VSC Earl's Court

Earl’s Court Vietnam Solidarity Campaign (Earl’s Court VSC) was a branch of the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign (VSC) Vietnam Solidarity Campaign (VSC) The Vietnam Solidarity Campaign (VSC) was formed in 1966 as a collaboration between the International Marxist Group and the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation. Though dominated by Trotskyists, the VSC was able to forge broad coalitions across the left through its use of ad-hoc committees to plan specific actions. The VSC’s campaigning activities went into sharp decline in 1969, ceasing to function from October that year. Full page: Vietnam Solidarity Campaign (VSC) , a national organisation that mobilised through local branches and ad hoc committees. Formed in 1968, Earls Court VSC was one of the most active branches in London. Dominated by Maoists, it worked with other branches, such as Notting Hill VSC, that shared its political orientation. 

Earl's Court VSC split from the VSC in September 1968 and realigned itself with the British Vietnam Solidarity Front (BVSF). Britain Vietnam Solidarity Front (BVSF) The Britain Vietnam Solidarity Front (BVSF) was a Maoist group that existed from June 1966 to 1973, though its activities were in serious decline after the height of the protests in 1968. It was founded in parallel with the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign (VSC) after Abhimanyu Manchanda staged at walkout at the latter’s founding conference, reconvening to hall nearby to organise under an alternative name and with closer ties to Maoism. Full page: Britain Vietnam Solidarity Front (BVSF)  It was targeted by numerous undercovers. HN218 Barry Moss 'Barry Morris' HN218 Barry Moss 'Barry Morris' HN218 is the nominal given to SDS officer Barry Moss 'Barry Morris', who spied on the October 27th Committee for Solidarity with Vietnam and Vietnam Solidarity Campaign during his short deployment in 1968. He later returned as Detective Chief Inspector in charge of SDS operations in February/March 1980, eventually rising to become Commander of Special Branch in October 1996. He retired in 1999. Full page: HN218 Barry Moss 'Barry Morris'  and HN335 Michael Tyrrell HN335 Mike Tyrrell HN335 Michael 'Mike' Paul Tyrrell was an early SDS undercover who infiltrated the Earls Court branch of the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign; Britain Vietnam Solidarity Front; Revolutionary Socialist Students Federation; West London Palestine Solidarity Campaign and connected Maoist groups from September 1968 to February 1970. Now dead, he has been given the nominal HN335 in the Undercover Policing Inquiry. His cover name is unknown and was not recalled by other undercovers. Full page: HN335 Mike Tyrrell  infiltrated the group. It was also reported on by HN68 'Sean Lynch' HN68 ‘Sean Lynch’ HN68 ‘Sean Lynch’ was the cover name used by a former Special Demonstration Squad undercover officer deployed between 1968 and 1974 into groups related to political violence in Northern Ireland. He held a managerial position as second-in-command of the SDS between 1981 and 1983 and retired from the Metropolitan Police in 1993. He is dead. Full page: HN68 ‘Sean Lynch’ , HN318 Ray Wilson HN318 Ray Wilson Raymond ‘Ray’ Wilson was a Special Branch officer from 1956 to 1984. He joined the SDS in 1968 and reported on groups during the build-up to the 27 October 1968 anti-Vietnam war demonstration. In 1980 he became chief superintendent of S Squad with oversight of the SDS. He is dead. Full page: HN318 Ray Wilson , HN322 HN322 HN322 was born in the late 1940s, joined the Metropolitan Police in the early 1960s and served in the SDS for five weeks between October and December 1968, but was never deployed into any group. After leaving the SDS he continued his career in Special Branch. He retired in 1998 at the rank of detective inspector. Full page: HN322 , HN327 David Fisher HN327 David Fisher HN327 Dave Fisher joined the Metropolitan Police on 30 June 1952 aged 20, and Special Branch as a Police Constable on 10 October 1955. Already involved in surveilling the Notting Hill branch of the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign branch before the creation of the SDS, he spied on various anti-Vietnam war groups and on activist Tariq Ali between August and October 1968. He is dead and his cover name is not known, but his real name and photo have been released by the Inquiry. Full page: HN327 David Fisher , HN331 HN331 HN331 was an undercover officer in the SDS who infiltrated the Notting Hill and Earl’s Court branches of the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign between August and December 1968, as well as two meetings of LSE students in the run up to the 27 October 1968 anti-Vietnam war demonstration. He died in a road traffic accident in the 1970s and his cover name has been lost. HN331’s real name was restricted by Inquiry Chair John Mitting. Full page: HN331  and HN334 'Margaret White'. HN334 'Margaret White' 'Margaret White' was the cover name of Woman Detective Constable HN334, who was an SDS undercover officer between August and November 1968. She attended meetings of various branches of the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign (VSC) and International Socialists before infiltrating the Havering branch of the VSC alongside HN330 'Don de Freitas'. To do so, White and de Freitas posed as a couple. Full page: HN334 'Margaret White'   

Earl’s Court VSC did a large amount of public activity, holding regular meetings and street protests in 1968. Much of its reported organisational activity took place around the Troubadour Cafe on Old Brompton Road, SW5.

The SDS used the Earl’s Court VSC as a vehicle to gain access to the BVSF and the October 27th Committee for Solidarity with Vietnam, which the BSVF used to mobilise separately from the VSC for the big October demonstration in 1968. 

In the infiltration of the Earl’s Court we can see a particular SDS tactic take shape, using one UCO as part of the cover story for another. Before leaving in late September 1968, 'Barry Morris' introduced HN335 Michael Tyrrell to the group, as his 'best pal'. First Witness Statement of HN218 Barry Morris, given in the UCPI, Tranche 1, Phase 1, 7 Jan 2019.View Document  

The two UCOs attended a branch meeting together in September 1968 and from then on Tyrrell took the lead on the infiltration of other Maoist-influenced groups such as the Revolutionary Socialist Students Federation Revolutionary Socialist Students Federation (RSSF) The Revolutionary Socialist Students Federation (RSSF) was founded in London in June 1968 and active until the end of 1969. Although short-lived, the RSSF created a national organisation, was central to the Vietnam war protests in universities and developed a critique of higher education. Several SDS undercover officers directly targeted the RSSF from July 1968. Full page: Revolutionary Socialist Students Federation (RSSF)  and the Revolutionary Marxist-Leninist League Revolutionary Marxist-Leninist League (RMLL)  The Revolutionary Marxist-Leninist League (RMLL) was a small Maoist political party instigated by Abhimanyu Manchanda in 1968 after his expulsion from the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1965. There were a number of other organisations closely related to it, such as the British Vietnam Solidarity Front, Friends of China, and the Women’s Liberation Front. The RMLL was targeted by HN335 Mike Tyrrell, HN45 ‘Dave Robertson’ and HN348 ‘Sandra Davies’. Full page: Revolutionary Marxist-Leninist League (RMLL)  , as well as BVSF and Earl’s Court VSC.

Sources

Dónal O’Driscoll. 1968 – Protest and Special Branch part 1: Overview and political groups of 1966-1969. Donal O'Driscoll, 1968 – Protest and Special Branch part 4: Infiltration by the Special Demonstration Squad, Special Branch Files, 14 Apr 2018.