Direct Action Committee
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The Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War or the Direct Action Committee (DAC) was a pacifist organisation formed "to assist the conducting of non-violent direct action to obtain the total renunciation of nuclear war and its weapons by Britain and all other countries as a first step in disarmament".[1][2] It existed from 1957 to 1961, when it was largely subsumed into the Committee of 100, but it was, historian Martin Shaw argues, the original driving force of the mass movement against nuclear weapons in Britain.[3]
The DAC was formed in response to the British H-Bomb tests carried out between 1956 and 1958. In 1957, at the time of one of the tests on Christmas Island, Harold Steele planned to sail into the test area in protest.[2] He was unable to do so[4] but his supporters formed a committee and marched in support to the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston.
The original committee comprised:
They were soon joined by:
- Michael Randle (who became Chair)
- April Carter (Secretary)
- Pat Arrowsmith (Field Secretary)
- Michael Scott and
- Will Warren.[2]
By the end of 1958 the Committee's members also included Alex Comfort, Frances Edwards, Sheila Jones, Francis Jude and Michael Howard[6] (of the Crusade for World Government) [7] who later served as adjutant to Bertrand Russell during his dispute with Canon John Collins over the legitimacy of direct action.[8]
Actions
The DAC's march from London to Aldermaston at Easter, 1958, for which DAC Committee member Michael Howard was the Chief Marshal was, in the event, supported by the newly formed Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), and in the upsurge of popular opposition to the H-bomb attracted thousands of people. The Aldermaston March was subsequently run as an annual event by CND.
The DAC organised meetings, marches, vigils and pickets, campaigned in parliamentary elections[2] and carried out acts of civil disobedience to publicise the pacifist cause.[2] Following the principles of the Indian nationalist leader M.K.Gandhi, they believed their actions should be non-violent and carried out at some personal cost to themselves, such as losing their jobs or going to jail.[2][9]
What differentiated them from other peace organisations at the time was their attempt to persuade people to stop working in industries connected with nuclear weapons, in which they had some successes.[9] After the 1958 Aldermaston march, the DAC stayed in the Aldermaston area to try to stop work at the Atomic Weapons Establishment. They picketed, met with trades unions, held factory gate meetings and canvassed in the surrounding villages.[9] As a result, five workers resigned from their jobs, three job applicants withdrew and five drivers refused to deliver to the establishment.[9][10] The DAC then moved to Norfolk to campaign against the Thor nuclear missiles at an RAF base at North Pickenham, using similar methods to those they had used at Aldermaston. One worker left the base and others said they would do so if they could find other jobs.[9] They then moved to Stevenage, Hertfordshire, to campaign against the de Havilland and English Electric factories, which made guided missiles.[11]
The DAC ran a "No votes for the H-bomb" campaign in the 1959 South West Norfolk by-election. They worked with similar organisations outside the UK, demonstrating against nuclear tests in the Sahara Desert and in a peace march from San Francisco to Moscow, organised by the Committee for Non-Violent Action in 1961.[11] Their final action before being wound up was a demonstration against the Polaris nuclear submarine in spring, 1961.
Sponsors
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The sponsors of the DAC were:[7]
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Later sponsors were: |
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Demise
The formation in 1960 of the Committee of 100, a mass civil disobedience movement against nuclear weapons, plus considerable financial difficulties, led to the decision in June 1961 to wind down the DAC. Most of its members were active in the Committee of 100.[11]