Anna Campbell

Anna was born in London on June 12th 1991, the second of four children to Adrienne (Katy) and Dirk Campbell, an environmental activist and a composer respectively. Keen to give the children a natural and healthy start to life, Adrienne and Dirk moved to East Sussex in 2001, with Anna and their older daughter Sophia, where they lived in the countryside before moving to the town of Lewes. Adrienne, who died of breast cancer in 2012, helped set up Lewes New School, a child-centred primary school which promoted artistic self-expression, which Anna attended before going to St Mary’s Hall in Brighton. Anna started a degree in English and French at Sheffield University but did not complete it, as she felt drawn to politics and wanted to use her many and considerable skills in other ways. She moved to Bristol, studied plumbing and bought her first set of tools. In the rest of her life, Anna was an activist and a self-described anarchist. She was fearless in her support of the vulnerable and underprivileged. She stood side by side with Travellers threatened with eviction, for example at Dale Farm. Her activism led to engagement with the Calais Jungle, La Zad, anti-weapons industry, Bexhill bypass and so many other causes. And she demonstrated at anti-fascist rallies, where she once suffered a head wound and had to be hospitalised. Anna was a sensitive soul who loved animals. She felt driven to use her time and efforts whenever possible in their defence. She peacefully sabotaged fox hunts and was vociferous in the campaign to stop the culling of badgers. Peta, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has added her to its Tree of Life memorial. It was in May 2017 that Anna decided to travel to Syria. She joined the YPJ, the Kurdish Women’s Protection Units, and, after a month’s training, went to fight against ISIS forces in the northern part of the country. Anna found here the purpose of her life. She was drawn to the ideals of the Rojava movement, a haven of harmony in a troubled corner of the world, a community which believes in feminism, environmental protection and broad political representation. The Rojava socio-political model is a firmly feminist one, which is all the more startling as a middle Eastern movement. In January of this year, Turkey launched its bizarrely named ‘Operation Olive Branch’, a major offensive against the northern Syrian Kurdish community, whom Turkey believes to be synonymous with the PKK, the Kurdish resistance movement in Turkey, which it regards as a terrorist organisation. The YPJ is not listed by the US, the UK or the EU as a terrorist organisation. Anna was killed by a bomb or missile between Shira and Afrin while aiding civilian evacuation out of Afrin. She was the first British woman killed fighting with the Kurdish militia. She is survived by her father Dirk, brother Adam and sisters Sophia, Rose, Sara, Hester and Rayne. More than 100 people attended a candlelit vigil for her on Cliffe Bridge in Lewes last week, to pray and sing for her.