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MI5 report
CONFIDENTIAL ENQUIRY INTO THE RECENT DISTURBANCES * Summary of Report by V Kell (Capt) * To the Right Hon WINSTON S. CHURCHILL M.P. (Home Secretary)
I was asked by you on 17th November “to examine available intelligence on the disturbances that occurred in 1910 and 1911, to identify any evidence of subversive activity and to make recommendations for legislative or other actions that might be taken to counter any such activity. I was asked to complete my work and issue a report within a period of one month. It has not, however, been found possible to carry out a full enquiry and submit a report in less than five weeks from the initial instruction. Whilst the limitation of time has to some extent narrowed the scope of the enquiry, it has also operated as a stimulus to everyone concerned to carry out the work with the utmost despatch compatible with efficiency.
A digest of intelligence reports garnered from informers and other sources is attached as an Appendix. These reports show that there is a strong feeling of patriotism on the part of employers throughout the country and they are determined to help the State in its present crisis. Feelings of a revolutionary character are not entertained by the bulk of the men, but there is a significant minority about whom this cannot be said. While the majority of the workmen are sensible of the national difficulties, especially in the period of trial and stress through which we are now passing, the seditious minority has a loud voice and can in the right circumstances prove very persuasive of men caught up in the tumult of a strike or otherwise in straightened circumstances.
There is also significant evidence of a degree of cooperation between these seditious elements, such that while at this stage it does not appear that there is a single guiding hand behind the totality of the disturbances, there is sufficient communication between them, to give cause for concern that such a central figure may yet emerge. Insofar as a significant cause can be identified, it lies in the pernicious growth of that doctrine sometimes called Syndicalism, but in more common parlance as Communism or Anarchism.
At a very early stage in my investigations it was forcibly borne in upon me that the question of food prices was also an important cause of unrest. The high prices of staple commodities have undoubtedly laid a severe strain upon the majority of the working classes, and in some instances have resulted in hardship and actual privation. While it is no doubt true that in some industries wages have risen to such an extent as largely to compensate for the increased cost of living, but there are workers whose wages have been raised very slightly, if at all, and some whose earnings have actually diminished, and on these the high food prices have borne heavily. Joined to the sense of actual hardship, there is undoubtedly a deep-seated conviction in the minds of the working classes that the prices of food have risen not only through scarcity, but as the result of manipulation of prices by unscrupulous producers and traders, who, it is alleged, owing to lack of courageous action on the part of the Government, have succeeded in making fabulous profits at the expense of the consumers. It is this last perception that is feeding the growth in Communistic tendencies among working men and which is so dangerous.
I present in Section I a chronological digest of events as they unfolded, incorporating conclusions drawn ex post from intelligence reports. Section II contains my recommendations for further action.
Section I Chronological Digest of Events
Despite the prominence of the recent disturbances in Wales and Liverpool, the problems appear to have much earlier roots. The revolution in Russia of 1905 gave hope to many whose cause had up till then been flagging. The large scale disturbances in Belfast in 1907 were perhaps the first inkling that those ideas were beginning to gain sympathy in these Isles. It is well known that prime movers in those disturbances were two admitted Communists, Tom Mann and Ben Tillet. In these two men, together with the persons of James Larkin and James Connolly we begin also to see a worrying coming together of Fenian and Socialist agitation.
We have no evidence of any such agitators being involved in the earliest of the 1910 disturbances at Tonypandy. The situation that led to the unfortunate deaths was certainly exacerbated by a degree of indiscipline on the part of the troops that in turn resulted from a lack of firm leadership from officers. The first shot seems to have been an accidental discharge of his weapon by one soldier. The reaction of the crowd to this led the rest of the party to fear for their lives and to open fire without explicit orders. Despite this they were still overrun by the rioters, whereupon the local commander had no option but to order the squadron of Hussars forward. Here was another failure. The men were equipped with batons in addition to their normal sabres and carbines, but in the absence of specific orders they used that with which they were most familiar, their sabres. In addition, because the crowd were pressing hard upon the rioters, the Hussars were unable to rein in their mounts in time to avoid riding into that larger gathering, leading to the further deaths of women and children. The men behaved in an exemplary fashion however and all of the deaths of women and children bar one were the result of injuries sustained in the mêlée and not deliberate action.
The exception is one woman who was shot. There were no women in the first group that attacked the infantrymen and it is believed that her injuries were caused by a round passing unhindered through the front ranks of men into the crowd close behind. No specific blame can however be laid to the men who fired and caused this unhappy event, since she was present of her own volition at a riotous gathering.
The rifles taken from the soldiers when they were overrun have not been recovered, despite the best endeavours of the local police, supplemented by officers from Scotland Yard who have carried out numerous searches in the area. In the light of later events, which I describe further below, this remains an area of urgent concern.
Following the events in Tonypandy, sporadic violence continued for several weeks across South Wales, requiring troops to be used on at least eleven separate occasions. On three of these it became necessary to open fire. The first of these was in Tredegar, following a night of violence when numerous businesses were looted. A party of soldiers came upon a group of men attempting to break into a local quarry yard. Being aware of the likely presence of explosives, the officer in charge gave orders to open fire. One man was killed immediately, whereupon the rest fled. No attempt was made to pursue, but a runner was sent immediately to the local HQ to advise of what had happened, while the men secured the yard against further attempts at theft.
Initially the violence in Tredegar was directed at premises of Jewish pawnbrokers et cetera who had provided monies during the strike. It seems that some of the less intelligent of the rioters had taken to themselves the idea that if the businesses were burnt out, they would not have to repay what they owned. As the night progressed however the violence became apparently more indiscriminate, but it should be noted that amongst the businesses attacked were those owned by local agents of mine owners and other dignitaries such as magistrates. Troops had cause to open fire on two further occasions that same night, without further fatalities. Fortunately local press owners were sympathetic to requests not to publish information on either the stolen rifles or the attempted theft of explosives so this has not become generally known in the area. It would be advisable to look at ways in which these matters might be dealt with more expeditiously in future.
Later intelligence points to the presence in the area of two or three men variously described as 'not local', 'foreign' or 'Irish' who spoke at several meetings of strikers and other workers using language that can only be described as seditious, including incitement to 'attack the bosses'. Despite the most strenuous inquiries, these men remain at large. They may have had Fenian or Socialist ends, or they may have been agents of Germany desirous of sowing the seeds of unrest for the future. On the information currently available no further conclusions can be drawn as to their origins.
Disturbances continued throughout 1910 mainly across the North of England and in Scotland, while the Welsh miners strike continued until in 1911. Many of these strikes involved large numbers of workers, but most were settled quickly. Troops were used again in Wales to quell disturbances, but largely because of their ready availability than strict necessity. The main concern is that existing union leaders were often caught unawares by these wildcat strikes and the leaders who emerged appeared to have strong Communist leanings.
At the beginning of 1911 matters however took a severe turn for the worse. The Communist inspired, so-called 'Reform Committee' had already resolved in 1910 to try to gain control of, and then to administer, all industry and in pursuit of this objective began fomenting strikes wherever possible. Sympathisers of this creed had been active in many disputes already, including the Belfast Dock strike of 1907. Known associates of Mann and Tillett were active in Llanelly and many other locations, while Mann himself played a large part in the railway strikes of 1911 and especially in the major disturbances in Liverpool. In South Wales the miners' strike reached a bloody conclusion. It cannot be a coincidence that these people, who regularly professed themselves to be against any central authority, used their influence to undermine the respectable leadership of the unions as much as the authority of Government.
The main centre of dissent was in Liverpool, but intelligence reports indicate that was the culmination of a deliberate campaign of subversive activity amongst workers in a wide range of industries over the year. The year opened with a strike by ship-repairers working in Liverpool. Mann and Tillett were openly instrumental in fomenting this strike. Like-motivated agitators were at work in Glasgow in March, when perhaps 12000 workers in the Singer Sewing Machine Company began a long strike and in Bermondsey when a coordinated strike was called amongst food workers across a dozen or so separate factories. In May seamen began to take action in numerous ports across the country soon supported by dockworkers and railway workers. Further strikes took place of engineering and transport workers on at least a dozen occasions between May and August.
The cumulative effect of these strikes, almost always accompanied by civil disorder, was to stretch the capacity of local police forces to the limit. In many cases, Chief Constables have reported that they had serious doubts of their ability to maintain order and were often concerned that police officers may be unwilling to intervene in industrial disputes affecting their own locality, even when those disputes had led to major outbreaks of disorder, rioting and worse.
By August of 1911, the country was perhaps as close in some localities as it has been for many years to a revolutionary situation. I was not asked to consider the implications for civil disorder of the growing tensions in Ireland between the Orange and Republican factions , but available intelligence leads me to believe that this may yet become a factor on the mainland. Sectarian disputes broke out in Liverpool and in Glasgow over the year. Those in Liverpool only ceased when the combatants found common cause in the strike that almost entirely closed down the City and led to the dispatch of a large force of troops.
The situation deteriorated rapidly, leading the Lord Mayor and Chief Magistrate to issue a warning to citizens to keep off the streets as much as possible for their own safety. ‘Large numbers of persons have assembled in the disturbed streets for the purpose of seeing what is going on, and I warn all such persons that if the Authorities are called upon to act, innocent citizens are likely to be injured as those against whom any drastic measures on the part of the Police or the Military are directed.’
In the end some 4000 troops including both infantrymen and cavalry were dispatched to the City together with some 500 additional police officers from the surrounding areas. In addition HMS Antrim was stationed in the harbour with other naval units held on standby in Douglas.
Despite this massive display of force it took some time before control over the city could be reasserted. Relationships between police and the military were not good and on more than one occasion, precipitate action by the police created situations of such disorder that the intervention of the army was needed to take control. Although deaths did not reach such a level as Tonypandy, this was not by design and for several days the City was on a knife edge between peace and major disorder that could have caused serious loss of life and major damage to property. Those deaths that did occur were amongst Catholic members of the population and their funerals offered a great opportunity amongst local Republican groups to drum up support for their colleagues in Ireland, so offering yet another opportunity for Fenian and Socialist agitators to make common cause.
Unrest also flared up afresh in South Wales, this time in Llanelly, where strikers besieged the railway station. All movement of rail traffic to Ireland on this important line was halted, just as tensions were growing between Orangemen and Fenians. Had it been necessary to ship major forces to Ireland this dispute would have been a serious hindrance. Similar stories of 'outsiders' speaking at meetings of the men and inciting them to violent action emerged as in Tonypandy. Given the importance of this line it is not impossible that the events here were indeed linked to the troubles in Ireland. Two men were killed when at one point it seemed likely that the police would entirely lose control. Aimed shots were directed at rioters and the rest dispersed. Later attempts were made to break into the arnoury of the local Yeomanry and four men were killed in an explosion when they broke into a railway wagon carrying explosives for the mines.
Nationally the rail strike caused great disruption. Troops were dispatched to London, Carlisle, York, Darlington, Bishop Auckland, Hull, Goole, Chesterfield, Gloucester, Lincoln, Bristol, Glasgow, Southampton, Swansea, Manchester and Plymouth, while other lesser disturbances took place in other localities. Major damage was caused to railway property in several locations including Bristol, Chesterfield and Lincoln. Naval units were dispatched to several ports including Hull, Liverpool Glasgow and Southampton, while reserve ships were stationed in Douglas and at Barrow.
In total, some 60,000 troops were dispatched, while four warships and eight other naval vessels were deployed. Such a call on the services of the military is unprecedented in the past century. If disturbances on the scale of those in Liverpool were to occur simultaneously in two or three other locations, then even with full mobilisation we would have difficulty in containing things. The recent rail strike, even though largely concentrated in the North, Scotland and South Wales greatly disrupted the movement of troops and police to areas of greatest need.
Should conditions in Ireland also deteriorate, we could almost certainly have to call back units from abroad, so affecting our ability to respond militarily to an emergency elsewhere. It is certainly the case that our enemies both internal and external are as aware of this as we are and we must therefore to be ready to take the most severe action necessary to bring the country back to conditions of normality.