combat 18

COMBAT 18 IN THE UK

Origins and epistemology

British neo-Nazi organisation born in 1992

18: 1 = A , 8 = H

Adolph Hitler

Slogan and creator

“Oderint Dum Metuant”

Creator: Charlie Sargent

Combat 18 and Blood & Honour

Created in 1987

“White power”

Main targets

Redwatch magazine: names, addresses andphotographs of political enemies

“Invading” immigrants

Communists and socialists

Own members of C18

Other factions of the right-wing

Unattractive organisation

“It would be a lie to think that we are attractiveto most people, because we’re not. We arewhat we are. We don’t pretend we aresomethingwe’re not”

Charlie Sargent

Main members: young people from the SouthEast of England; ultra-violent footballhooligans; “white powers” skinheads; somedrug dealers.

Short alliance with the BNP

Different conception of politics:

“Nation pride” vs. “racial pride”

Strategy of “leaderless resistance”

Small cells of activists operating autonomously

Two real factions:

Charlie Sargent’s: most important political groupin the extreme right

“The Beast” Browning: terrorist actions

Do you think this kind of groups may be ledby a main character, or do they workautonomously? Can these people, whousually act with irrational feelings, be reallycontrolled by the guidelines given by aleader?

Murder of Christopher Castle “Catford Chris”

Deal between Sargent and Browning: list ofC18 members in exchange of money

“Catford Chris” as intermediary

Martin Cross, Sargent’s political partner, killshim

Post Sargent’s C18 history

Detentions of many relevant people:Sargent’s brother, David Myatt, two Britishsoldiers…

C18 actions today: more racial than political

Most relevants attacks

Harassment of an Asiatic family in Essex

Several attacks to Ross Fraser, editor of theChelsea Independent Football fanzine whoclaimed against racism in football

Nowadays England is a country that receivesa big quantity of immigrants, but the origin ofthese people is more diverse now:

Is it possible for this group to change its ideologyof “racial pride” for one closer to “English pride”because of the economic crisis and the newimmigration from Western Europe countries?

B & H

White-power music promotion network and political movement

Roots go back in 1977 and the Rock Against Communism (RAC)movement, in response to the Anti-Nazi League’s Rock AgainstRacism

Named from the motto of Hitler Youth “Blut und Ehre”, sometimesrepresented by the code “28” or simply referred as BH

Homonym movements in other countries

Subdivisions like the White Noise Group (WNC)

Skrewdriver

A skinhead rock band founded by Ian Stuart Donaldson (the othermembers being Phil Walmsley, Ron Hartley, Kevin McKay and John“Grinny” Grinton) in Poulton-le-Fylde in 1976.

Originally non-political and non-racist, but disbanded and changedmembers when Donaldson reformed it

Evolved to a white power band with their second album “Hail theNew Dawn” and became one of the most influential white powerbands in the world

In 1980, played a major part in BH and RAC’s revival

Legacy

Ian Stuart Donaldson important leader of BH until his death (1993)

One of the “official sites” of Combat 18 is named skrewdriver.net

The lyrics from Skrewdriver’s songs are often quoted by C-18 in theirpropaganda, as if Donaldson was an ideologist 9he is indeed a iconicfigure)

“See you in Valhalla” : commonly used by C-18 when paying tributeto a dead or soon-to-be-dead comrade ; comes from a 1989 albumby the neo-nazi band No Remorse where Donaldson played a part.

Originally a quote from Luftwaffe ace Heinrich Ehrler just beforeusing his own aircraft as a ram against his final opponent (having ranout of ammo)

If you want to listen...

Non-exhaustive list of English-speaking neo-Nazi bands : TheKlansmen, White Diamond, No Remorse, Skullhead, Prussian Blue,Brutal Attack, Sudden Impact, Razors Edge, RaHoWa…

Musical overview (of Skrewdriver and other groups)

Not very creative concerning the lyrics ; always the same vocabulary

Propaganda by repetition (classical hype technique), their clips aresupposed to be a praise of their action and a profession of faithaiming to recruit and strengthen the bonds in the group

Lyrics often easy to remember, few need of special references :address to a public as large as possible

Rash language : show of manliness

Most clips are "combat hymns", very energetic, or “nostalgic”

3 non-exclusive aims : self-glorification (race, nation, group…), call tothe arms, hate-swelling

Do you think that the music has such a greatinfluence on the group'srecruitment, cohesion and survival ?

Common Lexicon and Symbols

Share a great deal of common vocabulary and symbols with the KKKand other infamous white supremacist groups

ZOG : their fantasized archnemesis, the Zionist OccupationGovernment, illustrating their paranoid tendencies

Aryan Race and the War of Races : no comment, you know what itmeans

The Invisible Empire : all of their brothers and sisters fighters andorganizations all around the world, term originated from the KKK

Numerous references to German and Norse paganism, following theNazi trend

So many symbols, from so many origins, let’s see…

Pretty, isn’t it ?

Marvellous Internet

Blood and Honour is outlaw in several countries : Germany(2000), Spain (2011), Russia (2012), but you can still find the music onthe internet

Skrewdriver.net hosts numerical copies of Mein Kampf and TheTurner Diaries and other texts, tributes to Ian Stuart , works fromand links to other organizations in Greece, Poland, Scandinavia…

There are also several practical guides and ideological statementsand professions of faith (even a kind of “Stay healthy with the neo-Nazis”)

Do you think Internet and the "cultural"references are important for the group, orwould it be just as strong without that ?