workingclasshistory:

On this day, 28 June 1936, Oswald Moseley and his British Union of Fascists were attacked following a meeting in Hulme Town Hall. The meeting passed off quietly, but as the fascists tried to leave the hall (pictured) the crowd of 2,000-3,000 anti-fascists outside rushed to attack Mosley’s car. Police and Blackshirt stewards managed to clear his way but hand-to-hand fighting between fascists and anti-fascists broke out, and a senior police officer was struck in the face by a flying glass. Attempts were also made by the crowd to overturn fascist vans and set them on fire. Mosley and his crew then went to the new fascist Club in nearby Tomlinson Street, which was then surrounded by another angry crowd. A fascist flag was torn down from the building and windows were stoned. Mosley’s car was also stoned as he left and the crowd made an unsuccessful attempt to stop it. All the windows of the club were later smashed. Besieged fascists in the Town Hall and Fascist Club were later forced to change in plain clothes in order to escape unnoticed. Disturbances in the area continued between fascist and anti-fascists throughout the night and it took till the early hours of the next day before police restored order. Manchester Council would respond to what they feared as a potential street war by proscribing political uniforms. More info in this history of the battle: https://libcom.org/history/hulme-against-fascism-1936 https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1155989987919483/?type=3