Researcher Michael Samaras is seeking information about an organisation called the International Freedom League, which was active in the UK in the early 1930s. It was closely associated with an Australian radical Edward Alexander ‘Ted’ Dickinson (sometimes, in error, Dickenson).

Dickinson was born in Grimsby and grew up a Wobbly in Australia, where he was jailed for riot and sedition. Returning to the UK in late 1929, he formed the International Freedom League. He spoke in Glasgow, and regularly in London at Hyde Park and Finsbury Park. In 1931 he organised a welcome procession for Gandhi. In 1935 he volunteered to stand-in for Clement Attlee when the MP was challenged to a duel by an Italian fascist.

In 1936 he joined the British Battalion of the International Brigades and in February 1937 was captured and executed by the Nationalists. There is an entry for Edward Dickinson in the Australian Dctionary of Biography.

Any information about his life and activities in the UK will be appreciated. Please email moredemocracy[@]hotmail.com