British Miners’ Children in the Eifel [October-November 1984]

View PDF (1.1 MB)

Here, at last, is the requested, detailed report on our “Holidays for Miners’ Children” initiative. It has taken a long time, but even after the initiative had ended, there was still so much to do that we simply couldn’t get round to it.

Relatively early on in the British miners’ strike, given the NUM’s resolute stance, it was clear that this strike would be a long and hard one.[1] Even back then, the Cologne group had discussed inviting children to give their families some respite. It was also mentioned at the Whitsun Congress.[2] The final impetus came after an IWA meeting in Oslo in September, where delegates from the British sister organisation DAM called for greater solidarity.[3] A phone call to the DAM led to contact with miners from Northumberland, the area around Newcastle, who had been neglected in terms of solidarity compared to other regions. Shortly afterwards, the regional secretary of the NUM Northumberland rang and gave his consent. By then, we had already begun the initial preparations. Following thorough discussion, it had been decided to accommodate the children as a group; the location, dates and approximate costs of the stay were clarified. We estimated the total costs at between 10,000 and 12,000 DM.[4] Once the DAM had agreed to cover the travel costs between Newcastle and London, and the groups in Hanover and Dieburg, as well as individuals in other cities, had pledged their support, we felt confident enough to go ahead with the venture.

Right from the start, we encountered a great deal of support and goodwill. And it became clear throughout the whole campaign that people we hadn’t expected at all often helped spontaneously, donated money, helped with fundraising, etc., whereas the active leftists – with a few notable exceptions – were more than reluctant. So – to anticipate that – in Cologne alone we raised just over 7,000 DM.

On 29 October [1984], the day had finally arrived. Holding a banner reading: “Welcome to the miners’ kids” (now in the NUM archive), we stood at Ostende station, eyed suspiciously by a policeman and regarded with wonder by the people coming off the ferry. Our group was the last to arrive, led by the youngest, little Aiden, just 7 years old, followed by the two adults, Deirdre and Ronnie [Campbell], and another 20 children aged between 10 and 16. After the welcome, a small picnic was held on the cars with sandwiches, fruit and hot chocolate. Then we had to cram a staggering number of large suitcases into five cars (we’d originally planned on six). Once the luggage and passengers had been squeezed in with great difficulty, we set off for Ahrdorf station in the Eifel, where we arrived at around half past one in the morning.[5] There we had coffee or tea and sandwiches, and then our guests went to bed, whilst the drivers got back into their cars and set off for Cologne, as they had to work the next morning.

The following days meant a big adjustment for the children. Many were away from their parents for the first time, and abroad for the first time. Naturally, they tested how far they could push the boundaries. And the food: Suddenly, bread appeared on the table that wasn’t as nicely bland as it was at home, so the kitchen staff tried, with a great deal of patience, cunning and guile, to convince a McDonald’s generation that, apart from ‘fish and chips’, there were plenty of other dishes that were actually edible and even tasted good – a protracted, gruelling trench war lasting over a fortnight, with varying degrees of success. During the first week, we went on an excursion to the Kommern Open-Air Museum (with a guided tour in English) and took a pottery course, which was a great success. There were also plenty of soccer matches, table tennis, walks and so on. We would have been completely lost, however, had it not been for Elke, who had actually only decided at the last minute to take part with her son and his friend, and who took such excellent charge of the organisation and childcare in the Eifel for a week. The ‘comrade’ who had firmly promised us his support for the 14 days and for whose sake we cancelled on other people – had, in fact, completely let us down on flimsy pretexts and only shuffled in – just as unexpectedly – in the second week, which cost us a lot of money (on phone calls), time and nerves. In the meantime, we’d managed to persuade Thomas from Hanover to come down.

Over the weekend, the group was in Cologne. On Saturday morning, a comrade showed the group around the city – excavation of Roman ruins and other sights. Afterwards, the whole group went to the pub (toilet!) and then split into smaller groups for shopping. At the Hinz und Kunst pub – familiar to members of the congress – everyone gathered again for a huge potato pancake feast, which a comrade had prepared with his mother and aunt in a titanic effort.[6] Then, in a great rush and running late, we set off for the 1. FC Köln v Schalke 04 soccer match, which wasn’t exactly a shining example of German soccer. From the soccer ground we headed back to the pub and from there dispersed to the various flats, where the colleagues who had helped us with accommodation in Cologne were already waiting with dinner. In the evening there was a children’s disco, and by about eleven o’clock the last of the children were finally in bed and we were completely exhausted. The next morning, a large group went ice skating, others went swimming; lunch was at the ESG, where our event – unfortunately poorly attended – was also taking place in the afternoon.[7] Some children visited a model railway exhibition during that time. And in the evening, we headed back to the Eifel – “home!” came quite naturally from the children’s lips.

Comrades from the CNT abroad [CNT del exterior] in Paris had also come over for the weekend, bringing tickets for the children and money for us.[8] They then made a telephone report on the weekend for Radio Libertaire in Paris and later published an article in their newspaper, Cenit, which, as they wrote to us, sparked a “wave of solidarity”. In the second week, there was a trip to the Nürburgring and a visit from a clown troupe from Cologne, “Fiascho Fatale”, who performed for the children in the Eifel region – even in English – for just the cost of travel, and were a huge success.[9] In addition, a WDR camera crew filmed a short piece in which Thomas spoke briefly about the FAU and Ronnie and Paddy, one of the children, talked about the situation at home.[10] WDR then cancelled a previously agreed radio interview with Ronnie, citing strange reasons.

Apart from that, Ronnie spoke at an event organised by the FAU in Munich, after which he was detained in Cologne for questioning, and also addressed works council members of the IG Metall trade union in Cologne.[11]

On Friday, the children went back to Cologne, climbed the cathedral, some were allowed to watch their film at WDR (unfortunately there wasn’t enough room for everyone) and bought little gifts for their families. The people at Hinz und Kunst had offered food at cost price – and this time it was ‘fish and chips’. In the evening, they headed ‘home’ again.

On Saturday, they went bowling, and in the evening there was a big farewell party, which will be remembered for a long time, and not just because of the food (“chicken with chips and ice cream sundaes”). Sunday was a quiet day; they tidied up, packed, and so on, and on Monday a lovely coach arrived to take the little ones to Ostend, which was not without a few tears. Sometime during the night they arrived in Newcastle, where they were picked up by their parents. 

All in all, it’s fair to say that it was a truly memorable experience for everyone involved. The children enjoyed it so much that they’re still talking about it, as their parents tell us and write to us. A genuine friendship has developed between us and the carers, Deirdre and Ronnie.

We’ve learnt what’s possible when you really want to make it happen, even though this initiative pushed us to the limits of what we could manage. We might organise things a bit differently today, but that’s an important lesson in itself. It’s only worth mentioning to outsiders that nobody received any money for their work.

We were amazed by the solidarity shown by the people of Cologne. Somehow word had got around – and without being able to list everything in detail – we’d like to mention those who reduced admission prices on their own initiative, threw in a free extra with purchases, the taxi driver who didn’t want any money for his fare, the shop assistants who, instead of saying “Good Bye”, said “All the best, I hope you win!” – The donations came mainly from colleagues, friends, neighbours and family members, and only to a relatively small extent from “comrades”. The lessons to be learnt from this are obvious. 

There are two further points we are very pleased to mention. Firstly, according to our comrades in the DAM, our campaign was very well received by the miners. They regard it as one of the most important contributions made by the Libertarians to solidarity work. Secondly, the account of the campaign given at a steelworkers’ seminar in Cologne inspired Italian colleagues from the PCI to invite 40 children after Christmas.[12] This campaign, too, has already been successfully completed.

We have not retired following the conclusion of our ‘Holidays for Miners’ Children’ campaign. Before Christmas, the comrades in Elmshorn organised a shipment of toys and clothes to Yorkshire and Northumberland, to which 400 DM was contributed from the collection account; furthermore, a smaller shipment was sent from Cologne to Blyth/Northumberland after Christmas, and 500 DM in cash was handed over to the workforce at Bates Colliery. Comrades from Dieburg regularly send money and parcels to the Women’s Solidarity Committee in Blyth, and the entire remainder of the money collected in cash and via the account in Cologne (1,147.46 DM) was transferred from the collection account to the NUM Northumberland Hardship Fund.

We know that further action is being taken, but we have no precise details. It would be helpful if all comrades could report on their solidarity work to the NK so that a final assessment can be made once the strike has ended.[13]

FINAL ACCOUNT:
Donations up to January 17th, 1985 - 13.511,48 DM
Total cost of the children’s campaign - 11.464,02 DM
Contribution towards transport December 17th, 1984 - 400,00 DM
Cash payment to NUM Bates December 31st, 1984 - 500,00 DM
Bank transfer to NUM Northumberland January 22nd. 1985 - 1.147,46 DM
[Balance] - 00.000,00 DM

All donors receive a detailed financial report

Since then, more than 500 DM have been collected again.

FAU local group Cologne

Notes

1, NUM: National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain). 

2, Whitsun Congress (Pfingstkongreß) – the annual meeting of the FAU Germany. FAU: Freie Arbeiter-Union – (West-)German section of the IWA. 

3, IWA: International Workers’ Association – International of revolutionary/anarcho-syndicalist organisations founded in 1922. In German, IAA: Internationale Arbeiter-Assoziation. DAM: Direct Action Movement (Great Britain) – then the British section of the IWA.

4, DM: Deutsche Mark (also known as ‘DeMark or ‘Deutschmark’) – West German (and since 1990 German) currency before the introduction of the Euro (€). 

5, Ahrdorf station in the Eifel – a former rural train station converted to a youth hostel.

6, Hinz und Kunst – back then a left-alternative pub in Cologne (now closed). The name is a pun combining “Hinz und Kunz” (= Tom, Dick and Harry) with “Kunst” (= Art), so it can be translated as “Tom, Dick and Art”.

7, ESG: Evangelische Studentengemeinde (Protestant Student Community) – although coming from a protestant-christian background, many ESG since the mid-1960s turned to the left and supported anti-capitalist positions. 

8, CNT: Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (Spain) 

9, Nürburgring – The Nürburgring is a 150,000-person capacity motor sports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany (not be confused with Nürnberg, Bavaria!).

10 WDR: Westdeutscher Rundfunk (West German Broadcasting) – regional public service radio and television broadcaster. 

11, IG Metall: Industriegewerkschaft Metall (Industrial Union of Metalworkers) – the largest single trade union in the Federal Republic of Germany and also the world’s largest organised workers’ representative body. 

12, PCI: Partito Comunista Italiano (Communist Party of Italy). 

13, NK: National-Komitee (National Committee) – FAU Coordination Office; later renamed in Geschäftskommission (Business Commission). 

For the sums mentioned in the report, here is a Comparison of purchasing power 1984 – 2025
(Source: https://fredriks.de/hvv/kaufkraft.php) 
10,000 DM = 11,393,10 € 
7,000 DM = 7,975.17 €
12,000 DM = 13,671.71 €
400.00 DM = 455.72 €
500.00 DM = 569.65 €
1,147.46 DM = 1,307.31 €
[17/1/1985 exchange rate 3.5644, 10,000 DM = £2,805.52 (in 1984 money)]

from: direkte aktion. Organ der Freien Arbeiter-Union (Anarcho-Syndikalisten) (FAU-IAA), No. 49 [February 1985], pp. 7-9 

Translation by Jonnie Schlichting with a very big help from DeepL Translator (https://www.deepl.com/translator), double checked by humans, final editing of the text by someone from the KSL. We’d like to thank Jonnie and Wolfgang for their help in making this account of international solidarity available.

The attached file contains the original German-language article.

Translated by: Wolfgang Eckhardt and Jonnie Schlichting.