When I studied history at school, the Battle of Holbeck Moor didn’t feature on the curriculum, unlike other very famous battles like Waterloo, the Somme and El Alamein.
But what happened on the Moor that day was a very significant event in the history of South Leeds. So, what was it all about?
In the 1930s Oswald Mosley was the leader of the British Union of Fascists. An admirer of Adolf Hitler, who was guest of honour at his second wedding, he was openly antisemitic.
In 1936, Mosley decided that he would come to Leeds to try and stir things up and gain support. His plan was to march from the Leylands – an area near Sheepscar where many Jews who had come to Leeds to escape the pogroms of Eastern Europe had settled. Fearing violence, the Leeds City Watch Committee banned this. However, on the night before the march, swastikas were daubed on Jewish houses and Jewish people were attacked on the streets.
The following day, the fascists – about 1,000 strong – marched through the city to Holbeck Moor to hold a rally. There they were met by some 30,000 anti-fascist demonstrators. Mosley had thought he would find fertile ground for his brand of politics in working class Holbeck, but the Labour, trade union and Communist movements from all over Leeds had other ideas.
So occurred – on 27 September 1936 – the Battle of Holbeck Moor. Shielded by the police, Mosley tried to address his supporters using a megaphone. He was drowned out by boos, cries of protest and the singing of the Ref Flag. Before long things turned violent as stones were thrown and fights broke out. Mosley and his Blackshirts were forced to flee and the battle was over. The police only arrested three people out of the very large crowd and the sentences that were handed down were very light.
The Leeds Mercury newspaper reported the event as follows:
Front page of the Leeds Mercury 28 September 1936
Oswald Mosley Hit on the Head with a Stone
There were violent scenes at a Fascist demonstration addressed by Sir Oswald Mosley on Holbeck Moor, Leeds, yesterday afternoon.
Fourteen people were injured and had treatment at Leeds Infirmary and the Dispensary, and one of the injured was detained in the Infirmary suffering from serious abdominal injuries.
Scores of people, chiefly Fascists, sustained minor injuries, most of them caused, it is stated, by stones with which the Fascists were freely pelted both during the meeting and at the beginning of their return march to the city. Sir Oswald Mosley was among those struck by stones.
About a fortnight later, the much better-known Battle of Cable Street took place in East London where Mosley was once again prevented by a huge crowd from marching. A large mural depicting what happened was painted on the side of St George’s Town Hall, and a red plaque in Dock Street also commemorates the events of that day (now to be joined by a blue plaque in Holbeck).
Because of the increasing violence, the Public Order Act was passed. It banned political uniforms and this had a big impact on the British Union of Fascists whose supporters were known as Blackshirts after the uniforms they wore.
Mosley never really recovered from all this. Following the outbreak of World War Two he was imprisoned, and his party was outlawed. Although he was freed three years later in 1943, Mosley ceased to be a political force.
Last Sunday, I was part of a large crowd that gathered on Holbeck Moor to mark the 88th anniversary of that day and to unveil a Leeds Civic Trust blue plaque, which will be affixed to the side of St Matthews Church that overlooks the Moor. We heard all about what happened, and what was so special about the occasion was that it was attended by some of the descendants of those who were there on the day. Inside St Matthews there was a display about those forebears and their lives and why they were so determined to be there and cry “They shall not pass.”
The importance of remembering our history, of course, is that it is by learning where we have come from that we can move forward. Or to put it another way, those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it. In the recent violence in August, people were attacked simply because of who they are.
And that is why we should remember what happened on that September day 88 years ago on Holbeck Moor.
Main photo (L-R): Hilary Benn MP, Richard Burgon MP and Fabian Hamilton MP unveil the blue plaque. Credit: Dave Goodfield
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