John Amery

John Amery
Amery in 1932
Born	(1912-03-14)14 March 1912 Chelsea, London,England
Died	19 December 1945(1945-12-19)(aged 33) Wandsworth Prison,London, England
Cause of death	Execution by hanging
Occupation(s)	Activist, member of theBritish Free Corps
Movement	Fascism,Nazism,Anti-communism
Criminal status	Executed
Spouse	Una Wing
Parent	Leo Amery(father)
Relatives	Julian Amery(brother)
Conviction(s)	High treason(8 counts)
Criminal penalty	Death

John Amery(14 March 1912 – 19 December 1945) was a BritishfascistandNazi collaboratorduringWorld War II.He was the originator of theBritish Free Corps,a volunteerWaffen-SSunit composed of former British andDominionprisoners of war.

Amery conducted recruitment efforts, and madepropagandabroadcasts for Germany.He later gave direct support to Italian dictatorBenito Mussolini.He was prosecuted by the British authorities and pleaded guilty to eight counts of hightreason,for which he was sentenced todeath,seven months after the war in Europe ended.

Early life

Born inChelsea,London,John Amery (known as "Jack" ) was the elder of two children of British statesmanLeo Amery(1873–1955), a member of parliament and laterConservativegovernment minister, whose mother was aHungarian Jewwho had converted toProtestantism.His younger brother,Julian(1919–1996), also became an MP and served in a Conservative government.

Amery was a difficult child who ran through a succession of private tutors.He attended kindergarten atMiss Ironside's School,whose eponymous headmistress described him as "unteachable".Like his father, he was sent toHarrow,but left after only a year, being described by his housemaster as "without doubt, the most difficult boy I have ever tried to manage." Living in his father's shadow, he strove to make his own way by embarking on a career in film production. Over a period, he set up a number of independent companies, all of which failed; these endeavours rapidly led tobankruptcy.

At the age of 21, Amery married Una Wing, a formerprostitute,but was never able to earn enough to keep her for himself. He was constantly appealing to his father for money.A staunchanti-Communist,he came to embrace the doctrines ofNazi Germanyon the grounds that they were the only alternative toBolshevism.He left Britain permanently to live inFranceafter being declared bankrupt in 1936. In Paris, he met the French fascist leaderJacques Doriot,with whom he travelled toAustria,Italy,andGermanyto witness the effects of fascism in those countries.

Amery told his family he had joinedFrancisco Franco's Nationalists during theSpanish Civil Warin 1936 and was awarded a medal of honour while serving as an intelligence officer with Italian volunteer forces (Corpo Truppe Volontarie). He actually worked for Franco as a liaison withFrench Cagoulard groupsand gun-runners. After the Spanish war, Amery settled in France.

Second World War

Occupied France

Amery remained in France following theGerman invasion in June 1940.On 22 June, theSecond Armistice at Compiègnewas signed between France and Germany. Amery resided in the territory belonging to the collaborationistVichy governmentled by MarshalPhilippe Pétain.However, his personality soon antagonised the Vichy Regime, so he made several attempts to leave but was not allowed. The head of theGerman Armistice Commissionoffered Amery a chance to live in Germany to work in the political arena but he was unable to get Amery out ofoccupied France.

In September 1942,HauptmannWerner Plack gained Amery the French travel permit he needed, and in October Plack and Amery travelled to Berlin to speak to the German English Committee. It was at this time that Amery suggested that the Germans consider forming a British anti-Bolsheviklegion.Adolf Hitlerwas impressed by Amery and allowed him to remain in Germany as a guest. During this period, Amery made a series of pro-German propaganda radio broadcasts, attempting to appeal to the British people to join the war on communism.

British Free Corps

Main article:British Free Corps

The idea of a British force to fight thecommunistslanguished until Amery re-encounteredJacques Doriotduring a visit to France in January 1943. Doriot was part of the LVF (Légion des Volontaires Français), a French volunteer force fighting alongside the Germans on the eastern front.

Amery rekindled his idea of a British unit and aimed to recruit 50 to 100 men for propaganda purposes and to establish a core of men with which to attract additional members from Britishprisoners of war.He also suggested that such a unit could provide more recruits for the other military units made up of foreign nationals.

Amery in Milan shortly after his arrest by Italian partisans. The officer with his back to the camera isAlan Whicker.

Amery's first recruiting drive for what was initially to be called the British Legion ofSt Georgetook him to theSaint-DenisPOW campoutside Paris. Amery addressed between 40 and 50 inmates fromBritish Commonwealthcountries and handed out recruiting material. This first effort at recruitment was a complete failure, but he persisted.

Amery's drive for recruits found two men, of whom only one,Kenneth Berry,joined what was later called the BFC. Amery's link to the unit ended in October 1943, when theWaffen SSdecided his services were no longer needed, and it was officially renamed theBritish Free Corps.

Arrest

Amery continued to broadcast and write propaganda in Berlin until late 1944 when he travelled toNorthern Italyto lend support toBenito Mussolini'sSalò Republic.On 25 April 1945, Amery was captured along with his French mistress Michelle Thomas by Italianpartisansfrom theGaribaldi BrigadenearComo.Amery and Thomas were initially to be executed, but both of them were eventually sent toMilan,where they were handed over to Allied authorities. Amery was wearing the uniform of the "MutiLegion ", a fascist paramilitary organisation. The British army officer who took him into custody was CaptainAlan Whicker,later known as a broadcaster.

Amery was returned to the United Kingdom by air. With him on the flight wasWilliam Joyce,the propaganda broadcaster widely known as "Lord Haw-Haw". They were escorted by three armed soldiers andLeonard Burt,a senior police officer seconded to theBritish Army Intelligence Corps.

Prosecution and execution

Amery was prosecuted fortreasonin London. In a preliminary hearing, he argued that he had never attacked Britain and was an anti-Communist, not a Nazi. At the same time, his brotherJulianattempted to show that John had become a Spanish citizen, and therefore would legally be incapable of committing treason against the United Kingdom.

Hiscounsel,Gerald Osborne SladeKC,meanwhile, tried to show that the accused wasmentally ill.Amery's sanity was questioned by his own father,Leo,but all efforts to have the court consider his mental state were unsuccessful.Further attempts at a defence were suddenly abandoned on the first day of his scheduled trial, 28 November 1945, when to general astonishment, Amery pleaded guilty to eight charges of treason, and wassentenced to death.The hearing lasted just eight minutes.

Before accepting Amery's guilty plea, the judge,Mr Justice Humphreys,made certain that Amery realised the only permissible penalty would be death byhanging.After satisfying himself that Amery fully understood the consequences of pleading guilty, the judge announced this verdict:

John Amery, I have read the depositions and the exhibits in this case, and I am satisfied that you knew what you did and that you did it intentionally and deliberately after you had received warning from more than one of your fellow countrymen that the course you were pursuing amounted to high treason. They called you a traitor and you heard them; but in spite of that you continued in that course. You now stand a self-confessed traitor to your King and country, and you have forfeited your right to live.

Amery was hanged inWandsworth Prisonon 19 December 1945 by executionerAlbert Pierrepointand buried in the prison cemetery. Amery actually quipped as he was led to the scaffold, "I've always wanted to meet you, Mr Pierrepoint, though not of course under these circumstances!"In 1996, Julian Amery had his brother's remainsexhumedandcremated,scattering his ashes in France.

Anepitaphby his father appears inThe Empire at Bay. The Leo Amery Diaries. 1929–1945:

At end of wayward days he found a cause –
'Twas not his Country's – Only time can tell
If that defiance of our ancient laws
Was treason or foreknowledge. He sleeps well.

Cultural references

Ronald Harwood's playAn English Tragedy,charting the weeks leading up to Amery's execution following his arrest in Italy and trial in London, adapted for radio byBert Coules,was broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on 8 May 2010 and 13 April 2012. The cast includedGeoffrey Streatfeildas Amery and SirDerek Jacobias Leo Amery.

See also

• Friesack Camp
• John Codd
• Lord Haw-Haw
• Sir Oswald Mosley

Bibliography

• Copsey, Nigel (2002). "John Amery: the antisemitism of the 'perfect English gentleman'".Patterns of Prejudice.36(2): 14–27.doi:10.1080/003132202128811411.ISSN0031-322X.S2CID159720614.
• Faber, David(2005). "7 - A Boy Of Unusual Character".Speaking for England: Leo, Julian and John Amery; the tragedy of a political family(1st ed.). London:Free Press.p. 127.ISBN0-7432-5688-3.Retrieved17 May2024.

Further reading

• J. Amery,L'Angleterre et l'Europe[England and Europe], Documents et Témoignages: collection d'essais politiques1,(Paris, 1943) 48 p.
• Casciani, Dominic,How Britain made its executioners,BBC News online 1 June 2006 [accessed 22 July 2007]
• Weale, Adrian,Patriot Traitors: Roger Casement, John Amery and the Real Meaning of Treason(London: Viking, 2001)ISBN0-670-88498-7
• West, Rebecca,The Meaning of Treason,(London: Phoenix, new edn. 2000)ISBN1-84212-023-9
• Fielding, Steve,Pierrepoint: Family of Executioners(London: John Blake Publishing, paperback, 2008)ISBN9781844546114

External links

• Interview with John Amery in Norway in 1944
• John Amerybiographical sketch, psychiatric report, his radio broadcast, leaflet, andThe Timesarticle.
• Info related to his trial
• British Volunteers in the German Wehrmacht in WWIIby Jason Pipes
• Papers held in theNational Archives–KV 2/78 1939 Apr 06-1944 Aug 18,
• KV 2/79 1944 Aug 22-1945 Mar 06,
• KV 2/80 1945 Mar 07-1945 May 25,
• KV 2/81 1945 May 26-1945 Dec 13,
• KV 2/82 1945 Dec 14-1946 Jan 04
• Central Criminal Court Depositions – CRIM 1/1717
• Media related toJohn Ameryat Wikimedia Commons