Editing Column 88 (section)

==Activities==
Members of other more open [[far-right]] movements were recruited into Column 88's ranks, with membership limited to those seen as the most extreme.<ref name="Org"/> Indeed, [[A.K. Chesterton]], who had established the [[National Front (United Kingdom)|National Front]], wrote in one of his final letters to [[John Tyndall (politician)|John Tyndall]] expressing his concerns that NF members were becoming involved in Column 88.<ref>Thurlow, ''Fascism in Britain A History, 1918-1985'', p. 258</ref>

In the late 1970s, the organisation allegedly carried out several bomb attacks on left-wing British organisations, including the [[Socialist Workers' Party (Britain)|Socialist Workers Party]], the [[Anti-Nazi League]] and the left-wing [[Housmans (bookshop)|Housmans]] bookshop, where the pacifist and anti-racist magazine ''[[Peace News]]'' was published.<ref>"Bomb Explodes At Peace News", ''Irish Times'', July 5th 1978, pg. 7</ref> Many suspected that this group were behind the arson attack that destroyed the [[Albany Theatre|Albany Empire]] in Deptford, south London in July 1978 during the [[Rock Against Racism]] campaign.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}} Other bomb attacks that it was reported to have carried out included those against targets as diverse as the homes of [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] members and [[transmission tower]]s whilst the group also claimed a series of arson attacks on [[Jewish]]-owned businesses.<ref name="Org"/>

Column 88 first came to public attention in 1975, when the regional British newspaper, the Western Daily Press, published accounts of Column 88 members training, in Savernake Forest, Wiltshire, with elements of the [[Territorial Army (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]].<ref>''Western Daily Press'', 7/4/75, 29/4/75, 30/4/75</ref> This led to a question being asked, by a Member of Parliament, in the House of Commons,<ref>''Hansard'', 29 April 1976</ref> and to other reports in British newspapers, such as The Guardian.<ref name="Harris">Geoffrey Harris, ''The Dark Side of Europe  The Extreme Right Today'', Edinburgh University Press, 1994, p. 123</ref><ref>''The Guardian'', 19 April 1976</ref> The British anti-fascist magazine, ''Searchlight'', also published articles about Column 88 in May 1975, and May 1976.

Infiltration of the [[Army Cadet Force]] was also organised by Column 88.<ref>Paul Wilkinson, ''The New Fascists'', Pan Books, 1983, p. 122</ref> Column 88 was also said to have been involved in the establishment of a number of other far-right groups, including the exclusive [[League of St. George]] and the [[National Party (UK, 1976)|National Party]].<ref name="Org"/> National Party leader [[John Kingsley Read]] claimed that he received funds from Column 88 both for his own party and during his time as chairman of the National Front.<ref>Gable, 'The Far Right in Contemporary Britain', p. 248</ref> In 1983 Column 88 hit the headlines again when the press reported that Clarence had been "safe-housing" three [[Germany|German]] neo-Nazis terrorists Odfried Hepp, Ulrich Tillmann and Walter Kexel, who were wanted for bomb attacks on [[US Army]] bases in Germany.<ref>Macklin, ''Very Deeply Dyed in Black'', p. 175</ref>