My Life

My Life - Oswald MosleyOswald Mosley walking to public meeting.The second occasion was a meeting at Ridley Road, Dalston, East London, where Iand other speakers had frequently addressed large gatherings in perfect peace andorder ever since the war. East London in the thirties and even at the beginning of thewar was one of the places where I was well known as a speaker and on the best ofterms with the local population, whether they agreed with me or not. In innumerablemeetings before and since the war I had never previously met disorder of any kind inEast London. This time, however, a reception committee was awaiting me from farafield. On arrival at the meeting I found to my surprise that the police had placed twogreen buses across the path to the platform, and that I must walk alone through anarrow aperture between them to reach it. My supporters were thus prevented fromaccompanying me. Directly I emerged from this passage I was set upon by a group ofmen standing near the platform and knocked to the ground, with some of them fallingon top of me in their eagerness to get blow or kick in first. I then saved myself fromserious injury by holding one of them closely on top of me and rolling from side toside with this protection from blows which were imminent with weapons as well aswith fists and boots.This remarkable incident was described by the Press in the following terms: 'SirOswald and his supporters marched through a police cordon to the lorry from whichhe was to speak. As he walked between two police buses, a section of the crowd381 of 424