SHARP CONFLICT

Southland Times, Issue 22345, 9 June 1934, Page 5

SHARP CONFLICT

CLASH IN LONDON COMMUNISTS AND FASCISTS A LIVELY MEETING (United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright.) (Rec. 7.45 p.m.) London, June 8. London has seen nothing for years comparable to violent disturbances, resuiting in the arrest of one woman and eleven men, marking a conflict between Fascists and Communists when Sir Oswald Mosley addressed a crowd at a demonstration of the British Union of Fascists at Olympia. The struggle necessitated the presence of 200 loot police and squads of mounted men with drawn staves. On the arrival of a procession 100 Communists carrying a red banner tried to smash the Fascist ranks outside, resulting in a skirmish, and although it was quelled it broke out elsewhere while a stormy meeting proceeded inside, where people in every walk of life, including some in evening dress, had congregated. Sir Oswald Mosley, wearing a black shirt, was frequently interrupted by yells and cat-calls which led to hand-to-hand fights and the ejection of the combatants, during which chairs were smashed. One heckler was stripped naked and hurled into the street where razor blades flashed. Arms were cut, coats slit and stink bombs thrown. The last half-hour of the meeting was comparatively quiet, enabling Sir Oswald Mosley to inveigh against Moscow hirelings. The Fascists departed on foot and marched in groups under police escort.