Birmingham Boys

Birmingham boys
Founding location Birmingham, United Kingdom
Years active 1910s-1930
Territory Northern England and some neighborhoods in London
Ethnicity British
Criminal activities Bookmaking, assault, extortion, fraud, murder, fencing, hooliganism, bribery, smuggling, hijacking and robbery
Allies Elephant and Castle Mob and Hoxton Gang
Rivals Sabini gang

The Birmingham Boys aka Brummagem Boys were a street gang whose power extended from the North of England to London's underworld, 1910s -1930. They lost control of the South East racecourses to the Sabini gang.[1][2][3]

History

Origin

Following the Gaming Act 1845, the only gambling allowed in England was at race tracks. The introduction of special excursion trains meant that all classes of society could attend the new racecourses opening across the country. Cash concentrated towards the bookmakers, who employed bodyguards against protection gangs operating within the vast crowds.[4]

"Bookmaker" Billy Kimber (born 1882)[5] Summer Lane, Aston in Birmingham was head of the Birmingham Boys.[6] With gangs in Uttoxeter and Leeds he controlled racecourses in the Midlands and the North. For several years Kimber was probably the biggest organised crime boss in the UK. He set up a secondary base in Islington, North London to concentrate on the racetracks in the South of England, teaming up with London gang boss Charles 'Wag' McDonald.[4][7] Kimber died in Torquay, 1945.

Kimber formed alliances with smaller organisations such as the Hoxton Gang[4] and the Elephant and Castle Mob. Now at racecourses in the south East, one group the Brummies began to prey on were the Jewish bookies from London's East End, who turned to local underworld boss Edward Emmanuel, who in turn recruited the Italian Sabini Gang as protection.[6]

In March 1921, the Brummagems ambushed Sabini at Greenford Trotting Park. A few days later, Kimber was found shot and beaten in Kings Cross, London,[5] having gone to visit Sabini. The violence escalated, but Sabini gained the upper hand when 23 Birmingham boys were locked up following the "Epsom Road Battle".[6][8]

Epsom Road Battle

Kimber's gang believed that a group of Leeds bookmakers travelling in a Crossley tender at Ewell, near Epsom, on Coronation Cup day were in fact the Sabini Gang. The tender was rammed by a taxi, and 60 men set upon the occupants with hatchets, hammers, and bricks. The attack was led by a man with a revolver, and initial reports suggested it was a Sinn Féin riot.[9] The gang had used taxis and a blue motor coach to both follow their victims and escape. The police located the coach at the Kingston Hill Hotel and were able to muster 50 officers.

References

  1. ↑ "UK Chaps". Gangland.net. 2002. Retrieved 2006-12-06.
  2. ↑ Barley, Nick (2001). "The Times - London A-Z Series No.1 (A Sample....) "G for Gangland London"". The Times. Retrieved 2006-12-06.
  3. ↑ Shore, Heather (2001). "Undiscovered Country’: Towards A History Of The Criminal ‘Underworld’" (.DOC). School of Cultural Studies: Leeds Metropolitan University. Retrieved 2006-12-06.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Dick Kirby (July 2002). "The Race Track Gangs". The Peeler (Friends of the Met Police Museum) (7).
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Times, News in Brief, 29 March 1921
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Carl Chinn, ‘Sabini, (Charles) Darby (1889–1950)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
  7. ↑ Billy Kimber was actually born in 1882 at Summer Lane, Birmingham. Gangs of London by Brian McDonald has an accurate biography.
  8. ↑ "Epsom Road Battle. 28 Men On Trial". The Times. 20 July 1921.
  9. ↑ "Epsom Races Affray. Alleged Attempt To Bribe A Witness". The Times. 17 June 1921.

Further reading