Blood and Honour
Encyclopedia
Blood & Honour is a neo-Nazi
music promotion network and political group founded in 1987 with links to Combat 18
and composed of white power skinheads and other white nationalists
.
The group organizes white power
concerts by Rock Against Communism
(RAC) bands and distributes a magazine of the same name. There are official divisions in several different countries around the world. It is listed as a hate group
by the Southern Poverty Law Center
. Ian Stuart Donaldson
, singer of the band Skrewdriver
, was the founder and one of the prominent leaders until his death in 1993.
Blood & Honour took its name from the motto of the Hitler Youth
, Blut und Ehre, and a song of the same name by Skrewdriver. Sometimes the code 28 stands for Blood & Honour, derived from the second and eighth letters of the Latin alphabet
, B and H.
, when the white nationalist
National Front
(NF) founded the Rock Against Communism
(RAC) movement in response to the Anti-Nazi League
's Rock Against Racism
campaign. By 1980, a new version of Skrewdriver
— by then a white power skinhead band — relaunched the RAC movement. With the aid of the NF, the White Noise Club (WNC) organized concerts under the RAC name, and the RAC movement grew throughout 1983 and 1984.
In 1986, the NF split into two factions, and around the same time, it was discovered that the WNC had been defrauding bands and concert-goers. Several bands left the WNC, including Skrewdriver, No Remorse
, Sudden Impact and Brutal Attack. Ian Stuart Donaldson
of Skrewdriver decided to break away from the WNC and organize concerts for the NF, so he founded Blood and Honour. By June 1987, with the help of other white power bands, Blood and Honour was officially launched, along with a magazine of the same name. A concert was held in Morden, Surrey to commemorate this launch on 5 September, with Skrewdriver, Brutal Attack, Sudden Impact and No Remorse playing in front of a crowd of 500, including French, Italian and German supporters.
By the end of 1988, Blood & Honour magazine was a quarterly that had grown from eight to 16 pages after a few issues. The magazine included concert reports, band interviews, readers' letters, RAC record charts and a column called "White Whispers". A mail-order service called Skrewdriver Services soon formed within its pages, selling items such as: white power albums, flags, Loyalist tapes, T-shirts and Swastika
pendants.
The back page of Blood & Honour Issue Number 13 advertised a Skrewdriver concert in London on 12 September 1992. Posters and fliers were posted around the country, advertising the concert and listing a redirection point as Waterloo Rail Station. The night before the concert, Stuart was attacked in a Burton pub. The next day police closed down Waterloo Station and the tube station, preventing many people from reaching the redirection point. Hundreds more Blood and Honour supporters who had journeyed from abroad were turned back at ports in Folkestone and Dover. The Blood and Honour supporters clashed with anti-fascist
protesters. Missiles such as bricks and champagne bottles taken from bins outside of South Bank restaurants were used during the ensuing riot. Battles ensued for about two hours until the police separated the two groups, and the concert proceeded in the function hall of the Yorkshire Grey pub in Eltham, South-East London. The incident got international media coverage and became known as the "Battle of Waterloo".
In 1992, the newly formed Blood and Honour Midlands Division was in charge of organising the annual White Xmas concert. On 19 December, over 400 supporters gathered at a working men's club in Mansfield to watch No Remorse, Razors Edge and Skrewdriver perform. In 1993, Blood and Honour East Midlands Division planned to stage an outdoor festival on 31 July. Donaldson was arrested and served with an injunction order not to perform at the concert. The venue was blockaded by the police, who seized amplifiers and confiscated sound equipment.
Later that year, the Blood and Honour East Midlands Division organised a concert for 25 September. Three nights before the concert, Donaldson and a few friends were travelling in a car that spun out of control into a ditch. Some of the passengers endured minor wounds, one was killed instantly, and Donaldson was pronounced dead on 24 September 1993. The following day, 100 Skrewdriver supporters travelled to the Blood and Honour social in the Midlands, unaware of the deaths.
Each year, on or near the anniversary of the Ian Stuart's death, a large memorial concert is held. In 2008, a concert in Redhill, Somerset attracted widespread BBC, radio and newspaper coverage.
Neo-Nazism
Neo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive Nazism or some variant thereof.The term neo-Nazism can also refer to the ideology of these movements....
music promotion network and political group founded in 1987 with links to Combat 18
Combat 18
Combat 18 is a violent neo-Nazi organisation associated with Blood and Honour. It originated in the United Kingdom, but has since spread to other countries. Members of Combat 18 have been suspected in numerous deaths of immigrants, non-whites, and other C18 members...
and composed of white power skinheads and other white nationalists
White nationalism
White nationalism is a political ideology which advocates a racial definition of national identity for white people. White separatism and white supremacism are subgroups within white nationalism. The former seek a separate white nation state, while the latter add ideas from social Darwinism and...
.
The group organizes white power
White supremacy
White supremacy is the belief, and promotion of the belief, that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds. The term is sometimes used specifically to describe a political ideology that advocates the social and political dominance by whites.White supremacy, as with racial...
concerts by Rock Against Communism
Rock Against Communism
Rock Against Communism started out as series of white power rock concerts in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s, and is also a name for the subsequent music genre. Despite its name, RAC song lyrics rarely focus on the specific topic of anti-communism...
(RAC) bands and distributes a magazine of the same name. There are official divisions in several different countries around the world. It is listed as a hate group
Hate group
A hate group is an organized group or movement that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation or other designated sector of society...
by the Southern Poverty Law Center
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center is an American nonprofit civil rights organization noted for its legal victories against white supremacist groups; legal representation for victims of hate groups; monitoring of alleged hate groups, militias and extremist organizations; and educational programs that...
. Ian Stuart Donaldson
Ian Stuart Donaldson
Ian Stuart Donaldson was a British Neo-Nazi singer, musician and songwriter, most known as the frontman of Skrewdriver, a British punk rock band that later became a white power rock band...
, singer of the band Skrewdriver
Skrewdriver
Skrewdriver was an English punk rock band formed by Ian Stuart Donaldson in Poulton-le-Fylde in 1976. They later evolved into one of the first neo-Nazi rock bands, playing a leading role in the Rock Against Communism movement and becoming known as the most prominent white power skinhead...
, was the founder and one of the prominent leaders until his death in 1993.
Blood & Honour took its name from the motto of the Hitler Youth
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It existed from 1922 to 1945. The HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung...
, Blut und Ehre, and a song of the same name by Skrewdriver. Sometimes the code 28 stands for Blood & Honour, derived from the second and eighth letters of the Latin alphabet
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
, B and H.
History
The roots of Blood and Honour go back to 1977 in the United KingdomUnited 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...
, when the white nationalist
White nationalism
White nationalism is a political ideology which advocates a racial definition of national identity for white people. White separatism and white supremacism are subgroups within white nationalism. The former seek a separate white nation state, while the latter add ideas from social Darwinism and...
National Front
British National Front
The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....
(NF) founded the Rock Against Communism
Rock Against Communism
Rock Against Communism started out as series of white power rock concerts in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s, and is also a name for the subsequent music genre. Despite its name, RAC song lyrics rarely focus on the specific topic of anti-communism...
(RAC) movement in response to the Anti-Nazi League
Anti-Nazi League
The Anti-Nazi League was an organisation set up in 1977 on the initiative of the Socialist Workers Party with sponsorship from some trade unions and the endorsement of a list of prominent people to oppose the rise of far-right groups in the United Kingdom. It was wound down in 1981...
's Rock Against Racism
Rock Against Racism
Rock Against Racism was a campaign set up in the United Kingdom in 1976 as a response to an increase in racial conflict and the growth of white nationalist groups such as the National Front. The campaign involved pop, rock and reggae musicians staging concerts with an anti-racist theme, in order...
campaign. By 1980, a new version of Skrewdriver
Skrewdriver
Skrewdriver was an English punk rock band formed by Ian Stuart Donaldson in Poulton-le-Fylde in 1976. They later evolved into one of the first neo-Nazi rock bands, playing a leading role in the Rock Against Communism movement and becoming known as the most prominent white power skinhead...
— by then a white power skinhead band — relaunched the RAC movement. With the aid of the NF, the White Noise Club (WNC) organized concerts under the RAC name, and the RAC movement grew throughout 1983 and 1984.
In 1986, the NF split into two factions, and around the same time, it was discovered that the WNC had been defrauding bands and concert-goers. Several bands left the WNC, including Skrewdriver, No Remorse
No Remorse (band)
No Remorse was a British neo-Nazi rock band formed in 1986 led by white power skinhead singer Paul London, aka Paul Burnley. They were associated with Ian Stuart's Blood & Honour group....
, Sudden Impact and Brutal Attack. Ian Stuart Donaldson
Ian Stuart Donaldson
Ian Stuart Donaldson was a British Neo-Nazi singer, musician and songwriter, most known as the frontman of Skrewdriver, a British punk rock band that later became a white power rock band...
of Skrewdriver decided to break away from the WNC and organize concerts for the NF, so he founded Blood and Honour. By June 1987, with the help of other white power bands, Blood and Honour was officially launched, along with a magazine of the same name. A concert was held in Morden, Surrey to commemorate this launch on 5 September, with Skrewdriver, Brutal Attack, Sudden Impact and No Remorse playing in front of a crowd of 500, including French, Italian and German supporters.
By the end of 1988, Blood & Honour magazine was a quarterly that had grown from eight to 16 pages after a few issues. The magazine included concert reports, band interviews, readers' letters, RAC record charts and a column called "White Whispers". A mail-order service called Skrewdriver Services soon formed within its pages, selling items such as: white power albums, flags, Loyalist tapes, T-shirts and Swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
pendants.
The back page of Blood & Honour Issue Number 13 advertised a Skrewdriver concert in London on 12 September 1992. Posters and fliers were posted around the country, advertising the concert and listing a redirection point as Waterloo Rail Station. The night before the concert, Stuart was attacked in a Burton pub. The next day police closed down Waterloo Station and the tube station, preventing many people from reaching the redirection point. Hundreds more Blood and Honour supporters who had journeyed from abroad were turned back at ports in Folkestone and Dover. The Blood and Honour supporters clashed with anti-fascist
Anti-fascism
Anti-fascism is the opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals, such as that of the resistance movements during World War II. The related term antifa derives from Antifaschismus, which is German for anti-fascism; it refers to individuals and groups on the left of the political...
protesters. Missiles such as bricks and champagne bottles taken from bins outside of South Bank restaurants were used during the ensuing riot. Battles ensued for about two hours until the police separated the two groups, and the concert proceeded in the function hall of the Yorkshire Grey pub in Eltham, South-East London. The incident got international media coverage and became known as the "Battle of Waterloo".
In 1992, the newly formed Blood and Honour Midlands Division was in charge of organising the annual White Xmas concert. On 19 December, over 400 supporters gathered at a working men's club in Mansfield to watch No Remorse, Razors Edge and Skrewdriver perform. In 1993, Blood and Honour East Midlands Division planned to stage an outdoor festival on 31 July. Donaldson was arrested and served with an injunction order not to perform at the concert. The venue was blockaded by the police, who seized amplifiers and confiscated sound equipment.
Later that year, the Blood and Honour East Midlands Division organised a concert for 25 September. Three nights before the concert, Donaldson and a few friends were travelling in a car that spun out of control into a ditch. Some of the passengers endured minor wounds, one was killed instantly, and Donaldson was pronounced dead on 24 September 1993. The following day, 100 Skrewdriver supporters travelled to the Blood and Honour social in the Midlands, unaware of the deaths.
Each year, on or near the anniversary of the Ian Stuart's death, a large memorial concert is held. In 2008, a concert in Redhill, Somerset attracted widespread BBC, radio and newspaper coverage.
Further reading
- White Noise: Inside the International Nazi Skinhead Scene. Edited by Nick Lowles and Steve Silver, London 1998. ISBN 0-9522038-3-9
- Nazi Rock Star: A Biography of Ian Stuart By Paul London (aka Paul Burnley)
- Spirit of '69: A Skinhead Bible. George Marshall, Dunoon, Scotland: ST Publishing, 1990. ISBN 1-898927-10-3
- Skinhead Nation. George Marshall. S.T. Publishing, 1996. ISBN 978-1898927457
See also
- Bloed-Bodem-Eer en Trouw (Flemish splinter group of Blood & Honour Vlaanderen)
- Combat 18Combat 18Combat 18 is a violent neo-Nazi organisation associated with Blood and Honour. It originated in the United Kingdom, but has since spread to other countries. Members of Combat 18 have been suspected in numerous deaths of immigrants, non-whites, and other C18 members...
- List of neo-Nazi bands
- List of neo-Nazi organizations
- Nazi punkNazi punkA Nazi punk is a neo-Nazi who is part of the punk subculture. The term also describes the related type of music. Nazi punk music sounds similar to most forms of punk rock, but it differs by having lyrics that express hatred of Jews, homosexuals, communists, anarchists, anti-racists and people who...
- Rock Against CommunismRock Against CommunismRock Against Communism started out as series of white power rock concerts in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s, and is also a name for the subsequent music genre. Despite its name, RAC song lyrics rarely focus on the specific topic of anti-communism...
- Vlaamse Militanten OrdeVlaamse Militanten OrdeThe Vlaamse Militanten Orde or VMO – originally Vlaamse Militanten Organisatie – was a Flemish nationalist activist group in Belgium defending far-right interests by propaganda and political action...
- White power skinhead
- List of white nationalist organizations
External links
- http://www.bloodandhonourworldwide.co.uk/home1.html
- Blood & Honour magazine
- Blood and Honour Nederland
- Neo-Nazi Skinheads and Racist Rock: Youth Subculture of Hate (Anti-Defamation LeagueAnti-Defamation LeagueThe Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
) - Blood & Honour symbol, in the Anti-Defamation LeagueAnti-Defamation LeagueThe Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
's "Hate On Display" database. - 1980-1989: "Blood & Honour - Britain's fascists split" by Steve Silver (a chapter in Searchlight magazine's A Century of British Fascism)
- The Skinhead International: United Kingdom (NizkorNizkorNizkor is the names of two organizations:*Nizkor Project, an ongoing Internet-based project run by Ken McVay which is dedicated to countering Holocaust denial....
)