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At the very beginning of January 1911 a gang of armed Latvian anarchists,
believed to be involved in the shooting of three policemen at a burglary in
Houndsditch in December, were traced to 100 Sidney Street in Stepney and
surrounded by the police and, later, troops from the Scots Guard.
The siege went on for many hours, drawing an excited crowd of onlookers and,
fortunately for us, cameramen from five different newsreel companies (Warwick,
Andrews, Pathé, Co-operative and Gaumont), who jostled for the best vantage
points. As a result the 'Sidney Street Siege' is a rare early instance of
genuine 'breaking news' (as opposed to pre-scheduled events or footage shot
after the event) captured on film.
The Gaumont footage contains several good shots of the police holding back
the crowds and a particularly clear shot of the exchange of gun fire across
Sidney Street. This version never included the shot of then home secretary
Winston Churchill apparently directing troops.
The final shots are taken from a
roof on the other side of the street and show the house as it burned and the
arrival of the firemen. One of the firemen was later killed by burning wreckage,
and the bodies of Fritz Svaars and 'Joseph; aka Sokoloff were retrieved, but this
was after the newsreels were already being processed to be shown in London cinemas
later that same night.
Bryony Dixon
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Complete film (3:42)
