The Surfie-Rocker Wars, as named by the Sydney press, were a series of scrapes between the local middle-class suburban kids, most of whom either surfed or were in surf lifesaving clubs (Surfies), and working-class day-trippers from a few miles inland (Rockers). Nobody was killed or badly injured in the Surfie-Rocker Wars. But the fighting, on occasion, took place in broad daylight, on popular beaches like Manly and Bondi.

Class conflict was the glaring subtext. Surfers themselves had been (and would be in the future) viewed as layabouts and bums and dole-bludgers. But in virtually every newspaper article from the period, the Rockers—often called "invaders," and always disparagingly called out for wearing leather jackets and having long combed-back hair—are the bad guys.

The Surfie-Rocker Wars are recalled here, chronologically, in Sydney Morning Herald articles and excerpts.


Some people claim that “surfies” sit in large crowds and discuss what party they are going to raid next. This is entirely false. They sit around and talk about their boards.

As for gate-crashing parties, we can tell you that you get more fun like this than being invited. The people who are holding the party very rarely object.

The gidgets (girl board-riders) do not wear their hair piled up high; this is how the “rockers" wear it.

Not all “rockers" are speed maniacs; only a few.

Please, “oldies,” leave the younger generation alone and concentrate on your knitting and gardening. You should be proud that we have some “go" in us.

As a "rocker's" girlfriend, my definition of a "surfie" boy is a blond-haired sissy. As for the girls, I have yet to see one that would pass for nice-looking. Most of them are schoolchildren trying to look big.

A “surfie” is a clean-cut youth with a clean haircut; which may be blond. He may or may not belong to a surf club. He surfs most or all the year-round.

A “ho-dad” is like a “surfie” but wears mostly “rocky” clothes and has a “rocky” haircut. He is heckled by both “surfies" and “rockers.”

The “rocker” gets round with a long haircut brushed back and oiled. He wears skintight jeans and bright shirts and hates “surfies.”

They all gatecrash, hut as for playing “chicken” I have never seen it. Nor have I ever seen lemons being used on the hair. Peroxide is in.

Your article describes "surfie" girls as wearing tight pans and bee-hive hairstyles. This is completely incorrect. "Surfie" girls wear their hair with a simple part down the side of the head. They wear Bermuda shorts and a neat overblouse, and do not wear much makeup.

Every group has some bad ones, but the majority of "surfies" are decent people from good homes." Being always down the beach is 100% better than hanging around milk bars, looking for trouble.

"Rockers" are not "hoods." We enjoy and appreciate what we have obtained through hard work. We don't have rich families or big houses, but we do have self-respect and many friends.

"SCHOOL PUTS BAN ON CULT STYLES: STUDENTS THREATENED WITH EXPULSION IF THEY ATTEND SCHOOL DRESSED LIKE SURFIES, ROCKERS, HOODS OR HO-DADS," 


The college is St. Augustine's, Alfred Road, Brookvale, and its rector, Father D. Brimson, told parents at the annual speech night last week that boys dressed in an "extreme manner" were not wanted.

Father Brimson said hair-blonding, [and other] extreme hairstyles—anything which would tend to identify his students with the surfie or rocker cult—were out.

"Even though they might not be cult members, anyone dressed like them is identified with them—and gets their bad name," he said.

A surfie has been described as a youth who spends as much time as possible on the beach—and has his hair peroxide and cut straight across his forehead.

A ho-dad is one who picks fights with surfies and wears peg trousers.

A rocker is similar to a ho-dad, generally has well-oiled hair, wears skin-tight jeans, loud shirts, and "hates surfies."

A hood is a minor hoodlum, older than surfies and rockers.

At the speech night, Father Brimson told parents he would insist on students being "properly attired." St. Augustine's has about 200 secondary students, aged 10 to 17. The school uniform is a dark grey suit, light grey shirt, tied in the school colors of green, gold and red, hat, and grey socks.

[Father Brimson] said later the school had, some time ago, formed its own Saturday Sporting Club, to help keep teenage students away from the surfie influence. "And they play under proper supervision."

Lack of proper supervision was one of the factors which caused series and rockers to get into mischief.

"LARRIKIN CULTS CLASH: SURFIES V ROCKERS AT MANLY: 2 SUNDAY BEACH BASHINGS," 


Manly has become the battleground for a Rockers v Surfies War. The leather-jacketed Rockers have invaded the suburb's foreshores in a force to "stamp out Surfies."

Last Sunday week, lifesavers had been given prior warning from people on the beach that Rockers were on their way over from the Western Suburbs to pick a tight with surfies. Manly lifesaver Peter Ward said he believed the two Sunday invasions by Rockers had been "pre-organized."

Ward said the rockers—about 30 of them—apparently came from the city by ferry and gathered on nearby Shelley Beach before descending on Manly.

Along the promenade, they tacked on to the pine trees gold-lettered cardboard notices urging “Help Stamp Out Surfies."

The Rockers tried to get into the Manly surf lifesaving clubhouse but a solid bank of lifesavers met them on the stairs and forced them out, "l don't know why they picked on us because we're not Surfies," said Ward.

He said the rockers went off down the beach and deliberately picked a youth aged about 15 seated on the promenade wall. ‘They pushed him off his seat and when he defied them some of them held him while the others punched him."

Ward said Manly lifesavers and the beach inspector, Mr. Colin White, ran to the aid of the teenager and pulled the Rockers from him.

"They said the boy they were attacking was a Surfie, but I don’t think he was," said the lifesaver. He said the police arrived at the beach just about this time and told the Rockers they were not wanted in Manly.

"With the police, we followed them back down The Corso to the ferry—and made sure they got on," Ward added.

Mr. White said he regarded the Surfies as just as much a problem as the Rockers. "Members of both these cults are always spoiling for a fight," he said.

A group of Rockers arrived in Manly again last Sunday, "itching to show how tough they were." Lifesavers said the Rockers drove past the surf lifesaving clubhouse shouting. “Stamp out Surfies."

At least two brawls broke out on the promenade and one of three teenage spearfishermen attacked at Shelley Beach, south of the main Manly surfing beach, received severe facial injuries.

Residents said weekends were not the only times hooliganism showed itself in Manly.

A Collaroy Plateau housewife described an encounter she and another woman bad with a dozen leather-jacketed youth on a weeknight. "We had just left our car to walk along the beachfront to the pictures when they jostled us off the footpath," she said. "And there wasn't a policeman in sight."

And Manly residents weren’t the only ones who this week were complaining about larrikinism. Some North Shore residents said they would travel with their children on trains taking them to and from school to protect the youngsters from "hoodlum attacks." This follows the recent train attack on five North Sydney High School boys while they were on the way home from a swimming carnival.

Tim Batterham, 15, of Castlecrag, who had a tooth knocked out in the attack, said the hoodlums involved were "obviously Rockers."

A Railways Department spokesman said a special squad of investigating officers has since been traveling back and forth on North Shore trains to prevent further attacks.


One hundred rockers were expelled from Manly yesterday after a series of scuffles with local Surfies and surf club members. However, last night many of the youths returned to Manly, and police reinforcements were called from the city to help quell any further violence.

In the earlier incident, police escorted the Rockers to the ferry or their cars and motorcycles. They accompanied the cars to the Spit Bridge.

One of the Rockers is alleged to have brandished a knife when surf club members from Manly and North Steyne confronted the Rockers on Manly beach.

The Rockers—youths who favor leather jackets and slicked-down hair, and drive old cars and motorcycles—have shown antagonism to Manly Surfies recently.

Surf club members have also been jostled and abused, although Surfies are mostly younger youths and girls who wear bleached hair and casual clothing, and spend most of their days on the beach.

Yesterday’s Rocker visitors to Manly are believed to have traveled from the Bankstown area. They gathered at Fairy Bower beach soon after midday and moved in a group towards Manly Surf Club. North Steyne Surf Club members moved down the beach to support the Manly club, and Surfies and onlookers swelled the crowd to more than 300.

Police arrived before the clash could become serious and took four youths—two living locally and two visitors—to the police station.

The crowd moved down The Corso to the police station, where police ordered the Rockers into their cars and aboard the ferry and told them to leave the district.

Slow-claps and jeers accompanied their departure.

The Mayor of Manly, Alderman I. W. A. Paton, said last night he would arrange a conference today with the local inspector of police, the town clerk, beach supervisor and other officials to discuss the problem of hooliganism on the beaches.

“Our New Year revels, which were quite famous, have had to be abandoned because of the organized hooligans who came here in droves,” said Alderman Paton. “We are just not going to take any more. Our beaches are for the use of our residents, and visitors, who have the right to use them without interference.”

Manly youngsters said last night they did not look for trouble with the visiting Rockers hut were constantly heckled and “shoved about” by them. A girl had been stripped in the middle of the beach by girls from the Rocker following and minor assaults were commonplace, they said.

The vice-chairman of Manly Surf Club, Mr. A. Drydle, said the behavior of Rockers at dances in the district had forced organizers to eject them.

“The language of many of them, especially of some of the girls, is unbelievable,” he said. ‘These hooligans go out of their way to make trouble. Elderly people and all others must make way for them. They are a real problem and cannot be allowed to continue to get away with this kind of thing.”


Violence broke out between groups of youths on Sydney beaches yesterday, the third straight day of ugly incidents between Surfies and Rockers. Police reinforcements were hurried to Cronulla, Bondi, and Collaroy to break up fights and order the troublemakers from the beaches.

More than 100 of the leather-jacketed Rockers went to Cronulla Beach to engage the Surfies in the area. Two police patrol cars were called to the beach, and nine youths were charged with indecent language or offensive behavior.

The youths will appear in Sutherland Court and the City Children s Court.

Thousands of people on the beach watched as the Rockers and Surfies fought. Lifesavers from the Cronulla Surf Club joined police m quelling the threatened riot.

Onlookers said the Surfies were being singled out and “picked on" by the visitors

At Bondi, a group of 20 Rockers and a number of girls [approached] a group of about 10 Surfies in front of the North Bondi Surf Club and a scuffle developed. Club members who saw the incident called the police and both groups were ordered from the beach and followed out of the municipality.

"The situation was very ugly,” a surf club member said."These Rockers’ were passing remarks about people on the beach and generally being as offensive as possible.”

A group of more than 50 Rockers paraded along Manly Beach at North Steyne yesterday afternoon, inciting youngsters on the beach to fight. Before trouble could develop a solid body of surf club members went on to the beach and advised the troublemakers to leave the area.

The Rockers at North Steyne are reported to have come from the western suburbs.

Punches were thrown in an incident on Collaroy Beach to which two carloads of police were called. The 30 youths involved were ordered from the area, but no charges were laid.

The president of Collarov Surf Club, Mr. R Twight said last night beach suburbs and surf clubs were getting a bad name through the current series of fights on the beaches.

“People tend to associate this trouble with surf club members, but this is far from the truth,” he said. “We wouldn't have most of these types in the club as a last resort, either Surfies or Rockers. We have a club dance here each Friday, but some of these types have been making such a disturbance that we have considered closing it down. They are all right in the dancehall, but outside they drink and misbehave and upset residents. We have complained to the police and they have given us better coverage, but the trouble is not lessening.”

"POLICE PATROLS KEEP MANLY 'ROCKER-FREE: POLICE PATROLLED IN RADIO CARS, PATROL WAGONS, ON MOTORCYCLES AND ON FOOT YESTERDAY—NO TROUBLE FROM 'ROCKERS' OR 'SURFIES," 


On Friday, Rockers were reported to have threatened a 300-strong invasion of Manly to brawl with Surfies. Rockers are youths who favor leather jackets, black trousers, slicked-down hair, and drive motorcycles or old cars. They are believed to come from western suburbs.

Surfies are youths from beach suburbs, with bleached hair, who prefer casual beach clothes.

Trouble between the factions built up over the last fortnight and culminated in a series of disturbances at city beaches, including Manly and Cronulla, last weekend.

“Surfie" and “Rocker” were joke-words among yesterday’s crowds at Manly. Many people seemed to have gone to Manly simply to watch any fights. Along the beachfront, onlookers clustered around wherever any young people began skylarking or joking together.

Giggles and murmurs followed the police on the beat.

Police watched the Manly ferries as they berthed, and police cars were stationed at the Spit Bridge to check any “invasion" by road. However, any of the youths who arrived in Manly moved in small groups and seemed very conscious of the presence of the police.

Special duty police, dressed in shorts and beach shirts for the day, moved quietly through the crowds. The Commissioner of Police, Mr. N. T. W. Allan, announced on Friday that 20 extra police in eight cars would be assigned to the beaches. The Mayor of Manly, Alderman J. W. A. Paton. said last night that the firm police action seemed to have put an end to the beach troubles.

“Today’s show of strength and the knowledge that special police will be on call in the future will certainly deter trouble-makers,” he said.

He said that he would urge that the Children’s Court age limit of 18 be lowered. ‘‘A lot of irresponsible young people are grown-up today at 15 or thereabouts,” he said. "They are earning good wages and demand equality in many ways—they should be given equality with adults in court to make them see that hooliganism will not be treated lightly.”


Manly Beach, just north of Sydney has become the battleground for a full-scale Rocker-Surfie war, or rumble. The leather-jacketed Rockers have invaded the suburb’s foreshores in force to “stamp out Surfies.” Surfers have been beaten up and city councils are up in arms against the “hooliganism." They’ve added extra police in an effort to subdue what amounts to a gang war. A Sydney newspaper describes the Rockers as landlubber enemies of Surfies. They wear leather jackets, jeans, and slicked-down long hair. They prefer old jalopies and motorcycles to surfing. The Surfies, on the other hand, usually have bleached hair cut straight across the forehead and wear a uniform of black sweaters, tapered pants, black socks, and pointed shoes. Surfies don’t belong to Surf Lifesaving Clubs but spend as much time as possible on the beach, always in groups. The violence has solved nothing, and the sooner the Surfies get back to the water and the Rockers back to the streets, the better off everyone in Australia will be.

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES: THE SURFIE-ROCKER WARS, SYDNEY, 1962-'64

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