to break down the doors of the wards each in its turn, demolish the barricades ~ that had been improvised and remove the recalcitrants. It was a lengthy procéss and it was not until five hours later that their task was accomplished.
"Opposition was greatest in the female wards, where the nurses put up a strenuous fight.
"A good deal of trouble was experienced in the refractory wards. Here some patients, armed with various implements, began to smash the windows. When the attacking party burst into the room Superintendent A. Smith in restra— ining one lunatic, had his hand so badly bitten that medical treatment was > necessarye
" As each ward was cleared, the new staff waiting in readiness took charge. The old staff were taken to an ante-room, where they packed their belongings, and were seen off the premises in motor buses provided by the union."
ixtracts from the Nottingham Guardian, April 15th, 1922.
"Mr. iGell, clerk to the Asylum committee, led the attacking forces. Barricades were forced, doors smashed with irpn bars, and in some cases violent fights with patients who got out of hand took place. For four hours the “battle” raged and then the strikers had to give ine So ended perhaps the most sensatio= nal strike of modern times. Not the least amazing thing about it is the manner in which the Union officials kept in touch with the strikers themselves — by semaphore signalling from a lane close by. Radcliffe inhabitants took the keenest interest in the proceedings, and at a meoting of ratepayers on Thursday night called for a public inquiry into the whole affair.
"The officials of the Asylum Workers Union before leaving the district for their Manchester headquarters informed a Journal representative that they had decided to make a grant of £100 a piece to seven married men who had lost their positions, and were going to maintain the rest of their members thrown out of employment, and would endeavour to find them fresh positions."
Many of the dismissed members experienced great difficulty in securing new posts, so much so that it appeared as if a "black list" had been circulated to other Mental hospitals. One Radcliffe member seeking employment was turned down by 12 institutions, and one momber resident in a village noar Nottingham was actually asked by the liedical Superintendent of a Lancashire hospital if he had any connection with a man named ——--—— who was discharged recently from the Nottingham asylum.