Blood & Honour: Difference between revisions

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==History==
Blood & Honour formed in 1987 as a breakaway group from the White Noise Club. Established in 1986, the White Noise Club was a subsidiary organisation of the [[National Front (UK)|National Front]] responsible for organising [[Rock Against Communism]] concerts, operating the White Noise Records label, and publishing a zine called ''White Noise'', thereby generating significant revenue for the National Front's political operations.<ref>{{Citation |last=Shaffer |first=Ryan |title=Music, Youth and International Links in Post-War British Fascism |date=2017 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59668-6_1 |pages=117–118 |access-date=2023-10-22 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=978-3-319-59667-9}}</ref>
The roots of Blood & Honour go back to 1977 in the [[United Kingdom]], when the [[White nationalism|white nationalist]] [[British National Front|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. [[Ian Stuart Donaldson]], Skrewdriver's singer, was a founder of Blood & Honour and one of its prominent leaders until his death in 1993. [[Nicky Crane]] was a co-founder.<ref name=Storm>{{cite web |url=http://www.bloodandhonourworldwide.co.uk/home1.html |title=When the Storm Breaks! |publisher=Blood & Honour |access-date=28 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625201704/http://www.bloodandhonourworldwide.co.uk/home1.html |archive-date=25 June 2013 }}</ref> With the aid of the NF, the White Noise Club (WNC) organised concerts under the RAC name, and the RAC movement grew throughout 1983 and 1984.
 
Ian Stuart Donaldson, whose band [[Skrewdriver]] had been the flagship act of the National Front's Rock Against Communism movement, split from the National Front and denounced the White Noise Club as a "corrupt rip-off" in the first edition of ''Blood & Honour'' magazine, distributed free of charge to members of the White Noise Club and Skrewdriver's mailing lists in July of 1987.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Forbes |first=Robert |title=The White Nationalist Skinhead Movement: UK & USA, 1979 - 1993 |last2=Stampton |first2=Eddie |publisher=[[Feral House]] |year=2015 |isbn=9781627310246 |pages=253}}</ref> Donaldson was supported in his new venture by [[Nicky Crane]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dyck |first=Kirsten |title=Reichsrock: The International Web of White-Power and Neo-Nazi Hate Music |publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]] |year=2016 |isbn=9780813574738 |pages=19}}</ref> and the bands [[No Remorse (band)|No Remorse]], Brutal Attack, and Sudden Impact, and Squadron, who had previously been affiliated with the White Noise Club.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Raposo |first=Ana |last2=Bestley |first2=Russ |date=2020-11-01 |title=Designing fascism: The evolution of a neo-Nazi punk aesthetic |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1386/punk_00039_1 |journal=Punk &amp; Post-Punk |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=467–498 |doi=10.1386/punk_00039_1 |issn=2044-1983}}</ref> Blood & Honour's inaugural concert was held at the St Helier Arms on the 5th of September, 1987, and featured performances from Skrewdriver, No Remorse, Brutal Attack, and Sudden Impact.<ref>Forbes and Stampton, ''The White Nationalist Skinhead Movement'', p. 257.</ref>
In 1986, the NF split into two factions, and around this time, it was discovered that the WNC had been defrauding bands and concert-goers. Several bands left the WNC, including Skrewdriver, [[No Remorse (band)|No Remorse]], Sudden Impact and Brutal Attack. Donaldson decided to break away from the WNC and organise concerts for the NF, so he founded Blood & Honour. By June 1987, with the help of other white power bands, Blood & Honour was launched, along with a magazine of the same name.<ref name="soundtrack">{{cite journal|title =The soundtrack of neo-fascism: youth and music in the National Front |journal=Patterns of Prejudice |doi=10.1080/0031322X.2013.842289 |volume=47 |issue=4–5 |pages=458–482|year = 2013|last1 = Shaffer|first1 = Ryan|s2cid=144461518 }}</ref> A concert was held in Morden, Surrey, to commemorate this launch on 5 September, with Skrewdriver, Brutal Attack, Sudden Impact and No Remorse playing to a crowd of 500, including French, Italian and German supporters.<ref name=Skrewdriver>''Skrewdriver Rockumentary 1977 to 1993 - From Punk to Patriotism''. Midgard Records (Sweden). 2000.</ref><ref name=diamond>{{cite web |url=http://www.skrewdriver.net/diamond.html |title=Diamond In The Dust |publisher=Skrewdriver.net |access-date=28 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427195147/http://www.skrewdriver.net/diamond.html |archive-date=27 April 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
 
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, T-shirts and flags; [[Ulster loyalism|Loyalist]] music tapes; and [[Swastika]] pendants.<ref name="Skrewdriver">''Skrewdriver Rockumentary 1977 to 1993 - From Punk to Patriotism''. Midgard Records (Sweden). 2000.</ref>
The name was derived from the motto of the [[Hitler Youth]], or HJ, ''Blut und Ehre'', and a song of the same name by the White power band [[Skrewdriver]].<ref name=symbols>{{Cite web
|url = http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/neo-nazi_skull.asp
|title = Hate On Display: Neo-Nazi Skull and Crossbones
|access-date = 28 June 2013
|publisher = [[Anti-Defamation League]]
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130121084719/http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/neo-nazi_skull.asp
|archive-date = 21 January 2013
}}</ref> and [[Afrikaner_Weerstandsbeweging|AWB]]-style [[triskele]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Hate On Display: Triskele|url=http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/neo-nazi_three_sevens.asp|publisher=[[Anti-Defamation League]]|access-date=28 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111133717/http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/neo-nazi_three_sevens.asp|archive-date=2012-01-11|url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
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, Donaldson 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 & Honour supporters who had journeyed from abroad were turned back at ports in Folkestone and Dover. The Blood & Honour supporters clashed with [[anti-fascism|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".<ref name="diamond">{{cite web |title=Diamond In The Dust |url=http://www.skrewdriver.net/diamond.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427195147/http://www.skrewdriver.net/diamond.html |archive-date=27 April 2009 |access-date=28 June 2013 |publisher=Skrewdriver.net}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Reilly |first=Joe |url=http://www.redaction.org/anti-fascism/it_woz_afa.html |title=It Woz AFA Wot Done It! |journal=Red Action |volume=3 |issue=6 |date=April–May 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512054729/http://www.redaction.org/anti-fascism/it_woz_afa.html |archive-date=12 May 2008}}</ref>
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, T-shirts and flags; [[Ulster loyalism|Loyalist]] music tapes; and [[Swastika]] pendants.<ref name=Skrewdriver/>
 
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, Donaldson 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 & Honour supporters who had journeyed from abroad were turned back at ports in Folkestone and Dover. The Blood & Honour supporters clashed with [[anti-fascism|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".<ref name=diamond/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Reilly |first=Joe |url=http://www.redaction.org/anti-fascism/it_woz_afa.html |title=It Woz AFA Wot Done It! |journal=Red Action |volume=3 |issue=6 |date=April–May 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512054729/http://www.redaction.org/anti-fascism/it_woz_afa.html |archive-date=12 May 2008}}</ref>
 
In 1992, the newly formed Midlands division organised the annual Blood & Honour ''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, the 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. It was the biggest police operation in the area since the Miners strikes in the early 1980s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Skrewdriver-Rockumentary-1977-1993/release/4290018|title=Skrewdriver - Rockumentary 1977-1993|website=Discogs|access-date=12 December 2017|archive-date=24 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424001650/https://www.discogs.com/Skrewdriver-Rockumentary-1977-1993/release/4290018|url-status=live}}</ref>
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==Description and symbolism==
 
The group is composed of [[White Nationalism|White Nationalists]] and has links to [[Combat 18]].<ref name="Storm">{{cite web |title=When the Storm Breaks! |url=http://www.bloodandhonourworldwide.co.uk/home1.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625201704/http://www.bloodandhonourworldwide.co.uk/home1.html |archive-date=25 June 2013 |access-date=28 June 2013 |publisher=Blood & Honour}}</ref> Its official website self-describes as a "musical based resistance network" and dubs its "global confederacy of freedom fighters" Brotherhood 28.<ref>{{cite web | title=[Home] | website=Blood & Honour | date=2 April 1988 | url=https://www.bloodandhonourworldwide.co.uk/bhww/ | access-date=3 April 2021 | archive-date=29 August 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829143028/https://www.bloodandhonourworldwide.co.uk/bhww/ | url-status=live }}</ref>
 
Sometimes the code ''28'' is used to represent Blood & Honour, derived from the second and eighth letters of the [[Latin alphabet]], B and H. Though different national chapters of Blood & Honour use different Nationalist symbols based on their location, common symbolic traits include the usage of a modernised [[Blackletter]] script, colours of the [[Flag of Germany#Nazi Germany|Nazi German flag]], and other [[Nazi symbolism]], including the [[Totenkopf]] Death's Head insignia of the [[SS-Totenkopfverbände]] and [[concentration camp]] units.<ref name="symbols">{{Cite web |title=Hate On Display: Neo-Nazi Skull and Crossbones |url=http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/neo-nazi_skull.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121084719/http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/neo-nazi_skull.asp |archive-date=21 January 2013 |access-date=28 June 2013 |publisher=[[Anti-Defamation League]]}}</ref>
 
==International groups==