[custom_adv] On August 13 1977, the fascist National Front (NF) tried to march through the multi-racial working class area of Lewisham in South East London. It was a national mobilisation with local NF branches coming from all over Britain. [custom_adv] However, a large anti-racist mobilisation turned out to oppose them in what was to become the biggest street battle against the fascists since Cable Street in 1936. [custom_adv] The NF had grown rapidly during the 1970s, evolving from a tiny group of fascist crackpots to a large party with a national presence. [custom_adv] They even threatened to overtake the Liberals as the third place party in British politics. In May 1977, the NF had gained 119,000 votes in the elections for the Greater London Council, in some areas gaining one in five of all votes. [custom_adv] These electoral successes were accompanied by growing racial violence, with attacks becoming more frequent. The NF also began to feel in control of the streets and began attacking the meetings, paper sales and other events of political opponents. Just one week before the march in Lewisham, there was an (unsuccessful) attempt to burn down the offices of the Trotskyist group, Militant. [custom_adv] When word got out that the NF were planning to march, the All-Lewisham Campaign Against Racism and Fascism (ALCARAF) – a group made up of various Labour Party members, local religious and ‘community’ leaders – refused to directly oppose them. [custom_adv] They organised a counter-demonstration miles away from the NF assembly point and hours before the NF were due to arrive in Lewisham. However, thousands of people decided to ignore the advice of the march organisers and headed over to where the NF were due to meet. [custom_adv] The fascists couldn’t meet at their original location and in the end the police smuggled small groups of fascists through the gloomy back streets of South East London. There were over 4,000 police on the streets of Lewisham that day protecting the NF. [custom_adv] This was also the first time that riot police had been deployed on mainland Britain. However, this was obviously not enough for the NF who later complained that they hadn’t been given enough protection! [custom_adv] Over 10,000 people turned out to oppose the NF. Even before the NF found themselves on the wrong end of a hail of bricks, bottles and smoke bombs, the NF were visibly frightened by the massive numbers of anti-racists. Black, white and Asian youth all came to fight the fascists.