David Gilbert (1914–1992), known to his contemporaries as "Tony", was a British political activist. He is best remembered as the head of the left-wing political organisation Liberation (formerly the Movement for Colonial Freedom) during the 1980s and 1990s. Biography Early years Tony Gilbert was born in Poplar, London to a large Jewish family in 1914. As a young man, Gilbert served as an apprentice in the fur industry, working as a nailer. In the early 1930s, the diminutive Gilbert was the victim of anti-semitic violence when he was attacked on the streets by members of the British Union of Fascists. Gilbert awoke from his beating in the hospital, more fervent than ever in his opposition to fascism. During the Spanish Civil War, Gilbert joined the International Brigades and went to Spain, serving as a courier for Loyalist forces fighting in defense of the Second Spanish Republic. During his Spanish activity, he shared responsibility for the capture of his unit by rebel forces when an incorrect decision was made at a fork in the road and the unit was marched into a trap. Gilbert apparently avoided being shot shortly after being captured, when a car full of American journalists arrived at the scene. He was a prisoner of war from March 1938 until the war ended later that year. At the start of the Second World War, Gilbert worked in Yorkshire as a coal miner before returning to London and joining the army. After the war Gilbert worked on the railway, where he became active in the National Union of Railwaymen. During the war he had been awakened to the interrelated problems of racism and colonialism and he became politically active in East London as a public speaker on these matters. In 1953, Gilbert married Shelia Murch, with whom he had two daughters. The couple separated in 1963 due to the tension of family life and the demands of his developing political career and beliefs. Political career In 1954 the Movement for Colonial Freedom (MCF) was established, an anti-colonial political group which held consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, with Gilbert involved as an active member of the leadership of this organisation from its inception. The MCF was closely associated with the left wing of the Labour Party and attempted to unite small British groups and individuals in a campaign against the political and economic domination of