Jack Comer

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Jack "Spot" Comer (April 12, 1912 – March 12, 1996) was a notorious Jewish gangster during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. To assimilate more into British society, the Comacho family changed their name from Comacho to Colmore to Comer, but they still faced considerable anti-semitism.

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[edit] Early life

Born as Jacob Comacho, Jack Comer was the youngest of four children. His father was a poorly paid Jewish tailor's machinist who had moved to London with his wife from Łódź, Poland in 1903.

Jack Comer grew up in a true ghetto street with the Jews down one side of Myrtle Street and the Irish down the other. At age of seven Jack had joined his first gang, which was made up of boys from the Jewish side of Myrtle Street who fought their anti-semitic Catholic rivals from the other end of the street. "Spot" soon started being called "spotty" because he had a big black mole on his left cheek. At the age of just eight Spot started to develop broad shoulders and strong arms and was renowned as a snappy puncher who could take a lot of heavy punishment as well. At the same age Spot was elevated to leader of his street gang even though there were many other older kids who resented this but Spot stood up to them all.

[edit] Criminal career

Together with Morris Goldstein (Moisha Blueball), Bernard Schack (Sonny the Yank) and the rest of his mob he would give his all in battle and would challenge the biggest and strongest of boys, despite usually being outnumbered.[citation needed]

Spot started out as a bookie's runner, before becoming involved in a protection racket in Petticoat Lane. He fell out with his partner in this, fought him, and took direct control of the protection racket. He was also acting as a lookout to a successful housebreaker. After being arrested, in the wake of which he somehow managed to evade imprisonment despite asking for 40 offences to be taken into consideration, Comer returned to bookmaking.[citation needed]

[edit] Rise to power & the Interwar years

"Spot" Comer was seen as somewhat a hero after his involvement in the Cable Street riots. He and his Jewish pals heard that the Fascist leader Oswald Mosley was planning a march through the streets of the East End on Sunday 4 October 1936, creating a great deal of anger and resentment throughout the Jewish community.

On that Sunday morning Communists, socialists and local tearaways like Comer stood well prepared and armed as Mosley and his neatly dressed Blackshirts began assembling near Tower Hill accompanied by the police, there to see the parade through and for Mosley and the Blackshirts protection. As the march went through thousands were ready for battle and to do everything to stop the march. Spot even issued orders to a mob he had got together to cause as much havoc as possible.[citation needed]

Spot waited until half of the 2,500 Blackshirts had passed and aimed to split the parade in two sections. After yelling "down with Fascism" he and his mob charged into the fascists with full power injuring as many Blackshirts and police as possible, single-handedly knocking out Mosley's leading minder, a Wrestler called Roughneck.[citation needed] After Roughneck went down, one of Spot's mobs from the other side of the street attacked the Blackshirts and soon many hundreds of ordinary Eastenders fought side by side, Jews and non-Jews alike. "Spot" found himself alone and was surrounded by police with truncheons. He put up a good fight, but was badly beaten and sent to hospital, then prison. He went on to say 'This was more than a mob fight. It was a victory over the Nazis. I don't want to swank, but that night I was the hero of the East End.'

It was not long before he re-established the protection rackets, principally offering protection against the fascist Blackshirts.[citation needed]

[edit] Decline and later years

Spot's control of the East End rackets waned in 1952 when Comer's former partner, gangster Billy Hill, was released from prison after a failed £1.25 million heist on Heathrow Airport. Off-course bookmaking was also about to become legalized at this time, creating another dent in Spot's income.

On 11 August 1955, a knife fight occurred between Spot and Albert Dimes in Soho. The case ended up in court although neither was jailed. After this, Spot progressively lost control of his crime empire. In 1956, Spot and his then wife Rita were attacked - by "Mad" Frankie Fraser, Bobby Warren and at least half a dozen others. Both Fraser and Warren were given seven years in prison.

In the winter of 1996, Jack Spot died in reduced circumstances of "cerebrovascular accident and immobility", aged 83, at Nazareth House, Isleworth on 12 March 1995. Some of his ashes were scattered in Israel.

[edit] Official biography

Man of a Thousand Cuts is the only official biography of Jack Spot. Written by iconic pulp-fiction novelist Hank Janson and published in 1958, the book is a dramatic retelling of Jack Spot’s extraordinary career in organized crime between the 1930s and 1950s. The book was commissioned following the 1955 publication of Boss of Britain’s Underworld, an autobiography of Spot’s chief rival Billy Hill. Through the book, Spot hoped to craft a legacy by capitalizing on the public’s fascination with major gangland personalities.

Man of a Thousand Cuts was first published by Alexander Moring, Ltd.. The book rights are now owned by Telos Publishing. The film option rights are owned by Kingsway Films Ltd. and a feature film based on the life of Jack Spot is currently in pre-production.


[edit] Further reading

  • Morton, James. Gangland Bosses: The Lives of Jack Spot and Billy Hill. London, 2004.
  • Clarkson, Wensley. Hit 'Em Hard Jack Spot, King of the Underworld. HarperCollins Publishers ISBN 0-00-712441-4