Aldermaston Marches
Encyclopedia
The Aldermaston marches were protest demonstrations organised by the British anti-war Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
(CND) in the 1950s and 1960s. They took place on Easter
weekend between the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment
at Aldermaston
in Berkshire
, England
, and London
, over a distance of fifty-two miles, or roughly 83 km. At their height in the early 1960s they attracted tens of thousands of people and were the highlight of the CND calendar.
The first major Aldermaston march took place at Easter
(4-7 April), 1958, shortly after the launch of the Campaign, when several thousand people marched for four days from Trafalgar Square
, London
, to the Atomic Weapons Establishment to demonstrate their opposition to nuclear weapons
. Hugh Brock
, one of the organisers, records that he was one of thirty-five people to have marched to Aldermaston six years before in 1952 as part of Operation Gandhi
. After 1958 the marches were held annually, 1959-1963, but their direction was reversed, i.e. from Aldermaston to London (1960.)
On the 1963 Aldermaston march, a group calling itself Spies for Peace
distributed leaflets as the March assembled about a secret government establishment, RSG 6
, that the march was passing. A large group, led by Peter Cadogan
(an officer of the direct-action Committee of 100), left the march, much against the wishes of the CND leadership, to demonstrate at RSG 6. Later, when the march reached London, there were disorderly demonstrations in which anarchists
were prominent. At Easter 1964 there was only a one-day march, partly because of the events of 1963 and partly because the logistics of the march, which had grown beyond all expectation, had exhausted the organisers. It was resumed in 1965. In later years there were revivals in 1972 and in 2004.
, Pat Arrowsmith
and Michael Randle
from the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War
plus Frank Allaun
MP and Walter Wolfgang
from the Labour H-Bomb Campaign.
's song, The H-bomb's Thunder became the unofficial anthem of CND. Songs associated with CND and the Aldermaston march were released on an EP
record, Songs from Aldermaston (1960) and an LP album
, Songs Against the Bomb (Topic 12001) released at about the same time. It contained: "Brother Won't you Join in the Line?" (McColl and Keir, 1958); "The Crooked Cross" (McColl and Seeger, 1960); "Strontium 90" (Dallas, 1959); "Hey Little Man" (Dallas, 1959); "Doomsday Blues" (Dallas, 1958); "The Ballad of the Five Fingers" (McColl, 1959); "There are Better Things to Do" (Seeger, 1958); "The H-Bomb's Thunder" (Brunner, 1958); "Song of Hiroshima" (Kinoshita); "Hoist the Window" (trad. arr. Hasted, 1952); "That Bomb Has Got to Go" (McColl and Seeeger, 1959); "The Dove" (trad. arr. Rosselson); and "The Family of Man" (Dallas, 1957). A new arrangement of H-bomb's Thunder was issued on a CD, Songs To Change The World (Peaksoft PEA012) in 2011.
Ewan MacColl
's English text of Song of Hiroshima
was sung on the Aldermaston Marches by the London Youth Choir. An unofficial peace version of the National Anthem
of the United Kingdom
was written in 1958 by Henry Young for the first Aldermaston March and is taken from Young's collection of poems From Talk to Action: The fight for peace.
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is an anti-nuclear organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...
(CND) in the 1950s and 1960s. They took place on Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
weekend between the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment
Atomic Weapons Establishment
The Atomic Weapons Establishment is responsible for the design, manufacture and support of warheads for the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent. AWE plc is responsible for the day-to-day operations of AWE...
at Aldermaston
Aldermaston
Aldermaston is a rural village, civil parish and electoral ward in Berkshire, South-East England. In the 2001 United Kingdom Census, the parish had a population of 927. The village is on the southern edge of the River Kennet flood plain, near the Hampshire county boundary...
in Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, over a distance of fifty-two miles, or roughly 83 km. At their height in the early 1960s they attracted tens of thousands of people and were the highlight of the CND calendar.
The first major Aldermaston march took place at Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
(4-7 April), 1958, shortly after the launch of the Campaign, when several thousand people marched for four days from Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, to the Atomic Weapons Establishment to demonstrate their opposition to nuclear weapons
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
. Hugh Brock
Hugh Brock
Hugh Brock was a lifelong British pacifist, editor of Peace News between 1955 and 1964, a promoter of non-violent direct action and a founder of the Direct Action Committee, a forerunner of the Committee of 100....
, one of the organisers, records that he was one of thirty-five people to have marched to Aldermaston six years before in 1952 as part of Operation Gandhi
Operation Gandhi
Operation Gandhi was a pacifist group in the early 1950s in the United Kingdom that carried out the country’s first non-violent, direct action protests in 1952....
. After 1958 the marches were held annually, 1959-1963, but their direction was reversed, i.e. from Aldermaston to London (1960.)
On the 1963 Aldermaston march, a group calling itself Spies for Peace
Spies for Peace
The Spies for Peace was a group of anti-war activists associated with the Committee of 100 who publicized government preparations for rule after a nuclear war. In 1963 they broke into a secret government bunker, Regional Seat of Government Number 6 at Warren Row, near Reading, where they...
distributed leaflets as the March assembled about a secret government establishment, RSG 6
Regional Seat of Government
Regional Seats of Government or RSGs were the best known aspect of Britain's Civil Defence preparations against Nuclear War. In fact, however, naming conventions changed over the years as strategies in Whitehall changed....
, that the march was passing. A large group, led by Peter Cadogan
Peter Cadogan
Peter Cadogan was an English writer and political activistCadogan was born into a middle-class family in Newcastle upon Tyne, where his father was employed by a shipping company. He was educated at The King's School, Tynemouth in the 1930s...
(an officer of the direct-action Committee of 100), left the march, much against the wishes of the CND leadership, to demonstrate at RSG 6. Later, when the march reached London, there were disorderly demonstrations in which anarchists
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
were prominent. At Easter 1964 there was only a one-day march, partly because of the events of 1963 and partly because the logistics of the march, which had grown beyond all expectation, had exhausted the organisers. It was resumed in 1965. In later years there were revivals in 1972 and in 2004.
Participants
The Aldermaston March Committee for the first march comprised Hugh BrockHugh Brock
Hugh Brock was a lifelong British pacifist, editor of Peace News between 1955 and 1964, a promoter of non-violent direct action and a founder of the Direct Action Committee, a forerunner of the Committee of 100....
, Pat Arrowsmith
Pat Arrowsmith
Pat Arrowsmith is a British author and peace campaigner.Arrowsmith was educated at Cheltenham Ladies College, read history at the University of Cambridge, and then read Social Science at the University of Liverpool and at Ohio University as a US-UK Fulbright Scholar...
and Michael Randle
Michael Randle
Dr. Michael Randle is best known as a peace campaigner and peace researcher, one of the pioneers of nonviolent direct action in Britain, and also for his role in helping the Soviet spy George Blake escape from a British prison in 1966....
from the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War
Direct Action Committee
The Direct Action Committee against nuclear war was a pacifist organization formed "to assist the conducting of non-violent direct action to obtain the total renunciation of nuclear war and its weapons by Britain and all other countries as a first step in disarmament"...
plus Frank Allaun
Frank Allaun
Frank Julian Allaun was a British Labour politician.Born in Manchester, Allaun was educated at Manchester Grammar School and worked as an engineer, shop assistant, tour leader, chartered accountant and journalist. He helped to organise the first Aldermaston March in 1958 and was chair of the...
MP and Walter Wolfgang
Walter Wolfgang
Walter Jakob Wolfgang is a German-born British socialist and peace activist.He is currently Vice President and Vice Chair of Labourof the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and a supporter of the Stop the War Coalition...
from the Labour H-Bomb Campaign.
- Peggy DuffPeggy DuffPeggy Duff was a British political activist who was principally known for her contribution to the peace movement as the organiser of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.-Background:...
organised subsequent Aldermaston Marches 1959-1963. - Sidney HinkesSidney HinkesSidney George Stuart Hinkes was a pacifist and a priest in the Church of England.Hinkes was born in Dagenham. His father was a postman. He was educated at Dagenham County School from 1936 and was evacuated to Ilfracombe during the Second World War. He went on to serve with the 6th Airborne...
was involved in the first Aldermaston March, - Walter WolfgangWalter WolfgangWalter Jakob Wolfgang is a German-born British socialist and peace activist.He is currently Vice President and Vice Chair of Labourof the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and a supporter of the Stop the War Coalition...
participated in the first Aldermaston March and led a revival of the march in 1972. - Reg Freeson was one of five LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MPs on the first Aldermaston March. - Lindsay AndersonLindsay AndersonLindsay Gordon Anderson was an Indian-born, British feature film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading light of the Free Cinema movement and the British New Wave...
made the documentary March to Aldermaston (1958). - Eric IdleEric IdleEric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer, and comedic composer. He was as a member of the British comedy group Monty Python, a member of the The Rutles on Saturday Night Live and author of the play, Spamalot....
was a keen supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear DisarmamentCampaign for Nuclear DisarmamentThe Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is an anti-nuclear organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...
and participated in the Aldermaston March.
Songs
Music was a significant part of the march, at first symbolizing the difference in attitude between the CND leaders, who wanted to march in silence, and the youth on the march, who wanted to sing and play guitars. John BrunnerJohn Brunner (novelist)
John Kilian Houston Brunner was a prolific British author of science fiction novels and stories. His 1968 novel Stand on Zanzibar, about an overpopulated world, won the 1968 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel. It also won the BSFA award the same year...
's song, The H-bomb's Thunder became the unofficial anthem of CND. Songs associated with CND and the Aldermaston march were released on an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
record, Songs from Aldermaston (1960) and an LP album
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
, Songs Against the Bomb (Topic 12001) released at about the same time. It contained: "Brother Won't you Join in the Line?" (McColl and Keir, 1958); "The Crooked Cross" (McColl and Seeger, 1960); "Strontium 90" (Dallas, 1959); "Hey Little Man" (Dallas, 1959); "Doomsday Blues" (Dallas, 1958); "The Ballad of the Five Fingers" (McColl, 1959); "There are Better Things to Do" (Seeger, 1958); "The H-Bomb's Thunder" (Brunner, 1958); "Song of Hiroshima" (Kinoshita); "Hoist the Window" (trad. arr. Hasted, 1952); "That Bomb Has Got to Go" (McColl and Seeeger, 1959); "The Dove" (trad. arr. Rosselson); and "The Family of Man" (Dallas, 1957). A new arrangement of H-bomb's Thunder was issued on a CD, Songs To Change The World (Peaksoft PEA012) in 2011.
Ewan MacColl
Ewan MacColl
Ewan MacColl was an English folk singer, songwriter, socialist, actor, poet, playwright, and record producer. He was married to theatre director Joan Littlewood, and later to American folksinger Peggy Seeger. He collaborated with Littlewood in the theatre and with Seeger in folk music...
's English text of Song of Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
was sung on the Aldermaston Marches by the London Youth Choir. An unofficial peace version of the National Anthem
National anthem
A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.- History :Anthems rose to prominence...
of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
was written in 1958 by Henry Young for the first Aldermaston March and is taken from Young's collection of poems From Talk to Action: The fight for peace.