Last Saturday I wrote about Market Harborough's home-grown Mosleyite candidate Noel Symington. But it seems that Mosley himself also visited the town.I recently bought Mike Hutton's book Around Market Harborough Between the Wars. It is largely nostalgia porn - to which I am hugely susceptible - but there is also some interesting text.
Hutton writes:
There is no doubt that many among the upper class had a certain sympathy with Nazi Germany. A meeting held by Sir Oswald Moseley (sic), at the Assembly Rooms, suggests that the far-right policies also appealed to a far wider audience.
Some five hundred attended his firebrand address, given on behalf of the British Union and National Socialist Party. He spoke for almost two hours without interruption. The audience, who had paid 2s 6d on the door, were largely supportive. A heavy police contingent and a team of his own black-shirted henchmen ensured there was no trouble. Moseley (sic) left to long and enthusiastic applause.This meeting took place in 1937.
5 comments:
Very Roderick Spode. I'm sure Lord Bonkers remembers the occasion well (at least I hope so...)
Ein Volk, ein Market Harborough, ein Führer?
On a similar theme, I noticed there was an article in one of last week's (Kettering) Evening Telegraphs about how Wellingborough was the BUF's "first provincial outpost" - although, from the sound of the article, they weren't actually a great success.
Wouldn't have been funny at the time, of course, but I am intrigued by the story of the Nazi vicar of Earls Barton.
Don't suppose this will work as a link - but this is the URL - www.northantset.co.uk/.../How-town-became-the-first.5504842.jp?...
Click here for the Wellingborough story.
The view of the peaceful meeting of fascists was not shared by many of the old boys who drank in the WMC AND trADES & LABOUR CLUBs some years ago - then again the local press had a vested interest against the labour movement in the town - just look in the old Harboro Mail archives at the two lines report of the 9 days general strike in 1926 where there had been daily strike meetings on the square
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