Battle of Holbeck Moor (1936)

Sun Sep 27, 1936

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Image: A contemporary front page story on the Battle of Holbeck Moor, headlined “Sir Oswald Mosley Hit on the Head with a Stone”. September 28th, 1936 [secretlibraryleeds.net]

On this day in 1936, the Battle of Holbeck Moor took place in Leeds, England when anti-fascist demonstrators disrupted a rally held by the British Union of Fascists (BUF), led by Oswald Mosley.

The 1,000 fascist demonstrators were greeted by approximately 30,000 locals in a protest organized by the Communist Party. Due to political differences with the Communist Party, the Labour Party did not attend.

When Mosley attempted to give a speech from atop a van, the protesters surrounded the van and sang “The Red Flag” in order to drown out Mosley’s speech. Many threw stones at the Fascists, with at least one hitting Mosley in the temple. Outnumbered and facing violence, the BUF members dispersed.

The Battle of Holbeck Moor happened just a week prior to the more well-known Battle of Cable Street, in which a BUF rally led by Oswald Mosley was again forcibly dispersed by anti-fascist demonstrators.