Information AboutCombat 18 |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT COMBAT 18 | |
| neo-nazi organizations | |
| irregular military | |
| anti-communism | |
| neofascist terrorism | |
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EARLY HISTORY The group was formed in the early 90s in response to attacks by Anti-Fascist Action on meetings of the British National Party (BNP) and other far-right groups. C18 soon gained notoriety for its members' violent attacks on immigrants and its left-wing opponents. In 1992 , it published '' Redwatch '', which, like the German neo-Nazi publication ''Der Einblick'', contained names and addresses of anti-racists and encouraged violence against them. SUSPICIONS OF STATE MANIPULATION '' Searchlight '', Red Action , and other commentators on both the left and right, including journalist Larry O'Hara, have speculated that C18 was created by the British internal security service MI5 to discredit the BNP while acting as a Honey Trap , or Sting Operation , designed to attract the most violent neo-Nazis in the UK into a single organization, where they could be monitored more easily. Some commentators also suggest that it was used by MI5 to infiltrate Loyalist Paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland . In 1998 , the leader of C18, Charlie Sargent , an alleged Special Branch informant, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1997 murder of another member of the group. During in-fighting, in a programme broadcast on 6 April 1999, members of C18 cooperated with a documentary crew from the '' Granada Television 's'' '' World In Action '' in an effort to show that they had been infiltrated, and in some cases controlled indirectly, by the Security Service s. This revelation effectively ended the organization and, although a small group of people still identify with the name, they are largely inactive; however, no evidence has ever been produced to substantiate the allegations that Charlie Sargent was an informant, or that C18 itself was set-up by, or manipulated by, either MI5 or Special Branch. Some former supporters and members of C18 regard such suspicions and allegations of State involvement as themselves the product of MI5 Disinformation , designed to divide C18 internally, a tactic which would seem to have worked. Between 1998 and 2000 , in dawn raids, dozens of Combat 18 members in the UK were arrested by the Police on various charges in several operations conducted by Scotland Yard in co-operation with MI5. Those arrested included Steve Sargent (brother of Charlie Sargent), David Myatt , Andrew Frain, Jason Marriner, and two serving British soldiers, Darren Theron ( Parachute Regiment ) and Carl Wilson ( 1st Battalion , The Queen's Lancashire Regiment ) {Link without Title} . Several of those arrested were later jailed - these included Frain (seven years) and Marriner (six years). LONDON NAILBOMBER During April 1999 , a former member of the National Socialist Movement (a C18 splinter group loyal to C18's founder, Charlie Sargent ), 22-year-old David Copeland , apparently acting alone, carried out a Nail Bombing campaign aimed at the black, Asian, and Gay communities in London . On April 17 , 1999, a bomb exploded in Brixton , and another a week later in Brick Lane, East London. On April 30 , a third bomb at the Admiral Duncan Pub in Soho killed three people, including a pregnant woman, and injured over 100 others. Copeland was arrested the night of the Soho bombing and, on June 30 , 2000 , sentenced to six Life Sentences . WHITE WOLVES The White Wolves were believed by some journalists to be a C18 splinter group, which they alleged had been set up by Del O'Connor, the former second-in-command of C18. The White Wolves were initially believed to be linked to the Copeland attacks. {Link without Title} The document issued by the White Wolves announcing their formation has been attributed to David Myatt , whose ''Practical Guide to Aryan Revolution'' allegedly inspired Copeland. COMBAT 18 OUTSIDE BRITAIN According to Germany's ''Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz '' (BfV), or internal security service, C18 maintains divisions in the U.S. , France , Sweden , and Germany . This is unlikely, however, as the group remains widely discredited among other Far-right groups because of the Honey-trap suspicions. Combat 18's use of the Cell Structure , and its call for a so-called " Leaderless Resistance ", has nevertheless remained popular among other unaligned groups. On October 28 , 2003 the German police conducted raids against 50 properties in Kiel and Flensburg believed to be linked to German supporters of the group. {Link without Title} In Northern Ireland , Combat 18 have tried to forge alliances with the different Loyalist paramilitary groups. Most loyalists have remained opposed to any links, although former Ulster Defence Association commander Johnny Adair (a National Front member in his youth) encouraged the approaches. Some informal links remain, and it has been claimed that many of the racist attacks in south Belfast in recent years are thought to were carried out by Ulster Volunteer Force members sympathetic to the aims of Combat 18. However many Ulster loyalists, including members of the Ulster Volunteer Force, have openly stated their opposition to Neo-Nazism, pointing out that it was the Republican IRA who collaborated with Nazi spies in Ulster during the Second World War, while Protestants remained loyal to British democracy. Combat 18 has been further blocked from expansion in Northern Ireland by Ulster Protestant support for Israel, whose flag is often flown alongside the British Union Jack in Loyalist areas. Loyalists claim to identify with Israel's position as a small country under threat from more numerous enemies who have the sympathies of the wider world. Despite this widespread opposition from Protestant society Combat 18 members are thought to have made links with loyalists in Coleraine and Bushmills . Many C18 members attend the annual Orange Order parades in Northern Ireland. At a 1995 soccer match in Dublin between England and the Republic Of Ireland , Combat 18 members led other English supporters in chants of ''"No surrender to the IRA !"'' after Ireland scored, and the English fans soon began smashing seating and assaulting Irish supporters nearby. The game was called off, and riot police were brought into deal with the troublesome supporters. The Garda Síochána were later heavily criticised in the U.K and Eire for appearing to be totally unprepared for the violence despite being given intelligence by their British counterparts that large numbers of known English troublemakers would be in attendance. In 1999 Combat 18 moved the financially important record company ISD Records to Hillerød in Denmark . {Link without Title} MUSLIM RESPONSE In 2001 , C18 attacks on Muslim communities in Bradford and Oldham led to the formation of the Muslim group Combat 786 . EXTERNAL LINKS SEE ALSO Neo-Nazism REFERENCES FURTHER READING
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