GH Davies defines Blue Brigade as ‘Extreme Nationalist’, but he was writing with a Left Wing bias; in fact Blue Brigade are nationalist with a small n, and very firmly not racist: ‘Anyone can be British’ goes the thinking ‘Therefore anyone can be in Blue Brigade’ – just as long as they join in, follow the rules and look smart.

It is the thin end of a terrifying ideology that, while it hasn’t got anyone murdered yet, has caused more violence on both sides than any other LCPS credo.

Blue Brigade don’t see themselves as aggressive, what’s important to them is ‘prestige’ and being ‘hard’ – the walk, the talk, the ability to ‘handle themselves’, and ‘the look’.

Good soldiers always look smart – even when knee deep in Flanders and dead people – Blue Brigade do not look a mess, ever: even if they’ve just kicked the shit out of somebody.

A lone Blue Brigade soldier is vulnerable (they assume that everyone else is predatory!) and a thorough kicking can seriously impair ‘the look’ so Blue Brigade tend to travel in groups, they call this ‘teamwork’, the rest of the school call it ‘three against one’.

They have some common ground with Sharp Set (though they don’t actually like each other), they despise Punks, try to prey on New School, and dream of the day when the Heavies are out of the way and they can take over. They actually rather look up to Old School, since it seems to form part of Britain’s Golden Age that they would love to restore; sadly the feeling is anything but mutual.

Blue Brigade are not stupid, but the gang structure is strongly militaristic and favours obedience over imagination and ideas: the leaders do the thinking and the troops do as they’re told.

Blue Brigade is sponsored by the British Boot Company of Camden Town; any girls going in and identifying themselves as Blue Brigade will get £5 off a pair of Dockers (it may work for boys as well, it’s worth a try).

Letter from a Blue Brigade girl.