ABSTRACT
Men fight and lose the battle, and the thing that they fought for comes about in spite of their defeat, and when it comes turns out to be what they meant, and other men have to fight for what they meant under another name. The dismissal of one of their members from Huntley and Palmers ‘caused dozens of members to come into the Reading branch’. Persecution at this stage of SDF history only served to reinforce commitment. The branch had a test for intending members, a catechism which had to be grasped before joining, Because of the difficult times it was considered unwise to take into membership persons whose hearts only were stirred by the socialist appeal and a system was set up under which each applicant had to submit to an interview and a series of questions, and his admission to the branch was dependent on the replies.
