THE March on Rome on October 28 1922 by Mussolini’s armed militia was followed a few days later by another fascist march, this time in London.   

On the afternoon of Saturday November 4 1922, Italian Blackshirts gathered outside 25 Noel Street in Soho. “Hundreds” were expected, according to a report in the Daily Herald. Among those present were members of the “squadre d’azione del fascio” or “action squads.” They belonged to Mussolini’s National Fascist Party’s London branch, set up in November 1921 with offices at 13 Store Street.   

The Blackshirts prepared to march across Piccadilly all the way to Westminster Abbey under the command of Captain Gelmetti.   

This was the first ever fascist march in Britain. The Italian fascists had attempted to stage a similar event the previous year, but the Home Office and Scotland Yard had warned that marching through Westminster was forbidden while Parliament was sitting.   

By November 1922, however, things had moved on. Mussolini had been invited by King Victor Emmanuel III to form a government and the Italian Blackshirts in London could claim that they were no longer an obscure group of mostly former army men, but representatives of a political force fully recognised by the British government and then-Tory prime minister Andrew Bonar Law.   

According to the London-based Italian fascist weekly, L’Eco d’Italia, “the Blackshirts were followed by a large contingent of sympathisers and made their way marching in step through thick crowds of onlookers.”    

At the head of the march was a Blackshirt holding the “gagliardotto,” the flag which was a symbol of the National Fascist Party. The march paused by the Cenotaph to lay a wreath, then went on to Westminster Abbey where the Blackshirts knelt and made the fascist salute. Bishop Ryle, the Dean of the Abbey, gave them a warm welcome.   

Later that evening, there was a large gathering at the Prince’s Restaurant to mark the anniversary of the armistice. Camillo Pellizzi was among the speakers. Pellizzi was a key organiser of the Italian fascist party in London which had begun the annexation of the 20,000-strong Italian community taking control of all Italian schools and social and cultural centres.   

Pictures of the fascist march appeared in some British publications. The nascent contingent of British fascists must have felt encouraged by the brazen display of triumphant militarism in the heart of London by representatives of a political party that had successfully made its way to a position of power in Italy.    

Part of the conservative press hailed Mussolini as a genius and a saviour. Even the British liberal and left press seemed inclined to take a lenient view about recent developments in Italy — in spite of the frequent reports of violence and atrocities being committed by the Blackshirts, including the use of torture and the killing of opponents.

Almost alone, it was the Workers’ Dreadnought edited by Sylvia Pankhurst, assisted by a number of Italian anti-fascists mainly based in the Soho districts — Silvio Corio among others — that rang the alarm about what was happening.    

In an article of November 11 1922 under the headline “The Fascisti Menace” the march by the Blackshirts in London was reported with dismay across the front page: “Let there be no mistake. Fascism is an international menace.” This was right then — and it is right now, though, once again, not everyone is listening.