DEMONSTRATORS BESIEGE THE AMERICAN EMBASSY
By Ernest Tate
London
Thousands of persons marched through the streets of the fashionable West End October 22 to register their opposition to American aggression in Vietnam. It was one of the largest and most militant demonstrations to hit Britain since the beginning of the escalation.
More than forty policemen were injured -- one suffered a broken leg and several were carried away unconscious -in a pitched battle that raged several hours in front of the American embassy in Grosvenor Square.
The demonstration, which the police said they estimated to be around 7,000 but which appeared to be closer to 10,000, was called and organized by the October 22 Ad Hoc Committee in response to the appeal sent out last summer by the National Mobilization Committee in the United States. The committee appealed for international solidarity demonstrations to coincide with the Washington action.
The Ad Hoc Committee is a coalition of groups and political tendencies that includes Maoists, Trotskyists and Labour party constituencies of the British left. It is headed up by the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign as the main organizing force.
Every radical tendency except one was represented in the march.* Communist party branches were out, as were branches of the Young Communist League with their banners. There was high representation of people from the colonial world.
Everyone was free to carry whatever slogan he wished.
The demonstration started in Tra-
*The exception was the Socialist Labour League which boycotted the demonstration. This ultraleft grouping claims to be Trotskyist but has an abysmal record when it comes to defending the colonial revolution.
falgar Square and first marched along the Strand to the Australian embassy where a deputation of Australians handed in a protest petition. It proceeded along the Embankment to Whitehall.
Unlike most antiwar demonstrations that usually march three or four abreast, and are stretched out, in conformity with police requests, this one very quickly built up to a solid mass of people, filling the entire street and stopping all traffic.
The throng chanted, "Hands off Vietnam," accompanying the chant with rhythmic handclapping and slapping the backs of placards. Some shouted, "Che Guevara," and many posters bore his name. A popular cry was in the traditional style of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, “American troops in Vietnam, Out!"
The march was organized around the slogan of "U.S. Get Out of Vietnam Now! -- Protest the Labour Government's Conmplicity in U.S. Aggression!"
By the time the march reached Downing Street in Whitehall, the residence of the prime minister, the police had lost control. Fights broke out and firecrackers were thrown at the police. Attempts were made by the demonstrators to break through the police lines protecting the entrance to Harold Wilson's residence.
Onward the march surged. Around Trafalgar Square and Lower Regents Street, police who tried to channel the marchers into a narrower column, found themselves isolated and swamped.
By the time Oxford Street was reached, the police had abandoned the march, sending the bulk of their forces to Grosvenor Square to await the coming struggle in front of the American embassy. So heavy was the crowd that many onlookers were caught up by the general enthusiasm and joined in. All traffic was immobilized.
More than 500 police, some of them mounted, confronted the marchers when they reached Grosvenor Square. There was a temporary halt and some confusion as many wondered what to do next.
Instinctively the crowd concentrated at one point in the police line. A tremendous heave and a small breakthrough occurred.
Several young people were arrested, but fights developed to rescue them.
Quickly the mass of the demonstrators surged through onto the park that faces the embassy. Both foot and mounted police retreated out of the park, falling back to the steps where they hoped to pro-
tect the embassy from the onslaught. Only
a small hedge of bushes separated them
from the crowd.
The bushes were soon trampled to
the ground as the crowd grappled with the
police. Missiles were thrown by the dem-
onstrators and some of the police fell.
Clumps of earth and rocks taken from the
landscaped lawn hurtlied toward the em-
bassy. Windows were shattered. People
climbed on top of cars parked along the
street to jeer the police and car tops
caved from tne weight.
Police on horseback continually
charged the demonstrators. They regrouped
after the charge and moved forward again.
At one point the crowd pressed to within
yards of the building only to be pushed
back by ranks of police, advancing arms
linked.
For a time, the demonstrators had
control of the square. As one veteran
militant put it, it was the first time in
decades that the police had been defeated
in an antiwar demonstration.
Park benches were dismantled and
used as weapons. Banners and placards
were torn apart and used similarly. The
battle went on until dusk.
A number of demonstrators fell
under the blows of the police as they
counterattacked. Twelve were taken to the
hospital, several with blood running down
their faces.
The mood of solidarity was such
that when a demonstrator was unfortunate
enough to fall into the clutches of the
police, he was in many instances rescued
by the crowd. Fights broke out around
police wagons as attempts were made to
free those who had been arrested and
placed inside. Often single policemen
were isolated and surrounded. A police
dog and its handler were badly mauled.
Helmets flew in all directions.
Police reinforcements began to
arrive and the demonstrators started to
draw back. Finally a breach was opened
in the ranks of the crowd and mounted
police again entered the square to har-
rass the demonstrators from the rear.
Slowly the crowd retreated. Police
on foot entered the park and began to
clear it. Others searched for their hel-
mets. Finally the main body of the remain-
ing crowd was forced out of the square
altogether.
The night's activity ended when a
group of some 300 demonstrators returned
to busy Oxford Street where they staged a
sitdown. It was here that the bulk of the
arrests took place.
It has been argued that clear, militant slogans inevitably repel most people and cannot rally big forces. This demonstration showed how mistaken this view is.
During the weekend, other peace groups, including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the Committee of 100 and the British Council for Peace in Vietnam, which is influenced by the Communist party, held activities. But the results
could not compare with those of the demon-
stration that ended up at the American
embassy.
Organizers of this demonstration
say that they are going to redouble their
efforts to bring all the groups together
in one united protest action against the
war being waged by the U.S. in Vietnam.
The new mood of enthusiasm would suggest
that they will be successful in this ain.