ABSTRACT
The Nottinghamshire Coalowners’ Association stiffened the opposition of the Harworth owners, Barber-Walker. This chapter examines the genesis of the Harworth strike and analyse the way in which Miners’ Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) officers and Party mining activists conducted the epic battle. In the event Mick Kane returned from London and found work at Harworth, probably in late 1935 or early 1936, living in Yorkshire and commuting to the colliery. On 20 November a meeting attended by 1300 Harworth miners and their wives listened to Jack Jones, Ebby Edwards and MFGB Vice-President Will Lawther arguing for a return to work to enable strike notices to be handed in and run their course. The Harworth strikers’ stubborn resistance had caught their imagination and earned their admiration. As the strike settled into a bitter siege, it aroused painful memories and deep forebodings inside the National Government and Labour Opposition.
