Hull radical history #1

In the 1930s Hull had it’s own lesser-known fight against fascism. Thousands of anti-fascists including trade unionists, dock workers and communists sent Oswald Moseley packing when he tried to hold a rally here.

In the first article in a series on Hull’s radical history we take a look at those events as well as recent anti-fascist struggles in Hull and what we can learn from both.

The Battle Of Corporation Field

“Violent scenes were witnessed in Hull last night when Sir Oswald Moseley, British Fascist leader, addressed a crowd numbering many thousands in the Corporation Field.

Disturbances had been expected and strong forces of police were on duty at the field. So great; however, was the noise and so ugly did the situation become, that the meeting had to be abandoned half an hour after the start.” – The Hull Daily Mail, July 1936. 

While the battle of Cable street would go down in history as the greatest pre-war anti-fascist street fight, just three months prior Hull would host it’s own similar anti-fascist battle. Every major city has some story or another of their anti-fascist struggle but this one is uniquely Hull’s. Now almost forgotten to history, it is especially important that we remember the resistance the black-shirts received when they visited Hull.

While we cannot find a source to reliably narrow the event down to an exact date, we know that on a Sunday in July 1936 the BUF (British Union of Fascists) descended upon Hull to hold a rally. When deciding to come here they almost certainly expected a fight. The dockworkers were especially well unionised and as one blackshirt put it “The Communist Party influence in Hull was greater than anywhere outside London, with the possible exception of Glasgow”. Such violent headline-making confrontations were part and parcel of the BUF media strategy and also represented an attempt to directly mirror the tactics of the Nazis’ brown-shirts a few years previous. They came ready to fight but didn’t expect to be driven out completely.

Corporation Fields sat in the middle of Hull. Now under the St. Stephens car park near the city centre, it provided a large open air venue for the fascist political meeting that July. They had attempted to find a suitable indoor meeting space such as the Guildhall or the Astoria Cinema but had been denied at every turn. Forced to take the meeting to a public outdoor venue, there was no way for them to stop the anti-fascists from turning up to face them. Some 10 000 people were reported to be in attendance. It’s not known how many were on each side, but a very large number had no interest in letting Moseley speak.

The fascists marched in, attempting to hold a paramilitary rally. By the time Moseley arrived though, this was already being disrupted as brick and stone missiles were hurled towards the fascists. Moseley’s speaker system then failed to work, delaying the rally further. One anonymous source, many years later, claimed in a letter to the Hull Daily Mail that he bribed some schoolboys with ice-cream to cut the speaker’s wires. Moseley was forced to give in and the blackshirts began to retreat back the way they came, just half an hour after arriving. The violence followed them and the windows of Moseley’s car were smashed. The police were unable to secure the area and fighting continued for at least another hour.

Unfortunately we don’t know to what extent the resistance was organised, and by whom. We can safely assume that communists and trade unionist played a key role, but the extent of their organising and planning is lost to history. Whether it was a widely publicised counter-protest or a largely spontaneous resistance from many different groups, this story goes to show that the people of Hull can and have resisted fascism on their own turf.

Modern anti-fascist resistance in Hull

In early 2023, once again fascism attempted to show it’s ugly face in our city. First under the banner of Patriotic Alternative, and then Yorkshire Patriots (following a split with the former group). Both times they organised anti-migrant rallies that took place in Victoria Square. Organising through an insidious network of WhatsApp and Telegram chats, the fascists attempted to organise protests quickly, before a counter-protest could be organised.

Though not founded yet, several members of Hull Communist Group were present to oppose them at both these demos.

January 14th 2023

On the 14th of January 2023 Patriotic Alternative (PA) held a rally against asylum seekers. Organised in secret and being announced with little warning, trucking in PA activists from across the country, the fascists flew banners from the statue plinth and gave vitriolic speeches calling for removal of foreigners. The leading figure was Hull’s own Alek Yerbury, who’s fashion was compared to that of Hitler. Although a counter-protest was organised, it was last minute and unfortunately the anti-fascists failed to stop the far right rally.

18th March 2023

A couple months later on the 18th of march 2023 they tried again. By this point Alek Yerbury (now dubbed Poundshop Hitler by the trade unionists) had split from PA and was organising under the Yorkshire Patriots banner, though still organising through the same online spaces.

This time, we were ready for them. The fascists gave more advanced public notice, attempting to draw in a public crowd along side their activists. This, and more thorough infiltration of their online spaces by anti-fascists gave us more time to prepare and organise.

Importantly they also made the mistake of organising on one of the railway strike days. This both meant it was harder for fascist activists to get in from out of town and that the striking workers could come out against the fascists. This gave the trade unions a chance to take a leading role.

We arrived an hour earlier than the fascists, allowing us to take the raised plinth area. At least a couple hundred anti-fascists. We set up for speeches by trade unionist and anti-racism campaigners.

The fascists arrived. Once they had grouped together they attempted to force their way onto the platform. We pushed back and the police tried to separate us, but not before we managed to grab a couple of their flags. They eventually gave up and were forced off the platform; setting up on a bench nearby, taking turns ranting about queers and foreigners, interspersed with the occasional Nazi salute.

The anti-fascist and trade union rally continued, now uninterrupted and in full swing. We showed who was in control of our streets. The people of Hull had come out and they weren’t on the side of fascism.

The fascists did however decide to march down to a building asylum seekers were staying, as an act of intimidation. The more radical elements of the anti-fascists wanted to block this march but the trade unionists called for everyone to remain at their rally instead. We couldn’t organise enough people at short notice to block their march so it went unchallenged. Better organising, pre-planning and unity could have made this a possibility.

Reflections

Both the 1936 battle and more recent struggles can provide important lessons for anti-fascists. Today both sides are smaller but we have seen that constant challenging and de-platforming has forced fascist groups to largely abandon open protests as a tactic, at least for now.

We also see the importance of the anti-fascist United Front. There are many people who disagree on other issues but are willing to come together to fight against racism. We must also make sure that the more advanced elements can play a leading role so that the fascists are challenged at every step.

Infiltration of modern fascist communications networks is also important. As WhatsApp, Telegram and Facebook groups become more common for anti-migrant activists to organise through, it allows them to reach a wider audience but also makes them more vulnerable to infiltration. We must make sure to be one step ahead of them.

The battle against fascism has been won before, but we must always be vigilant against the creeping threat and strive to stamp it out before it can spread.

Hull Communist Group continues to take part in this important struggle. Keep an eye on our site and social media for updates and calls to action against future far right threats locally and nationally.

No Pasarán!

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Note: Thanks to journalist Angus Young who has ensured this story wasn’t forgotten. Their 2017 Hull Daily Mail article is the main source for our brief retelling of the 1936 battle.

And please visit the website of the Hull International Brigades Memorial Group, who have recorded the stories of those who left East Yorkshire to fight fascism in Spain. Many of them also fought against Moseley at Corporation Field.

If you want to learn more about the far right in Britain and how to fight it, check out Searchlight Magazine and Hope Not Hate.