1945 _ strike at the London docks

[Franconicus]

Just read that there were 5000 workers of the London docks on a wild strike at March 1945. 1,000 soldiers did their job.

Does anybody has more info? What was the strike for?

[Mount Suribachi]

Don't know about the London strike, but in the excellent book "Miracle on the River Kwai", the author talks about his return along with all the other POWs from the far east, to Liverpool docks. The dockworkers were on strike and refusing to unload boats containing much needed food (Britain was still on rationing for years after the war). All the POWs, used to years of selflessly helping each other took it upon themselves to start unloading the food ships. There was nearly a riot by the dockworkers and the police had to step in to protect the former POWs who were then escorted from the docks to prevent further trouble. Needless to say, it was a jarring and upsetting experience for these men who had survived years of hell, and weren't expecting this when they returned.

I can't remember what caused the strike, but dockers and their unions are notoriously militant (when I lived in Australia the dockers in Melbourne went on strike because their employers refused to buy a new baize for the dockers club snooker table.....)

And before anyone jumps down my throat, my step-dad is a docker, so I know all about how they will strike at the drop of a hat.

[English assassin]

OT the coal miners in Kent (yes there were some) went on strike twice in WW II.

Thereafter coal miners in Kent were regarded as scum.

Your strike doesn't seem to be covered but there were quite a lot of strikes in the war as this article lists http://www.labournet.net/ukunion/0305/wartime1.html