Political unrest spreads
The mutiny in Newcastle by the Territorial Force of the Northumberland Fusiliers that began when John Telford was freed from his arrest, turned out to be a significant event. Across the North East of England, members of the Territorial Force began to refuse to take part in any duties that might involve them in supporting the police at strikes or other civil disturbances. Attempts by the Army command to deal with these by courts martial of ringleaders almost always failed. Despite all the Army could do, it became commonplace for the men of a Territorial unit to debate orders given to them before deciding whether to obey. The regular army was at full stretch and every home regiment had been mobilised. The issuing of Detention Orders under the Emergency Powers act, that began in August 1912 only made the situation even more fragile.
With no spare capacity left, in either Police or the Army, the Government took desperate measures and began to plan for the recall of regiments serving abroad. In October 1912 one was ordered home from Gibraltar and a second from Malta. These were to be supported if needed by regiments currently stationed in India. It was hoped however that the addition of almost 2000 experienced troops who had not been 'exposed' to the current dissent would be enough.
Meanwhile the disputes in the North East were taking on a different character. At a flour mill and bakery in Gateshead in November 1912, workers, frustrated with their vindictive boss and poor pay, kicked out the manager and declared a workers commune. This was not a spur of the moment action. They had already arranged contracts to sell the flour and bread before the mill was even taken over. They also made deals with local farmers and supplies continued as normal. It operated for ten days under the slogan: “We make bread not profits.” Their action won the workers a pay rise, shorter hours and the removal of the unpopular manager.
Inspired by this example, unemployed workers seized and reopened a closed sawmill near Morpeth in Northumberland and workers also took over and ran the local gasworks. In Chopwell, after a strike lead to a lockout, miners stormed the pit head. took over the mine and continued to work it, selling the coal directly to local people and arranging with local hauliers for distribution to the surrounding area. In perhaps the strangest takeover of all, staff and inmates at a mental hospital in Durham barricaded themselves inside for almost two weeks before winning a payrise. There were probably dozens of such occupations, some only lasting days, some up to six weeks.
In most cases these were as much a tactic as an end in themselves and once concessions had been secured they usually ended without problems. Even so, they were unpopular with Trades Union leaders who did all they could to undermine the workers taking part, in some cases to the extent of colluding with factory owners and lying to their members about planned actions. It was clear that they saw the occupations, not as a chance to extend the influence of workers, but as a challenge to their own authority.
In a few locations it became clear that the workers had no intention of giving up despite the blandishments of Trade Union leaders or the offer of concessions. In these cases, the police were given orders to remove the occupiers with predictably violent clashes, the worst being at the Morpeth sawmill in late November and in Chopwell in early December 1912.
In Morpeth the workers, who saw themselves as taking over what had been abandoned, refused to give way and fortified the premises. After a two day siege by police, the army was called in. They took another day to clear the site, at the end of which 2 workers and one soldier were dead and some 50 people had been injured. At Chopwell it was even worse. Pitched battles took place on the village street as police tried to arrest strike leaders. A church hall where an army unit was billeted was attacked and burnt to the ground. Miners from nearby pits flooded into the village to support the occupation and eventually some 600 men faced perhaps 200 police and 60 cavalry. It took repeated charges by cavalry to clear the streets after which they still had to take possession of the pit head.
The local army commander wanted to wait things out, reasoning that the men inside would eventually run out of food and would have to give up. However after intense political pressure he was ordered to secure the site by force of arms. The consequences were bloody. The main entry points to the pit head had been booby trapped using explosives from the mine. The men inside had also improvised grenades and even crude mortars. When the assault began, in the middle of a snow storm, 4 men were killed by blasts within minutes and the rest withdrew. The commander called for reinforcements which came the next morning in the form of two field artillery pieces. Four shells were fired into the pit compound and the men inside were then invited to surrender. When no reply was given the commander gave the order to start shelling again. After 20 minutes all the buildings on the site were reduced to rubble.
Despite entering with great care two more booby traps were detonated. Eventually the site was made safe and a search made for bodies, but none could be found. The men, all experienced miners, had set the booby traps and then it seems retreated down the shaft and made their way through the workings to another pit head some 2 miles away, from where they escaped with the support of men from that pit.
Faced with such unrest, Regulations were made under the Emergency Powers Act declaring several areas in the North East as
Special Military Zones. Anyone working in these zones or needing to travel to or from them was required to have an identity card issued by their employer. People not in work had to obtain a pass from the local Labour Exchange. Children were required to obtain a pass from their school. Army and police check points were set up and identity checks made on anyone passing through them. Additional mobile checkpoints were also set up at short notice.
Unsurprisingly these stringent controls were not well received. Workers across the region were exhorted not to cooperate. Since employers were not allowed to employ anyone without a pass, the resulting lockouts rapidly spread. Even children joined in with school strikes erupting everywhere. The region rapidly ground to a halt as workers outside the Zones took sympathetic strike action.
Eventually though as occupiers reached the end of their endurance and the authorities took action against those dealing with them, even the most obdurate of the occupations was over by April of 1913. Most of the ring leaders were detained under the Emergency Powers Act but not formally charged. A few however were brought to trial, most notably Tom Mann, charged with sedition for an article in the Syndicalist rather than with any specific acts and sentenced to three years.
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