Morris Beckman - The 43 Group

bristol | protests | event notice Thursday January 28, 2010 00:41 by Randell Brantley - Bristol Radical History Group brh at brh dot org dot uk

The story of the post-war fight against fascism in Bristain.

After World War II a group of demobbed British Jewish servicemen were shocked to find that Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists was operating openly in the streets of Britain. They formed the 43 Group and beat fascism from the streets of Britain. Morris Beckman, author and himself a founder member of the 43 Group, tells his thrilling story.

The 43 Group by Morris Beckman

After World War II a group of demobbed British Jewish servicemen were shocked to find that Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists was operating openly in the streets of Britain. They began to wonder what they had been fighting for and also wondered what they could do to halt the increase in anti-Semitic attacks.

After World War II a group of demobbed British Jewish servicemen were shocked to find that Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists was operating openly in the streets of Britain. They began to wonder what they had been fighting for and also wondered what they could do to halt the increase in anti-Semitic attacks.

In 1946 a group of ex-servicemen and women met in a room to discuss what course of action should be taken, there were 43 at that this first meeting and so they became known as the 43 Group. In a short time they had recruited about 1000 street fighters ready to beat fascism from the streets of Britain.

Morris Beckman, now 89, is the author of The 43 Group a thrilling account of the post-war fight against fascism in Britain. Beckman served in the Navy during World War II and was torpedoed twice during the Battle of the Atlantic. He went on to serve onboard ships in Bay of Bengal, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. In 1946 Beckman was a founder member of the 43 Group: “The authorities were doing nothing; we were seeing newsreels of Auschwitz. We decided that as trained troops we would ‘out-fascist the fascists’”.

At The Cube Microplex, Dove Street South just off King Square, BS2 8NQ, 7:30pm on Monday 1st March 2010.