Editing Column 88 (section)

==Formation==
A secret [[Nazism|Nazi]] underground group, the origins of Column 88 have been given as early as 1945.<ref name="Org">Peter Barberis, John McHugh, Mike Tyldesley, ''Encyclopedia of British and Irish political organisations: parties, groups and movements of the 20th century'', Continuum International Publishing Group, 2000, p. 181</ref> Indeed, [[Gerry Gable]] has claimed that [[Colin Jordan]] was sworn in as a member of this secret society as a nineteen-year-old.<ref>[[Gerry Gable]], 'The Far Right in Contemporary Britain', Luciano Cheles, Ronnie Ferguson, Michalina Ferguson, ''Neo-Fascism in Europe'', Longman, 1991, p. 247</ref> According to historian Richard Thurlow, Column 88 took their name from a group of [[Austria]]ns who set up an underground group of this name in 1934 when the Austrian government banned the [[Nazi Party]].<ref>Richard Thurlow, ''Fascism in Britain A History, 1918-1985'', Basil Blackwell, 1987, p. 267</ref>

Open activity, however, did not start until 1970 when it took charge of elements of the National Socialist Group, a secret paramilitary grouping associated with the [[British Movement]].<ref name="Org"/> The founders of this more organised group had been followers of Colin Jordan, who had become disillusioned with their former leader after he began to moderate his public utterances in the wake of the [[Race Relations Act 1965|1965]] and [[Race Relations Act 1968|1968 Race Relations Acts]].<ref>Thurlow, ''Fascism in Britain A History, 1918-1985'', p. 277</ref> One of their major critiques of Jordan was his decision two years earlier to disband the [[National Socialist Movement (UK, 1962)|National Socialist Movement]] in order to establish the British Movement, an action which they interpreted as a retreat from Nazism.<ref name="Org"/>

According to one report, "Column 88, was connected with the [[Operation_Gladio|Gladio]] networks. These networks were set up after the Second World War, with the support of the US Central Intelligence Agency, by a number of powers, both within and outside NATO as anti-communist resistance bodies".<ref>Luciano Cheles (Editor). ''The Far Right in Western and Eastern Europe.'' Longman Publishing Group; 2nd edition, 1995. p.258. {{ISBN|9780582238817}}</ref> According to another report, Major Ian Souter Clarence, a former Special Forces Officer, "helped set up Column 88 in the 1960s as the British section of Gladio".<ref>Martin Durham. ''Women and Fascism''. Taylor & Francis. 1998. p.63.  {{ISBN|978-0415122795}} </ref>