| | by admin | | posted on 31st July 2025 in Power to Protest | | views 43 | |
Ruislip Action 64 was a bold act of civil resistance outside Britain's nuclear nerve centre.
In the summer of 1964, peace campaigners from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) took part in a dramatic act of nonviolent resistance known as Ruislip Action 64. The protest was directed at RAF Northolt in Ruislip, West London — then the headquarters of No. 1 (Bomber) Group of the Royal Air Force, playing a key role in Britain’s nuclear weapons system.
The action was part of a wider shift in the peace movement during the early 1960s. Alongside mass marches and vigils, a more direct form of protest was emerging — involving sit-ins, civil disobedience, and organised disruption. Inspired in part by the Committee of 100, this approach aimed to confront the military infrastructure of the nuclear state head-on.
Ruislip Action 64 was carefully planned as a mass sit-down outside the gates of the base. The aim was to disrupt the working day of a facility deeply embedded in the operational command of Britain’s nuclear bomber force. While the Ruislip base did not house the weapons themselves, it represented the administrative and strategic nerve centre for the deployment of nuclear arms.
Participants travelled from across the country, many arriving in organised affinity groups. Around 400 people took part in the action, with a smaller group physically blocking traffic and access to the base. As expected, police responded with arrests. Around 50 protestors were taken into custody, many of whom later faced fines for obstruction.
Despite the risk of arrest, the mood remained determined and nonviolent. Demonstrators carried banners, distributed leaflets to passers-by, and used street theatre to express their message. One group read aloud from government civil defence instructions, mocking their unreality in the face of nuclear devastation.
The spirit and tactics of Ruislip Action 64 were strongly influenced by the Committee of 100, a group founded in 1960 by Bertrand Russell and others to promote mass nonviolent resistance against nuclear weapons. The Committee favoured large-scale direct action and civil disobedience as a way to force public confrontation with Britain’s role in the arms race.
Although the Committee itself was entering a period of decline by 1964, its ethos remained alive among peace activists who had participated in earlier sit-downs and base occupations. Ruislip Action 64 reflected the Committee's emphasis on symbolic disruption of military facilities and the personal moral responsibility to resist preparations for nuclear war.
The action gained modest press coverage, mostly in local newspapers, and was reported in Peace News and CND bulletins. It did not have the national profile of earlier events like the Aldermaston Marches, but it marked a new phase in CND’s tactics — targeting specific parts of the British military machine with disciplined civil resistance.
Ruislip Action 64 showed that protest could reach beyond symbolic marches and petitions. It helped pave the way for future peace camps and military base occupations, such as those at Greenham Common and Molesworth in the 1980s. For many involved, it was a formative experience that linked direct action with the values of peace, justice, and moral responsibility.
Although Ruislip Action 64 is not widely remembered today, it stands as an important moment in British anti-nuclear history. It is also the only recorded CND-led protest action at RAF Northolt in Ruislip. No subsequent demonstrations at the site appear in official records or peace movement archives.
Still, the event demonstrated that ordinary citizens were willing to take personal risks to confront the institutions of war. In doing so, it helped sow the seeds for a broader tradition of nonviolent protest in the UK — a legacy that continues to inspire campaigners today.