On this day, 13 August 1977, anti-fascist South Londoners battled with police and National Front (NF) members in what would come to be known as the Battle of Lewisham.
The fascist NF had hugely grown in strength and numbers during the 70s, and was winning tens of thousands of votes in London. They were also carrying out frequent racist attacks, and firebombings and physical assaults on left-wing groups.
In a clear provocation, the NF planned to march through the multi-racial, working-class area of Lewisham. However, around 10,000 local residents decided to try to confront the NF directly at their assembly point. 4000 police, using riot shields for the first time in mainland Britain, were deployed to try to protect the NF and facilitate their march.
Despite the police guard, anti-fascists, including many Black, white and Asian youths, began pelting the fascists with bricks and bottles, injuring many. Police indiscriminately attacked anti-fascists, but residents used their superior knowledge of local geography to outsmart the police and launch surprise attacks. At one point, anti-fascists managed to breach police lines, break the fascist march in half and engage in hand-to-hand combat with the NF.
Many of the fascists were forced to flee. One eyewitness, Suzy Harding, recounted: "There was a bit of fighting but most of the [fascists] were so terrified that they just ran away."
While the NF complained that the police did not protect them well enough, the Daily Mail attacked anti-fascists as "red storm-troopers". The right-wing Daily Telegraph decried the idea that "native-born Englishmen [were] denied the right to march through a part of their city merely because it is settled by immigrants", and suggested that socialist and communist protests be banned.
The abject defeat of the NF helped create a groundswell of enthusiasm for militant, direct action against fascism, and significantly boosted the anti-fascist movement.
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Photos: Peter Marlow/Magnum
