Sid Atkin
Coming from a Nottingham mining background, Sid Atkin played an active part in the 1926 General Strike and became a life-long Communist Party. In the 1930s, he was involved in Birmingham with the NUWM, anti-fascist activity and support for Spain, and the city’s great 1939 rent strike.
As an USDAW (NUDAW) full time official from 1936 and Co-operative Society activist in Birmingham, Sid Atkins’ life-long commitment to the Communist Party undoubtedly held him back in his union career. He was a delegate and active participant at Birmingham Trades Council for decades, serving on its executive. A staunch supporter of the 1972 miner’s strike, he was a daily attendee at the Saltley Gate picket in Birmingham. Married for much of his life to a fellow-Communist, Lil, with whom he had three children, Sid died in September 1978.
Source: funeral oration for Sid Atkin by Frank Watters – September 1978
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