THE famed Battle of Cable Street in London on October 4 1936 saw up to 250,000 anti-fascists mobilise against Sir Oswald Mosley’s fascist Blackshirts.

But a week earlier, on September 27, the lesser-known Battle of Holbeck Moor took place in Leeds. Thirty thousand anti-fascists mobilised and drove 1,000 fascist Blackshirts and their supporters from the city.

Yesterday the mobilisation was commemorated and celebrated with the unveiling of a plaque at an event backed by more than 30 Leeds organisations including trade union branches.

Among those attending were descendants of anti-fascists who took part in the routing of the Blackshirts at Holbeck Moor. Holbeck Moor is an area of green land in south Leeds. 

In the 1930s south Leeds and much of the rest of the city was heavily industrialised. Factories in Holbeck and Hunslet produced steam engines used on rail networks around the world.

The city was seen as the world centre of the tailoring industry. West Yorkshire cities and towns, including Leeds, dominated Britain’s woollen textile industry.

The city also had a significant Jewish population — the third-largest in Britain after London and Manchester.

In 1936 Sir Oswald Mosley decided to target Leeds for a march and rally, hoping it would prove to be fertile ground for his message of anti-semitic hatred.

He chose Sunday September 27 to lead a Blackshirt march from Calverley Street in the city centre to Holbeck Moor for a rally.

Initially he planned to route the march through a part of the city where many of the Jewish population lived.

The city’s watch committee, which oversaw policing in Leeds, refused Mosley permission to follow that route. But the committee did allow him to stage the march and rally.

Mosley gathered 1,000 Blackshirts in the city centre. But Communist Party members and socialists in Leeds had been active in the days before September 27. Flyers had been distributed to workers in the engineering, textile and tailoring factories and on working-class housing estates, calling for a mobilisation against Mosley and his fascists.

When the fascist march reached Holbeck Moor, Mosley and his Blackshirts found 30,000 anti-fascists waiting for them. Many of the anti-fascists had filled their pockets with stones to throw.

Mosley climbed onto the roof of a van to address his supporters. His words were drowned out by the noise of protest from the anti-fascists. Fighting broke out.

Mosley was twice hit by hurled missiles, once on the head. The wound was still visible when he attempted to march at Cable Street in London a week later.

The Blackshirts were driven from the moor. Mounted police were present but could do little to control what was happening and only three arrests were later reported.

Local daily paper, the Leeds Mercury, reported the next day: “There were violent scenes at a fascist demonstration addressed by Sir Oswald Mosley on Holbeck Moor, Leeds, yesterday afternoon.

“Fourteen people were injured and treated at Leeds Infirmary and Dispensary and one of the injured was detained at the infirmary suffering from serious abdominal injuries.

“Scores of people, mainly fascists, suffered 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.”

The Mercury published a list of names and addresses of the injured who received medical treatment and they reveal a similarity with fascist marches and rallies in Britain today. The participants were brought in from distant towns and cities such as Newcastle, Liverpool, Blackburn, Scunthorpe, Lincoln and Lancaster. Few were from Leeds.

Sunday’s commemorative event was an initiative started and sponsored by Leeds Stand Up to Racism and in particular by activist and organiser Sam Kirk.

It was supported by 30 local organisations including Leeds Civic Trust — founder of the commemorative Blue Plaque scheme — Leeds City Council, Leeds Trade Union Council and several trade union branches.

Three Leeds Labour MPs attended — Hilary Benn, who addressed the gathering, Fabian Hamilton, who unveiled the plaque, and Richard Burgon, secretary of the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs.

And there were descendants of some of the anti-fascists who took part in the confrontation which 88 years later remains Leeds’s biggest-ever anti-fascist mobilisation.

Among them was Jeremy Wallis, son of Sylvia Wallis and grandson of Sid Elias, who was an organiser with the Communist Party and the National Unemployed Workers Movement in Leeds in the 1930s.

Wallis said: “As a 13-year-old my mum Sylvia was a witness to the Battle of Holbeck Moor. She hid under parked vehicles as mounted police charged around, an experience that left her with a lifelong fear of horses. 

“I am pleased the events of the 1930s are not being forgotten. Ironically, though almost 100 years ago, the horrific nature of recent events show how relevant the actions of communities and people to resist hate and division still are.”

Mick Fitzpatrick’s grandfather, also called Mick, was a coalminer and walked seven miles from the town of Batley to Holbeck Moor.

“Our history is often hidden from us and when it is we sometimes need to reclaim it,” he said. “This is definitely a case in point as to how I found out about my grandfather’s involvement as a trade union militant and anti-fascist activist.

“My grandad organised a group of miners from Gomersall, Birstall and Howley Park pits.

“My dad had been sacked from Howley park I think due to association with my grandad and I think worked at Shaw Cross by then. My dad couldn’t go as he was the only breadwinner in the family and couldn’t afford to miss a shift.

“The miners’ group grew in numbers walking through Hunslet where many engineering plants still operated. Mosley was famously himself sporting an injury visible the following week at Cable Street in London.

“I’m told that all the participants claimed it was their missile which hit him.”

Janice Heppensall’s mother Muriel Lucas was at the battle. She was in her eighties before she told her daughter about the event.  

“Standing at the back of the crowd, she was a young witness to the event rather than an active participant, so for her its importance was the impact it had on her developing understanding of the reality of fascism — an understanding that would of course be deepened over the following nine years,” said Heppensall.

“For the rest of her life she remembered the hate written all over the faces of the young Blackshirts. However Mosley, she said, had not reckoned on the men of Leeds. A huge crowd had gathered on Holbeck Moor and was waiting, armed with stones which they threw, injuring some of the marchers and Mosley too. 

“She would for ever remain proud that Leeds had turned back Mosley.” 

Leeds Civic Trust director Martin Hamilton said: “Most of our plaques commemorate individuals or buildings, but this one is different. It tells the story of how the people of Leeds rose up to oppose the rise of fascism in the United Kingdom.

“This event made national news at the time and was an important statement of defiance as World War II approached. It is a story that deserves to be better-known and I am delighted that we are able to support this blue plaque.”

Sam Kirk of Leeds Stand Up to Racism said: “We’re delighted to be sponsoring this plaque to commemorate Leeds’s biggest anti-fascist event.

“It was one of many rallies, most of which aren’t yet recognised. One week before The Battle of Cable Street, it set an example.

“Mosley was stopped from whipping up racism in Leeds by the sheer numbers of people opposing him. He was sent a clear message that he was not welcome.”

She said the message from 1936 resonated today.

“When the far right try to divide us and turn people against those seeking asylum or who are of particular religions they should be given the same message today.

“Recently, we have seen the far right attacking hotels where those seeking asylum are staying. But like Holbeck we have also seen people turning out against them sending a strong message that they are not welcome.

“We must continue to campaign against those like Tommy Robinson that want to encourage division. Thousands will repeat these huge rallies in London on October 26 this year.”

Labour Councillor for Beeston and Holbeck Andrew Scopes said: “I’m delighted that the Battle of Holbeck Moor is being recognised as a significant moment in the history of our area.

“It feels like a really relevant moment for this blue plaque to be unveiled and to celebrate how Leeds united against fascism.”

The Leeds plaque carries the words: “They Shall Not Pass,” slogan of British International Brigaders who fought Franco’s fascists in Spain.

Kirk said: “They Shall Not Pass is not only for the plaques commemorating anti-fascist mobilisations in the ’30s but must be our guide now.”