Thomas Guillaume St. Barbe Baker
Encyclopedia
Thomas Guillaume St. Barbe Baker (1895-1966) was a pre-War British
national socialist who had been an officer in World War I
as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery
and later as a Captain in the Royal Air Force
. He was affiliated with many fascist movements, was an independent Nazi speaker, known for his eccentricity and walrus moustache
. Baker was the brother of Richard St. Barbe Baker
, famous for his wonderful tree-planting programmes, founder of the Men of the Trees
.
Thomas resided at Cat's Corner Tasburgh
, Norfolk
, and came to the attention of the authorities for his pro German or anti-semitic speeches that he made from the church pulpit there. From the Public Record Office
(PRO): Agents who attended meetings that were held at the Wigmore Hall
, the Quaker Hall in Lambs Conduit Street Central London
and a private house, 109 Shirland Road W9 [London] revealed Baker to be a potential fifth columnist, extreme in his views. Among others he was an associate of the influential Captain Peter Elwyn Wright (whose portrait hung in the Bier Keller in Munich
), Commandant Charles Cole, Arnold Leese
, John Beckett
MP, Lord Redesdale, George Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers
, Norah Elam
, Commandant Mary Allen, Fay Taylour
(the pioneering female racing driver) and Admiral Barry Domvile
, who among others formed a core of ardent British national socialists, almost all but not exclusively from affluent backgrounds with strong establishment connections, and whose names all appear in the infamous red book
ledger of membership of the Right Club that was seized from the ownership of Captain Archibald Maule Ramsay
M.P.
by the authorities in 1940 and has remained mostly shrouded in secrecy ever since.
During the Defence Regulation 18B
fascist round-ups, Thomas went briefly on the run, shaving his distinctive facial hair, (a walrus moustache) but was soon caught and jailed for the duration of the War, being an unrepentant Nazi. During reviews by the internment committee, where internees had a chance to prove their loyalty and secure their release, and which many took advantage of, Baker always gave answers in the positive as to his ideology, which only convinced the advisory panel that it was best to keep him locked up.
Among other things he remarked that "I did not like the (Great) War, Sir, not one bit." (PRO papers) As a second lieutenant he had been buried alive during shelling as a junior officer. Unusually Baker was kept interned for a suspended period, orders for release only being issued on 13 April 1945, with release on 21 April 1945. amongst the last of the detainees to be released, (HO 45/25732 120508) whereas most internees, including Oswald Mosley
, had been released by 1943. Many of the internees had gone on to serve, some with valour, in the armed forces against Nazi Germany
.
An officer at the Peveril internment Camp (Peel
, Isle of Man
), noted that Baker did not have the light of nazi ideology burning in his eyes and that everything he did was calculated. There was an idea that Baker feigned madness in an effort to secure early release. Recommendations were made to keep him from influencing other prisoners. A German psychologist who was interned with Baker remarked, "the man was a fool, with neither brain nor idea. Every morning he would come into my room with tea and toast on a tray, Sieg Heil me and say 'Good News. Doodlebugs
over London!' The preference of the internment committee was to try and keep Captain Baker from other internees, as he was perceived as a bad influence.
While interned, Captain Baker befriended one James Larratt Battersby who after the War, penned The Holy Book of Adolf Hitler, a muddled tome which heralded Hitler as a new Christ. Battersby was a tragic young man, wealthy from his family's hat making empire
and a regional organiser in the North West in the pre War British Union of Fascists
. He had according to fellow internees been mentally tortured in the notorious Ham detention centre.
It could be argued that Baker had his eye on some of Battersby's money to line his own pockets. Baker pleaded for Battersby's release mostly in vain. (PRO documents) The pair joined up briefly after the War and formed a short lived group that espoused the conversion of Jews to Christianity, the Militant Christian Patriots. This small group published a newsletter from the North West which was strongly anti-Semitic and had very little impact on the mainstream right wing. In a high-profile incident in 1952 Battersby disrupted the two minutes silence on Remembrance Sunday
at the Cenotaph memorial at Whitehall
; in 1955 he committed suicide jumping into the paddles of the Mersey ferry
. A note found in his pocket read:
Baker's wife gave birth to a son some time before he was interned with whom she visited him-Baker interpreted a mark on the baby's head as a swastika
that signalled the boy was the heir to Hitler. His wife soon became fed up with his deranged behaviour and filed for divorce. After the War, Captain Baker settled for some time in Jersey
and was visited by prominent fascists in the 1950s but took no real active part again in the politics that had robbed him of five years of his life.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
national socialist who had been an officer in 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...
as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery
Royal Field Artillery
The Royal Field Artillery of the British Army provided artillery support for the British Army. It came into being when the Royal Artillery was divided on 1 July 1899, it was reamalgamated back into the Royal Artillery in 1924....
and later as a Captain in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
. He was affiliated with many fascist movements, was an independent Nazi speaker, known for his eccentricity and walrus moustache
Walrus moustache
The walrus moustache is characterized by whiskers that are thick and bushy in nature. Its name derives from the fact that the whiskers usually droop over the mouth, giving an appearance to the human face that is very similar to that of a walrus.-History:...
. Baker was the brother of Richard St. Barbe Baker
Richard St. Barbe Baker
Richard St. Barbe Baker was an English forester, environmental activist and author, who contributed greatly to worldwide reforestation efforts. As a leader, he founded an organization, still active today, whose many chapters carry out reforestation internationally.-Early years:He was born in...
, famous for his wonderful tree-planting programmes, founder of the Men of the Trees
Men of the Trees
Men of the Trees is an international, non-profit, non-political, conservation organisation. It is involved in planting, maintenance and protection of trees. It was founded by Richard St. Barbe Baker. Also known as the International Tree Foundation....
.
Thomas resided at Cat's Corner Tasburgh
Tasburgh
Tasburgh is a civil parish and a village in the south of Norfolk, England. The River Tas flows nearby and Tasburgh Hall lies to the west of the village. The local church is dedicated to St...
, 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...
, and came to the attention of the authorities for his pro German or anti-semitic speeches that he made from the church pulpit there. From the Public Record Office
Public Record Office
The Public Record Office of the United Kingdom is one of the three organisations that make up the National Archives...
(PRO): Agents who attended meetings that were held at the Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall is a leading international recital venue that specialises in hosting performances of chamber music and is best known for classical recitals of piano, song and instrumental music. It is located at 36 Wigmore Street, London, UK and was built to provide London with a venue that was both...
, the Quaker Hall in Lambs Conduit Street Central London
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...
and a private house, 109 Shirland Road W9 [London] revealed Baker to be a potential fifth columnist, extreme in his views. Among others he was an associate of the influential Captain Peter Elwyn Wright (whose portrait hung in the Bier Keller in Munich
Bürgerbräukeller
The Bürgerbräukeller was a large beer hall located in Munich, Germany. It was one of the large beer halls of the Bürgerliches Brauhaus company, and after Bürgerliches merged with Löwenbräu, the hall was transferred to that company. It was located on Rosenheimer Street in the neighborhood of...
), Commandant Charles Cole, 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....
, John Beckett
John Beckett
John Warburton Beckett was a leading figure in British politics between the world wars, both in the Labour Party and Fascist movements....
MP, Lord Redesdale, George Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers
Pitt-Rivers
-People:* William Horace Pitt-Rivers, 3rd Baron Rivers . Born William Beckford, he adopted the name on inheriting the title from his brother-in-law George Pitt, 2nd Baron Rivers.* George Pitt-Rivers, 4th Baron Rivers...
, Norah Elam
Norah Elam
Norah Elam also known as Norah Dacre Fox, was a radical feminist, militant suffragette, anti-vivisectionist and fascist in the United Kingdom. Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1878 to John and Charlotte Doherty, she emigrated to England with her family and by 1891 was living in London...
, Commandant Mary Allen, Fay Taylour
Fay Taylour
Fay Taylour , known as Flying Fay, was an Irish motorcyclist in the late 1920s and a champion speedway rider. She switched to racing cars in 1931...
(the pioneering female racing driver) and Admiral Barry Domvile
Barry Domvile
Admiral Sir Barry Edward Domvile KBE CB CMG was a distinguished Royal Navy officer who turned into a leading British Pro-German anti-Semite in the years before the Second World War....
, who among others formed a core of ardent British national socialists, almost all but not exclusively from affluent backgrounds with strong establishment connections, and whose names all appear in the infamous red book
Red Book
Red Book, Redbooks, Little Red Book or Big Red Book may refer to:- Political or ideological pamphlets :* The Little Red Book, the name commonly known in the West for the pocket-size edition of Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung...
ledger of membership of the Right Club that was seized from the ownership of Captain Archibald Maule Ramsay
Archibald Maule Ramsay
Captain Archibald Henry Maule Ramsay was a British Army officer who later went into politics as a Scottish Unionist Member of Parliament . From the late 1930s he developed increasingly strident antisemitic views...
M.P.
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,...
by the authorities in 1940 and has remained mostly shrouded in secrecy ever since.
During the Defence Regulation 18B
Defence Regulation 18B
Defence Regulation 18B, often referred to as simply 18B, was the most famous of the Defence Regulations used by the British Government during World War II. The complete technical reference name for this rule was: Regulation 18B of the Defence Regulations 1939. It allowed for the internment of...
fascist round-ups, Thomas went briefly on the run, shaving his distinctive facial hair, (a walrus moustache) but was soon caught and jailed for the duration of the War, being an unrepentant Nazi. During reviews by the internment committee, where internees had a chance to prove their loyalty and secure their release, and which many took advantage of, Baker always gave answers in the positive as to his ideology, which only convinced the advisory panel that it was best to keep him locked up.
Among other things he remarked that "I did not like the (Great) War, Sir, not one bit." (PRO papers) As a second lieutenant he had been buried alive during shelling as a junior officer. Unusually Baker was kept interned for a suspended period, orders for release only being issued on 13 April 1945, with release on 21 April 1945. amongst the last of the detainees to be released, (HO 45/25732 120508) whereas most internees, including 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...
, had been released by 1943. Many of the internees had gone on to serve, some with valour, in the armed forces against 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...
.
An officer at the Peveril internment Camp (Peel
Peel
Peel or Peeling can refer to:* Peel , rind or skin-Places:* Peel Park * Peel Street Australia* Peel * Peel River * Peel Island, QueenslandCanada* Peel, New Brunswick...
, Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
), noted that Baker did not have the light of nazi ideology burning in his eyes and that everything he did was calculated. There was an idea that Baker feigned madness in an effort to secure early release. Recommendations were made to keep him from influencing other prisoners. A German psychologist who was interned with Baker remarked, "the man was a fool, with neither brain nor idea. Every morning he would come into my room with tea and toast on a tray, Sieg Heil me and say 'Good News. Doodlebugs
V-1 flying bomb
The V-1 flying bomb, also known as the Buzz Bomb or Doodlebug, was an early pulse-jet-powered predecessor of the cruise missile....
over London!' The preference of the internment committee was to try and keep Captain Baker from other internees, as he was perceived as a bad influence.
While interned, Captain Baker befriended one James Larratt Battersby who after the War, penned The Holy Book of Adolf Hitler, a muddled tome which heralded Hitler as a new Christ. Battersby was a tragic young man, wealthy from his family's hat making empire
Hat Works
The Hat Works is a museum located in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The museum opened in 2000. Prior to that, smaller displays of hatting equipment were exhibited firstly in Stockport Museum and then from 1993 in the former Battersby's hat factory....
and a regional organiser in the North West in the pre War 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...
. He had according to fellow internees been mentally tortured in the notorious Ham detention centre.
It could be argued that Baker had his eye on some of Battersby's money to line his own pockets. Baker pleaded for Battersby's release mostly in vain. (PRO documents) The pair joined up briefly after the War and formed a short lived group that espoused the conversion of Jews to Christianity, the Militant Christian Patriots. This small group published a newsletter from the North West which was strongly anti-Semitic and had very little impact on the mainstream right wing. In a high-profile incident in 1952 Battersby disrupted the two minutes silence on Remembrance Sunday
Remembrance Sunday
In the United Kingdom, 'Remembrance Sunday' is held on the second Sunday in November, which is the Sunday nearest to 11 November Armistice Day. It is the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War at 11 a.m...
at the Cenotaph memorial at Whitehall
The Cenotaph, Whitehall
The Cenotaph is a war memorial located in Whitehall, London. It began as a temporary structure erected for a peace parade following the end of World War I, but following an outpouring of national sentiment it was replaced by a permanent structure and designated the United Kingdom's official war...
; in 1955 he committed suicide jumping into the paddles of the Mersey ferry
Mersey Ferry
The Mersey Ferry is a ferry service operating on the River Mersey in north west England, between Liverpool and the Wirral Peninsula. Ferries have been used on this route since at least the 12th century, and continue to be popular for both local people and visitors.The current fleet consists of...
. A note found in his pocket read:
Though the sacrifice of the Aryan martyr the world victory is assured. Heil Hitler.
Baker's wife gave birth to a son some time before he was interned with whom she visited him-Baker interpreted a mark on the baby's head as a swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
that signalled the boy was the heir to Hitler. His wife soon became fed up with his deranged behaviour and filed for divorce. After the War, Captain Baker settled for some time in Jersey
Jersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
and was visited by prominent fascists in the 1950s but took no real active part again in the politics that had robbed him of five years of his life.