Remembering to never forget: the death of Kevin Gately over 50 years on

Back in 2009, the University of Warwicks’ Students’ Union (SU) ran a competition to decide upon a name for their new pub. Of course, the astute observers among us will know that it ended up becoming the Dirty Duck, but at the time there was a vocal online campaign conducted in support of it being named after Kevin Gately. According to an SU statement at the time, this idea received ‘serious consideration’ but was ultimately passed over, given that ‘the majority of people wouldn’t realise why the pub was named that way.’

Nowadays, when taking a wander around the SU building, there is a decent chance you will stumble across the Kevin Gately room. This was the room in which the recent Q&As with SU election candidates took place. So, who was Kevin Gately, and why did he have a room posthumously named after him? To answer that question requires a dive into the archives and the very beginnings of the University’s history, a time when the student body comprised a fraction of the amount it does today.

In its early days, the University was given the moniker ‘Red Warwick’ for the ardent leftwing views of its student cohort. These beliefs translated into collective action, with protests and occupations on a whole host of matters commonplace. A particularly pressing issue at the time was the policy of ‘no-platforming’, which involved the denial of speaking opportunities on university campuses throughout the country to those whose views were deemed unacceptable and offensive. ‘No-platforming’ had always been controversial, with some student unions announcing they would not be implementing the policy. On a weekend in mid-June of 1974, a special conference was organised by the National Union of Students (NUS) to debate the merits of the policy.

As a Students’ Union pamphlet so powerfully put it, 12 Warwick students went down to participate and only 11 returned. It was Kevin Gately, a 20-year-old maths student at Warwick, whose life would tragically end on the June 15

The NUS’ special conference happened to coincide with a major protest organised by the National Front (NF), meaning many students participated in both the conference and a counter-protest against the far-right party which had been founded seven years earlier. Although Kevin Gately attended only the counter-protest and not the NUS conference, subsequent events involving him would significantly impact the decisions made at the conference.

The National Front was organising a march due to its ire having been provoked by the Labour government’s plans to repeal parts of the 1971 Immigration Act, a decision which would give illegal immigrants leave to remain in the UK. As a result, they planned a march through central London in support of the compulsory repatriation of immigrants. This march would include a stop at the Prime Minister’s residence at 10 Downing Street, where a petition would be delivered to Harold Wilson. In response, a counter-protest was planned by the anti-colonial pressure group Liberation, which had been increasingly influenced by the far-left International Marxist Group (IMG) and its members, who tended to use more violent methods than those Liberation had been accustomed to.

Gately’s tragic death at Red Lion Square would spark a period of mourning, which was followed by recriminations from all sides. Silent marches took place in both Coventry and London, which were a medium for fellow students to express their grief

As a Students’ Union pamphlet so powerfully put it, 12 Warwick students went down to participate and only 11 returned. It was Kevin Gately, a 20-year-old maths student at Warwick, whose life would tragically end on the June 15. This was his maiden protest, having never previously been involved in any marches. He was not a member of any political group or party but still felt compelled enough to travel down to London in opposition to the National Front. Gately towered above his fellow protesters at over two metres and had long red hair. His appearance ensured he was highly visible in black-and-white pictures which later emerged of the march.

The marches ended up coinciding at Red Lion Square, where tragic events would unfold. Next to the square was Conway Hall, where the National Front were set to enter after the end of their march. The IMG supporters within the counter-protest were intent on stopping this happening and attempted to do so by charging into the police cordon. During this time, several missiles and smoke bombs were thrown at the police and some demonstrators used their banners as weapons against them. In response, the Special Patrol Group – a specialist squad within the Metropolitan Police – mobilised and began to drive the crowd backwards. This caused a fracas in which the police encountered a number of peaceful protesters, some of whom were left on the ground. Gately was one of these, as he lay unconscious while the retreating ranks of protesters stepped over him. The Guardian described him as being ‘prone and motionless’. He would be taken to a local hospital but would sadly die within a few hours.

Gately’s tragic death at Red Lion Square would spark a period of mourning, which was followed by recriminations from all sides. Silent marches took place in both Coventry and London, which were a medium for fellow students to express their grief. Associated Press footage from the time shows protesters solemnly marching in remembrance of Gately, a powerful riposte to the violence at the march which had taken Gately’s life.

The subject of who was to blame was one that was debated vociferously at the time. The media and establishment consensus at the time appeared to be that the violence had been initiated by the IMG portions of the counter-protest, with The Guardian’s headline reading ‘left-wing deliberately started violence’. A highly publicised inquiry led by Lord Scarman opined that ‘those who started the riot carry a measure of moral responsibility for his death.’

Although only a small minority of today’s students are aware of Gately and his story, his legacy lives on in a variety of ways. Outside the aforementioned Kevin Gately room stands a mural which commemorates him and informs the viewer that he was the first person to die in a demonstration in Great Britain for at least 55 years

Unsurprisingly, this narrative has been countered by those sympathetic to the marchers’ anti-fascist cause, who laid the blame squarely at the door of the police. An NUS booklet titled The Myth of Red Lion Square wrote that Gately ‘died as a direct result of a police attack using batons and horses’. The SU website to this day reads that ‘suspicions that his injuries arose from police brutality on the day were never fully answered’. Scarman himself recognised a number of failings on behalf of the police, including allowing the two marches to get too close to each other.

The true circumstances and reasons for Gately’s death may never become clear, but what is undeniable is that he unknowingly laid his life on the line for his beliefs, and stood against some of the most unsavoury elements of British society at the time. He continued a long struggle against fascism and racism by becoming an unknowing martyr. Additionally, the implications of his death extended far into the future, as word of it filtering from Red Lion Square to the NUS’ special conference possibly contributed to its representatives voting to maintain the no-platforming policy.

Although only a small minority of today’s students are aware of Gately and his story, his legacy lives on in a variety of ways. Outside the aforementioned Kevin Gately room stands a mural which commemorates him and informs the viewer that he was the first person to die in a demonstration in Great Britain for at least 55 years. Also hanging on the wall in the SU headquarters is a striking mural, in which a poignant picture is created by the contrasting pink hue of the protesters and the black used to symbolise the violence, which has sadly been all too frequent at political protests. These are but the latest in a long line of actions taken to entrench the memory of Gately amongst the students of the University, although they have not always been equally respected by visitors to the University. A 1978 article in this publication berates a group of drunken Birmingham University rugby players, who in ripping down posters and throwing around furniture posed a threat to the memorial picture of Kevin Gately, therefore requiring the intervention of ‘hefty stewards’.

The SU’s overall commitment to ensuring Gately’s legacy lives on is vital, given the risks of the passage of time leading to such a poignant event fading into obscurity

Of course, it is easy to argue that the ultimately unsuccessful attempt to rename the student pub in Gately’s name would have had a far greater impact upon his remembrance, given the relative popularities of the campus’ main watering hole and SU meeting rooms. Such a decision would have certainly broadened the knowledge of this sad case, even if his name does not flow quite off the tongue in the same way The Dirty Duck does. Nevertheless, when a previous renaming of the Firkin Bar to the Kevin Gately Bar was mooted back in 1982, Gately’s family expressed opposition to the move in letters.

The SU’s overall commitment to ensuring Gately’s legacy lives on is vital, given the risks of the passage of time leading to such a poignant event fading into obscurity. SU policy number 123 is dedicated to this precisely, promising to explain his story and its importance. This is part of a broader policy to ‘review meeting room names to reflect the SU’s proud history and to create consistency’. Although the critique of the limited usage of these names among the wider student body still stands, it will be fascinating to see whether other memorable stories from the university’s past can be unearthed and commemorated.

The University’s Modern Records Centre has contributed to the historical record, by having a webpage dedicated to the political battles that took place between the National Front and the anti-fascist response to it. A significant portion of it provides further information and archive content relating to Gately’s death and the subsequent fallout from it. Together, they are helping to keep the historical memory of Kevin Gately and the anti-fascist fight alive, by reminding us to never forget.