I Couldn't Paint Golden Angels

Appendix II
On Black Flag collective editorial board from its inception 22 years ago until now. There have been some thirty editors all told, all unpaid, usually a minimum of four at one time. The paper was at various times fortnightly, monthly, and is at present quarterly, though recently it has had some timelag holdups for various reasons. Currently honorary contributing researcher for the Kate Sharpley Library. One of the founders of the Anarchist Black Cross (as reconstituted in the 60's) as a political prisoners support group. A member of the anarcho-syndicalist Solidarity Federation (formerly Direct Action Movement), affiliated to the International Workers Association, and functions secretary of the Red & Black Club, Deptford (a local). Writings include:The Floodgates of Anarchy (with Stuart Christie) The Anarchists in London Anarchism: Arguments For and Against The Origins of the Anarc... (From : Hack.org.)

Appendix I
Appendix I In telling my own story it was necessary to jerk forwards and backwards, not least because of the illegal confiscation of my notebooks and diaries by police on three different occasions, and also to keep a flow to the narrative. For the historical record this chronology of Anglo-Spanish Anarchist associations might be useful. 1934 -- Asturias rising; the last ditch stand at Casas Viejas and first Spanish Prisoners committee in London, whose first secretary was Matilda Green, later Ralph Barr. 1936 -- Civil war and revolution in Spain. Italian group in London begins Spain and the World, editor Vernon Richards. Emma Goldman forms CNT-FAI London Committee and made representative of CNT-FAI Exterior Propaganda London bureau. 1939 -- End of civil war. Formation of Solidaridad Internacional Anti-fascista for aid of refugees; short-lived existence in London organized by... (From : Hack.org.)

Chapter 30 : The Final Curtain
Chapter XXX The Final Curtain A lot of old friends died in recent years. What can one expect? I can no longer snap my fingers at the advance of years. The sell-by date has gone already. I have done my best. Some of my mates had big sendoffs. With some their families had the last word and kept their passing confined to the family circle. Sometimes, in Europe or in Northern Ireland, Catholic and/or Protestant relatives and atheist friends had to battle out their differences. Joe Thomas dying in his eighties of throat cancer, after sixty years of smoking forty cigarettes a day, told me on his deathbed that while that may not have helped, he blamed his employers of thirty years before, as he felt it was due to an old fall down a rickety flight of stairs. He expected an argument to the last. Being related to Britain's No.1. evangelist, Dick Saunders and knowing that at any family ceremony where he couldn't have the last word himself, his brother-in-... (From : Hack.org.)

Chapter 29 : Looking Back; State Over Health; The Slump (Second Act); Act in the Court; Police in the State; Looking Forward
Chapter XXIX Looking Back; State Over Health; The Slump (Second Act); Act in the Court; Police in the State; Looking Forward Looking Back In the dark days of the War the public wanted to be told something of what they were fighting for, rather than against, which even so was not always clear For instance, were they to wipe out the Germans -- all of them -- or just the Nazis? Those who said the former were vociferous admirers of pre-war Germany and later of postwar Germany, but during the war they preferred to discredit ordinary Germans. No such distinction was made between Mikadoist and Japanese -- all "Japs" were blamed equally, which meant the leadership not at all. All the Emperor lost in defeat was his divinity. Was the war perhaps just one sort of fascism against other more virulent breeds? Was it for capitalism and imperialism against capitalism and have-not imperialism? A few thought powerful empires could disintegrate and capit... (From : Hack.org.)

Chapter 28 : My Discovery of Sweden; The Schism; 'Nordic Anarchism': Weekend in Macedonia
Chapter XXVIII My Discovery of Sweden; The Schism; 'Nordic Anarchism'; Weekend in Macedonia My Discovery of Sweden It was as long ago as 1938 that I first contacted the Swedish anarchist movement. From 1938 until 1940 I was the London correspondent of Brand, then under the editorship of C. J. Bjorklund. I fully intended to learn Swedish and keep in contact. I broke off contact for obvious reasons. I postponed learning the language until late 1991, quite a gap for good intentions. Maybe by the time I speak it I will find an angel who speaks only Swedish, or be able to converse with the divine Greta in her own tongue. At the time they translated the articles from English and persuaded me to learn Esperanto instead. I learned it quickly and forgot it quickly. I found this a blind alley, linguists speaking to linguists rather than nations to nations. What I liked about the Swedish movement was the way it recognized anarchism... (From : Hack.org.)

The State's Internal Enemy; Death Pangs of Fleet Street; Spanish Practices; The Battle of Wapping; The Emperor's Courtiers
Chapter XXIII The State's Internal Enemy; Death Pangs of Fleet Street; Spanish Practices; The Battle of Wapping; The Emperor's Courtiers The State's Internal Enemy In a memoir I wrote, The Anarchists in London 1935-55, I digressed to say something of the Welsh miners. In 1938 I spent a weekend in Neath with Sam Mainwaring junior, one of the last active survivors of the heyday of Welsh anarcho-syndicalism. At a meeting of the local ILP I came across an obstreperous group at the back who liked to give hell to visiting "toffee-nosed" English speakers from the Communist and Labor Parties. "Those are the Wrecking Brigade," whispered the chairman. "Take no notice of them." But they were, to my delight, survivors of the formerly strong anarcho-syn... (From : Hack.org.)

The CNT Between Death and Birth; The Re-Birth of the CNT; The Phoney CNT; The Orkneys; Cienfuegos Press; The Wooden Horse
Chapter XVIII The CNT between Death and Birth; The Re-Birth of the CNT; The Phony CNT; The Orkneys; Cienfuegos Press; The Wooden Horse The CNT Between Death and Birth After Franco died in 1975, there was a tremendous sense of elation among the exiles as well as in Spain. Among others, Miguel decided to return to Spain. He went by train with some others, and I followed a few weeks after, on vacation, with the car loaded with books and pamphlets we had printed at the Centro Iberico and with a couple of duplicators. Fortunately I resisted Miguel's insistence I should have a roof rack, which is why I got so far. Even so the car, somewhat on its last legs anyway, would not take the weight. It broke down irretrievably near Toulouse on a Saturday ... (From : Hack.org.)

By the Waters of Babylon; The Battle of Railton Road; International Centres
Chapter XXI By the Waters of Babylon; The Battle of Railton Road; International Centers By the Waters of Babylon When the variety profession was at its height theatrical lodgings in Brixton, roomy houses that had become rooming houses, handily close to the West End and the exit roads from London, had taken over from its middle-class Victorian heritage. Most theater artists made their permanent address in one or other of the myriad bedsitter flats that abounded among the 'pro's digs'. It was a desirable neighborhood when World War Two started, though with a Bohemian undercurrent provided by the variety artists. Abe Ball, who briefly tried working the boards as "Major the trapeze artist", set up as a garden gnome manufacturer and failed. He m... (From : Hack.org.)

On 'Active' Service; the Marquis and the Maquis; the Cairo Mutiny; Bounty on the Mutiny
CHAPTER V On 'Active' Service; the Marquis and the Maquis; the Cairo Mutiny; Bounty on the Mutiny On 'Active' Service We crossed the Channel in early 1946 and took a train, so packed that men were even sleeping on the luggage racks, across France to Marseilles. Our only contact with the outside world was with the dispirited people we saw at stations, and the main thing they were interested in was cigarettes. 'Liberation' had worn off a few months earlier; now, when anyone stole anything, they referred to it as 'being liberated'. We stopped over a day in Marseilles. Most of the draft, young men out of England for the first time, went off looking for the brothels. A couple of KRs attached themselves to me thinking I, with my knowledge of Fren... (From : Hack.org.)

The Shadow of the Tong; The Anarchist Black Cross; Miguel Garcia; Start of "Black Flag"; Towards the Centre; Rise of the Print Empire; Anarchist in Fleet Street; 1986 Again; Doctor's Dilemma
Chapter XIII The Shadow of the Tong; The Anarchist Black Cross; Miguel Garcia; Start of "Black Flag"; Towards the Center; Rise of the Print Empire; Anarchist in Fleet Street; 1986 Again; Doctor's Dilemma The Shadow of the Tong Over the years I had been corresponding with a Chinese friend, Ch'En Chang, who had originally been in London as a medical student before the war. He had returned to China and was always in touch with the what remained of the huge anarchist workers' movement, about which the best-known figure in modern Chinese literature, Pa Chin, had movingly written. That movement had passed through immense struggles with the old Empire, the new Republic, the warlords, the Japanese invaders and now the Communists. His letters had al... (From : Hack.org.)