Ronald Cartland
Encyclopedia
John Ronald Hamilton Cartland (3 January 1907 — 30 May 1940) was a British Conservative Party
politician. He was the Member of Parliament
(MP) for King's Norton
in Birmingham from 1935 until he was killed in action
in 1940, aged 33.
. His paternal grandfather was a wealthy Birmingham financier, who committed suicide four years before Ronald's birth. With no inheritance to finance the family's affluent country lifestyle, Ronald's father and his family moved to a rented farmhouse near the town of Pershore
, in Worcestershire. In 1910 Bertram Cartland then went to work for the local Conservative Party office, where he managed the election of the Tory MP candidate. When the candidate won the election, he offered Bertram the post of private secretary. When the First World War
broke out in 1914, Bertram volunteered for military duty, and was sent to France. He was killed near Berry-au-Bac
, France, in 1918, just five months before the Armistice.
In 1919 Mary Cartland – along with Ronald, her 18-year-old daughter Barbara and 8-year-old son Anthony – moved to London, and Ronald gained a scholarship to the historic Charterhouse School
. While there he expressed his desire to become a Conservative MP – but at the same time, he held progressive views that were at odds with the Tory party, and the prevailing social norm at Charterhouse. When Ronald was a child Mary Cartland would take him with her to visit some of the more poverty-stricken residents of Pershore, giving him a first-hand look at their extreme economic straits. After leaving Charterhouse, Mary Cartland could not afford to send her son to university, so Ronald went to work at the Conservative Party Central Office in London.
's decision to retire on health grounds in 1933, Cartland was chosen to replace him in Herbert Austin
's former constituency of King's Norton
, Birmingham. He won in the 1935 election
, becoming one of the youngest MPs in the House of Commons.
Cartland's maiden speech
to the Commons, in May 1936, attacked the Government of then Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin
, for its less-than-enthusiastic attitude in aiding 'distressed areas' – those parts of the UK that were suffering from extreme economic difficulties, with unemployment rates as high as 40%. In 1936 he first came to the attention of Neville Chamberlain
– then serving as Baldwin's Chancellor of the Exchequer
– by delivering a stinging rebuke to the Treasury for balancing the budget on the backs of Britain's poor.
After Chamberlain succeeded Baldwin as Prime Minister, Cartland earned the wrath of the Conservative Party's hierarchy by taking a stand against the British Government's policy of appeasement of Nazi Germany
and Fascist Italy – which brought him to the attention of other Tory dissident backbenchers, as well as Winston Churchill
. Before Cartland's election in 1935 he and his sister Barbara visited Germany, where Ronald was appalled at the Nazis' persecution of the Jews.
On his return, he warned his fellow MPs of Hitler's
expansionist plans for Austria and other Central European
countries – and that, sooner or later, Britain would be at war with Germany.
He served as a back-bench MP in Neville Chamberlain's government. He is most famous for a speech that he gave to the house in August 1939, in which he accused the Prime Minister of having "ideas of dictatorship". Chamberlain had decided to adjourn the house until 3 October, and instructed the Conservative MPs that a majority vote in favour of adjournment would be seen as a vote of confidence. This caused outrage in the house, and it was this that prompted the young MP to stand up and make his famous speech, which also included what turned out to be prophetic words for himself: "We are in a situation that within a month we may be going to fight – and we may be going to die."
in the British Army
. In 1937, he joined the Territorial Army. By August 1939, he was a lieutenant in the Worcestershire and Oxfordshire Yeomanry. When the Nazis invaded Holland, Belgium and France in May 1940, the now Major Cartland was serving in the 53rd Anti-Tank Regiment, (The Worcestershire Yeomanry) Royal Artillery
. The unit was assigned to defend the town of Cassel, a hilltop site near one of the main roads leading to the Channel port of Dunkirk, France. Cartland and his men held off the Germans for nearly four days, from 27 May to 29 May.
On the evening of 29 May 1940, Cartland and his unit split up, and joined the retreating British Expeditionary Force
heading towards Dunkirk. On 30 May 1940, while reconnoitring his position from a ditch, he was shot and killed during the retreat to Dunkirk.
He was initially listed as Missing In Action
, and his family in England did not learn of his true fate until January 1941. His mother received a letter from one of Cartland's men, now in a German POW camp where the soldier described Cartland's death in detail. His brother, James A.H., died the previous day and is buried at Zuidschote. A memorial service was held for Ronald Cartland on 18 February 1941, at London's St-Martin-in-the-Fields Church. He is buried at Hotton War Cemetery, near Liege, Belgium
.
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...
politician. He was the 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 King's Norton
Birmingham King's Norton (UK Parliament constituency)
Birmingham King's Norton was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1955. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election.- Boundaries :...
in Birmingham from 1935 until he was killed in action
Killed in action
Killed in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...
in 1940, aged 33.
Background
Ronald Cartland was the son of Major Bertram Cartland and Mary Hamilton Scobell, and the younger brother of novelist Barbara CartlandBarbara Cartland
Dame Barbara Hamilton Cartland, DBE, CStJ , was an English author, one of the most prolific authors of the 20th century...
. His paternal grandfather was a wealthy Birmingham financier, who committed suicide four years before Ronald's birth. With no inheritance to finance the family's affluent country lifestyle, Ronald's father and his family moved to a rented farmhouse near the town of Pershore
Pershore
Pershore is a market town in Worcestershire, England, on the banks of the River Avon. Pershore is in the Wychavon district and is part of the West Worcestershire parliamentary constituency. At the 2001 census the population was 7,304...
, in Worcestershire. In 1910 Bertram Cartland then went to work for the local Conservative Party office, where he managed the election of the Tory MP candidate. When the candidate won the election, he offered Bertram the post of private secretary. When the First World War
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...
broke out in 1914, Bertram volunteered for military duty, and was sent to France. He was killed near Berry-au-Bac
Berry-au-Bac
Berry-au-Bac is a commune in the department of Aisne in Picardy in northern France.-References:*...
, France, in 1918, just five months before the Armistice.
In 1919 Mary Cartland – along with Ronald, her 18-year-old daughter Barbara and 8-year-old son Anthony – moved to London, and Ronald gained a scholarship to the historic Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
. While there he expressed his desire to become a Conservative MP – but at the same time, he held progressive views that were at odds with the Tory party, and the prevailing social norm at Charterhouse. When Ronald was a child Mary Cartland would take him with her to visit some of the more poverty-stricken residents of Pershore, giving him a first-hand look at their extreme economic straits. After leaving Charterhouse, Mary Cartland could not afford to send her son to university, so Ronald went to work at the Conservative Party Central Office in London.
Parliamentary career
After Lionel Beaumont ThomasLionel Beaumont Thomas
Colonel Lionel Beaumont Thomas MC , was a Welsh businessman, British Army officer and politician, who served as Conservative Member of Parliament for Birmingham King's Norton, from 1929 to 1935.-Biography:...
's decision to retire on health grounds in 1933, Cartland was chosen to replace him in Herbert Austin
Herbert Austin
Herbert 'Pa' Austin, 1st Baron Austin KBE was an English automobile designer and builder who founded the Austin Motor Company.-Background and early life:...
's former constituency of King's Norton
Birmingham King's Norton (UK Parliament constituency)
Birmingham King's Norton was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1955. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election.- Boundaries :...
, Birmingham. He won in the 1935 election
United Kingdom general election, 1935
The United Kingdom general election held on 14 November 1935 resulted in a large, though reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Conservative Stanley Baldwin. The greatest number of MPs, as before, were Conservative, while the National Liberal vote held steady...
, becoming one of the youngest MPs in the House of Commons.
Cartland's maiden speech
Maiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country...
to the Commons, in May 1936, attacked the Government of then Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
, for its less-than-enthusiastic attitude in aiding 'distressed areas' – those parts of the UK that were suffering from extreme economic difficulties, with unemployment rates as high as 40%. In 1936 he first came to the attention of Neville Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
– then serving as Baldwin's Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
– by delivering a stinging rebuke to the Treasury for balancing the budget on the backs of Britain's poor.
After Chamberlain succeeded Baldwin as Prime Minister, Cartland earned the wrath of the Conservative Party's hierarchy by taking a stand against the British Government's policy of appeasement of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and Fascist Italy – which brought him to the attention of other Tory dissident backbenchers, as well as 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...
. Before Cartland's election in 1935 he and his sister Barbara visited Germany, where Ronald was appalled at the Nazis' persecution of the Jews.
On his return, he warned his fellow MPs of Hitler's
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
expansionist plans for Austria and other Central European
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
countries – and that, sooner or later, Britain would be at war with Germany.
He served as a back-bench MP in Neville Chamberlain's government. He is most famous for a speech that he gave to the house in August 1939, in which he accused the Prime Minister of having "ideas of dictatorship". Chamberlain had decided to adjourn the house until 3 October, and instructed the Conservative MPs that a majority vote in favour of adjournment would be seen as a vote of confidence. This caused outrage in the house, and it was this that prompted the young MP to stand up and make his famous speech, which also included what turned out to be prophetic words for himself: "We are in a situation that within a month we may be going to fight – and we may be going to die."
Military career
Ronald Cartland achieved the rank of MajorMajor
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. In 1937, he joined the Territorial Army. By August 1939, he was a lieutenant in the Worcestershire and Oxfordshire Yeomanry. When the Nazis invaded Holland, Belgium and France in May 1940, the now Major Cartland was serving in the 53rd Anti-Tank Regiment, (The Worcestershire Yeomanry) Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
. The unit was assigned to defend the town of Cassel, a hilltop site near one of the main roads leading to the Channel port of Dunkirk, France. Cartland and his men held off the Germans for nearly four days, from 27 May to 29 May.
On the evening of 29 May 1940, Cartland and his unit split up, and joined the retreating British Expeditionary Force
British Expeditionary Force (World War II)
The British Expeditionary Force was the British force in Europe from 1939–1940 during the Second World War. Commanded by General Lord Gort, the BEF constituted one-tenth of the defending Allied force....
heading towards Dunkirk. On 30 May 1940, while reconnoitring his position from a ditch, he was shot and killed during the retreat to Dunkirk.
He was initially listed as Missing In Action
Missing in action
Missing in action is a casualty Category assigned under the Status of Missing to armed services personnel who are reported missing during active service. They may have been killed, wounded, become a prisoner of war, or deserted. If deceased, neither their remains nor grave can be positively...
, and his family in England did not learn of his true fate until January 1941. His mother received a letter from one of Cartland's men, now in a German POW camp where the soldier described Cartland's death in detail. His brother, James A.H., died the previous day and is buried at Zuidschote. A memorial service was held for Ronald Cartland on 18 February 1941, at London's St-Martin-in-the-Fields Church. He is buried at Hotton War Cemetery, near Liege, 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...
.