The remarkable inspirational Hetty Bower died on the 20th May 2013 at the age of 108. From the First World War to the day she died she was a tireless campaigner for peace and justice, who was still marching and joining demonstrations well into her second century.
For Hetty the myth of ‘our brave boys’ going off to fight the enemy
was quickly dispelled when she saw disabled and limbless servicemen
returning during World War I. She had met people who were committed to
not killing and seen how badly conscientious objectors were treated in
1918. She became and remained a pacifist.
In a lifetime of campaigns she was
involved in the General Strike campaign in the 1920s, she could recall
the "battle of Cable Street" in 1936 when fascists were stopped from marching
through east London. During the Second World War, During the war, with two young daughters to care for, she volunteered to
help at the offices of the Czech Refugee Trust Fund and subsequently
ended up running a Czech Refugee Hostel in North London for Trade
Unionists, Socialists, Communists, Jews and anyone else they could get
out of Czechoslovakia during that period. She was also a founding member of the Campaign For Nuclear
Disarmament, and a veteran of many other progressive causes, joining the anti-war protests over Iraq. An activist to the very end.
She said: "I have
lived for a very long time and I have a very good memory. I've lived
through two world wars and I have spent most of my adult life working
for peace on our planet. I don't think human beings are civilised while
we still waste time and money killing each other, when we should be
sitting at a table discussing how to improve the lives of ordinary
people."
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