Svaara and Sokoloff in East End Shootout

3rd January 1911

On this day in the early hours of the morning, a fierce gun battle broke out in the East End of London. The Metropolitan and City Police had received a tip-off that two Latvian anarchists, Svaara and Sokoloff, were holed up in a room in Sidney Street. The anarchists were part of a group who called themselves Leesma (flame) and who carried out robberies to fund Lenin and his Bolshevik movement. Until mid-morning, the superior arms of the anarchists gave them the upper hand, but then Winston Churchill called in the Scots Guards and Svaara and Sokoloff were eventually killed at around lunchtime. Churchill himself witnessed the action in what would later be known as the Siege of Sidney Street.

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Author: Tony

Born and raised in Malaysia between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Educated at Wycliffe College in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, England. Living in the foothills of Mount Etna since 1982 and teaching English at Catania University since 1987.

8 thoughts on “Svaara and Sokoloff in East End Shootout”

  1. I spotted a mistake in the article: If it’s talking about “The Metropolitan and City Police”, it should be “Tube and City Police”, since they were in London.

        1. It’s the new system while I’m running the “looking back…” rubric which comes out in the morning.

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