Blood and Honour

Ian Stuart Donaldson, singer of the band Skrewdriver, was the founder and one of the prominent leaders until his death in 1993. Blood & Honour took its name from the motto of the Hitler Youth, Blut und Ehre, and a song of the same name by Skrewdriver. Sometimes the code 28 stands for Blood & Honour, derived from the second and eighth letters of the Latin alphabet, B and H.

History

In 1986, the NF split into two factions, and around the same time, it was discovered that the WNC had been defrauding bands and concert-goers. Several bands left the WNC, including Skrewdriver, No Remorse, Sudden Impact and Brutal Attack. Ian Stuart Donaldson of Skrewdriver decided to break away from the WNC and organize concerts for the NF, so he founded Blood and Honour. By June 1987, with the help of other white power bands, Blood and Honour was officially launched, along with a magazine of the same name. A concert was held in Morden, Surrey to commemorate this launch on 5 September, with Skrewdriver, Brutal Attack, Sudden Impact and No Remorse playing in front of a crowd of 500, including French, Italian and German supporters.

By the end of 1988, Blood & Honour magazine was a quarterly that had grown from eight to 16 pages after a few issues. The magazine included concert reports, band interviews, readers' letters, RAC record charts and a column called "White Whispers". A mail-order service called Skrewdriver Services soon formed within its pages, selling items such as: white power albums, flags, Loyalist tapes, T-shirts and Swastika pendants.

The back page of Blood & Honour Issue Number 13 advertised a Skrewdriver concert in London on 12 September 1992. Posters and fliers were posted around the country, advertising the concert and listing a redirection point as Waterloo Rail Station. The night before the concert, Stuart was attacked in a Burton pub. The next day police closed down Waterloo Station and the tube station, preventing many people from reaching the redirection point. Hundreds more Blood and Honour supporters who had journeyed from abroad were turned back at ports in Folkestone and Dover. The Blood and Honour supporters clashed with anti-fascist protesters. Missiles such as bricks and champagne bottles taken from bins outside of South Bank restaurants were used during the ensuing riot. Battles ensued for about two hours until the police separated the two groups, and the concert proceeded in the function hall of the Yorkshire Grey pub in Eltham, South-East London. The incident got international media coverage and became known as the "Battle of Waterloo".

In 1992, the newly formed Blood and Honour Midlands Division was in charge of organising the annual White Xmas concert. On 19 December, over 400 supporters gathered at a working men's club in Mansfield to watch No Remorse, Razors Edge and Skrewdriver perform. In 1993, Blood and Honour East Midlands Division planned to stage an outdoor festival on 31 July. Donaldson was arrested and served with an injunction order not to perform at the concert. The venue was blockaded by the police, who seized amplifiers and confiscated sound equipment.

Later that year, the Blood and Honour East Midlands Division organised a concert for 25 September. Three nights before the concert, Donaldson and a few friends were travelling in a car that spun out of control into a ditch. Some of the passengers endured minor wounds, one was killed instantly, and Donaldson was pronounced dead on 24 September 1993. The following day, 100 Skrewdriver supporters travelled to the Blood and Honour social in the Midlands, unaware of the deaths.

Each year, on or near the anniversary of the Ian Stuart's death, a large memorial concert is held. In 2008, a concert in Redhill, Somerset attracted widespread BBC, radio and newspaper coverage.

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Category:1987 establishments Category:Neo-Nazism Category:Neo-Nazi music Category:Racism in the United Kingdom Category:Far-right politics in the United Kingdom