"Since the Second world War, The countries of Britain have been occupied by the armed forces of a foreign power, the United States of America. an occupation for which the‘’ consent of the British People has never been sought or given “. . . it is time for the People to act in the defence of the Planet Earth and the security of future generations.
So bad has been the record of the Governments of the United States and the United Kingdom in this suicidal arms race. we are left with no alternative but to throw off the power of both these governments and to declare here at Greenham Common the People’s free State of Greenham "

photo courtesy of Luke B

    The CND’s reaction to these Rainbow rabble who’d actually used the direct action tactics hallowed in Disarmament Tradition was unenthusiastic. Though they’d netted at least $lOO,OOO at the giant Glastonbury Peacefest a few weeks before. the most CND would give the occupiers was $60.
    Then, when Base Command decided to cut down all the trees outside the fence, and the occupiers calmly cut down a bit of the fence in response, the CND London office bowed to frantic calls from the U.S. embassy about "the wild, petrol bomb. throwing mob attacking the Base perimeter."— and cancelled their Chair woman's dinner engagement at Rainbow Camp. Other CND'ers gave interviews to the press duely dissociating themselves from the "violence," falsely suggesting the "real" protesters of the Women's Vigil condemned cutting down the fence. After 2 weeks of this, the consensus among the Peace Convoy was that it was time to move on. A small Rainbow Camp remained whilst the rest embarked anew upon the Festival Trail.

Trail of Anarchy
   The battered convoy that rolled out of Greenham , leaving several prisoners 'detained at her majesties pleasure,' was more determined than ever to resist police hassles. But Britain's nine daily papers who normally ignore all countercultural manifestations decided the Peace Convoy was good 'Silly Season' material and suddenly started headlining its progress in tones of alarm more appropriate for Attila and his Huns .
The first week of August found the accounts in the yellow press of 'armed hippie convoys' wreaking havoc across the countryside as they headed towards East Anglia. Before they were well underway a confrontation developed when local cops decided to run checks on some of the bus licence plates. When the licence plates of one bus turned out to have been lifted from another bus, which had been reported stolen, an arrest attempt led to police van headlights being smashed with axe handles and one constable being slightly injured.

   The uproar that followed this scuffle might well have befitted a minor insurrection and it grew. During the night the convoy split into columns which sped across the darkened countryside with cops in hot pursuit, until an entire paddy wagon containing 9 porkers unaccountably hit a patch of petroleum on the pavement, and spun into a ditch, disabling vehicle and occupants alike. From newspaper accounts it was impossible to tell that, in fact, the Peace Convoy had nothing to do with the oil slick being there (and even helped the cops out of the ditch, offering them tea and calling an ambulance.