As the festivities to mark the beginning of the most dreadful slaughter the world had so far seen get underway we would do well to remember how ex-servicemen in 1919 Luton greeted similar celebrations. As the Mayor of Luton and his worthies gathered for a "peace banquet" disgruntled ex-servicemen, many of them disabled and unemployed, gathered outside. Eventually the building was stormed and trashed before having a match put to it. The riot continued as the ex-squaddies sang "Keep the home fires burning" to the accompaniment of a piano looted from a nearby music shop.
That's the kind of thing we should be celebrating.
Excellent article on the Luton Peace Riots over on the Libcom site. (I believe the author crops up on this blog from time to time!)
3 comments:
I wonder if the BBC will be broadcasting a programme about this piece of history? (Sarcasm alert)
sod the squaddiz cos i used to live in colchester wiv me nan wen it was scool holz and them squaddiz were always fitin in town and causin truble. they even smashed nans nomes in her garden and kill the gowldfishez
sidsnott
After producing this piece on Mutinies, the author got heavily involved in supporting gay rights in the British Army, which was not popular at the time as many on the left were hesitant to support gays. Thereafter, he was involved in supporting full equality for gays, women and ethnic sailors in the US Navy.He also campaigned for prisoner's rights and is involved in the battle for voting rights for prisoners, and is looking forward to seeing the smirk disappear from Cameron's face when they get the vote. He has been banned from commenting in Lib Com because they said his support for George Zimmerman, his rejection of the narrative of Obama's race hustlers, defined him as a racist troll, and a 'newby' to anarchist thought. He is currently involved in battles over drug trials by the pharmaceutical companies on indigenous people in Africa. Its a lot of work to do on your own. The struggle continues.
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