43 Group

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The 43 Group was a British anti-fascist group set up by Jewish ex-servicemen after World War II. They did this when, upon returning to London, they encountered British fascist organisations such as the Jeffrey Hamm's "British League of Ex-Servicemen" and later Oswald Mosley's reformed British Union of Fascists, or BUF. The activities of these fascist groups included anti-semitic speeches in public places, inciting racial hatred, and from the rank-and-file fascists, violent attacks on London Jews and Jewish property.^[1] Group members broke up far-right meetings, infiltrated fascist groups, and attacked the fascists in street fighting.^[2]

1 Early history
2 Relationship with other organisations
3 Dissolution
4 See also
5 References
6 Bibliography
7 External links

[edit] Early history

The title "43 Group" came from the number of people in the room of Maccabi House during the group's founding meeting. The instigators of the foundation meeting were Morris Beckman (who had served on a Flower class corvette), Gerald Flamberg (156 batt. Parachute Regiment who won the Military Medal during Operation Market Garden),^[3] Leonard Sherman, martial arts expert (Welsh Guards), and a 17-year-old Vidal Sassoon,^[4] who then went on to fight in the Israeli Defence Forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and later founded an international hairdressing empire.^[5]

The group grew to include many hundreds of men and women, and not all Jewish. The initial membership was of around 300 people and included holders of bravery decorations, a VC, DSOs, DFCs, DSMs and MMs. The organisation was sometimes portrayed by its enemies as a front for either Jewish terrorists or communists, but this was not the case and it was mostly composed of British ex-servicemen.^[6] However, some funds were provided to 43 Group from Jewish criminals, such as Jack Como and Bud Flanagan, and the fascists also hired underworld thugs to defend their meetings, such as Maltese gangster Joseph Marguerat.^[7]

[edit] Relationship with other organisations

43 Group was viewed by established Jewish organisations, such as the Board of Deputies of British Jews, as competitors, and this Jewish establishment also worried that the group's activities could damage the community's reputation, especially in light of the terrorist acts and guerrilla warfare carried out by militant Zionist groups like the Irgun in British-occupied Palestine.^[8] However 43 Group never sought to replace the more traditional groups who preferred debate and discussion, but who had failed to stop the BUF, partly due to the non-cooperation of the then British Home Secretary.^[9] Rather, 43 Group sought to prevent the BUF mobilising and gathering support, remembering that the German Nazi party had gained prominence in a similar fashion as the Brownshirts on the streets of post-WWI Germany.

[edit] Dissolution

The 43 Group was voluntarily disbanded on 5 April 1950, as its members considered that the immediate threat had passed. Although Mosley's Fascist "Union Movement" remained active throughout the 1950s, it was not until 1962, when the unrelated 62 Group was formed in the 43 Group's image (but named after the year of founding of the latter incarnation, rather than initial membership), did these British fascists again encounter any significant privately-organised street-level resistance. The overall effect of this movement is unclear, with the group founder Morris Beckman arguing that 43 Group was crucial in stopping a resurgence of fascism in post-war Britain, while Nigel Copsey argues in Anti-Fascism in Britain that the fascists and anti-fascists might have only radicalised each other.^[1]