Formation
The driving force behind the formation of the New Communist Party in 1977 was Sid French, who had been the CPGB's Surrey district secretary for many years. French was born into a class-conscious working class family in 1920 and joined the Young Communist League in 1934 at the age of 14. In 1941, during the World War II, he was called up and served in the Royal Air Force. Promoted to Sergeant in 1942, French was posted to Gibraltar and later to North Africa and Italy. While on active service French wrote an article for Labour Monthly about the problems facing the Gibraltarians under war conditions. In Algiers he met Henri Alleg, a French communist journalist, who later joined the Algerian resistance against French colonialism and spent five years in prison for his activities. After postwar demobilisation, French's commitment to the communist movement led to his appointment as Secretary of the newly formed Surrey District Committee of the CPGB in 1950. He remained in that position until he resigned, together with other supporters, to establish the New Communist Party on 15 July 1977. Sid French was a member of the General and Municipal Workers Union (G&MWU) and an active co-operator. He was elected to the Political Purposes Committee of the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society (RACS) in 1967 and elected to the RACS Members' Council in 1968.
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