The Battle of Cable Street Commemoration,  by Clive Bettington, Chairman of JEECS

On Wednesday October 4 JEECS commemorated the 70th anniversary of one of the most notorious invasions in British history – an invasion not by a foreign enemy but by an English aristocrat, Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists. He invaded the East End of London on October 4 1936 with principal intention of terrorising the area’s large Jewish community.

The people of the East End, Jews and non-Jews alike, united to resist. That day produced one of the great sagas of the East End – and gave birth to a collection of myths. JEECS considered it very important that it should be commemorated.

In the afternoon I led a walk on the route of the battle, attracting 68 people. Pavements in that part of the East End are very narrow, and we looked a little like an invading force ourselves. We left Tower Hill tube station at 4.30 pm, 70 years almost to the minute after Mosley began his march from Tower Hill along Royal Mint Street. The highlight was the visit to the mural of the battle on the side of St.George’s Hall in Cable Street, painted by the late Ray Walker.

In the evening we had a seminar in Toynbee Hall, which attracted about 180 people. The building was highly appropriate: it was a first aid station during the battle, it has a very Jewish resonance, and it is within spitting distance of Gardiners corner where most of the action took place.

The speakers were Sir Nicholas Mosley, eldest son of Sir Oswald; Professor Bill Fishman the greatest living authority on the East End; Max Levitas, a message runner during the battle who went on to become a Communist councillor in Stepney; and Professor Tony Kushner of Southampton University, who gave the main address on “The Myths and Realities of Cable Street”. Nadia Valman of Southampton University chaired the meeting.

Sir Nicholas reaffirmed his opposition to his father’s policies, though some in the audience felt he did not go far enough in apologising for his father’s anti-semitism. He said he saw no point in apologising and reminded his audience that he had fought against Hitler in the second world war, had been wounded in Italy and had been awarded the Military Cross, all while using the surname of Mosley. On the whole he was politely received by the audience.

Prof Fishman reminisced in his inimitable way about the battle, which he had witnessed when he was 14 years old.

Max Levitas, in tub-thumping style, emphasised the role the Communist party had played in the battle. A small group of women walked out when he mentioned this and one woman castigated him at the end of the evening.

I think they were wrong to do this. The message from Cable Street is that people have the right to express their views and others should acknowledge this right.

In his talk Prof Kushner referred to some of the myths – the real size of the crowds, the over emphasis on the role of the Communist party, and so on. The important thing, he stressed, was to look at the main message of the battle: that fascism and indeed all totalitarian creeds should be resisted.

It is quite clear that Cable Street is still a very emotive topic, and that some of the myths will remain unchallenged for some time. I think that once all the veterans have passed away the whole battle will be reappraised. In 2011 JEECS wants to devote the entire year to the political history of the Jewish East End. That year will mark the 100th anniversary of the Siege of Sidney Street and the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street. During the year we will study anarchism, socialism, communism, orthodoxy, Zionism etc and how all these played a part in the development of the Jewish East End.

Our event attracted a great deal of media attention and articles appeared in Time Out magazine, the Daily Mirror, the Observer, the Daily Express, the Sunday Telegraph and the East London Advertiser. There were items on Radio 4, Channel 4 News and ITV’s London Tonight programme.

We welcome your comments on all these issues. You can e-mail us at editor@jeecs.org.uk or write to us at JEECS, P.O. Box 57317, London E1 3WG.