Lewisham '77 Press Release

Lewisham '77 Press Release issued this week:

Where were you on Saturday 13th August 1977?

“The 13th August 1977 was a turning point for Lewisham and for the fight against racism in Britain” (Jim Connell, Lewisham '77 organising group)

Saturday 13th August 1977 was the day of the Charity Shield match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Wembley. This dull 1-1 draw was not why London was the focus for the nations media. It was a much more remarkable struggle in Lewisham, South East London that made history, affected the nation and divided friends and families over the issue of racism.

The battlelines were drawn when the National Front mobilised 600 activists and prepared to march from Fordham Park to Lewisham Town Centre in an intimidating gesture towards local migrant families, protected by 4,000 police officers. But instead of the intended show of ‘white supremacy’ 10,000 local residents and militant anti-fascists met them, crowded the streets and refused to let the NF pass. Huge numbers of police were drafted in and the National Front were able to proceed but scale of the disturbances caused by their presence was unprecedented on London’s streets. The Police broke out riot shields for the first time on the British mainland.

Eventually they arrived in Lewisham Town centre but they were a tired, scared and defeated group. The day marked a turning point in both local and national mobilization against racism. Today the BNP, heirs of the NF legacy are reluctant to march openly and this is in some part due to the victory of anti-fascist forces

Lewisham ’77 is a series of events which will commemorate this remarkable day and attempt to examine what relevance this very local struggle has for us today. It is a combination of local history project, commemoration, and celebration.

The Commemorative Walk

Saturday 15th September 2007 at 3pm. The walk will begin at Clifton Rise off of the New Cross Road (next to the New Cross Inn) and will proceed along the route that the National Front took 30 years ago. Along the route those who have memories of the day will relate their own experiences and we encourage participants to bring their own stories. The walk should take approximately 2 hours and will conclude with a further chance to share in conversation and debate.

Getting involved

We are keen to hear from anyone who has a memory of the day and would like to contribute to the commentary of the walk. We are also creating an audio/visual document that will be shown at the next Lewisham ’77 event in November. We would like to hear from anyone who has any memorabilia from the event including photos, leaflets, flyers, etc.

We are happy to facilitate your participation in this project in anyway we can. Please contact us on the details below if you would like to share your memories.

We welcome assistance from anybody who would like to be involved in organizing and supporting the events in any capacity they can. Contact details below.

The purposes of the Lewisham '77 are to:

- provide an opportunity for people to tell their stories about what happened
- understand the events in the context of racism and resistance in the 1970s
- reflect on the meaning of these events for today

Further events

There will be a series of subsequent events taking place to mark the anniversary of the Battle of Lewisham and information will be provided closer to the time. Information is on our website. Please feel free to contact us to discuss these events.

Partnerships

Lewisham ’77 is the collective effort of a number of individuals, local historians and activists with the support of the Centre for Urban and Community Research and the Centre for Lifelong Learning and Community Engagement at Goldsmiths University of London, and the South London Radical History Group.

Contact details

Email: lewisham77@gmail.com, tel: 07876 144535 , Website: http://lewisham77.blogspot.com/

Lewisham '77: The walk

The Lewisham '77 commemorative walk will be held on Saturday 15 September, starting at 3 pm at Clifton Rise in New Cross (see the map here) . We invite veterans of the events of August 1977 to come and share their memories, and other people who want to learn more. Please e-mail us at lewisham77@gmail.com if you would like to come along.

This walk is also associated with the Migrating University at Goldsmiths, 14-15 Sept 2007, Centre for Cultural Studies - building for the No Borders camp at Gatwick - 19-24 Sept.
For details, go to http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/cultural-studies/events.php#migrating

Battle of Lewisham commemorative walk photo gallery

Have a look at Peter Marshall's photos of the Battle of Lewisham commemorative walk in September. And read Peter Marshall's account of the walk at his blog.

The Lewisham 77 walk on film

Paolo Cardullo, who edited the film of our 2007 Lewisham 77 walk, has embedded the video on his website here. The film features Red Saunders, Hari Kunzru, Balwinder Rana, Amina Mangara, Neil Transpontine, and many others.

Red Saunders

Red Saunders, a founder of Rock Against Racism in the 1970s, recalls Lewisham '77 on last Saturday's commemorative walk from New Cross to Lewisham.

Lewisham 77 on Deptford TV

A number of short films were made last year by the MA Screen Documentary students at Goldsmiths College for Lewisham '77. They can be seen on Deptford.TV's Broadcast Machine, here.

//Twenty minute film:////////

Lewisham77
The commemorative walk
Direct Download

//Four minute films://////////

footsoldier
Martin Lux, anti-fascist
Direct Download

rock against racism
Red Saunders on music and anti-fascism
Direct Download

history lessons
Morgan O'Brien, a local socialist
Direct Download

the sound of color
Racism in Lewisham in the 1970s
Direct Download


//Two minute films://////////

Martin Lux
From the Battle of Cable Street to the Battle of Lewisham
Direct Download


Amina Mangera
South African exiles and the fight against racism in Lewisham
Direct Download

Morgan O'Brien
SWP veteran on the Greenwich dockyard strike of 1977
Direct Download

stand up get up
Red Saunders remembers 1977
Direct Download

Welcome to Lewisham '77

On 13 August 1977, the far-right National Front attempted to march from New Cross to Lewisham in South East London. Local people and anti-racists from all over London and beyond mobilised to oppose them, and the NF were humiliated as their march was disrupted and banners seized. Instead of the intended show of white supremacy, only a few hundred bedraggled NF activists made it through to a car park in Lewisham with the help of a huge police operation. The day became known as 'The Battle of Lewisham' and has been seen as a turning point in the fortunes of the NF and the 1970s anti-fascist movement as well as in policing - riot shields were used for the first time in England.

To mark the 30th anniversary of the 'Battle of Lewisham' a series of commemorations are planned in the area where it took place. We want to:

- provide an opportunity for people to tell their stories about what happened;
- understand the events in the context of racism and resistance in the 1970s;
- reflect on the meaning of these events for today.

Three events are currently planned:

- a walk along the route of the march/counter-protest, including people involved at the time. This will start from Clifton Rise, New Cross at 3 pm on Saturday 15th September 2007.

- a Love Music Hate Racism gig at Goldsmiths Student Union on Saturday 27th October 2007.

- a half day event in New Cross on Saturday 10th November 2007 with speakers, films and a social event in the evening (date and venue to be confirmed).

Other ideas include a possible film, publication and exhibition.

Tell us your story

We particularly want to hear from people involved in 'The Battle of Lewisham'. Do you have any memories, leaflets, photographs, video footage or other material? If so please email us (lewisham77@gmail.com) or post a comment on this site. As well as the events of August 13th, we are interested in the build up of racism and resistance prior to the day, and the aftermath, such as court cases.

Lewisham '77 is being organised by an ad-hoc group of local historians, activists and Goldsmiths staff and students. If you want to be added to our mailing list, email us. We would also be interested in other ideas people may have to mark Lewisham '77.

Lewisham 77 at Cafe Crema

From Lewisham, Peace, Justice and Solidarity:

Thursday 18 March
Who shot the sheriff? The Battle of Lewisham 1977 and the Battle of Cable Street short films looking at the fight against fascism from the 1930s to today with Q and A with film makers and Unite Against Fascism

Who shot the sheriff? - the history of Rock Against Racism and Love Music Hate Racism inspiring and mobilising young people to stop the fascists by bringing together music and politics-from the 1970’s to today.

[Details here. Read an interview with director Alan Miles here. We showed this on our Lewisham 77 commemorative day, and it went down well. If you like it, you may also like our short films about Rock Against Racism's Red Saunders: 1, 2.]

Lewisham 1977 about the Battle of Lewisham filmed in New Cross by Deptford TV volunteers.

[Not sure which of our films they are showing, presumably this one, filmed on our commemorative walk. More details of the film in this article. Our films were made by volunteers, including Goldsmiths MA Screen Documentary students, in collaboration with Deptford TV, a project which uses open source technologies to generate new forms of collaborative film-making to document changes in SE London.]

The Battle of Cable Street and The Legacy of Cable Street with film maker Yoav Segal

[More info here. Note: Cable Street features in our film about anti-fascist footsoldier Martin Lux.]

With Q and A with film maker and Unite Against Fascism - important lessons as the fascist BNP stand in the forthcoming elections.

Presented by the Lewisham Anti-Racist Action Group and south-east London Unite Against Fascism in conjunction with Café Crema , New Cross larag@talktalk.net; www.naar.org.uk/larag www.uaf.org.uk/ also join face book ‘sel uaf see LARAG online exhibition with images and quotes about fighting fascism in London from 1930’s to 2010.
For all the films at Café Crema there is a charge of £6 which includes polenta meal or cake and drink ordered at 7.30 pm, film screening 8.15pm. Tickets available from the café in advance. To guarantee a place at this cosy venue. 306 New Cross Road. London SE14 6AF. 2 minutes from New Cross and New Cross Gate stations mob 07905 961 876/ 07905 552 571 http://www.cafecremaevents.co.uk/ for information. Pop in: book your seat!

Bonus link: Watch the Deptford.TV film about Cafe Crema.

The November 10 Lewisham '77 event at Goldsmiths

The following report of our event is extracted from an article that will appear in the CUCR magazine Street Signs in early 2008.

In November 2007, around 140 people came to an event at Goldsmiths about the Battle of Lewisham. We opened the day by screening the Rock Against Racism documentary I Shot the Sheriff.[1] Both Lewisham ’77 and the local branch of Unite Against Fascism brought exhibitions on the story of racism locally.

The first session explored different memories of 1977. Ted Parker, then an SWP organiser and now principal of Barking College, told the story of the organisation of the anti-fascist mobilisation, powerfully evoking the extraordinary passion and commitment of rank and file leftists.[2] Balwinder Rana, still an SWP activist, told the story of the routine attacks by the National Front in the 1970s in Kent and South London on Asian and leftist targets, and of the defence organised by the Asian Youth Movement and SWP. The anarchist Martin Lux contextualised the events of 1977 against a longer story of mounting conflict between fascists and anti-fascists through the 1970s. Lez Henry, formerly of Goldsmiths Sociology, described the routine harassment of black youth in the area by white adults influenced by the NF, and by the police. He also described how resistance to this was informed by mounting political consciousness, exemplified by the black history teaching black youth organised locally. John Lockwood, a teacher who was imprisoned and banned from teaching South of the river for his participation in the Battle of Lewisham, told the story of the Deptford Anti-Racist Committee (DARC) and its involvement in the planning of the August 13 demonstrations. The session was concluded by chair Malcolm Ball, who reflected on the way that the events of that day changed the lives of so many of the local people.

This session was followed by a screening of five films commissioned for Lewisham ’77. Local collaborative film-making project Deptford.TV[3] have agreed to help film and archive the Lewisham ’77 process. A number of Deptford.TV film-makers filmed the September walk, which CUCR PhD student Paulo Cardullo edited into a ten-minute film. Students from the Goldsmiths Screen Documentary MA made a number of short films with veterans of 1977.

A second session moved from commemorating the day to thinking through its contemporary significance. Paul Gilroy, formerly of CUCR and Goldsmiths Sociology, gave a powerful list of some of the things that stood out about that day in 1977 (such as the “masculinism” and “smashism” of much of the left, but also the presence of large contingents of women there as women), and some of the things that have changed today (such as the presence of guns on the streets of South London now). Les Back of Goldsmiths Sociology made a moving and thoughtful intervention, reflecting on the parasitical nature of racist ideology – which now speaks a language of “identity” co-opted from multiculturalism – and of the “nervous system” of today’s fear-driven and security-obsessed racist imaginary. Dave Landau of No One is Illegal[4] made a strong case for the relationship of far right organising and state anti-immigration laws, and made a plea for the anti-racist movement to seriously reckon with the politics of immigration. Finally, Jarman Parmar[5] of the Lewisham Anti-Racist Action Group[6], made the connection to the on-going struggle against racism locally.

The day confirmed the central principle of the Lewisham ’77 project: that there is no single correct version of history, but instead history is something to be contested and discussed. Rather than simply romanticising the events of 1977 (although it is right to see them as heroic), the event made it clear that there are a number of competing narratives into which it fits. Exemplified by a disagreement over whether the soundtrack to the event – blasted out of the window of a flat on Clifton Rise from speakers set up between pots of geraniums – was Bob Marley’s “Get Up, Stand Up” or Junior Murvin’s “Police and Thieves” – no single memory can claim a monopoly. Was the Anti-Nazi League, which arose out of the day, the culmination of a vibrant tradition of militant anti-fascism, or a diversion away from it? Which was more significant, the presence of the “white” left or of local black youth? Was the black presence in the confrontation the result of spontaneous anger at racism, or part of a conscious and sophisticated analysis of the political situation?

A second point of contention was over to what extent the Battle of Lewisham model can be imposed today. This was exemplified by the heated debate over whether calling the NF then (and particularly the BNP now) “Nazis” is an effective anti-racist strategy or whether it plays into a Little England patriotic WWII narrative. It was also exemplified by the debate over the continued relevance of the “no platform for fascists” policy and, for example, whether it should be applied to the handful of NF hands who march through Bermondsey every year.

Lewisham ’77: Into the future

Lewisham ’77 continues as a project. We intend to continue collecting memories of 1977 in all their diversity and contentiousness, and using these as part of a multimedia intervention that we can use with children and young people locally and further afield. If you want to get involved, please get in touch.

---

[1] http://www.lovemusichateracism.com/about/who-shot-the-sheriff/

[2] For Ted’s memories, see http://lewisham77.blogspot.com/2007/08/ted-parker-remembers-battle-of-lewisham.html

[3] See “Strategies of Sharing” in Street Signs Autumn 2007 http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/cucr/pdf/streetsignsautumn7.pdf

[4] http://www.noii.org.uk/

[5] http://lewisham77.blogspot.com/2007/09/legacy-of-1977-and-fight-against.html

[6] http://www.naar.org.uk/larag/

---

Bonus link: Les Back on black writing, Goldsmiths and the New Cross fire of 1981 [pdf]

Battle of Lewisham Chronology (updated 13.8.2007)

This is a chronology of key events in the 'Battle of Lewisham', and the immediate build up to it. We will update it as more information comes in. This is version 5, last updated 13 August 2007.

The build up

May 30 1977: police stage dawn raids on 30 homes in New Cross and Lewisham and arrest 21 young black people accusing them of being involved in street robberies. (Times 31.5.77)

The Lewisham 21 Defence Committee is set up to support those arrested, as well as three others arrested in a subsequent scuffle with police. The police refer leaflets produced by the Committee to the Director of Public Prosecutions, accusing them of libel (KM 16.6.77).

15 June 1977: Prince Charles visits Pagnell Street Centre in New Cross ('The Moonshot'). The Defence Committee stages a demonstration outside with about 20 people and a banner saying 'Defend Lewisham 24. Who will the police mug next?' (KM 16.6.77)

Saturday 18 June 1977: fighting between National Front and Socialist Workers Party activists by the Clock Tower in Lewisham Town Centre, where both groups were selling papers. A socialist teacher from Deptford is knocked unconscious (KM 23.6.77).

Friday 24 June 1977: at a meeting of Lewisham Council for Community Relations, the police arrests of 21 youths are condemned by Sybil Phoenix (Pagnell Street Centre) and Alderman Russell Profitt, the latter describing the raids as 'scandalous and disgusting - a vicious attack on the black community' (KM 30.6.77).

Saturday 25 June 1977: 70 socialists and 50 National Front supporters turn out for rival paper sales in Lewisham town centre but are kept apart by the police. 17 members of the National Party (another far-right faction) stage a pro-police demonstration at Lewisham police station (KM 30.6.77).

Saturday 2 July 1977: Lewisham 21 Defence Committee demonstration in New Cross in support of local black youths arrested in police operation: '300 demonstrators marched through Lewisham and New Cross'; more than 100 National Front supporters turn out to attack it: 'Shoppers rushed for cover as racialists stormed down New Cross Road' (KM 7.7.77). NF throw bottles, 'rotten fruit and bags of caustic soda at marchers'(SLP 5.7.77). More than 60 people, fascists and anti-fascists, are arrested in clashes in New Cross Road and Clifton Rise.

Monday 4 July 1977: Lewisham National Front organiser Richard Edmunds complains about police arrests of NF supporters at the weekend and announces plans for a National Front demonstration in Deptford in August, promising its 'biggest-ever rally... Everybody will know that the Front is marching. Where we had a couple of hundred people in New Cross on Saturday, we will be talking of thousands for our march' (SLP 5.7.77). The march is billed as a demonstration against 'mugging'.

Monday 4 July and Tuesday 6 1977: 56 people appear at Camberwell Magistrates Court on charges relating to the clashes on the previous Saturday. 35 NF supporters and 17 anti-fascists are remanded on bail. A 29 year old mother of five from New Cross is given an absolute discharge after admitting 'threatening behaviour': she told the court 'I was called a nigger lover in front of my children which I objected to' (KM 7.7.77)

Week beginning 4 July 1977: All Lewisham Campaign Against Racism and Fascism (ALCARAF) call for peaceful demonstration on same day as NF march. ALCARAF and the neighbouring SCARF (Southwark Campaign Against Racism and Fascism) had been set up in the previous year in response to the rise of the far-right. Along with other London anti-fascist groups they were affiliated to the Anti-Racist Anti-Fascist Co-ordinating Committee

15 July 1977: fire at headquarters of West Indian League, 36 Nunhead Lane, SE15, an organisation providing advice and activities for black youth. Fire brigade suggests that the fire may have been started by a petrol bomb (SLP).

23 or 24 July (?) 1977 - 600 people attend a public meeting in Lewisham Concert Hall called by Lewisham 21 Defence Committee. The meeting passes a motion calling 'for a united mobilisation to stop the Nazis... We call for all black people, socialists, and trade unionists, to assemble at 1 pm on August 13 at Clifton Rise, New Cross, so that 'They shall not pass'' (KM 28.7.77).

Lewisham Council turns down NF request to use the Lewisham Concert Hall on August 13th. The Council's Amenities chair, Gareth Hughes, states: 'The NF is a racialist organisation, and the hall belongs to the community which is multi-racial' (KM 28.7.77).

Saturday 23 July 1977 - Lewisham 21 Defence Committee march from Lewisham railway station to Catford (SLP 29.7.77).

Friday 29 July: A deputation of eight local church leaders hand in a 1500 strong petition to Police Commissioner David McNee calling for the NF march to be banned. The leader of the deputation, Rev. Barry Naylor (St John's, Catford and also a leading member of ALCARAF) meets McNee who tells him there will be no ban (SLP 2.8.77).

Week beginning 1 August: members of the Lewisham 21 Defence Committee take over an empty shop in New Cross Road, to be used as a campaing headquarters in preparation for the anti-NF mobilisation (KM 4.8.77). The shop is at 318 New Cross Road (now the Alcohol Recovery Project), next to the New Cross House (now the Goldsmiths Tavern).

Monday 1 August: The August 13 Ad Hoc Organising Committee issues statement calling for a 'They Shall Not Pass' rally to assemble at Clifton Rise in New Cross at 12 on the day of the NF demonstration (the NF were planning to assemble at Clifton Rise at 2 pm). The statement also 'welcomed the decision of the ALCARAF to route their march to reach New Cross by 1 pm. We urge that full support be given to that march and call on everyone to stay on to occupy Clifton Rise to prevent the Nazis occupying there'. The Committee spokesperson is Ted Parker, South East London Secretary of the Socialist Workers Party (SLP 5.8.77).

Tuesday 2 August: Lewisham police chiefs meet with National Front organisers to discuss plans for march. Martin Webster, NF national organiser, tells press: 'The Reds have had it all their own way and the only way you can fight Communism is to confront it. We believe that the mult-racial society is wrong, is evil and we want to destroy it' (SLP 5.8.1977).

Tuesday 9 August: Lewisham Mayor, Councillor Roger Godsiff, and 3 other Labour councillors hand in resolution to Home Secretary calling for NF march to be banned. Metropolitan Police commissioner David McNee issues statement opposing ban, saying that it 'would not only defer to mob rule but encourage it' (SLP 12.8.77).

Wednesday 10 August: ALCARAF press conference announces policy that 'if the police cordon off the road from Algernon Road to Clifton Rise, then the marchers will disperse. But if there is no police opposition the march will continue to Clifton Rise' (SLP 12.8.77).

Thursday 11 August 1977: High Court Judge Slynn rejects a request by Lewisham Council to issues a 'writ of mandamus' compelling the Police Commissioner to ban all marches in the borough for three months. Lewisham are represented in court by John Mortimer QC. NF organiser Richard Edmunds tells the press that 'We are deliberately going into the black areas of Deptford because these are also the areas where we have a lot of support' (SLP 12.8.77).

Friday 12 August 1977: final plans for demonstration: 'At least 2000 police will be in the borough... and in reserve the police will have about 200 shields and helmets... Lewisham council has moved old and disabled people away from potential trouble spots, and public buildings, shops and public houses on the routes have been closed or boarded up' (Times, 13.8.77).

Saturday 13th August 1977

3 am - two bricks thrown through the bedroom window of Mike Power, Chief Steward for ALCARAF, at his home in Ardgowan Road, Hither Green. He said that 'It was quite clearly an attempt by the National Front to intimidate me' (KM 18.8.77).

11:00 am: 200 police arrive at Clifton Rise. First anti-fascists also start to gather there.

11:30 am - All Lewisham Campaign Against Racism and Fascism (ALCARAF) demonstration gathers in the rain in Ladywell Fields. 'Over 5000 people from more than 80 organisations congregate in Ladywell Fields to hear speeches by the Mayor of Lewisham, the Bishop of Southwark, the exiled Bishop of Namibia and others' (South London Press 16.8.1977).

11:55 am: ALCARAF march sets off down Ladywell Road and into Lewisham High Street, taking at least half an hour to leave the park. 'Those taking part in the ALCARAF march included members of the Young Liberals, Lewisham Councillors, Young Socialists, Communists and Young Communists, and the Campaign for Homosexual Equality' plus 'banners from GEC Elliot's factory, the Electrical Trades Union, Christian Aid, the Indian Workers Association and many more'. The march is led by a lorry 'with the Steel and Skin playing' (KM 16.8.77).

12:10: First clash between police and anti-fascists in New Cross: 'The SWP were occupying the derelict shop next to the New Cross House pub. Police broke down a door and evicted the squatters, arresting 7 and taking a quantity of propaganda and banners' (KM, 18.8.1977). 'The first clash came... when police ousted Socialist Workers Party members from the New Cross Road shop they were squatting in, overlooking Clifton Rise' (SLP 16.8.77).

12:45: A wall of police prevent ALCARAF march reaching New Cross. 'Police block the way to New Cross at the junction of Loampit Hill and Algernon Road. As the lorry leading the march turns in Algernon Road, march stewards try and stop it. Commander Randall shouts 'Keep that lorry on the move'' (SLP 16.8.1977). The police want marchers 'to go along Algernon Road back to Ladywell'. The Mayor of Lewisham, Councillor Roger Godsiff, formally appeals to police Commander Douglas Randall to 'allow the march to go on the original route that was agreed' (i.e. on to New Cross) - this is refused.

1:00: Mike Power of ALCARAF tells the crowd 'ALCARAF is not prepared to be directed away from Deptford' and appeals 'for the march to disband peacefully there and then' (KM 16.8.77). Although the march as such is halted, many of the demonstrators managed to get to New Cross via other routes. 'The order is given to disperse [the ALCARAF march]. The police allow hundreds of people to pass on to New Cross' (SLP 16.8.77).

1:30: National Front begin to assemble behind police lines in Achilles Street. New Cross Road is closed with at thousands of anti-NF protestors in Clifton Rise and New Cross Road (KM 18.8.77). Estimates of anti-NF crowd vary from 2000 (KM) to up to 4000 (Times).

2:00 pm 'Police in two wedges - one from Clifton Rise the other from New Cross Road - moved into the crowd to eject them from Clifton Rise'. Two orange smoke bombs are thrown, and a tin of red paint. Clifton Rise and New Cross Road 'became a seething mass of demonstrators and police. Police helmets were knocked off as arrests were made' (KM 18.8.77).

2:00 pm: As fighting rages in New Cross, the Bishop of Southwark leads a church service against racism and for peace at St Stephens Church, Lewisham High Street. 200 people attend, with a banner outside with the words 'Justice, love and peace' (SLP 16.8.77)

2:06 pm '10 mounted police moved into the crowd from New Cross Road to be greeted by a sustained bombardment of bottles, cans, and attacks with poles. The ferocity of the attack drove the horsemen back. Youths began to gather bricks from a builders yard in Laurie Grove and pelt police' (KM 18.8.77). 'Running battles broke out at the top of Clifton Rise and, after, a smoke bomb exploded, mounted police moved in to drive the crowd back into New Cross Road' (SLP 16.8.77). Two mounted police are dragged from their horses.

2:10 pm 'The police line on foot at Clifton Rise broke, but reformed. A youth attacked a policeman with a stick' (KM 18.8.77).

2:20 pm: 'Police drew truncheons and used them against the crowd. Most of Clifton Rise and New Cross Road was cleared of demonstrators. The battle for control of Clifton Rise was over. A man lay unmoving outside the New Cross Inn and was taken off in an ambulance. Another stretcher case lay in New Cross Road' (KM 18.8.77).

3:00 pm - Police escort National Front marchers out of Achilles Street, up Pagnell Street and into New Cross Road, behind a large 'Stop the Muggers' banner. Estimates of NF marchers range from 600 (SLP) to 1000 (KM). 'Suddenly the air was filled with orange smoke, and a hail of bricks, bottles and pieces of wood fell onto the Front from demonstrators and householders leaning out of their windows... At one point the Front marchers stopped. Half the marchers remained in Pagnell Street, afraid to walk into the hail of missiles' (KM 18.8.77).

Anti-fascists break through police lines and attack back of NF march, 'separating them from the main body' (SLP 16.8.77). There is hand to hand fighting in New Cross Road, and NF marchers are forced off the road onto the pavement.

'One young man, perhaps 16 years old, rushed into the Front ranks and grabbed a flagpole from one of them, broke it in half and held the pieces up while the crowd cheered. Others hurled dustbins and fence stakes into the Front column from close range' (KM 18.8.77). 'The protestors then burnt captured NF banners' (SLP 16.8.77).

Police separate NF and anti-fascists, and mounted police clear a path through crowd attempting to block progress of march towards Deptford Broadway. For part of the route the NF are forced off the road onto the pavement.

Police lead the march 'through deserted streets of Lewisham' with crowds held back by 'by road blocks over the whole area' (KM). Marchers are flanked by three deep police on either side, with 24 mounted police in front. The march route goes down Depford Broadway/Blackheath Road, Lewisham Road and Cressingham Road, where 'more missiles were hurled at the marchers' (SLP 16.8.77).

While small groups attack the march from side streets, large numbers of anti-fascists head East along Lewisham Way. They reach Lewisham Town Centre and block the High Street.

The NF approach the town centre. 'The fighting intensified as the Front members were escorted from Cressingham Road to their rally in Conington Road' (SLP 16.8.77).

Unable to meet in the town centre proper, the NF hold a short rally in a car park in Conington Road, addressed by NF Chairman John Tyndall, police usher NF 'through a tunnel in Granville Park and then into Lewisham station, where trains were waiting to take them away' (Times, 15.8.77).

Clashes continue between the police and crowd, the latter largely unaware that the NF have already left the area. Anti-fascists occupy the area by the Clock Tower. 'A road barrier was dragged across the High Street by demonstrators' (KM, 18.8.77).

Police bring out riot shields for the first time in England, and attempt to disperse crowd south down Lewisham High Street towards Catford. Bricks and bottles are thrown. 'On the corner of Molesworth Street, mounted police prepared to charge. Beside them were police on foot, truncheons drawn. Police came racing down the street. One officer shouted 'get out of the way' and as he ran a man was hit. The officer then apparently collided with an elderly woman. She went sprawling on the pavement' (KM, 18.8.77).

A police Special Patrol Group van is surrounded and its windows smashed, and part of the crowd attempts to surround Lewisham Police Station in Ladywell Road. A press photographer's BMW motorbike is set on fire near Ladywell Baths. Several shop windows are smashed in Lewisham High Street, including Currys (no.131), Kendall & Co. (no.256) and Caesars' fancy goods (no.230).

4:40 pm; 'the riot in Lewisham High Street had been quashed, but there were continuing outbreaks in side streets. It was not until after 5 pm that the fighting ceased and an uneasy calm settled over Lewisham' (SLP 16.8.77). 214 people have been arrested and at least 111 injured (Times, 15.8.77).

The aftermath

Sunday 14th August 1977 : Clashes near Speedwell House in Deptford (any one have any details of this?)

Monday 15th August: 14 people appear in Court in Greenwich and Camberwell on charges arising from Saturday's events, the first of 202 people charged. Three are remanded in custody accused of causing grievous bodily harm to policemen.

Sources: Kentish Mercury (KM), South London Press (SLP), Times.

John Lockwood on the signifiance of the Battle of Lewisham

John Lockwood was one of the speakers at our November 2007 Lewisham '77 commemorative event. He was active in the local anti-racist movement while a postgraduate student at Goldsmiths in the late 1970s. Here we print his personal reflections on the politics of the Battle of Lewisham.

The events of Lewisham were a great victory for the myriad forces of anti racism in Britain. This was an historic victory in the sense that it changed the balance of forces between the left / liberal masses and the fascist / racist alliance that had underpinned the N.F. project and in the end… changed the course of history.

On both sides of this divide there were “broad churches”. The hardcore nazis were, then as now, very few in number, perhaps a few hundred. They needed to deploy the tens of thousands of young, poor and disaffected white youth who, whilst being violently racist were not (or not yet) fully fledged fascists. Drawing on the teachings of their master, Adolf Hitler, they sought to deliver

"great demonstrations and mass rallies [through which] we instil in the minds of the little man that although he is a worm he is part of a mighty dragon."

On our side of the divide there was a broad alliance between socialists (revolutionary and other) and “small l” liberals. Broadly speaking the socialists, informed by the above rationale, and inspired by recent successes at Wood Lane, wanted to physically confront and, by force of numbers, prevent the nazi march.. The liberals wanted to avoid any confrontation and simply display their condemnation of racism and fascism.

Personally, I never doubted the anti-racist conviction of the liberal camp but between us there was a massive gulf. We believed that if we could win the majority of non-aligned anti-racists to our position, we could break the back of the National Front. If, however, we failed to win that argument and Lewisham had been just another in the long line of anti fascist skirmishes, then nothing would have been put in the way of the fastest growing political force in Europe.

It is perhaps ironic that the most vociferous voices in the “liberal” camp were those of the C.P.G.B [Communist Party of Great Britain] whilst others who might have been expected to be card carrying (small l) liberals defied expectations… At a key stage in the bitter debates within A.L.C.R.A.F., the Communist Party proposed (as an alternative to the counter demo) an anti-racist music and poetry event involving socialist folk songs and Christian hymns, humanist poetry and prayer… but it wasn’t the far left who demolished this idea. It was a priest who declared:

"prayers: what the hell is the point of that… we need to be in Clifton Rise [the N.F. assembly point]"

…although we are frequently accused of such manoeuvres, I swear he was not a Trotskyist entryist within the clergy.

A second major contention dividing socialist and liberal ideas concerned the absolute right to free speech… many decent ant-racist people felt very troubled by the call to deny the streets to Nazis citing free speech rights. The events following the racist murder of Gurdip Singh Chaggar in Southall (1976) illustrate the absurdity of this position.

Following this murder, N.F. chairman, John Kingsley Reed, declared

“that’s one down, one million to go”

…this incitement to mass murder was contrary to new race laws… He was charged and brought to court but rather than finding himself banged up he was told by the judge:

“I wish you well in your project”

…the judge didn’t clarify if the project in question was that of genocide.

After this fiasco the absolute right of free speech seemed indefensible. If John Kingsley Reed’s freedom to campaign for genocide is absolute. And if the right of black people to walk our streets unmolested is absolute. And if these two absolute freedoms are mutually exclusive then are we not entitled to pose the question: Which of these two freedoms is the higher freedom? No sane person could be troubled by this choice.

As history records, August 13 1977, was not just another in a long list of anti-fascist skirmishes, it was the day that the Nazis were dealt a blow from which they have never, to this day, recovered.

Lewisham '77 event this Saturday - new speakers confirmed!

The Lewisham '77 event is at Goldsmiths College, London New Cross this Saturday, from 1 pm to 5 pm in the Great Hall. Two more speakers have been confirmed: John Lockwood, who we believe was the only person imprisoned for his role in the Battle of Lewisham, and Jarman Parmar, Lewisham councillor and eyewitness to the Battle.

We will screen the Rock Against Racism documentary I Shot the Sheriff as people arrive, and there will be exhibitions and stalls. Speakers will be from 1. In the first session, speakers include Ted Parker, who organised the anti-fascist demonstration in August 1977, Balwinder Rana of the ANL, Martin Lux, author of Anti-Fascist: A Foot-Soldier's Story, Lez Henry of Nu-Beyond, and John Lockwood. There will be more film screenings from 2.30 to 3. The second session, on the contemporary significance of Lewisham '77, will be opened by Paul Gilroy, author of Black Britain: A Photographic History, and will feature Les Back of Goldsmiths, Dave Landau of No Borders, and councillor Jarman Parmar of the Lewisham Anti-Racist Action Group.

The films screening at 2.30 will be the UK premier of films specially commissioned for the event from Deptford.TV and from the Goldsmiths MA Screen Documentary students. This will include: a 10 minute film of the Lewisham '77 commemorative walk on September 13 and a series of 2 and 5 minute films made by the MA students, featuring: Red Saunders and the story of Rock Against Racism, Morgan O'Brien and the 1977 British Steel occupation, Martin Lux and the Battle of Cable St, and Amina Mangera and other veterans' memories of the day.