University Archives
Anti-Vietnam War Movement
During the spring of 1965, in response to the sustained bombing of North Vietnam launched by the United States, many of those in Britain who were opposed to the war began to organise themselves into a political movement. This encompassed established organisations such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, as well as numerous ad hoc groups, and remained active until the early 1970s.
The British Council (later Campaign) for Peace in Vietnam (BCPV) was formed in April 1965 and its work is documented in the surviving papers of Amicia Young, secretary of the BCPV during 1968. There are minutes and reports of its Council and Working Committee, conference papers, records of the Trade Union Sub-Committee, publicity material, press releases and extensive correspondence. Young also accumulated a large collection of leaflets and posters issued by other British and American anti-Vietnam War groups, such as the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign and the National Vietnam Campaign Committee [DYO/12].
The papers of the Labour MP Anne Kerr include several files of correspondence on the Vietnam War. Kerr chaired the British Liaison Committee for Women's Peace Groups and had contacts with such organisations as CND, BCPV and the Medical Aid Committee for Vietnam. [DMK/1/211-228]
Within the archives of the pressure group Liberty, there are four files about the policing of the major anti-Vietnam War demonstrations in Grosvenor Square, London in March and October 1968 and another file on earlier demonstrations in 1965-66. [DCL/423, 459/8, 640/4 & 640/6; 138/4]