Starting out from South Wales on 8 November 1927, 270 men from mining communities across the region marched for London in protest of the poor provisions unemployed miners and their families received from the Ministry of Health.
The march was called for during a demonstration on Penrhys Mountain ,18 September 1927 — 'Red Sunday in Rhondda Valley'. by Arthur James Cook better known as A.J.Cook, who was General Secretary of the Miners Federation of Great Britain at the time - the forerunner of the NUM - from 1924 until 1931, a period that included the General Strike of 1926.
Born in Somerset, Cook was a farm hand and Baptist lay preacher before becoming a miner in the Rhondda who his education in the Central Labour College and became agent to the miners. He achieved folk hero status during the 1926 General Strike when he coined the phrase ‘not a penny off the pay, not a second on the day’.
During the 1920's and 1930's the United Kingdoms government’s apparent lack of ability to help with the plight of the unemployed led many people to turn to protest. The people living in South Wales in particular were becoming more militant the longer they dealt with the crippling effects of the depression. To some it seemed the government was indifferent to the struggles faced and protesting in the areas they lived appeared to be having little impact. As a result, the protesting was widened and many marches to London were organised to confront the government.
The march in November 1927 coincided with the opening of Parliament was particularly focused on the growing destitution in Britain's coalfields, also highlighting the severe poverty experienced by miners and their families. which had intensified after the 1926 General Strike, with with each marcher carrying a miner's safety lamp.
The march was however was not officially supported by the Labour Party, the TUC or even the South Wales Miners' Union. And was met with hostility, from the trades unions, press and government. The main reason for this was the close links between the National Unemployed Workers' Movement, that helped organise the march, and the Communist Party.
As a result, local Labour organizations were instructed not to assist the Hunger Marchers, although this ban was difficult to enforce on the ground.
The (NUWM) which was formed in 1921 campaigned for better support for the unemployed and against the Means Test. Significantly one of its aims and objects was “To create the united front of employed and unemployed workers against all attempts of the employing class to use the unemployed to lower working class standards and conditions …”
Under its charismatic communist leader 'Wal' (Walter) Hannington the NUWM organised a series of national hunger marches from all corners of Britain to London in 1922, 1927, 1930, 1932, 1934 alongside the more well known Jarrow Crusade of 1936.
'Wal' (Walter) Hannington
The Jarrow Crusade, in which 200 unemployed men marched to London calling for government intervention to restore jobs, unsuccessful at the time, did at least help shape postwar attitudes to employment and social justice.
Hannington, also published a number of still influential books and pamphlets on these events.
Arriving on November 20, 1927, presenting a petition to Parliament to highlight the poverty and suffering in the mining valleys, it is remembered for its "worker's army" spirit and tragic outcome, with two men dying during the journey. Arthur Howe from Trealaw in a traffic accident and John Supple from Tonyrefail who died of pneumonia following the rally in Trafalgar Square.
He wrote the following in his last letter to his wife, 'Don't worry about me. Think of me as a soldier in the Workers' Army. Remember that I have marched for you and others in want.'
A song sung by the marchers, 'A Rhondda Rebel Song (to the tune of Cwm Rhondda)' echoing James Connolly's Rebel Song was later released in memory of the two men who died;
Workers of all lands united,
Marching onwards steadfast, true,
Hopes of Kings and Tyrants blighted,
We shall build this world anew,
Long live Freedom! Long live Freedom!
Chains are shattered, we are free.
The march despite official hostility, gained support from every Trades Council in every town and village they passed through which included Pontypridd, Newport, Bristol, Bath, Chippenham and Swindon.
Though the march didn’t end the hardship and hunger - that continued into the 1930s and and beyond, the Second World War, it did make its mark and succeeded in drawing attention to the terrible conditions in the mining areas, and subsequently more hunger marches were organised as the economic situation deteriorated still further.
Following further cuts to unemployment benefit in August 1931, a South Wales Hunger March was also organised that ended at the TUC conference held that September in Bristol.
At least 112 men and women walked to Bristol, where they were refused a hearing by the TUC and their march was broken up by mounted police using batons.
Despite this, the marches continued in south Wales – still organised by the NUMW, but more localised, with the aim of putting pressure on the local authorities implementing the government's policies. Marches to London continued, with 375 marchers from south Wales joining a mass march of over two and a half thousand from various parts of Britain to London in October 1932. The intention on this occasion was to present a petition to Parliament on 1 November, but they met with the same hostility as before.
Although historians are divided about how successful these national protest marches between the world wars were, there can be little doubt that they had a political impact and offered unemployed miners and others an outlet for making themselves heard and soliciting support, while serving as powerful, politically charged protests against government austerity and neglect.
We should continue to take inspiration and lessons from the heroic unemployed miners struggles and the hunger marches as we face our own different struggles today. Nearly 100 years later, in the face of plummeting living standards, trade unionists and their allies are again marching to campaign against hunger and the cost-of-living crisis.
Unemployed Miners March (1927)
