It Happened Here

I paused before writing this week’s blog. Six miles away from where I type there are running battles between the police and a rioting mob. It’s the latest in a series of peaceful protests mixed with rioting that have run through England’s streets during this hot week in July. For the most part the unrest is in small towns in the north or on the coasts and is characterised as being instigated by the ‘far right’. From the news footage many of those taking part are just teenagers, but behind them are older men with a political agenda.

Sitting on my desktop is the draft cover for Blackshirt Rebellion, the third of my thrillers set in an alternate Britain of the 1930s under the shadow of fascism. The mid-thirties were characterised by frequent disorder on England’s streets. Often it was in small towns and began with a rally or parade by the paramilitary Blackshirts of the British Union of Fascists. Today we’d call them ‘far right’ but much of their leadership and original membership came from disillusioned socialists. High unemployment, low wages and poor housing drove ordinary people to pay their shilling and join the BUF.

The typical Blackshirts were very young, often just teenagers. Their leaders were also young compared to politicians of the day – William Joyce the BUF Director of Propaganda was barely 30. The fascist ‘Leader’ Sir Oswald Mosley officially spoke against violence, but nevertheless the Blackshirts would march through areas where they were fighting the socialists for the hearts and minds of the white working class. Cynically they could pick areas with high Jewish communities, particularly in London. Anti-fascist protesters usually outnumbered the Blackshirts, often by as much as ten to one. With odds in their favour it was often the leftists that initiated actual violence, which played into the fascist narrative of a communist plot against democracy. 

Then as now, the police were caught in the middle. Amazingly nobody was ever killed.

Confrontations between left and right form the background to Blackshirt Masquerade, where MI5 persuades disgraced soldier Hugh Clifton to infiltrate the Blackshirts. Its sequel Blackshirt Conspiracy begins with the infamous ‘Battle of Cable Street’ of 1936, one of England’s most serious riots of the twentieth century. The plot also touches on the ‘Tithe Wars’, a low-level revolt that rumbled through the countryside between the world wars.

Events have shifted from the historic timeline by the start of Blackshirt Rebellion, but its plot reflects the true complexity of the British far right in the 1930s, with its vicious personal and dogmatic rivalries.  Politics is messy, and when it comes to the streets it quickly turns violent. It happened here.

Blackshirt Masquerade and Blackshirt Conspiracy are available from Amazon worldwide and your usual supplier. Blackshirt Rebellion will shortly be on pre-order. The next Newsletter is also due!