The English National Association (ENA) was a political group active in the

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during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was accused of having

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

sympathies.

History

Formed by John Webster in 1942, the ENA was led by Edward Godfrey, a former member of the

British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, f ...

who had served under Admiral Sir Barry Domvile in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

.S. Dorrill, ''Blackshirt – Sir Oswald Mosley and British Fascism'', London: Penguin, 2007, p. 529 The ENA, which sought to regroup former members of the British Union of Fascists, was originally called the British National Party (BNP).Peter Barberis, John McHugh, Mike Tyldesley, ''Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations'', 2002, p. 177 The group was funded by the

Duke of Bedford Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) is a title that has been created six times (for five distinct people) in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1414 for Henry IV's third son, John, who later served as regent of Fran ...

, a veteran supporter of right-wing movements, most notably the British People's Party. Calling for a negotiated peace, the group attempted to march on the

Cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...

in 1942 but the demonstration was banned by the authorities and the group came under suspicion. The BNP, which emphasised

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, initially gained some support and not long after its foundation claimed to have 50 branches across the country. It also enjoyed the support of a number of right-wing journals, such as those of Captain

Bernard Acworth Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Bernard Acworth Distinguished Service Order, DSO (3 February 1885 – 16 February 1963) was an English submariner, writer, evangelical Christian and creationist. Biography Acworth was trained at the Royal Naval Col ...

and Joseph Ball, as well as the backing of the British League of Ex-Servicemen and Women, a group that had been associated with the BUF and which was later taken over by Jeffrey Hamm. William Craven, a farm worker from

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who was sentenced to life imprisonment for twice writing to government agencies of

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to offer his services, was also a BNP member following his expulsion from the BUF for extremism. In order to avoid the attentions of the government Godfrey disbanded the BNP in 1943 before recreating the group immediately as the ENA. Like most groups in existence at the time however many supporters were loath to join as they feared that active groups were too easily infiltrated by

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

.Dorrill, ''Blackshirt'', p. 530 Before long Webster had left to form his own English Legion and they did not survive the war. The group contested the 1943 Acton by-election with Godfrey officially running as

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, although he finished bottom of the poll with 258 votes.

References

{{Authority control Defunct political parties in the United Kingdom Political parties established in 1942 Fascist parties in the United Kingdom Defunct far-right political parties in the United Kingdom 1942 establishments in the United Kingdom