Sidney Hart
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Sidney Hart (September 11, 1914 - February 26, 2005), universally known as Sid Hart or, in later life, Uncle Sid, was a British trade unionist and religious administrator.
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[edit] Early life
He was born in the East End of London; on his mother's side, he came from a Sephardi Jewish family that had lived in London for several generations. He was educated at Jews Free School. Leaving school at 14, he was apprenticed to a printer. He joined the Jewish Lads' Brigade, becoming a warrant officer. He helped his boxing team to victory in the Prince of Wales Shield in 1935, and was presented with his winning medal by the Prince (soon to be Edward VIII). He briefly turned professional with limited success. He was also adept at many other sports. He particularly enjoyed cricket, and later became a qualified umpire.
On 5 October 1936 he took part in the Battle of Cable Street.
[edit] World War 2 and fire service
During World War 2, he served as a fireman in London during the Blitz, and was then posted to Cardiff and North Wales. In 1940 he married Edith Bernstein, also from the East End of London, whom he had already known for several years; they settled in Colwyn Bay. They had one daughter; Edith died in 1972.
He remained in the fire service after the war, and was a leading member of the Fire Brigades Union. He was Chairman of the Wales and Midlands District from 1945 until 1957. He was never afraid to stand up to the Stalinists who held power in the early 1950s. In 1953, he proposed a motion condemning Stalin's antisemitic purges, and rebuffed pressure to withdraw it. He did withdraw it due to Stalin's death, but publicised the pressure on him.
He moved from Wales to Westcliff-on-Sea in 1958. He served in several stations in southern Essex, and was promoted, becoming the most senior Jewish fireman in Britain. However, he refused to transfer to a union for senior fire officers. He retired from the fire service in 1969.
[edit] Customs and Excise
He then worked for Customs and Excise in London and Southend-on-Sea. In 1970 he became a member of the national executive of the Civil and Public Services Association (CPSA) representing Customs and Excise, a post he held until his retirement in 1979. He was a staunch opponent of the Militant Tendency and other Trotskyist movements and is credited with preventing a take-over of the CPSA by them.
[edit] Jewish community work
His first communal post was secretary of the Colwyn Bay Synagogue.
He was for many years active in the Jewish community in Southend-on-Sea. He was youth leader of their youth club (which he claimed was the largest strictly Jewish youth club in Great Britain) from 1960 to 1975. He held a very wide variety of other posts, from chairman of the board of education to Registrar of Synagogue Marriages, and finally became Honorary Life Vice-President.
