Siege of Sidney Street of January 1911, also known as the Battle of Stepney, was a gunfight in the East End of London between combined police and army forces and two Latvian revolutionaries. This was the culmination of a series of events that began in December 1910, with an attempted robbery at Houndsditch in the City of London by a Latvian immigrant gang which resulted in the murder of three policemen, the wounding of two others, and the death of the leader of the Latvian gang.
 
Police were informed that two members of the gang were hiding at 100 Sidney Street in Stepney. The police evacuated local residents from the environs, and on the morning of 3 January a firefight broke out.
The siege lasted for about six hours. Towards the end the building caught fire. One of those in the building was shot before the fire took hold.
 
While the Fire Brigade were damping down, fireman Charles Pearson was killed when part of the building collapsed.
 
Wiki
 
Chilling parallels Britain today article 2010
 
The Siege of Sidney Street at Pathé News
 

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