Despite local hostility, the Fascist branch in Worthing was one of the most successful in the south of England, a fact that Captain Budd was keen to stress in an interview with the press: "Fascism is the one thing that will sage this country from the trouble for which it is heading! When I was put in charge of this area was given to understand that I would find things slow in West Sussex; but now I find the people very eager and interested in our movement." In recognition of the hard work being done in Worthing for the movement, it was arranged for Mosley to hold a Fascist rally at the Pavilion in Worthing on 9 October 1934. In the meantime Captain Budd was once again grabbing the local headlines. He stormed out of the Town Hall when other councillors refused to give him the committee places he desired. And he attacked the Council fur its police of banning the Fascists from holding open-air meetings on the site of the old fish market near the pier. He protested that the Salvation Army was allowed to hold meetings there, so why not the Fascists, but was bluntly told that this privilege was only extended to religious bodies.

The night of 9 October proved to be a desperate affair, one local newspaper describing the night's events as more akin to revolutionary Spain than one would usually expect in an English town. As Mosley addressed a carefully vetted audience in the Pavilion, an angry mob gathered outside. The meeting, stage-managed to the least detail, was disrupted when a small hand of intruders let off a number of squibs, and had to be ejected by hefty East End bouncers....

After the rally, Mosley, accompanied by William Joyce, left the Pavilion and, protected by a large body of blackshirts, crossed over the road to Barnes's cafe in the Arcade. Stones and rotten vegetables were soon crashing through the windows of the cafe. Boys were observed firing peashooters at the beleaguered Fascists, while some youths were taking aim with air rifles. Meanwhile a group of young men climbed onto the roof of the Arcade and dislodged a large piece of masonry, which plummeted to earth through the arcade, landing only feet away from the Fascist leader. Things were getting too hot for the Fascists, who made a run for it, up the Arcade into Montague Street, then into South Street. Their intention was presumably to reach either their headquarters in Ann Street, or The Fountain in South Street, known as a "Fascist pub", but they were ambushed on the corner of Warwick Street by local youths. Hearing the row, more Fascists hurried down from the Fountain to go to Mosley's aid. Fights broke out, bodies were slung against shop windows, and startled residents threw open their windows to see a seething mass of entangled bodies desperately struggling for control of the junction between South Street and Warwick Street. Only the arrival of a large force of police defused the situation. Several blackshirts were arrested and led away to the cheers of the crowd.

Mosley made two more public appearances in Worthing during the 1930s. On both occasions the police visited the houses of several local young men during the days before, confiscating catapults and air rifles. These meetings were, however, more low-key, and the Fascists never again tried to march en masse through the streets of the town. The antipathy felt towards the Fascists again manifested itself on 5 November 1934. During the previous days several Worthing boys and men known to be hostile to the Fascists had been waylaid at night and beaten up. Bonfire Night saw several cases of retaliation. At least one blackshirt was thrown in the sea, and others had to run the fiery gauntlet. Cars were stopped, and passengers scrutinised before being allowed to pass on. A group of nearly a thousand people gathered outside a hotel, where it was alleged a number of Fascist leaders were staying. A plentiful supply of squibs and crackers were thrown up at the windows, as the crowd howled its fury. Presently a window opened, and several buckets of cold water were showered down on the besieging party. The arrival of the police prevented an escalation of the disturbances, but not before Worthing had truly resurrected the spirit of Bonfire Nights past.

Superintendent Bristow's comment, quoted in the national press, that the Fascists were "just very nice Worthing people", caused a certain degree of embarrassment, and he retired from his post a few months later. Due to the perceived improvement in the law and order situation in the town, the police had not for some years been Issued with helmets, caps being considered quite adequate. From 1935-37 the police were reissued with helmets. Bonfire Night remained a problem, and after the war became extremely disorderly, culminating in a serious riot on the night of 5 November 1958, after which stringent measures were taken to suppress the wild excesses of the "Bonfire Boys" once and for all.

The case in which allegations of assault were made against members of the Fascist movement concluded at Brighton Police Court yesterday.

The defendants were Charles Henry Bentinck Budd, Grove Road, Broadwater, Worthing, and Kay Frederick and Frederick William Knowles, who gave the address of the British Fascist organisation, King's Road, Chelsea.

Frederick and Knowles were summoned on the allegation of assaulting Mr. Walter Faulkner, who was said to be chairman of Brighton branch of the National Unemployed Workers' Movement. Budd answered a summons charging him with assaulting Mrs Jessie Stephens Faulkner.

The case was a sequel to a meeting held in the Dome, Brighton. Budd was found guilty of a technical offence, bound over for six months and ordered to pay three guineas costs.

Knowles was fined £3, with £2 costs, or twenty-one days. Frederick was found not guilty.

Still anxious to speak to the people of Worthing himself where, he had become convinced, his movement had built up a strong position, and he himself would receive a warm reception, Sir Oswald announced that he would address a meeting at the Pavilion on October 9. Prior to the event, those supporters who wished to meet him, briefly but privately, were invited to apply in writing to Captain Budd, who from amongst their number selected those with the most "serious and earnest enquiries to make." Also to be admitted into his presence were representatives of both the BUF Sussex and Hampshire HQs, who would use the occasion to present their leader with a portrait of himself embossed in relief on a bronze plaque.

"Hear Mosley at the Pavilion," ran the Fascist advertisement in the local press in heralding his forthcoming appearance, below which, in an accompanying box, was depicted a simple but striking line drawing in ink of the Fascist leader. In company with a score or so members of his Defence Force, he duly arrived from London in a black lorry, the windows of which had been covered in protective wire netting; but even though the vehicle also contained several so called "ambulance" men, who were regularly on hand at rallies to treat casualties, he was hardly expecting any serious trouble. However, in looking upon Worthing as a relatively safe and peaceful haven for himself and his followers, in contrast to the Socialist cauldrons of London and the industrial cities of the Midlands and North - a town, in fact, ever more receptive to, and supportive of, his Fascist creed - he was soon to be disabused of such a misguided notion. An inkling of what might transpire during his sojourn in the Borough might have been gathered from the sensational daubing of paint on the facade of the Town Hall, during the night prior to the meeting, of the slogans: "Damn Mosley! Fight Fascism! No more War;" or from the tarspattered Georgian facade of the BUF HQ on Marine Parade and the similarly besmirched crazy paving at the home of Captain Budd.

The following evening, as the meeting inside got under way, the crowd gathering outside the Pavilion grew steadily larger, with accompanying shouts and cat-calls, the sharp explosions of firecrackers and the whooshing of rockets; while more emboldened individuals hammered continuously on the bolted doors of the auditorium and on the iron supports of the Pier beneath it. But at this stage the kerfuffle appeared more akin to high-spiritedness than violent disturbance, with even the watchful black-shirted stewards generally Ignoring the commotion. To David Bernard Trent of Park Road, the whole affair seemed to be a joke on the part of the crowd - which, he further observed, was just as well, for at 7.30 p.m. lie could discern just four policemen in attendance. Posted by Superintendent Bristow, as far as these youthful looking 'Bristow Babies' were concerned, they were faced by a peaceful gathering simply letting off a few fireworks.

Within the Pavilion itself the meeting went off in an orderly enough manner - although hearing that the event might be stormy at least one lady arrived having taken the precaution of concealing a Life Preserver in her attire - for although the house was packed the audience was largely composed of Fascist supporters, including contingents from London and all parts of Sussex. Prior to the actual start, a file of black-bloused young women had formed up in the Foyer to hail the arrival of their leader, but prudently he had entered the theatre by means of the stage door at the rear. With less foresight his mother had entered by the front entrance where she had been startled by a fire cracker being thrown at her. Finally the curtain rose to reveal Sir Oswald himself standing alone on the stage. Clad entirely in black, his great silver belt buckle gleaming, his right arm raised in the Fascist salute, lie was spell-bindingly illuminated in the hushed, almost reverential atmosphere by the glare of spotlights from right, left and centre. A forest of black-sleeved arms immediately shot up to hail him, but finding himself completely blinded, the dramatic effect was immediately shattered by his opening words requesting that the centre beam be switched off..

Again the police intervened to restore order and with shouts, accusations and insults ringing in his ears Sir Oswald was enabled, in company with his mother and bodyguards, to reach Marine Parade. His immediate destination was Barnes Cafe, almost directly opposite, but before entering it he led his troops, attired in their heavy boots and riding breeches, fists clenched and elbows stuck out, in a defiantly ostentatious and provocative march around the adjacent South Street traffic island. Several tomatoes were thrown at them, but an easier target was provided by a group of Fascist women crossing Marine Parade at the same moment. One tomato struck the unfortunate Winifred Collins on her left eye, an experience which she afterwards described as "very squashy." Mary Hodges, on the other hand, was struck by the filthy and hostile language hurled at her by many of the onlookers; while her companion, Florence Spiers - herself hit on the head by a tomato - noted that the crowd was very far from being "the nice friendly one composed of old ladies and cripples" she had been led to expect.

Gathered at last in the comparative safety of the Cafe, which had been gained amid a cascade of fire crackers, nevertheless, from outside the Blackshirts continued to be subject to a barrage of taunts and threats, which included: "Come out Mosley and show yourself, or we'll come in and get you;" "Come out you dirty coward;" "Down with'em, kill'em;" together with the chant: "One, two, three, four, five, we want Mosley dead or alive." To avoid being struck by
tomatoes being thrown in at them, a number of which had already bespattered the waitresses, or wounded by pellets being fired from an air pistol by a youth of about sixteen from the Esplanade's balustrade, those inside the Cafe shut the windows: but as these began to be smashed by stones from the beach, Sir Oswald, following a hasty discussion with Joyce, ordered his second-in-command to create a diversion by leading his own fifteen or so bodyguards in a march up South Street to the branch HQ in Warwick Street.

As they left the Cafe, in company with a contingent of Fascist women and local supporters, they were indeed, as they had anticipated, immediately accompanied by a sizeable section of the crowd, which immediately broke into boos, shouted insults and chants of The Red Front. Both groups broke into a run, during which, in attempting to protect a Fascist woman, a Blackshirt, Mr. Chamberlain, was knocked violently to the ground. "Go home and wash your husband's shirt and cook his dinner," bellowed an incensed man at the equally dazed woman. On gaining the western entrance to Warwick Street, the Blackshirts found it blocked by a further, larger, and even more hostile group, many among which mockingly raised their arms in the Communist salute. Deciding to detour through Market Street, here, too, they found the roadway and pavements thronging with people, several of whom, spoiling for a fight, were only too eager to embroil themselves in brawls with the beleaguered Fascists. They were not to be disappointed, and as one hefty Blackshirt was sent sprawling into a shop doorway by punches from an equally robust "civilian," the battle of Market Street commenced. Immediately several bedroom windows were flung open as startled residents in their night attire peeped from behind curtains at the melee below in terror and amazement.

Meanwhile, just as Sir Oswald was preparing to slip away from the Cafe - before it could be further damaged and in order to quell the growing alarm of the proprietor and the several remaining women Fascists - word reached him of the dire predicament Joyce and his men were in. Darting out onto the pavement and breaking into a double, Sir Oswald and his cohort of bodyguards sped east along Marine Parade before turning left into Bedford Row and thence to the eastern entrance to Market Street where, with himself as the spearhead, they immediately charged from the rear the mob assailing Joyce's force. Caught completely off guard by this unforeseen sally - subsequently dubbed by the national press as the "Charge of the Black Brigade" - the crowd, faltering, began to break up and disperse, and within minutes the re-united and reassembled, bloodied but undaunted Blackshirts were able to turn their attention to the clearing of Warwick Street and the relief of their beleaguered HQ.

Here too the crowd was dense, numbering nearly four hundred - a situation Police Sergeant Heritage described as "very ugly" - and as the cavalcade of Blackshirts attempted to march back and forth, cries of "We'll give Mosley a hot time" and "Come on lads, get stuck into them" heralded the outbreak of further violence. Warwick Street - dubbed by the community the "Bond Street of Worthing" - was soon a seething, howling, mass of struggling bodies but in a series of powerful rushes, during which numerous people were knocked to the ground, thrown aside or sent thudding against shop windows, the hefty, disciplined Blackshirts finally began to cut swathes through, and break up, the unruly mob. But not before sustaining several casualties themselves, amongst whom was Sir Oswald, who in trying to gain the door of the HQ received a punch under his left eye and a second to the jaw; an action which spurred a gang of Brighton roughs to press toward him, only to be baulked by those Fascists gathered at the doorway hurrying to rally around their leader...

Robert Poore, meanwhile, an Italian Post Office messenger living at 26, Loder Gardens, when initially confronted himself by Black-shirted assailants, had pleaded with them that he "did not understand British;" to which came the sardonic reply that they did not understand Italian, a sarcasm followed by the delivery of several Weighty punches to his head. Sustaining severe facial cuts, he too was removed to hospital. Not one child was hurt, however, the police having had the foresight to order home any amongst the spectators long before any violence threatened. One boy disappointed not to have been present was nine-year-old Clifford Skeet, who had previously overheard his uncles Norman and Edin Williams, both members of the local Territorial "C" Company 4 Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment, discussing at the room they shared at their mother's boarding house at 17 West Buildings how they intended to "sort the Blackshirts Out."

With the arrival of more and more police detachments drafted in from outside the Borough, by 11 p.m. the battle of Warwick Street, too, drew to a close. Now, with only sporadic boos and shouts being directed towards the Blackshirts the atmosphere among the crowd quietened - pierced only at one point by an enthusiastic cheer as Police Constables Ridge and Griffin escorted Bernard Mullens, a Chelsea Fascist, to the police station on suspicion of his having taken part in the assault on Robert Poore. There, nursing a damaged right hand himself, Mullens denied the charge, but nevertheless was remanded in custody for a week - unlike the assailant of Captain Budd who, despite the hitter's forceful demands that a charge of assault be made upon him, was merely cautioned to leave Warwick Street and return home.

At the same time a summons was issued against Sir Oswald for assaulting Jack Pritchard of 81 Ham Road, outside the Pavilion, although the Fascist leader protested that he had merely been protecting himself from a "violent rough" who had lunged forward and punched him on the left cheek bone. He had been pushed from behind, retorted Mr. Pritchard, had fallen forward, and it was then he had been thumped. To prevent a second punch he had caught hold of Sir Oswald's sleeve, but had then been the recipient of several more hefty blows from behind. He also denied the allegation levelled at him by Captain Budd that he had confided to a "certain man" that the police were using him as a "pawn in their game," or that if he had been in Sir Oswald's position himself he would have acted to protect himself in a like manner.

Mr. John Flowers, K. C. and Mr. Eric Never were counsel for the prosecution, Mr. St John Hutchinson appeared for Sir Oswald Mosley, Joyce and Mullan; and Mr. H.V.O. Jackson for Budd.

The next witness for the defence, the Rev. James Louis Crosland, Vicar of Rustington, said he was a non-active member of the British Union of Fascists. He described the crowd as acting in rather a threatening attitude and said he had to force his way through them.

Mr Eric Neve (counsel for the prosecution) asked witness if he would support Fascist policy.... Crosland replied: "If it came to be a choice between that and something worse I should probably choose it."

Nora Elam, of the Old Forge, North Chapel, Woman Organiser of the British Union of Fascists for Sussex and Hampshire, said that as she left the Pavilion two women said: "Where is he? He is afraid to come out. He always does this: let us spit on him." She became wedged in the crowd and a man made a filthy remark to her."

Eric Redwood, a Chiddingfold barrister, said he had nothing to do with the Fascists. The crowd were sinister and definitely hostile restraint. He thought Sir Oswald acted with restraint which was admirable and which very few Englishmen would have used in the circumstances...

Joseph Hanford, of Plaistow, Sussex, and a member of the Union, said that the crowd were asking for Sir Oswald in an offensive way and the crowd made one mad rush at him when he came out of the Pavilion. People outside the cafe used words to the effect that Sir Oswald was funky to came out and if he did not would destroy the building. He recognised one man in the crowd as of the "foreign element" - that was to say, a Communist.

The summons for alleged assault brought against Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists, following a disturbance after a Fascist meeting here on October 9, was dismissed to-day. The magistrates reached this decision after further evidence had been called for the defence. The Bench held a consultation, and Mr. A. F. Somerset (the chairman) announced that they were agreed the charge should be dismissed.

Mr. St. John Hutchinson, who appeared for Sir Oswald, asked if he could confine to Warwick-street the remainder of the evidence on the charge of alleged riotous assembly. The Bench said that they could not dissociate one from the other. They had heard sufficient evidence to the trouble around the café.

Sir Oswald and three men were summoned for alleged riotous assembly. The other men were William Joyce, described as director of Fascist propaganda; Capt. Charles Henry Budd, described as Blackshirt officer for West Sussex area: and Bernard Mullans, stated to be a member of the movement. Mullans was also summoned for alleged assault. All men denied the charges. Joyce, in evidence, said that any suggestion that they came down to Worthing to beat up the crowd was ridiculous in the highest degree. They were menaced and insulted by people in the crowd.

Mullans stated that he told Poore that he should be ashamed for using insulting language in the presence of women. Poore hit him in eye, and he (Mullans) then hit him in the mouth. The case was adjourned till tomorrow.

An allegation that he threatened a subordinate with a revolver was made when a Fascist official, Charles Henry Bentinck Budd, of Grove View, Worthing, appeared before Horsham Magistrates yesterday. The man who made the allegation said the threat followed his offer to act as mediator between Budd and Mrs Budd. The Magistrates said no order would be made, and Budd was at once discharged.

Budd, a member of the West Sussex County Council, and district administration officer of the British Union of Fascists for the West Sussex and Hants area, appeared in custody on a warrant taken out by Harry Jones, of Horsham, officer in charge of the Horsham Branch of the British Union of Fascists. Jones said Budd had used threats, and he was in fear of bodily injury as a result. Budd, who was defended by Mr H. V. O. Jackson, denied the charges. Mr J. Ireland Eager appeared for the prosecution.

In evidence, Mr Jones said he was formerly in charge of Worthing Fascists, and Budd was the area commander and his superior officer. About five weeks ago he was told there were differences between Budd and his wife. He saw Budd and his wife, and offered to act as mediator. Budd said he would not have anybody interfering with his private affairs. Mrs Budd had left her husband, but (Jones) was not at liberty to disclose where she had gone. Mr Jones told of occasions when he said he was threatened by Budd because he could not disclose Mrs Budd's address. On December 31, he said, he went with Budd in his car to the Old Forge House, Lancing. When they were inside a room Budd closed the door, and producing a revolver, said - "If you don't get my wife's address now, I will take you to a shed and shoot you like a dog." He disclosed the address, and Budd transferred him to the Horsham branch.

Capt. Budd called at Horsham on January 2 in a very agitated state and seething with temper. He made a serious accusation concerning his (Jones's) relations with Mrs Budd. Jones said he replied - "I emphatically deny that." Budd said, "I will shoot you like a dog. You are a disgrace to Fascism, and if it costs every penny I have, I will follow you to the end of the world, and get you in the end." Police came, and he was taken home in a police car.

Budd, in the witness-box, denied using any threat. He said that in December Mrs Budd and her son went to Holland for a holiday, and he was unable to go. He learned from Jones on December 19 that Mrs Budd had rung up Jones on the telephone from London. He heard Jones had been to London to see her, but Jones refused to disclose her address. Budd said he did not threaten Jones, but pointed out to him that he had been mixed up in other people's private affairs, in one of which he was beaten up by one of the men concerned. He (Budd) told him that if he interfered with his affairs he would probably get similar treatment.

The essentially constructive work done by Hitler in Germany during the very short period he has been in Germany during the very short period he has been in power is little short of miraculous. There is for instance, more practical Socialism for the actual workers and actually accomplished in Hitler's Strength Through Joy movement than anything that our English Labour Party has ever even dreamt of, let alone done. Also Hitler's wonderful new motorways are years ahead of our efforts in this direction. I only wish all my fellow countrymen in England could come here and see these wonderful constructive works for themselves... Germany today is a nation of young realists who believe in action rather than talk.

Captain Charles Henry Bentinck Budd, who from 1930 to 1936, it was stated, was a member of the Worthing Borough and West Sussex County Councils, applied before a King's Bench Divisional Court on Thursday last week for a writ of habeas corpus...

Mr. Scott Henderson, on Captain Budd's behalf, presented an affidavit in which Captain Budd referred to his membership of Worthing and West Sussex Councils, and his career in the Army from the age of 16 to 1919... He had been a member of the British Union from 1933 to 1939, and the Army authorities were aware of that he took no active part in that union after 1937.

Complaint that a former county councillor was put into a bug-infested cell at Brixton Prison, kept in solitary confinement, and paraded in public at railway stations under armed guard was made in London to-day. Captain Charles Harry Bentinck Budd, R.E., a member from 1930 to 1936 of West Sussex County Council and Worthing Borough Council, who served in the last war and was severely wounded, sued Sir John Anderson and Mr Herbert Morrison, past and present Home Secretaries, and Mr Thomas Broadwood Williamson, of the Home Office, in connection with his detention under Defence Regulation 18b, claiming damages for false imprisonment.

Mr Scott Henderson, for Captain Budd, said Sir John Anderson was responsible for his arrest on June 15, 1940, and Mr Herbert Morrison for keeping him in custody until May 27, 1941, when Captain Budd was released by order of the High Court. Mr Williamson was the executive officer who instructed the police to carry out the arrest. "Captain Budd," counsel continued, "puts himself before the court as a loyal Englishman who has faithfully served his country in many different capacities, and who has been unlawfully imprisoned and subjected to the grossest indignities. Association with Fascists."

As a member of the Sussex Special Constabulary, Captain Budd was commended by Mr Justice Cassels when Recorder of Brighton. He was serving in the Royal Engineers until his arrest, which was made on the ground of his association with the West Sussex branch of the British Union of Fascists. Captain Budd ceased activities as a B.U.F. organiser in March, 1937. In May, 1941, on a writ of habeas corpus, a King's Bench divisional court ordered his discharge. Captain Budd relied on that decision as a finding that his imprisonment was unlawful because of an irregularity in the document under which he was arrested. The defence was a denial of the allegations.