The National Fascisti (NF), renamed British National Fascists (BNF) in July 1926, were a splinter group from the British Fascisti formed in 1924. In the early days of the British Fascisti the movement lacked any real policy or direction and so this group split away with the intention of pursuing a more definite path towards a fascist state. The group had 60 members at its creation, and around 500 at its height.

Formation

The National Fascisti's leader was Lieutenant Colonel Henry Rippon-Seymour. Members of the National Fascisti were dressed in black shirts in imitation of Benito Mussolini and his followers and received some military drilling, although membership was much too small for them to pose any real threat. Despite their frustrations at the lack of policy from the British Fascisti their own ideas were fairly banal, with vague calls for a government of experts being about as far as they went. Strongly anti-communist, they argued that their aim was to "smash the

reds Reds may refer to: General * Red (political adjective), supporters of Communism or socialism * Reds (January Uprising), a faction of the Polish insurrectionists during the January Uprising in 1863 * USSR (or, to a lesser extent, China) during th ...

and pinks".

Antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

, which at that point was absent from British Fascisti policy, also played a role in the new group. They also called for "racial purity" and the consolidation of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

.J.A. Cole, ''Lord Haw-Haw: The Full Story of William Joyce'', Faber & Faber, 1987, p. 31

Development

The group liked to pull stunts to get attention and in 1925 they hijacked a lorry carrying copies of the left-wing newspaper the '' Daily Herald'' which they proceeded to crash. The action briefly got them in the headlines as did a meeting at

Hyde Park, London Hyde Park is a Listed building#Heritage protection, Grade I-listed major park in Westminster, Greater London, the largest of the four Royal Parks of London, Royal Parks that form a chain from the entrance to Kensington Palace through Kensingt ...

where 1000 people attended and finished the day in a pitch battle with Communist Party of Great Britain supporters. The group also ran

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

and

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

clubs to train members although ultimately their strident

militarism Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...

, which included marching with drawn swords, drew them more derision than support. Like the

British Fascists The British Fascists was the first political organisation in the United Kingdom to claim the label of fascist, although the group had little ideological unity apart from anti-socialism for much of its existence, and was strongly associated with c ...

(BF) they contacted the Home Secretary in the run-up to the

1926 General Strike The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 to 12 May 1926. It was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British governme ...

to offer their services to the Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies. Rippon-Seymour refused to follow the lead of BF chairman

R. B. D. Blakeney Robert Byron Drury Blakeney, generally known as R. B. D. Blakeney (18 April 1872 – 13 February 1952), was a British Army officer and fascist politician. After a career with the Royal Engineers, Blakeney went on to serve as President of the Bri ...

in breaking from fascism and so his offer was turned down flat by the government. As individuals National Fascisti members were however allowed to enter the Special Constabulary during the strike, which many did.

Disappearance

Cracks began to show in the group, notably around December 1926 when Rippon-Seymour pulled a sword and an unlicensed gun on

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

branch leader Charles Eyres after Eyres has accused the leader of defrauding the party out of funds and of dictatorial leadership. Eyres had brought a gang of cudgel-wielding supporters from Kensington to confront Rippon-Seymour whilst the leader's use of the Colt revolver, which actually belonged to "Victor Barker", saw him convicted of both possession of an illegal firearm and common assault at the Old Bailey. In 1927 a leading member was Valerie Arkell-Smith, a transvestite who spent many years masquerading as 'Sir Victor Barker', 'Colonel lvor Barker' and 'Captain Barker. The National Fascisti members did not know she was actually a woman and treated her as a man; Barker became secretary to Rippon-Seymour as well as training members in the boxing and fencing clubs. A series of internal struggles saw them change their name to the British National Fascists on 19 July 1926, under the leadership of Rippon-Seymour. Meanwhile, leading members such as Colonel Ralph Bingham drifted from the group to become active instead in the Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies. Such a small group could not withstand internal wrangling and the movement faded from the scene fairly quickly after this.

Significance

Despite their general failure the National Fascisti remain significant for being the first group in British politics to attempt to develop fascism as a specifically British ideology. They also helped to launch the political careers of

William Joyce William Brooke Joyce (24 April 1906 – 3 January 1946), nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, was an American-born fascist and Nazi propaganda broadcaster during the Second World War. After moving from New York to Ireland and subsequently to England, ...

and Arnold Leese, who had helped to instigate the split from the British Fascisti and who would go on to greater significance: Joyce became a notorious Nazi collaborator under the codename of "

Lord Haw-Haw Lord Haw-Haw was a nickname applied to William Joyce, who broadcast Nazi propaganda to the UK from Germany during the Second World War. The broadcasts opened with "Germany calling, Germany calling", spoken in an affected upper-class English acc ...

", while Leese would go on to establish his own Imperial Fascist League.

References

Bibliography