Anti-fascist demonstrators drove the British Union of Fascists from Tonypandy in 1936, ending BUF attempts to organise in Wales.
Key Facts
- Date
- 11 June 1936
- Anti-fascist demonstrators
- 5,000–6,000
- Rally duration before abandonment
- 30 minutes
- Demonstrators charged
- 37 on 187 counts
- Prison sentences
- Six months (several individuals)
- Later joined International Brigades
- 4 of those imprisoned
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Tommy Moran, propaganda officer for the British Union of Fascists, sought to hold a rally in Tonypandy, a strongly left-wing mining community in the South Wales Valleys. Local miners, socialists, communists, and trade unionists mobilised in large numbers to oppose any fascist presence in the region.
On 11 June 1936, between 5,000 and 6,000 anti-fascist demonstrators gathered at De Winton Field, subjecting Moran and his small Blackshirt group to sustained heckling, stone-throwing, and overwhelming opposition. After just thirty minutes, the fascists abandoned their rally, marking the BUF's last organised attempt to establish a foothold in Wales.
Thirty-seven anti-fascist demonstrators were charged on 187 counts of riot-related offences, with several receiving six-month prison sentences. Four of those jailed subsequently volunteered for the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War; among them was miner Harry Dobson of Blaenclydach, who was killed at the Battle of the Ebro in 1938.
Political Outcome
Anti-fascist demonstrators forced the BUF to abandon its rally after thirty minutes, ending the organisation's attempts to organise in Wales.
BUF attempting to expand into South Wales mining communities
BUF permanently excluded from Wales; local anti-fascist movement emboldened