Ben W. Johnson

Sheffield's Most Notorious Gangs

The returning heroes had been forgotten by their country. Men who had risked life and limb in the hellish world of the First World War trenches had no choice but to fight again; this time, for their livelihoods, their families, and a place in society. Reduced to marching with motley suburban regiments, these were the men who left behind the war in Europe, and returned to fight their own wars on the streets of the Steel City. Rifles had been replaced with razors, and bayonets with butcher's knives. This time, the enemy was society itself, more often than not represented by the under-staffed and under siege police force. Money would be made, blood would be shed, and lives would be lost. Sheffield was a city at war with itself, as opposing gangs battled daily for control of the inner city streets. Of these deadly street gangs, two of the largest rival factions held the city in the palm of their hands. The Mooney Gang and the Park Brigade had become the unofficial governing bodies in many of the poorer neighbourhoods, and the authorities seemed powerless to stem the ever growing tide of violence which swept through the streets like a deadly plague. Unchallenged, uncontrollable and unwanted, the gangs of the Steel City seemed to be unstoppable. Only a show of brute force from the authorities could return order to the city. But, for one former soldier in particular, this shift of power arrived too late.