Oliver Locker-Lampson
Encyclopedia
Commander Oliver Stillingfleet Locker-Lampson, CMG
, DSO
(25 September 1880 (Belgravia, London) – 8 October 1954 (Kensington, London)) was a British politician and naval officer. He was Member of Parliament
(MP) for Ramsey
, Huntingdonshire
and Birmingham Handsworth
from 1910 to 1945 as a Conservative
.
He was the brother of Godfrey Locker-Lampson
MP and cousin of the diplomat Miles Lampson.
, and his second wife, Hannah Jane Lampson (daughter of Sir Curtis Lampson
, Bt. Frederick Locker took the name Locker-Lampson as a condition of his father-in-law's will). His illustrious ancestors included Captain William Locker
, Edward Hawke Locker
, Benjamin Stillingfleet
and Jonathan Boucher
. Oliver was educated at Cheam School
, Eton
and Trinity College, Cambridge
where he gained an Honours Tripos Degree in History and Modern Languages. While at Cambridge, he was co-editor of Granta
with Edwin Montagu
and President of the Amateur Dramatic Club
.
After Cambridge he studied law at the Inner Temple
and was called to the Bar in 1907 but never practised. Instead he worked as a journalist for several years and was also a founding director of a Norwich
-based motorcar vendor, Duff, Morgan and Vermont. In 1911 he was the victim of a practical joke by an old school friend, Horace de Vere Cole
. Cole challenged
Locker-Lampson to a footrace on a London street, and allowed him to pull ahead. Then he shouted "Stop thief! He's got my watch!" - having previously slipped his gold watch into Locker-Lampson's pocket.
, defeating the Liberal
incumbent. He stood as a Conservative Unionist on a Tariff Reform
ticket. He was re-elected in the December 1910 general election. With the outbreak of World War I
, there were no elections held until 1918, and he continued as an MP throughout this period although absent on active service abroad for much of 1915 to 1918.
Before the 1918 general election
, constituencies were redrawn and the Ramsey Division was abolished. A new all Huntingdonshire seat
was created, and Locker-Lampson stood for this instead, and was elected.
He was Parliamentary Private Secretary
to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Austen Chamberlain
from 1919 to 1921, and accompanied Chamberlain to the Paris Peace Conference
in 1919.
In the 1922 election
he moved to Birmingham Handsworth
and was elected there. He held Birmingham Handsworth from 1922 until the 1945 general election
, when he was de-selected by the constituency party.
, but was out-manoeuvred by the future Lord Beaverbrook
.
However, his main political preoccupation before 1914 was harrying Asquith
's Liberal government over the selling of honours
and the Marconi scandal
. He also opposed Irish Home Rule, and raised funds for Edward Carson
's Pro-Unionist Ulster Volunteer Force.
, that he would personally fund the establishment of an armoured car squadron for the Royal Naval Air Service's Armoured Car Division. After training at Whale Island, Hampshire
and in north Norfolk near his family home, Newhaven Court, Cromer, Locker-Lampson's No. 15 Squadron was sent to France, then operated in the unoccupied portion of Belgium
on attachment to the Belgian Army
during much of 1915.
By the end of 1915, trench warfare meant there was no scope for armoured cars on the Western Front
and most of the RNAS's armoured car squadrons were disbanded by the Admiralty. However, three squadrons of RNAS armoured cars were assembled and sent by ship to Murmansk
as the Armoured Car Expeditionary Force (ACEF), also known as the Russian Armoured Car Division, with Locker-Lampson in command in order to show support for Britain's Russian ally. The ACEF operated with the Russian Army in several areas, including Galicia, Romania
, and the Caucasus
.
Locker-Lampson became somewhat entangled in Russian politics at this time. He said later that he had been asked to participate in the 1916 assassination of Rasputin
, and that he had a secret plan to get Tsar Nicholas II
out of Russia after his abdication in March 1917. It is also alleged that in September 1917 he was involved in Kornilov's attempted coup
against the provisional government of Kerensky
.
After the Bolshevik Revolution
of October 1917, the ACEF was withdrawn from Russia. In 1918 selected personnel and armoured cars transferred to the Machine Gun Corps
and served as 'Duncars' within Dunsterforce
in Persia and Turkey
, though without Commander Locker-Lampson, who in 1918 became the Ministry of Information's Russian Representative.
and suspicious of covert Bolshevik influence in Britain's economy, society and politics. In the 1920s he organised several mass rallies under the banner 'Rout the Reds', some of which were stewarded by members of Rotha Lintorn-Orman
's British Fascisti
. In 1931, he founded the "Sentinels of Empire", also known as the Blue Shirts, a quasi-paramilitary organisation "to peacefully fight Bolshevism and clear out the Reds!" Their motto was his family motto "Fear God! Fear Naught!" Their anthem, "March On", with words written by Locker-Lampson, was sold as sheet music and as a 78 rpm record.
Although Locker-Lampson claimed that the organisation had 100,000 members, the Blue Shirts were short-lived and had practically no impact. Nevertheless, much to Locker-Lampson's embarrassment they did attract the attention of Adolf Hitler. In 1932, Nazi
"philosopher" Alfred Rosenberg
visited Britain, and was introduced to Locker-Lampson by F. W. Winterbotham
, who was managing Rosenberg's contacts on behalf of MI6
. Rosenberg got the impression that Blue Shirts were a genuine fascist
movement, and presented Locker-Lampson with a solid gold cigarette case, which he returned with some embarrassment.
From 1933 onwards, Locker-Lampson directed his political ire against fascism both in Britain and in continental Europe. In July 1933 he introduced a Private member's bill
to extend British citizenship to Jewish
refugees from Nazi persecution, though it failed to become law. In September, he provided Albert Einstein
with refuge at a camp on Roughton Heath
near his home in Cromer
in north Norfolk
, after Einstein had received death threats while living in Belgium. He later worked to help other high profile victims of fascism, including Haile Selassie and Sigmund Freud
, as well as numerous ordinary Jewish people, whom he personally sponsored in order they might escape Nazi persecution in Germany and Austria. Some have called his efforts "exceptional in how he saved Jews from Germany."
In 1934 he introduced a Ten Minute Rule
Bill to ban the wearing of political uniforms - specifically aimed at Oswald Mosley
's Black Shirts (British Union of Fascists
). The Bill did not become law, but a similar bill sponsored by the government did become law in 1936. In 1935 he was a founding member of Focus, a cross-party group opposed to the prevailing policy of Appeasement
of German and Italian aggression. In 1936 he was instrumental in the successful prosecution of the British fascist Arnold Leese
for his publication of anti-Semitic literature. Throughout the 1930s he was one of the few Conservative MPs to continue to support Winston Churchill
during his "wilderness years" of political isolation.
Age and ill-health prevented him from taking a very active part in the Second World War, though he joined the Home Guard
and continued to support Winston Churchill vociferously from the backbenches
. He retired from politics at the 1945 General Election.
Oliver Locker-Lampson is buried in Worth churchyard near Crawley, Sussex.
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
, DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
(25 September 1880 (Belgravia, London) – 8 October 1954 (Kensington, London)) was a British politician and naval officer. He was Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Ramsey
Ramsey (UK Parliament constituency)
Ramsey was a parliamentary constituency in Huntingdonshire, which elected one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
, Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Huntingdonshire was a Parliamentary constituency covering the county of Huntingdonshire in England. It was represented in the House of Commons of England until 1707, then in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and then in the House of Commons the Parliament of the United...
and Birmingham Handsworth
Birmingham Handsworth (UK Parliament constituency)
Birmingham Handsworth was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Handsworth district of Birmingham. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
from 1910 to 1945 as a Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
.
He was the brother of Godfrey Locker-Lampson
Godfrey Locker-Lampson
Godfrey Lampson Tennyson Locker-Lampson MP PC was a British Conservative politician, poet and essayist.-Birth and education:...
MP and cousin of the diplomat Miles Lampson.
Birth and education
He was the younger son of the poet Frederick LockerFrederick Locker-Lampson
[File:Frederick Locker .jpg|thumb|right|[File:Frederick Locker .jpg|thumb|right|[File:Frederick Locker .jpg|thumb|right|[[File:Frederick Locker .jpg|thumb|right|...
, and his second wife, Hannah Jane Lampson (daughter of Sir Curtis Lampson
Curtis Lampson
Sir Curtis Miranda Lampson, 1st Baronet , was an Anglo-American fur merchant, best remembered for his promotion of the transatlantic telegraph cable....
, Bt. Frederick Locker took the name Locker-Lampson as a condition of his father-in-law's will). His illustrious ancestors included Captain William Locker
William Locker (Royal Navy)
William Locker was an officer in the Royal Navy, who served with distinction during the eighteenth century. He rose to the rank of captain and held the posts of flag captain and commodore.-Family and early years:...
, Edward Hawke Locker
Edward Hawke Locker
Edward Hawke Locker was an English watercolourist and administrator of the Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich.-Life:...
, Benjamin Stillingfleet
Benjamin Stillingfleet
Benjamin Stillingfleet was a botanist, translator and author. He is said to be the first Blue Stocking, a phrase from which is derived the term bluestocking now used to describe a learned woman.-Life:...
and Jonathan Boucher
Jonathan Boucher
Jonathan Boucher was an English clergyman, teacher and philologist.-Early career:Boucher was born in Blencogo, near Wigton, Cumberland, and educated at the Wigton grammar school. After training in Workington, Jonathan became a teacher at St Bees School and in 1759 went to Virginia, where he became...
. Oliver was educated at Cheam School
Cheam School
Cheam School is a preparatory school in Headley in the civil parish of Ashford Hill with Headley in the English county of Hampshire. It was founded in 1645 by the Reverend George Aldrich in Cheam, Surrey and has been in operation ever since....
, Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
where he gained an Honours Tripos Degree in History and Modern Languages. While at Cambridge, he was co-editor of Granta
Granta
Granta is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centers on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make real." In 2007, The Observer stated, "In its blend of...
with Edwin Montagu
Edwin Samuel Montagu
Edwin Samuel Montagu PC was a British Liberal politician. He notably served as Secretary of State for India between 1917 and 1922.-Background and education:...
and President of the Amateur Dramatic Club
Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club
Founded in 1855, the Amateur Dramatic Club is the oldest University dramatic society in England - and the largest dramatic society in Cambridge....
.
After Cambridge he studied law at the Inner Temple
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
and was called to the Bar in 1907 but never practised. Instead he worked as a journalist for several years and was also a founding director of a Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
-based motorcar vendor, Duff, Morgan and Vermont. In 1911 he was the victim of a practical joke by an old school friend, Horace de Vere Cole
Horace de Vere Cole
William Horace de Vere Cole was a British eccentric prankster and poet...
. Cole challenged
Locker-Lampson to a footrace on a London street, and allowed him to pull ahead. Then he shouted "Stop thief! He's got my watch!" - having previously slipped his gold watch into Locker-Lampson's pocket.
Parliamentary career
Locker-Lampson was elected to the House of Commons at the January 1910 general election as the member for the Ramsey Division in HuntingdonshireHuntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, covering the area around Huntingdon. Traditionally it is a county in its own right...
, defeating the Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
incumbent. He stood as a Conservative Unionist on a Tariff Reform
Tariff Reform League
The Tariff Reform League was a pressure group formed in 1903 to protest against 'unfair' foreign imports and to advocate Imperial Preference to protect British industry from foreign competition. It was well funded and included politicians, intellectuals and businessmen, and was popular with the...
ticket. He was re-elected in the December 1910 general election. With the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, there were no elections held until 1918, and he continued as an MP throughout this period although absent on active service abroad for much of 1915 to 1918.
Before the 1918 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
, constituencies were redrawn and the Ramsey Division was abolished. A new all Huntingdonshire seat
Huntingdonshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Huntingdonshire was a Parliamentary constituency covering the county of Huntingdonshire in England. It was represented in the House of Commons of England until 1707, then in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and then in the House of Commons the Parliament of the United...
was created, and Locker-Lampson stood for this instead, and was elected.
He was Parliamentary Private Secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Austen Chamberlain
Austen Chamberlain
Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain, KG was a British statesman, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and half-brother of Neville Chamberlain.- Early life and career :...
from 1919 to 1921, and accompanied Chamberlain to the Paris Peace Conference
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
in 1919.
In the 1922 election
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...
he moved to Birmingham Handsworth
Birmingham Handsworth (UK Parliament constituency)
Birmingham Handsworth was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Handsworth district of Birmingham. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
and was elected there. He held Birmingham Handsworth from 1922 until the 1945 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1945
The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...
, when he was de-selected by the constituency party.
Political activity before World War I
Locker-Lampson's early political career was taken up with a number of causes. He was appointed by the Conservative and Unionist Party to raise money for the Unionist Working Men’s Candidates Fund. He was also involved in a secret plan by Arthur Steel-Maitland and Conservative Central Office to gain control of the Daily ExpressDaily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
, but was out-manoeuvred by the future Lord Beaverbrook
Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook
William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Bt, PC, was a Canadian-British business tycoon, politician, and writer.-Early career in Canada:...
.
However, his main political preoccupation before 1914 was harrying Asquith
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC, KC served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916...
's Liberal government over the selling of honours
Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925
The Honours Act 1925 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, that makes the sale of peerages or any other honours illegal...
and the Marconi scandal
Marconi scandal
The Marconi scandal was a British political scandal that broke in the summer of 1912. It centred on allegations that highly-placed members of the Liberal government, under H. H...
. He also opposed Irish Home Rule, and raised funds for Edward Carson
Edward Carson, Baron Carson
Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson PC, PC , Kt, QC , often known as Sir Edward Carson or Lord Carson, was a barrister, judge and politician from Ireland...
's Pro-Unionist Ulster Volunteer Force.
Great War service
In December 1914 Locker-Lampson received a commission in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. This was largely on the basis of an understanding with the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston ChurchillWinston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, that he would personally fund the establishment of an armoured car squadron for the Royal Naval Air Service's Armoured Car Division. After training at Whale Island, Hampshire
Whale Island, Hampshire
Whale Island is a small island in Portsmouth Harbour, close by Portsea Island. It is currently home to HMS Excellent, the oldest shore training establishment within the Royal Navy, and the Headquarters of Commander in Chief, Fleet.-Early history:...
and in north Norfolk near his family home, Newhaven Court, Cromer, Locker-Lampson's No. 15 Squadron was sent to France, then operated in the unoccupied portion of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
on attachment to the Belgian Army
Belgian Army order of battle (1914)
This is the Belgian Army order of battle on the outbreak of war in August 1914.A major reorganisation of the Army had been authorised by the government in 1912, providing for a total army of 350,000 men - 150,000 in the field forces, 130,000 in fortress garrisons and 70,000 reserves and auxiliaries...
during much of 1915.
By the end of 1915, trench warfare meant there was no scope for armoured cars on the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
and most of the RNAS's armoured car squadrons were disbanded by the Admiralty. However, three squadrons of RNAS armoured cars were assembled and sent by ship to Murmansk
Murmansk
Murmansk is a city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It serves as a seaport and is located in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland...
as the Armoured Car Expeditionary Force (ACEF), also known as the Russian Armoured Car Division, with Locker-Lampson in command in order to show support for Britain's Russian ally. The ACEF operated with the Russian Army in several areas, including Galicia, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, and the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
.
Locker-Lampson became somewhat entangled in Russian politics at this time. He said later that he had been asked to participate in the 1916 assassination of Rasputin
Grigori Rasputin
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was a Russian Orthodox Christian and mystic who is perceived as having influenced the latter days of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and their only son Alexei...
, and that he had a secret plan to get Tsar Nicholas II
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
out of Russia after his abdication in March 1917. It is also alleged that in September 1917 he was involved in Kornilov's attempted coup
Kornilov Affair
The Kornilov Affair, or the Kornilov Putsch as it is sometimes referred to, was an attempted coup d'état by the then Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, General Lavr Kornilov, in August 1917 against the Russian Provisional Government headed by Alexander Kerensky.-Background:Following the...
against the provisional government of Kerensky
Alexander Kerensky
Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky was a major political leader before and during the Russian Revolutions of 1917.Kerensky served as the second Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government until Vladimir Lenin was elected by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets following the October Revolution...
.
After the Bolshevik Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
of October 1917, the ACEF was withdrawn from Russia. In 1918 selected personnel and armoured cars transferred to the Machine Gun Corps
Machine Gun Corps
The Machine Gun Corps was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in World War I. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tanks in combat, and the branch was subsequently turned into the Tank...
and served as 'Duncars' within Dunsterforce
Dunsterforce
Established in 1917, Dunsterforce was an Allied military mission of under 1,000 Australian, New Zealand, British, and Canadian troops , accompanied by armoured cars, deployed from Hamadan some 350 km across Qajar Persia. It was named after its commander General Lionel Dunsterville...
in Persia and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, though without Commander Locker-Lampson, who in 1918 became the Ministry of Information's Russian Representative.
Post-World War I career
Partly because of his experiences in Russia, Locker-Lampson became fiercely anti-CommunistCommunism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
and suspicious of covert Bolshevik influence in Britain's economy, society and politics. In the 1920s he organised several mass rallies under the banner 'Rout the Reds', some of which were stewarded by members of Rotha Lintorn-Orman
Rotha Lintorn-Orman
-Early life:Born as Rotha Beryl Orman in Kensington London, she was the daughter of Charles Edward Orman, a Major from the Essex Regiment, and her maternal grandfather was Field Marshal Sir John Lintorn Arabin Simmons...
's British Fascisti
British Fascists
The British Fascists were the first avowedly fascist organisation in the United Kingdom. William Joyce, Neil Francis Hawkins, Maxwell Knight and Arnold Leese were amongst those to have passed through the movement as members and activists.-Early years:...
. In 1931, he founded the "Sentinels of Empire", also known as the Blue Shirts, a quasi-paramilitary organisation "to peacefully fight Bolshevism and clear out the Reds!" Their motto was his family motto "Fear God! Fear Naught!" Their anthem, "March On", with words written by Locker-Lampson, was sold as sheet music and as a 78 rpm record.
Although Locker-Lampson claimed that the organisation had 100,000 members, the Blue Shirts were short-lived and had practically no impact. Nevertheless, much to Locker-Lampson's embarrassment they did attract the attention of Adolf Hitler. In 1932, Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
"philosopher" Alfred Rosenberg
Alfred Rosenberg
' was an early and intellectually influential member of the Nazi Party. Rosenberg was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich Eckart; he later held several important posts in the Nazi government...
visited Britain, and was introduced to Locker-Lampson by F. W. Winterbotham
F. W. Winterbotham
Frederick William Winterbotham was a British Royal Air Force officer who during World War II supervised the distribution of Ultra intelligence. Later, Winterbotham published the first popular account of Ultra....
, who was managing Rosenberg's contacts on behalf of MI6
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
. Rosenberg got the impression that Blue Shirts were a genuine fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
movement, and presented Locker-Lampson with a solid gold cigarette case, which he returned with some embarrassment.
From 1933 onwards, Locker-Lampson directed his political ire against fascism both in Britain and in continental Europe. In July 1933 he introduced a Private member's bill
Private Member's Bill
A member of parliament’s legislative motion, called a private member's bill or a member's bill in some parliaments, is a proposed law introduced by a member of a legislature. In most countries with a parliamentary system, most bills are proposed by the government, not by individual members of the...
to extend British citizenship to Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
refugees from Nazi persecution, though it failed to become law. In September, he provided Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
with refuge at a camp on Roughton Heath
Roughton, Norfolk
Roughton is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is south of Cromer, north of Norwich and north-west of North Walsham. The village straddles the A140 between Cromer and Norwich and the B1463. The nearest railway station is at Roughton Road for the Bittern...
near his home in Cromer
Cromer
Cromer is a coastal town and civil parish in north Norfolk, England. The local government authority is North Norfolk District Council, whose headquarters is in Holt Road in the town. The town is situated 23 miles north of the county town, Norwich, and is 4 miles east of Sheringham...
in north Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, after Einstein had received death threats while living in Belgium. He later worked to help other high profile victims of fascism, including Haile Selassie and Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
, as well as numerous ordinary Jewish people, whom he personally sponsored in order they might escape Nazi persecution in Germany and Austria. Some have called his efforts "exceptional in how he saved Jews from Germany."
In 1934 he introduced a Ten Minute Rule
Ten Minute Rule
The Ten Minute Rule, also known as Standing Order No. 23, is a procedure in the British Parliament for the introduction of Private Member's Bills in addition to the 20 per session normally permissible. It is one of the ways in which a bill may receive its first reading.Any MP may introduce a bill...
Bill to ban the wearing of political uniforms - specifically aimed at Oswald Mosley
Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, was an English politician, known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists...
's Black Shirts (British Union of Fascists
British Union of Fascists
The British Union was a political party in the United Kingdom formed in 1932 by Sir Oswald Mosley as the British Union of Fascists, in 1936 it changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists and then in 1937 to simply the British Union...
). The Bill did not become law, but a similar bill sponsored by the government did become law in 1936. In 1935 he was a founding member of Focus, a cross-party group opposed to the prevailing policy of Appeasement
Appeasement
The term appeasement is commonly understood to refer to a diplomatic policy aimed at avoiding war by making concessions to another power. Historian Paul Kennedy defines it as "the policy of settling international quarrels by admitting and satisfying grievances through rational negotiation and...
of German and Italian aggression. In 1936 he was instrumental in the successful prosecution of the British fascist Arnold Leese
Arnold Leese
Arnold Spencer Leese was a British veterinarian and fascist politician. He was born in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England and educated at Giggleswick School....
for his publication of anti-Semitic literature. Throughout the 1930s he was one of the few Conservative MPs to continue to support Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
during his "wilderness years" of political isolation.
Age and ill-health prevented him from taking a very active part in the Second World War, though he joined the Home Guard
British Home Guard
The Home Guard was a defence organisation of the British Army during the Second World War...
and continued to support Winston Churchill vociferously from the backbenches
Backbencher
In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...
. He retired from politics at the 1945 General Election.
Personal life
The Locker-Lampson family's principal home was Rowfant in West Sussex. Following his mother's death in 1915 Oliver's older brother Godfrey inherited Rowfant while Oliver inherited the family's summer home, Newhaven Court in Cromer, Norfolk. He was married twice. His first wife, Bianca Jacqueline Paget, whom he married in 1923, died in 1929. He married his second wife, Barbara Goodall, in 1935. They had two sons, Jonathan and Stephen.Oliver Locker-Lampson is buried in Worth churchyard near Crawley, Sussex.