Angela Gradwell
(pic left): Angela with a petition against the Falklands war in 1982
Trained as a solicitor, she was a member of the English hockey team which competed in Germany in 1935. There, she played a key role in advising her team mates against being used by the Nazi propaganda regime to comment favourably on their impressions of Germany. After the Nazis complained about her, she was dropped form the team and never played for England again.
She was active in support of the republic in Spain and became a fund raiser for Labour Monthly, working with R Palme Dutt and Andrew Rothstein. After marrying Ike Gradwell (see separate entry), she moved to Swindon, where she was involved for half a century in local political activity.
In the 1967 WiltshireCounty Council election, Angela polled 67 votes, which sounds trite until it is realised that the Communist vote was 7.4% per cent of the poll and 18.2% of the Labour vote.
A long time peace activist, she was still involved in her eighties at Greenham Common, bringing her melodian accordion to brighten up spirits in the camp! Angela died, aged 88, in 1994.
Sources: Morning Star August 9th 1994; Morning Star 17th April 1967
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