Police on the rampage coming. On our way to Armthorpe, we passed by several police cars parked along the sides of the road, ready to stop passersby, to report suspicious move- Guy Bennet is still just as angry when he talks about what happened on "Bloody ments of "flying pickets," and to attack Wednesday" a few weeks ago, about how the police besieged the whole town of miners. Suddenly we pulled alongside Armthorpe near Doncaster in South Yorkshire and hunted down everyone who two heavy police cars and an armored bus on their way to pick up strikebreak- Guy speaks with suppressed anger but his fear of being killed or beaten up has ers.
"There's only one strikebreaker left He was on picket duty. The police did not get him. But many of his mates and here," said one of the pickets. "His fellow workers were beaten bloody. Several of them were hospitalized name is Dave Johnson, and he is not from If Guy had been caught, he would have gone straight to jail. He had already this town. There were a number of them, been arrested twice for doing picket duty. The first time he was released on bail. but the rewards of strikebreaking were The second time, he was already a "repeated offender." not what they expected. And so they There is always some article such as "molestation" or "threatening a policeman" cleared out and took their shame with them." Hundreds of people collecting money for food for the striking miners have been
Yesterday, there were scuffles when arrested in the country's streets and squares. the pickets tried to stop the gangs of public order" or violating the 1824 law against vagrancy. strikebreakers. That is what happened on "Bloody Wednesday." And after that the government
"It's just a quarter to six," someone said in our "discussion club." "Yester- The pickets gathered as usual in the early morning. The police also lined up day, they came at 8:00 a.m." The pickets were unusually numerous, and perhaps that is
So, we had passed the police when What gave the police second thoughts. In any case, they cleared out they were bringing strikebreakers in. So, the strikers saw an opening to really stop the hated scabs. With the help of
A minute later the police con- a crane, they blocked the entrance to the mine with a big block of concrete. Trac voy swung in in front of us, a good hour tors and bulldozers also came in handy. Barricades rose all around the entrance. earlier than the day before. A small slip Some of them were set on fire and smoke rose into the sky. at the wheel would have taken it right Then heavily equipped riot police moved in. There must have been several
They launched a pogrom. Doors were smashed in, windows
"Illegal driving," someone said. *But broken. Every male who looked like a miner and did not jump when the police that's that. The police are here to protect them. Hundreds of police streamed in, all Guy Bennet was one of those who managed to get away and hid in the wood. to protect one strikebreaker. But the police also started a manhunt there. Police in full battle gear with raging or later, we'll see that he gets a lesson." dogs were everywhere. It was only by a miracle that Guy managed to get away.
Today, they did not try to stop the The siege lasted for two and a half hours. For two and a half hours many dozens strikebreaking. of ordinary working-class families were exposed to pogromist terror. Many homes presence, their readiness and their soli- — despite its drab exterior, the town was kept in spick-and-span order — were turn-
So, the mood became almost cheerful. What was the purpose of all this? To show who was master? To try to intimThe first task of the morning was finish- idate the miners and their town into submission? To take a senseless revenge on ed, and a lot of us went down to the the miners and factory workers who dared oppose the authorities? Armthorpe Welfare Club to get a cup of Naturally, the action had the opposite result, if it was intended to intimidate. coffee and a piece of bread. As soon as the people got over the shock and wiped the blood off, they relit the
This is where the meetings are held bonfires and went back with renewed energy to what they were doing a few hours This is where the young people gather. This is where the miners' union has its Guy has a lot to tell, everything he himself experienced. It has made a deep meager stocks of food. The shelves impression on him. He is now organizing a rally to protest these events. And he looked a bit bare. Maybe more provisions can put the police's actions in perspective since he has visited the North of Ireland would come by midweek.
This is also where posters are put up, as well as clippings, where people play pool and where the miners eat their daily International Viewpoint October 15, 1984 looked like a miner.
that the cops can use against the strikers.
calls the miners thugs and agitators.
facing them as usual.
thousand of them.
said to was clobbered.
ed into an unrecognizable mess lation in the Catholic ghetto.
They are charged with "disturbing the