GANGS AND GANGSTERS -- PART THREE

Jack Comer was born as Jacob Comadio and was the youngest of four children. His father was a poor Jewish tailor machinist. They moved to London from Lodz, Poland in 1903. They changed their name to Comer to sound more English but still received anti-semitism.

Jack Comer grew up in a Jewish ghetto street in Fieldgate Mansions. At the age of seven he joined a gang of Jewish boys who were the rivals of Catholic Irish.

He was called spotty because he had a mole on his left cheek                              .

JACK COMER

Spot Comer claimed he was taken part in the 'Battle of Cable Street'. For people who don't know it were a street battle between the Black Shirts of Mosley (British Nazis) and the East Ender of London including Jews. He was badly beaten by the police with truncheons and ended up in Hospital and then in prison. He stated afterwards that it wasn't a mob fight; it was a victory over the Nazis.

Spot lost control of the East Ender rackets in 1952. After his partner Bill Hill was released from prison when Jack Comer failed to heist the £1.25 in London Heathrow. Also the Betting and Booking was legalized and Spot lost a lucrative market.

In 1955 a knife fight in Frith Street, Soho between Albert Dimes and Spot ended with both men badly insured. Both men pleaded not guilty and neither man was jailed.

After that Spot kept loosing control over the crime empire. In 1959 he and his wife were attacked by "Mad" Frankie Frazer, Bobby Warren and many others.

Frazer and Warren were given seven years.

In his hay-days, Spot was living in a ten guineas flat in Hyde Park Mansion near Edgeware Road.

He died of "Cerebrovascular accident and immobility" at the age of 83 in reduced circumstances.

Jack Comer's ashes were scattered in Israel

REGINALD (LEFT) 
AND RONALD KRAY

The Kray's brothers were notorious. Even in our time, people gave them folk hero's status. Ronnie and Reggie Kray were twins. They controlled a 'protection' racket in the East End of London in the 1960. Their friends or admirers, whatever you may call them, stated that they helped fellow East-Enders who were hard up. Whether it was a method to rope them in is not known. Also they made the streets safe for women and children which sound controversial to their activities but they did. Nevertheless, they only fought other gangster who either double crossed them or trying to muscled in, in their territory. They dealt with them ruthlessly.

Their gang was called the 'Firm' and Reggie Kray was the 'chairman of the board'. Ronnie Kray was the second in command. The company prospered and they opened up a smart nightclub 'Esmeralda's Barn' There they mixed with TV personalities, politicians and American movie stars.

However, underneath all that glamour the reign of terror continued.  Apparently, on one occasion, Ronnie Kray walked into a crowded bar. He shot a man dead because that man insulted him and then calmly walked out again. Another man offended the twins and Reggie Kray dealt with him with a carving knife. He was found and sent to the mortuary. There are a number of deaths in the East End of London occurring at that time which are still unexplained. Some are linked to the Kray’s Brothers but never proven.

In 1969, the two Kray's brother went on trial and found guilty. Both became life in prison and eventually died there.

GANGS AND GANGSTERS -- PART TWO

AL CAPOME                                                          

Al Capone was a son of an Italian Immigrant and born in 1899 he move from New York to Chicago in 1919.

When the US government declared prohibition of manufacturing, distributing and selling intoxicating drinks; Al Capone made a fortune in supplying illegal alcohol. With a fast income of US 100 million in 1924 he bribed most of the Chicago top officials. The mayor, chief of police, judges and lawyers were all on his payroll.

The rival’s gangs and their leaders argued with Capone because they didn't want him to muscle in on their territory. It became so bad with the gangs fighting wars with Thompson sub-machine gun that it became known as the 'Chicago typewriter'. This weapon could fire a thousand rounds per minute and penetrate a 7cm thick pine board at 4572m.

The height of the killing was the so-called St Valentine's Day Massacre on 14 February 1929. Some of Capone's men lined up seven of their rivals and shot them in cold blood. There was a public outcry and finally the police took action. No witnesses could be found. They charged Al Capone with tax evasion. He died in 1947 after being in prison for eight years. He was sick and insane.

Now Al Capone's empire became a large and more ambitious crime Syndicate. The prohibition ended in 1933. The Syndicate was launched in 1934 and had leaders of the country's most powerful gangs. Millions of Dollar came from an assortment of other underworld rackets such as gambling, vice, extortion and drugs.

The gangs didn't want any wars like it raged in Chicago. They worked out territories, rules and regulations. They even had an appointed national board of directors. They set up a squad of full-time killers - Murder, Inc - to deal with anyone who would not obey the rules or an order. Each killer was paid between US$1000 and US$5000 to carry out the 'assignment'. They also received a regular salary and all kinds of benefits which were normally only enjoyed by top executives. - life insurance, medical care and retirement plans.

In the 1940 the Syndicate was taken over by an even more powerful group, the Mafia.

In the 9th Century the Mafia was founded to resist foreign invaders. It slowly became a criminal organisation and by the 19th century practically controlled the island government. It did not expand into the mainland Italy because it was and is controlled by the Camorra.

It found that the USA was a great open ground to expand. Large numbers of Italian immigrants and Sicilians flood to America.

They began in New Orleans but soon spread to other cities with large Sicilian communities. Loyalty was absolute paramount. A new member held his hand over a sheet of paper with a picture of a saint on it. The middle finger was pricked and a few drops of blood fell onto the paper. This was crumpled up and set alight. The new member had to say the words, 'I swear to be loyal to my brothers, never to betray them, and if I fail may I burn and be turned to ashes like the ashes of the image.' This oath of loyalty was the strength and backbone of the Mafia.

Those who dared to betray were killed. The Mafia grew to enormous power and a few attempts were made to break them. In the 1940's it was the most powerful and profitable criminal organization. However, it was not until JF Kennedy became President that the Mafia felt a thread. He put them of top of the list to smash them but in November 1963 he was killed. It was assumed that he was a victim of a Mafia assassination plot.

However, the Mafia has and is still flourishing. Other powerful Mafia-type gangs emerged in other countries. In Russia they have their own Mafia and the underworld became a state within a state. The rate of crimes has shot up in the last five years. Businessmen, politicians and policemen are on the payroll.

Underworld Slang

BUZZERS; Pickers of Gentlemen's pockets.

PROP-NAILERS; Those who steal pins and brooches.

TIMBLE-SCREWERS; Watch-snatchers

DEAD LURKERS; Those who steal coats and umbrellas from passages at dusk or on Sunday afternoons.

SNOW GATHERERS; Those who steal drying clothes off the hedges.

BLUEY-HUNERS; Those who steal lead from the roofs of houses.

MUDLARKS; Those who steal pieces of rope and lumps of coal from ships along the River Thames.

RESURRECTIONISTS; Those who steal dead bodies to sell to medical schools and scientists.

I am sure these phrases are more likely from the older days.

CAPONE'S HEADQUARTERS IN CHICAGO -- THE LEXINGTON HOTEL -- IT WAS DEMOLISHED IN 1995

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