Uncovering the 80’s: What was it really like? THE BATTLE OF ORGREAVE
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Podcasts:
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGh vbmUuZm0vU1BPVDE1MTk3NTg5OTI/episode/NTM1YmUwOTQtOWM2Ny 0xMWVhLWE2ZjQtYTdmZjI0MzIxZmQ2 - Today in True Crime
https://anchor.fm/andy-pearson/episodes/The-Miners-strike-of-1984- and-the-Battle-of-Orgreave-et77nm (Interview Based) - Unite Oral History
Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U82lwe7GHM – BBC Inside Out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn7DZSagDI4&t=1s – The Battle for Orgreave - BFI Basic Information about the Battle of Orgreave
The Battle of Orgreave was a violent confrontation on 18 June 1984 between pickets and officers of the South Yorkshire Police (SYP) and other police forces at a British Steel Corporation (BSC) coking plant at Orgreave, in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. (1) The pictures of miners and police officers fighting shocked TV viewers. The number of officers was unprecedented. The use of dogs, horses and riot gear in an industrial dispute was almost unheard of. Some of the tactics were learned from the police in Northern Ireland and Hong Kong who had experience dealing with violent disorder. (2) The confrontation, between about 5,000 miners and the same number of police, broke into violence after police on horseback charged with truncheons drawn – 51 pickets and 72 policemen were injured (3) What led to the Battle of Orgreave?
The miners' strike of 1984–85 was a major industrial action to shut down the British coal industry in an attempt to prevent colliery closures. It was led by Arthur Scargill of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) against the National Coal Board (NCB), a government agency. Opposition to the strike was led by the Conservative government of the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, who wanted to reduce the power of the trade unions. (3)
On 6 March 1984, the NCB announced that the agreement reached after the 1974 strike was obsolete, and that to reduce government subsidies, 20 collieries would close with a loss of 20,000 jobs. (3) What happened during the Battle of Orgreave?
The NUM deployed 5,000 pickets from across the UK, who planned to use sheer numbers ("mass picketing") to prevent access to Orgreave by strike-breaking lorries that collected coke for use at Scunthorpe. The South Yorkshire Police (SYP) were determined not to see a repeat of 1972's Battle of Saltley Gate – where 30,000 pickets had overwhelmed 800 police officers – and deployed around 6,000 officers from eighteen different forces at Orgreave, equipped with riot gear and supported by police dogs and 42 mounted police officers. (1) During the strike, 11,291 people were arrested, mostly for breach of the peace or obstructing roads whilst picketing, of whom 8,392 were charged and between 150 and 200 were imprisoned. At least 9,000 mineworkers were dismissed after being arrested whilst picketing even when no charges were brought. (3) What happened during the Battle of Orgreave?
On that day, an estimated 10,000 strikers descended on the British Steel plant at Orgreave in South Yorkshire as part of an organised picket to stop coal being delivered. They were met by about 5000 police. On a hot and sunny day, the picket began with a picnic-like atmosphere, and in between the arrival of trucks, picketers removed their shirts to sunbathe and played football in the nearby open fields. But it turned nasty later in the day as police corralled the picketers into a cornfield, then penned them in from all sides. The strikers were then repeatedly charged by mounted police with batons, and riot police on foot with truncheons and dogs in what was later described as a military operation (4) What was the aftermath of the Battle of Orgreave?
…during the course of the confrontation, 93 arrests were made, with 51 picketers and 72 policemen injured. Ninety-five picketers were charged with riot, unlawful assembly and similar offences after the battle. A number of these were put on trial in 1987, but the trials collapsed, all charges were dropped and a number of lawsuits were brought against the police for assault, unlawful arrest and malicious prosecution. South Yorkshire Police later agreed to pay £425,000 compensation and £100,000 in legal costs to 39 pickets in an out of court settlement. Nevertheless, no officer was disciplined for misconduct. (5) RECAP:KEY INFORMATION TO INCLUDE
The battle took place in the midst of a year-long miners strike un the UK.
The battle was between pickets (striking miners) and South Yorkshire Police - the miners were trying to stop lorries from taking coke from the plant at Orgreave to Scunthorpe.
The use of force was seen as an overreaction – the police deployed around 6,000 officers from eighteen different forces at Orgreave, equipped with riot gear and supported by police dogs and 42 mounted police officers.
11,291 people were arrested during the strike, - 8,392 were charged and between 150 and 200 were imprisoned. Bibliography
(1) ‘Battle of Orgreave’ (2021) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Orgreave (Accessed: 5 May 2021). (2) ‘Background: 'The Battle of Orgreave‘’ (2015) Dan Johnson. Available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire- 33107090 (Accessed: 6 May 2021). (3) ‘UK miners' strike (1984–85)’ (2021) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_miners%27_strike_(1984%E2%80%9385) (Accessed 6 May 2021) (4) ‘Remembering the Battle of Orgreave’ (2020) Mark Phillips. Available at https://medium.com/read-about-it/remembering-the-battle-of- orgreave-4ae597d84020 (Accessed 6 May 2021) (5) ‘Battle of Orgreave’ (2019) Military Wikia. Available at https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Orgreave (Accessed 6 May 2021)