WHEN hundreds of placard-waving teenagers descended on Colchester High Street and sat in the road for several hours, it was almost as if the town was caught in a time-warp.

The scenes were reminiscent of anti-Vietnam war demos of the late Sixties, or CND’s Eighties heyday, when anti-cruise missile protests brought London to a standstill on several occasions.

The date was March 20, 2003 – the day the war in Iraq started.

About 600 demonstrators marched in the town centre and staged a sit-down protest which saw 18 men and six women arrested.

It was one of many such demos in towns and cities across the world against the invasion of Iraq.

The local demo was organised by the Colchester Peace Campaign.

It was set up in October 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks in the USA, and just as American and British troops launched their military campaign in Afghanistan.

Andy Abbott, 40, of East Stockwell Street, Colchester, one of its founders, said: “The terrorist attacks in New York were a terrible thing, but we felt strongly further atrocities would occur as a result.

“We believed war in Afghanistan was not the way forward.

“I remember at the time, we didn’t know if opposition to the war would be possible here, because the attacks in New York had been so awful. We were surprised when about 80 to 90 people turned up to our first meeting.”

The Colchester Peace Campaign’s first public action saw members demonstrating in Colchester town centre, in November 2001, over the invasion of Afghanistan.

Staging an anti-war demonstration, in one of Britain’s best-known military towns attracted national media attention, but that aside, Mr Abbot said campaigners never really had a problem with local people He said: “In the main part, we had good reactions from people in the town.

“We were never anti-soldier. We just didn’t want troops from Colchester to be involved in the war in Afghanistan and then later, in Iraq.

“There was some hostility from people who had friends or family going out to war and who maybe thought we were having a go at them. But that was not our aim at all. In recent years, when we have had stalls in the town, a third to half of the people who sign our petitions are actually the families of soldiers or even soldiers themselves.”

That first demo was followed by a series of meetings, demonstrations, rallies, vigils and speeches over the next 18 months, culminating in a 600-strong march in the town centre at the beginning of the war in Iraq.

In February 2003, members of the University Peace Campaign, a separate group, built a temporary “peace camp” at the former Goojerat Barracks, in Butt Road.

About a dozen protesters camped out in freezing temperatures for a week, protesting against the deployment of 16 Air Assault Brigade.

This year, Colchester Peace Campaign plans to hold a debate on the war on terror in the leadup to the General Election.

Mr Abbott said: “Because we had a vibrant and imaginative campaign in Colchester, it meant a lot of what we did was picked up on by the media.

“But there was never really an anti-war movement, because a few demonstrations don’t make a movement.

“It takes more than that and, unfortunately, people became disillusioned and cynical.

“We will never have the same impact we had seven or eight years ago, but I still believe in one of Britain’s biggest military towns, it is important there is still an anti-war presence.

“We are keeping an idea alive. Those of us who were in the peace campaign at the time can be very proud of what we did.”