May 17, 1964 - Scuffles and fighting by rival gangs of teenagers and toughs harassed the police and public throughout the South of England today in the middle of the three-day Whitsun holiday.
Margate, on the tip of Kent, was invaded by 1,000 teenagers of the Mod and Rocker gangs. Their clashes started on the beaches at dawn. The police arrested 40 — and there was blood on the sand. The situation recalled the Easter battles at Clacton.
Most of the Mods had arrived on motor scooters, while the Rockers had roared into town on shiny motorcycles.
At 10:30 this morning, the big battle broke out as 500 Mods attacked 100 Rockers. Six policemen stepped in, truncheons waving — and both mobs turned on them.
Then the Mods streamed across to the huge Dreamland amusement center, knocking over people as they went. As they marched, they chanted, shouted, and clapped their hands.
Police trapped about 100 Mods in the car park. But 300 others charged the gates and freed them.
Soon after that, raging Mods swarmed along Margate’s High Street. Five youths burst into a café, swept food on the floor, threw chairs, and stormed out. Then the Mods set about breaking windows of shops, pubs, and houses. Later, a group of youths set fire to a pile of deck chairs on the beach, then sang and danced around the bonfire.
Police reinforcements were also on duty — and busy — at Southend, Westcliff, Ramsgate, Brighton, and Folkstone.
At Brighton, hundreds of Mods roamed the streets, hunting for Rockers and breaking windows.
Practically all of Brighton’s police force was on duty, and more than 100 officers rushed to the seafront cinema where gangs of Mods were attacking a dozen Rockers. The Rockers, bruised and shaken, escaped on their motorcycles.
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