Non Violent Direct Action

Many years ago in the days of the Reagan presidency in the United States. When Thatcher was the Prime Minister here in the UK. Reagan began talking about fighting a “limited nuclear war in Europe” arrangements began to be made to site cruise weapons, with nuclear warheads in the 141 US military installations in the UK. These weapons were highly mobile and could be launched from a truck.

Many of us in the UK were appalled, there could never be a limited nuclear attack, the fall out would surely pollute many areas of Europe besides which if the weapons were launched from the UK where would the Russians direct their counter attack? Was Britain really going to be used as a missile carrier for the US? Did we in the UK want weapons that we had no control over deployed here?

My answer was Hell No! Not if I could do anything about it! I joined CND and quickly became secretary for my local group, we demonstrated, marched and sang, a group set up a peace camp at Greenham Common, which was not far from where I lived, the camp, for various reasons quickly became a women only camp and I decided that I wanted to take my protest against US cruise weapons being deployed in the UK a stage further. With the support of my local CND group I took my eighteen month old son to live at Greenham Common Peace camp.

I was here that I learned about Non Violent Direct Action, we broke into the base regularly, held picnics on the silos that were built and ready for the weapons, we held a full exorcism ceremony in the base one night, common land was once open to all, to gather firewood or to put animals to graze but was fenced off and sold in the 1820’s and is said to be cursed because of this:

They hang the man and flog the woman

That steals the goose from the common

But let the greater criminal loose

That steals the common from the goose

We held a Dragon Festival, each CND group made a section of the dragons tail and I can remember watching as the very long dragons tail, with messages of hope and peace was carried past. That day the women who lived at the camp wandered through the demonstrators and, as we chatted, invited women who we thought could be trusted to a meeting in the huge tent we had hired.

At the meeting women were asked if they wanted to come into the base, were told that they would be arrested, of the rough handling they could expect from the police if they were to come in with us. The point that we were making was that the bases were not secure and that if we as a bunch of housewives could get in, what could trained and equipped people do there? Women who decided they did want to be involved could identify the peace camp women who would take them in – we would be carrying a bucket and a pair of marigolds!

Thatcher’s government were determined not to be embarrassed by a group of women so they bought in the West Highland Regiment and posted soldiers every twenty feet on the inside of the perimeter fence, there was concern as to whether the soldiers would actually shoot at us, So it had been one of my tasks, previously, to talk to the soldiers and see which way the wind blew, I had great fun walking the perimeter fence chatting to the soldiers and was enormously relieved that the answer to my question “Will you shoot at us?” had always been that a British soldier would never shoot at a British woman on British soil.

A place had been chosen to enter the camp, it was several miles away but as the break in to the camp was to be late at night we had time to make our way there. We left the meeting with our buckets and marigolds and women followed us out and into the sunshine. A helicopter buzzed us but we were just women on latrine duty, having a clean up, as women do, the soldiers were still there but relaxed, the festival atmosphere of the day, colourful banners, singing and the sunshine had left a mellowness in the air.

We made our way around the fence to the blue gate where we were to gather and wait until dark. The camp at the blue gate was more secluded, further into the woods than the other gates and less easy for the police or soldiers to watch.

It grew dark and quiet; women around the campfire sang peace songs and blessings to Mother Earth. Finally, it was time I was to bring my group, quietly we were guided to our waiting place in the wood, very close to the fence, the aim was to take as many women in as we could that night so we waited again as other women were brought in.

Four women who each had a pair of bolt cutters were given the task of cutting a line in the fence, to make a square hole as quickly as possible. As soon as they emerged from the woods the soldier there raised the alarm.

Razor wire had been laid on the ground inside the fence so women had to clamber through the fence up through the razor wire and out into the air base. I climbed through the hole and was helped through the razor wire and turned to help other women through. Pinkie, a woman who lived at the camp was heavily pregnant, her belly filled the circle of razor wire and she froze, without thinking I turned to the soldier and said “Help her she’s pregnant” and to my amazement he lifted her out of the wire into the base. Many more women followed her through.

By this time there were helicopters, lights, shouting and the Ministry of Defence police arrived. However, in this confusion our plan was clear and we had another roll of razor wire to get through. We ran to it and threw a piece of carpet over, women helped others over as quickly as we could and we ran again, to the runway our destination. Paint and brushes were produced women painted the runway with signs and symbols as evidence of our entry.

Eighty women broke into Greenham Common air base that night, most of whom had never done anything remotely criminal in their lives before, we were rounded up by the MOD police and taken to their station where our names were taken and questions were asked, finally as it was getting light we were taken to a remote gate at the air base and released.

This incident was never reported in the press.

Times have moved on, and oh how innocent those far off days now seem, now we are more fragmented, there is so much to protest about, sometimes it’s hard to know where to begin, true we have the internet now, however people are more brainwashed, happier to close themselves off, stay at home and watch the TV.

Here in the UK the government are about to bring in all sorts of measures that will affect peoples lives, we are in huge debt because the government gave all our money to the banks. Inflation is high, food and energy prices, already high are set to rise again. Wages are frozen and redundancies threatened. Perhaps it is time for people to stand up, we are certainly being pushed and pushed again.

Non Violent Direct Action is not peaceful protest; it is about taking our protest to our own individual limitations what ever they may be. Non Violent yes, but realising that the forces you may come against will not be non violent, they will be aggressive, armed this time with pepper spray, tazers and guns and we will be taking them along with ourselves to the limit where ever that may be.

It’s not time for action yet, but it is time to think about what actions we are prepared to take, what our own personal limits are. How far we will go?

For action there must be………….