Beating the Blackshirts: Militant anti-fascism in south Bristol in the 1930s

During the 1930’s militant anti-fascist responses to Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts were established amongst the Bristolian working-class. Discouraged by their defeats in the inner-city districts of Bristol, the British Union of Fascists (BUF) turned their attention to south Bristol, Bedminster and the new garden suburbs springing up on the outskirts of the city.

This illustrated talk traces the migration of pre WWII physical resistance to fascism in Bristol from the smoky and overcrowded slums to the spacious and leafy suburbs, and investigates who the anti-fascist street fighters were, including a Knowle Wester who, it was claimed by Oswald Mosley, tried to stab him at the Colston Hall.

It also examines the supporters of the BUF, men and women. Who were these defenders of privilege, discrimination, and racism? And why did the majority of the Bristolian working class find the policies of the BUF so repugnant?