Stewards (paramilitary organisation)

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Stewards" paramilitary organisation – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Find sources: "Stewards" paramilitary organisation – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The Stewards, also informally referred to as Blackshirts, were the paramilitary wing of the British Union of Fascists (BUF).^[1] They served a similar role as the Blackshirts of the National Fascist Party of Italy and also wore black uniforms. The Stewards were officially an organization of guards to protect Oswald Mosley and eject groups of hecklers from the audience of speeches by BUF officials.^[2] In practice, the Stewards physically assaulted hecklers and political opponents with truncheons of rubber or lead.^[2]