Main Performers | Mr Kennerley Rumford, Dame Clara Butt - vocals |
Secondary Performers | Lady Askwith (Chair), Commander O Locker-Lampson MP, M Coty (Proprietor of the Figaro), Maitre Theo Aubert (Lawyer) Mr L J Maxse - speakers
Betty Hulton, Ethel Hook, Joy Kennerley Rumford, Mrs Bernhard, Rosa Grossmith, Meriel Green, Mollie Wingfield, Teresa Youngman, Mrs Kenneth Barnes, Dolly Beutter, Mrs John Crocker, Ms Hunt, Mrs Leonard Duveen, Peggy Duveen, Mrs.W.Curnick, Doris Keane, Ms Lefroy Viola Tree, Virginia Parsons - performers
G Fenwick, A Sims - trumpets, Marjorie Renton - organ, Adrian Holland, Lloyd Williams - pianos |
Set List | Speech (Locker-Lampson)
'When The Swallows Homeward Fly', Maude V White (Kennerley Rumford), 'Here's A Health Unto His Majesty' (Kennerley Rumford), 'Where The Mind Is Without Fear' (Clara Butt), 'Page's Road Song', Ivor Novello (Clara Butt), 'On Guard', W H Squire (Clara Butt)
Speeches (Coty, Aubrey, Maxse) 'Spanish Gipsy', Lassen (Royal Welsh Ladies' Choir)
Patriotic Pageant (Clara Butt, Betty Hulton, performers) 'The Yeomen of England', Edward German (Kennerley Rumford), 'Rule, Britannia', 'Land of Hope and Glory', E Elgar, 'Our England', Ivor Novello (Royal Welsh Ladies' Choir), 'God Save the King' (The National Anthem) |
Performance Notes | "...The function of Locker-Lampsons Clear Out the Reds rally was to protest against what was believed to be Soviet subversion in Britain and its Empire. Speakers claimed that Trade Unions had been infiltrated by agents of Moscow, and groups such as the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and its industrial arm, the National Minority Movement (NMM), were spreading Russian propaganda. Moreover, this was being funded by stolen gold from the Bolshevik nationalisation of British owned industry. It was ultimately hoped the Government would sever trade relations with the Soviet Union and cease recognition of the communist state. Locker-Lampson summarised his motivation for initiating the campaign in his speech at the very first meeting at the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington on 15 July, which reportedly attracted 7,000 punters: The Soviet [sic] owes private British creditors alone more than £250,000,000, and I ask, what right had we to recognise this swindling syndicate until it had owned up and paid up?
Petrol which is ours has been sent over here and dumped below cost price upon our market. It is disposed of by the agency known as Russian Oil Products, Limited.
It first steals our goods; secondly, it sells them to us; and, thirdly, our money, realised from the sale, returns in the form of subsidies to encourage chaos throughout the Empire and to undermine constituted civilisation. It pours in to irrigate the thirsty palms of spouters in the park, agitators in every strike, and even to nourish anti-English candidates in elections.
Should the Government forthwith take a referendum in this grave emergency? If to each citizen, simply and straightly the question is putYea or Nay, under which flag will you live: the bloody banner of Bolshevism or the Union Jack? Along with Locker-Lampson, speakers at this first rally included Colonel John Gretton, M.P., right-wing president of the Seamens Union Joseph Havelock Wilson, and many other conservative M.P.s. including Henry Page Croft." (Jode Blogs, https://jodebloggs.wordpress.com/2016/10/21/clear-out-the-reds-anti-communism-and-the-conservative-right-the-case-of-oliver-locker-lampson-1926-1933/))
"ENGLAND FREE AGAIN. "RED" EXPULSION CELEBRATED. ...The celebration concluded with a patriotic pageant, in which Britannia (Dame Clara Butt) and St George (Miss Betty Hulton) entered the hall, followed by the Dominions and Colonies. Having received fitting salutation from the various parts of the Empire, Dame Clara Butt sang 'Rule, Btannia,' and 'Land of Hope and Glory'..." (The Daily Telegraph, 16 July 1927) |
Related Archival Material | Programme (RAHE/1/1927/57) |