The Yiddishers were a London street gang based in Whitechapel led by Alfred Solomon. [1] One of their more famous members was future mobster Jack Spot during the inter-war years. During the 1930s, they opposed the growing fascist movement in Great Britain and participated in an attack on members of the British Union of Fascists led by Sir Oswald Mosley, which became known as the Battle of Cable Street, on 4 October 1936. [2]
Other gangs in London around the same period as the Yiddishers were the Jewish Aldgate Mob, Russian Jews Bessarabian Tigers, Bethnal Green Mob who were allies with the Hoxton Mob, Camden Town's Broad Mob, Elephant and Castle Mob, Islington Mob, Kings Cross Gang, Odessians, West End Boys and the Whitechapel Mob. [3]
The fictional Peaky Blinders character Alfie Solomons, played by Tom Hardy, is based on Alfred Solomon, leader of the Yiddishers.
Whitechapel is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough town centre. Whitechapel is located 3.4 miles (5.5 km) east of Charing Cross.
The Admiral Duncan is a public house in Old Compton Street, Soho, in central London that is well known as one of Soho's oldest gay pubs.
A flat cap is a rounded cap with a small stiff brim in front, originating in Northern England. The hat is also known in Ireland as a paddy cap; in Scotland as a bunnet; in Wales as a Dai cap; and in the United States as an English cap or Irish cap. Various other terms exist Flat caps are usually made of tweed, plain wool, or cotton, while some are made using leather, linen, or corduroy. The inside of the cap is commonly lined for comfort and warmth.
Carl Steven Alfred Chinn is an English historian, author and radio presenter whose working life has been devoted to the study and popularisation of the city of Birmingham. He broadcast a programme on the BBC from the mid-1990s focusing on Birmingham's history.
Jack "Spot" Comer was a Jewish gangster who rose to rule London's underworld.
Gang-related organised crime in the United Kingdom is concentrated around the cities of London, Manchester and Liverpool and regionally across the West Midlands region, south coast and northern England, according to the Serious Organised Crime Agency. With regard to street gangs the cities identified as having the most serious gang problems, which accounted for 65% of firearm homicides in England and Wales, were London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool. Glasgow in Scotland also has a historical gang culture with the city having as many teenage gangs as London, which had six times the population, in 2008.
Charles "Darby" Sabini was a British-Italian mob boss and considered protector of Little Italy during the interwar years.
The Birmingham Boys pictured in 1920
Steven Knight is a British screenwriter, producer, and director for film and television. He wrote the screenplays for the films Closed Circuit, Dirty Pretty Things, and Eastern Promises, and also wrote and directed the films Locke and Hummingbird. Knight is one of three creators of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, a game show that has been remade and aired in around 160 countries worldwide. He is also the creator of the BBC's Peaky Blinders and has written for Commercial Breakdown, The Detectives, See, and Taboo.
The Glasgow razor gangs were violent gangs that existed in the East End and South Side of Glasgow, Scotland in the late 1920s and 1930s and were named after their weapon of choice. H. Kingsley Long's novel No Mean City (1935) contains a fictionalised account of these gangs.
Peaky Blinders is a British period crime drama television series created by Steven Knight. Set in Birmingham, it follows the exploits of the Peaky Blinders crime gang in the direct aftermath of the First World War. The fictional gang is loosely based on a real urban youth gang who were active in the city from the 1880s to the 1920s.
The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1920s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to working-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racketeering, illegal bookmaking, and control of gambling. Members wore signature outfits that typically included tailored jackets, lapelled overcoats, buttoned waistcoats, silk scarves, bell-bottom trousers, leather boots, and peaked flat caps. Contrary to the television series of the same name, it is unlikely that they had razor blades sewn into these caps, instead gaining their name from the way they wore them with the cap tilted so that the peak covered one eye.
Thomas Michael Shelby is a fictional character and the protagonist of the British period crime drama Peaky Blinders. He is played by Irish actor Cillian Murphy, who has won two Irish Film & Television Awards and two National Television Awards for his portrayal of Shelby. The character has received critical acclaim.
Alfred "Alfie" Solomons is a fictional character in the British period crime drama television series Peaky Blinders, created by Steven Knight and portrayed by Tom Hardy. Based on a London gangster born in the late 1890s, he is the leader of a Jewish gang based in Camden Town and was introduced in Series 2.
Alfred Henry White (1887–1942), better known as Big Alf White, was an English gangster, who headed the White Family street gang.
Greenford Park Trotting Track was a trotting track, motorcycle speedway and short-lived greyhound racing track in Greenford, London Borough of Ealing, West London.
Charles 'Wag' McDonald and Wal McDonald were brothers who led the Elephant and Castle Mob, a London street gang active in the early 20th century. Bert McDonald, their other brother, was the boyfriend of Forty Elephants leader Alice Diamond.
Arthur Shelby Jr. is a fictional character in the British television period crime drama television series Peaky Blinders, created by Steven Knight. Played by Paul Anderson, Arthur Shelby Jr. is the older brother of the protagonist Thomas Shelby. Arthur is a member of the Peaky Blinders and the deputy vice president of the Shelby Company Limited.