I have been studying Teesside in the 1930s for a number of years now, making a handful of breakthroughs in this time. I would just like to share a recent pleasurable experience. The pleasure was not derived from the outcome but from the process, the enquiry process.
I have used the image of the Stockton branch of the National Unemployed Workers Movement (NUWM) for a number of years, it was first pointed out to me by Dr Matt Perry when he spoke on the Jarrow Crusade to the Historical Association in 2005. Whilst teaching the Jarrow Crusade as a GCSE local study I loved pointing out to students the special branch officer in his collar, tie, Mac and Trilby; the Special Branch ‘uniform’.
This week a Facebook post using this image was sent to me by John Coates, his friend, Tim Brown, had posted on his Teesside Policing photographs group page the image with a caption that suggested the policeman was from the Middlesbrough force, this was of particular interest to Tim as he served with Cleveland Police.
Tim felt the police officer was from the Middlesbrough force because he was under the impression the Stockton marchers were heading to the main meeting points at Darlington or Thirsk, and that the photograph was somewhere in Teesside, County Durham or the North Riding. The uniformed Police Sergeant in the foreground was wearing what appeared to be a Middlesbrough Borough Police uniform. The cut of the coat, the spacing and number of buttons, along with the wreathed helmet badge are all indications that this may be a Middlesbrough Force uniform. Durham officers at the time wore a very distinctive helmet with a short spike on top, and a helmet badge in black with a white metal centre. North Riding officers wore flat caps at the time, and tunics with black buttons. By a process of elimination, the officer was thought to be Middlesbrough.
I have had a copy of the NUWM image for so long I have no provenance for it. The only additional information I had was that it was the 1934 March, which is fortunate as we have the itinerary of this march courtesy of the wonderful Working Class Movement Library, in Manchester.
Without any knowledge of the location of this photograph I had always assumed it was taken at some point on the 1934 route, between Stockton and London. Tim’s suggestion that the police officer was from the Middlesbrough force is contrary to my assumption that the Stockton contingent started their march from Stockton. The Manifesto of National Hunger March and Congress states that the Stockton contingent marched East to meet the Newcastle and Sunderland contingents at Darlington. However, for the march to come under the jurisdiction of the Middlesbrough Force they would have to march away from Darlington; they could take a route out of Stockton, through Middlesbrough and join the North East contingents at Northallerton, because this would take them over the Newport Bridge, the only bridge within the Middlesbrough Force’s jurisdiction. I was a little sceptical as the bridge in the image looked too wide to be the Newport bridge, also there appears to be tram lines on the bridge which again made me discount the Newport Bridge.
Now having doubts that it was the Middlesbrough force, we had a brief discussion in which Tim suggested we look at the Police officer’s helmet badge. Prior to 1947, there were literally hundreds of Police forces in the country, and whereas the basic uniforms were of roughly the same pattern, the helmets and helmet badges were often distinct. Tim thought if he had an idea of the route of the march, he could see which force areas were passed through, and which forces would have provided a local escort. As a starting point he asked if the registration number of the vehicle in the photograph could be identified, this would help to narrow down the forces we would need to research. In my copy of the image the number plate is clearly VK1456 which would indicate a vehicle registration issued by Newcastle Council.
Following the process of enquiry we had agreed upon Tim went back over the police uniforms and helmet badges for the Newcastle area. The Newcastle area had several Police forces: Newcastle City, South Shields, parts covered by Durham County and Northumberland Constabulary. The most likely candidate would be Newcastle City Police, but their officers wore an easily recognisable military style ball-top spiked helmet, with a large wreathed helmet plate, and chrome side roses, The officer in the photograph was clearly not wearing one of those.
When it was suggested that the Bridge was the Tyne Bridge, this made things a little easier. A march heading south on the Tyne Bridge would enter the jurisdiction of Gateshead Borough Police. Fortunately, there is a particularly good Gateshead Police website, with many photographs of officers named and dated. A comparison between the uniforms of the Sergeant in the photograph, and officers on the website gave a positive match: the officer is a sergeant in the Gateshead Borough Police.
In summary the Bridge does match images of the Tyne Bridge, the Car was registered in Newcastle, the uniform and helmet badge match the Gateshead Borough Police. I therefore suggest we have sufficient credible evidence to suggest that this photograph was taken on the Tyne Bridge.
The enquiry process was most enjoyable, as it usually is when one engages with someone with such a wealth of specialist knowledge.
For me the pleasure was enhanced by what this conclusion revealed. I had assumed that the Stockton contingent left Stockton, presumably after a rally at the Holy Trinity Church; the police had banned the NUWM from holding meetings at the Market Cross. George, the Teesside Secretary of the NUWM, and his wife Phyllis had been arrested in April 1933, for speaking at the Market Cross, he spent three months in Durham Prison, as he refused to be bound over to hold the peace.
The research Tim and I have carried out suggests that the Stockton contingent did not leave Stockton and join the other contingents at Darlington. It seems likely that the whole North East Contingent assembled in Newcastle on 1st February and travelled to London together. This fits well with what we know of the NUWM and the men who were members. We know the names of Four Stockton men who were on this particular march: George Short, George Bright, Bert Overton and a 15-year-old Johnny Longstaff, who followed them from Stockton and joined officially at Leeds.
Two others on the March were Bob Elliott and Wilf Jobling. Wilf Jobling, like George Short, originated from Chopwell, know as ‘Little Moscow’ as it had a Communist club and Henry Bolton’s Socialist Sunday School. Jobling was one of the three NUWM Executive Committee members, along with the Communist Councillor for Blyth, Bob Elliott. We have an account of the actions of these two on this march by a fellow NUWM member Walter Gregory:
He [Bob Elliott] worked many minor miracles on that march to London, ensuring that men who were far from being in peak physical condition after months of unemployment and a poor diet, kept on walking through the winter weather. I was to meet Bobbie again in Spain where he served with the Republican forces as a political commissar, The Shallow Grave – Walter Gregory, Pg 168 London 1986
And
Wilf was an extremely attractive personality. He was athletically built, with a powerful voice, which was ideal for addressing open-air meetings, and a wonderfully persuasive magnetism. Tirelessly Wilf would walk up and down the length of the marching column of shabbily dressed and wearily men , urging them on with words of encouragement and offering advice on how to treat tired and blistered feet. Like Bobbie, Wilf was to fight in Spain against the Nationalists and it was a great loss to the cause of working-class radicalism in Britain that both of them were killed in 1937 within a few months of each other: Wilf at Jarama in February, Bobbie at Brunete in July. The Shallow Grave – Walter Gregory, Pg 168 London 1986
For me the research to find the location of the photograph gave me fresh insight into the period, reinforcing my understanding of the detailed organisational planning carried out by the small number of Communist Party officials.
However we are left with a mystery: if the Stockton Contingent marched across the Tyne Bridge, with the Sunderland Branch behind them, why does the Itinerary of the 1934 Hunger March, taken from the Manifesto of the National Hunger March and Congress say:
‘TEES-SIDE CONTINGENT. Mobilise at STOCKTON-ON-TEES on February 2nd. JOIN TYNESIDE CONTINGENT at DARLINGTON on February 3rd.’ https://www.wcml.org.uk/our-collections/protest-politics-and-campaigning-for-change/unemployment/itinerary-of-the-1934-hunger-march/
I must thank Tim for his patience enthusiasm and cooperation, it has been a pleasure.