Obituary from the March 1966 issue of the Socialist Standard
We regret to report that our comrade Alf Mitchell of West Ham Branch died in December. A member of the Party since 1912, Alf Mitchell was an active member, particularly at outdoor meetings where he was always prepared to chair the meetings and sell literature.
During the 1914-18 war after appearing before several tribunals, he was arrested and fined 40/- . . . which he never paid, and was turned over to military escort. Whilst under military supervision he managed to dive through an open door and the authorities never caught up with him, despite enquiries among comrades.
He had been ill for several recent years, but until this, had been active in the fight for Socialism. We tender our deep sympathy to his widow and family.
M.H.
1 comment:
I'm guessing the 'M.H.' who penned the obituary was Maggie Hallard, who was a longstanding member of the old West Ham branch of the SPGB.
I try not to post too many old obituaries close together on the blog, but I've become increasingly aware that the SPGB has been spectacularly crap at writing its own history during World War I and, in many cases, it's only through looking at the obituaries published in later Standards that you realise how many members either went on the run, went underground or suffered imprisonment because of their class conscious opposition to the War.
Sadly, it's another case of the SPGB being sadly underreported in the history books of the period. The hitherto written assumption is that only a handful of SPGBers were adversely affected by the war, when the truth is that it was a far greater number.
Apologies in advance if their is a slew of obituaries in the coming posts that back up that point.
Post a Comment