1920's Sheffield Gang Wars

Today’s speaker was Martin Rowley who gave us a talk on the Sheffield gang wars of the 1920’s. There was a brutal turf conflict between the Mooney Gang and the Park Brigade. The Mooney Gang was led by George Mooney who controlled pitch and toss gambling rings, specifically at Sky Edge. The Park brigade was formed by Samuel Garvin after being cut out of gambling profits by Mooney, sparking an all out territorial war. The turning point was the murder of ex-boxer William Plommer by the Park gang.

The Special Duty Squad was formed under Sir Percy Sillitoe with aggressive police tactics manned by tough veterans which eventually crushed the gangs, it was later nicknamed the Flying Squad.