A guest post from Brian Elliott.

Bruce may have lost his fight with cancer but will be remembered by many us for his unfailing advocacy for the miners and their families during the 84-85 miners’ strike. What’s more, his recent appearances in documentary films will endear him forever in the hearts and minds of anyone who objects to the great injustices that occurred before, during and after one of the most fractious industrial episodes in modern British history.

What made the strike so different to all others was that it was for jobs and communities rather than wages and conditions. This is where Bruce and his mates in his ‘battlebus’ of an old car roamed far and wide in their efforts in order to demonstrate what they believed in, what they stood for, and why pits should not be closed for political reasons.

‘THE MINERS WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED’ was a popular slogan of the period, and, even decades later, like myself, Bruce never admitted to the strike as a loss. Rather it was ordinary workers and their families standing up — against overwhelming odds — against a state that deployed underhand, ‘dirty tactics’ that have only recently surfaced, more than forty years later. The principles of many of those who endured the year-long dispute remain intact today.

I first met Bruce in about 2003, after he had contacted me about a diary he had kept during the strike. A little earlier I had published The Miners’ Strike Day by Day, based on Arthur Wakefield’s writings about the strike. Arthur was a veteran miner from South Kirkby, almost at retirement age when the dispute started. The prospect of another diary to work on, from someone who was much younger and perhaps even more active than Arthur appealed to me a great deal.

So off I went to Rawmarsh and met Bruce, his wife Gay — and their dogs! It was the start of a very long friendship even though in more recent years our contact was occasional rather than regular. His diary related to very eventful picketing with a few mates: Shaun Bisby, Darren Goulty, Bob Taylor and Bruce’s younger brother ‘Bob’. All but Taylor (a Cortonwood miner) were from Silverwood colliery.

After a presentation at my publishers, the idea of another book got accepted, especially as the Arthur Wakefield one had sold so well. Bruce’s diary would be a challenge for me to work on as it was on loose sheets but he had also collected a variety of ephemera and was absolutely full of stories about 1984-85. A new advantage that I had was working full-time on the project, having recently set up as a freelance writer. It took over a year to compile for publication.

Published by Pen & Sword in 2004, coincidental to the twentieth anniversary of the strike, Bruce and myself began a period of promotion which included an appearance on Yorkshire TV’s Calendar programme and an audio session with Tony Capstick on BBC Radio Sheffield. The book got excellent reviews in newspapers and magazines too, and, more importantly, was bought and appreciated by many miners and their families.

In recent years, especially in the build up to the 40^th anniversary of the strike, Bruce was ‘in demand’ by several documentary film companies who usually contacted me beforehand. I was pleased to pass on his details, after checking with him beforehand. One of the most notable, was Daniel Gordon, an established filmmaker from Sheffield who had made a documentary about the Hillsborough football disaster.

Eventually, in 2023, we had a get together in the Silverwood WMC at Thrybergh, a perfect location as it was the scene of so many events and occasions in and after 1984. The outcome was Bruce and some of his mates being filmed over several hours in preparation for a film that had it’s premier in the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, on 18 June 2024, perhaps the most iconic date in the strike. An Uncivil War : The Battle of Orgreave was given spontaneous applause at the end of its showing and won an award for audience response in the Sheffield Documentary Film Festival, which formed part of the occasion. Unfortunately Bruce was unable to attend the event but in many respects he was the star of the show, a complete natural, and someone who gained great respect from so many who saw the film then and afterwards when it was given national and international coverage.

Much earlier, I had had a great chat with Bruce and Gay when we met in January 2024 for a private viewing of the year-long exhibition about the strike at the National Coal Mining Museum for England. Sadly, but in many ways appropriately, the last time I met Bruce in person was in a packed room in Wombwell Working Men’s Club, in March 2024, at a very special event to commemorate the start of the strike which included a rare speaking appearance by Arthur Scargill who was presented with a copy of the ‘Flying Pickets’ book by myself at the occasion.

RIP my miner friend Bruce Wilson and thank you so much for helping to keep the true story of the miners’ strike alive for present and future generations.