indultos’) and qualified for provisional liberty on serving two-thirds of their sentence. Jimmy worked upstairs in the bookbinding workshop, a trade I wanted to learn, but the DG of Prisons insisted I was destined to be a printer, silly billy! Jimmy re-bound most of my contraband anarchist library in half-leather bindings, some with red and black buckram, gold-leaf titling, gilt-edging, marbled end-papers complete with silk head- and tailbands, and placemarkers. Works of great beauty they were; only a few of them left now, sadly. * Jimmy (James Bell Wagner) — a Dostoyevsky aficionado — was serving 30 years for murdering a moneylender in Barcelona in 1962.' Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1967 Madrid Press Printing Solidarity Spain https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/cbaf42f735744b595af65f454baea5a3.jpg 6060f067f16ab8f4bd86522451203a79 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Photographs Description An account of the resource Photographs of Stuart's friends, comrades, and acquaintances over the years. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Stuart Christie and friend Archie McNulty, Glasgow, 1962 Description An account of the resource Stuart Christie (2011): '‘The past is a foreign country: they did things differently there": The Barrowland Ballroom, Gallowgate, Glasgow, c.1961-’62. My old mate from our teenage years in Blantyre, Archie McNulty (the suave good-looking guy on the left), has sent me this yellowing, crazed, photo from another time. Fair took me back it did! For interested fashionista historians, the bespoke suit (Lovat Green if I remember correctly) with the bumfreezer jacket was from the Blantyre Co-op (Menswear Dept.); buttondown, high-collar, shirt (29s 6d) by Bob Fletcher (Esquire), Cambridge Street, Glasgow; tie (Woolworths & Co., Hamilton); shoes (A.L. Scott’s, Byres Road, Hillhead); hair (Fuscos, Cambridge Street, Glasgow). By the way, that’s a waistcoat under my jacket, definitely not a pullover!..' Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1962 Blantyre Glasgow https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/18f929f7708228f58bdd61e4e88fe3ac.jpg 9e2df5b7136d7c56b22be231095fe304 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Photographs Description An account of the resource Photographs of Stuart's friends, comrades, and acquaintances over the years. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Stuart Christie and Helios Téllez, son of Antonio Téllez Solá , Paris (1973) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Anti-Franco resistance Antonio Tellez MLE Spanish anarchism https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/bf8d0499c1a5d9d76c1b4fad90ccce88.jpg d79e6c71df17954fbd7063cf46cb2b10 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Photographs Description An account of the resource Photographs of Stuart's friends, comrades, and acquaintances over the years. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Stuart Christie and Iris Mills, Yorkshire (1975) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Phil Ruff Anarchist Black Cross Black Flag Exile Iris Mills Phil Ruff https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/bfd77593245f9b80c9756b983edd6f58.jpg 42399c63d59a1bc48e112556bb61ef1b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Photographs Description An account of the resource Photographs of Stuart's friends, comrades, and acquaintances over the years. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Stuart Christie and José Vicente Ortuño (1980) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1980 Anarchism Post-Franco Spain Transition https://stuartchristie.maydayrooms.org/files/original/88875ea6960219cea6fdeaaab593b3e6.jpg 342a8547417812026f165f90d1e17f0e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Photographs Description An account of the resource Photographs of Stuart's friends, comrades, and acquaintances over the years. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stuart Christie Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Stuart Christie at work on the gas network, 1970 Description An account of the resource Stuart Christie (2011): '1970 (summer): from 1969 to 1971 I was working long hours [and well-paid] for the then William Press & Son engineering company, converting North London and the Home Counties from town gas to natural gas. It was a period that coincided with a peak in the Europe-wide anti-Francoist and anti-US/Vietnam War activities of the anarchist ‘First of May Group’ and the birth of the so-called ‘Angry Brigade’. I was the chargehand on D28, the van in this photo, and thereby hang a number of tales. The following account is from ‘Edward Heath Made Me Angry’: “The police ‘leaked’ a story to the Daily Express [about Europe-wide non-lethal attacks on aeroplanes and properties of Iberia Airlines and other Francoist institutions]. The man responsible, according to ‘police sources,’ was a person readily identifiable as yours truly. Unfortunately, libel actions are only a rich man’s way of getting richer. Had I been Randolph Churchill I could have walked off with enough money to live without working for the rest of my life. As it was, I continued converting the Home Counties — to Natural Gas — and limited my response to a statement issued through my lawyer, Ben Birnberg, denying any involvement in the actions. On the afternoon in question, I had been at a garden party at the home of two close friends up Crouch Hill, Valerie and Graham Packham. One of my ‘alibis’ was a senior police officer who lived next door. Almost a fortnight after the attacks on the Iberia planes another incident occurred on 22 May that was to mark the emergence of what was to become known as the ‘Angry Brigade.’ It was the discovery of a small explosive device with a timing device on the building site of the high security police station in Paddington. Coincidentally, the previous week had seen the spectacular escape of Andreas Baader from Tegel Prison in West Germany. This was the birth of the ‘Red Army Fraktion,’ the RAF. If astrology was involved in this conjuncture — which also saw the first Weather Underground communiqué in the States and their bombing of New York City’s Police Headquarters — the people in these groups must have been born on very different cusps, as they were to evolve in very different ways. Things began to heat up in the early summer of 1970. On my way home from Harrow on the Hill one evening— it was in the run up to the June elections — I became aware that I was being followed in what appeared to be a fairly substantial surveillance operation either by the police or MI5’s ‘Watchers’ from Euston Tower in Gower Street. Knowing I was being shadowed made it relatively easy for me to lose them around the back streets of Wembley and Willesden, and I didn’t think much more of it — until the same thing happened the following day. While driving out of our base at the North Thames Gas Board yard at Harrow-on-the-Hill, I noticed a green car following me. My normal route took me through the back doubles of North London to get home to Finsbury Park. This routine was to avoid the rush-hour traffic rather than MI5’s cloak and dagger men from Gower Street. I knew this part of London like the back of my hand, having converted most of it to Natural Gas so I took my followers on a Cook’s tour of the Betjemanesque suburbs, during the course of which I discovered that I had at least three cars and two motorcyclists tailing me. Wherever I went the lambs were sure to follow. Failing to shake them, I eventually ended up driving along Finchley Road at a mere fifteen miles an hour, with the surveillance cars and motorcycles following me like a funeral procession with outriders. If I had had a passenger I would have got him to walk in front of the car, hat in hand. When we got to Highgate Hill the traffic into London from the A1 and M1 motorway had built up. Suddenly, the Devil made me pull out and accelerate into the oncoming northbound traffic, pulling into the correct lane when a gap presented itself, or forced to by large lorries heading straight for me. The Hillman Hunters decided not to pursue me. A few minutes later I was in the back streets of Archway and heading for home, taking care to park my car streets away from our flat. My official address was the old office of the Anarchist Black Cross, which we had given up, but I still had a key and collected our mail every other day. The next day when I arrived at work, a cavalcade of cars and vans were parked all around my sector. I thought at first that it might have something to do with the election, but no — it was the ‘watchers. … ‘ ‘…One day I cracked a joke to my shop steward and unit manager about the increased surveillance, but they didn’t believe me — at first. Then they checked for themselves and reported back on the two-way radio that they had counted six parked Hillman Hunters and Minxes with similarly sequenced registration plates on my conversion sector, occupied by what were obviously plainclothes policemen or spooks. There were also two motorcyclists in the area — with green army bikes, green army-issue crash helmets and heavy-duty military raincoats. Gerry, my foreman, laughed and said that I was being paranoid. Jokingly I suggested we swap cars for the night [I had a Ford Corsair GT 2000E]. It was Monday and the sector was not a particularly difficult one, so I left early and managed to drive off in Gerry’s car [a flash Daimler Sovereign] without being spotted by the waiting column of undercover cars. Gerry returned to the Harrow base in my car and then went on to a pub. Surprise, surprise — he found he was being followed. This time the procession was tailing him. First they waited outside the pub, from there they followed him to the Chinese restaurant and waited outside until he finally went home — at one in the morning. For three weeks after that I used up every trick ever seen in a B film, including lying on the floor of the William Press van and being driven to my car which had been parked up in a helpful lady’s garage four or five miles away (I had converted her appliances on a previous sector) and more fast car chases around the North Circular Road. Every Gas Board contractor in Harrow on the Hill — and there were hundreds of us — knew the men in the Hillman Hunters and, occasionally, to be different, a Triumph Vitesse, were policemen and would constantly wind them up by asking for the time, ‘officer’. They had the time all right. What they didn’t have — for a while — was the opportunity. They finally brought in a van with mirrored one-way windows and observation vents side and top, which they parked in front of my van. When this arrived I promptly turned my van round so they could only see our rear. Even so, all they could have learned was how to convert gas appliances, play poker and tell jokes. It may seem incredible to the seasoned reporter, though readily acceptable to the general reader, that the First of May Group had no plans to blow up Harrow School, and the police had no reason to watch me at work on a William Press’s conversion van. One thing that drove the police crazy at this time was that after a week of following the Corsair, I started turning up for work every Monday morning in a brand new car. Sometimes I changed my car twice or three times in a week. The police couldn’t understand what was going on. What had happened was that a friend — a member of the People Show, an improvising radical theatre troupe — had a day job managing the Hertz Rental office at Luton airport, and he was providing my car fleet. The police went to Luton to question my friend as to who was renting these cars, claiming they had been used in a spate of bank robberies in the London area, but he refused to tell them anything unless they provided a court order, which they never did. It took them almost six weeks to discover where I lived. They watched and waited until I left for work one morning, then they made their move. Having watched me leave, they sent a woman detective to ring the doorbell…’ But that’s another story entirely.' Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Summer, 1970 Angry Brigade Anti-Vietnam War First of May Group Red Army Faction Special Branch Surveillance