The Link was a vehicle for Domvile’s contact and association with the German leaders, pro-Nazis and Fascists, so let us outline exactly what kind of organisation it was. The opening speech of Domvile at Southend made clear what he wanted people to believe – that the Link was not ‘anti-anybody and anti-nothing’. He argued the German people had ‘found their salvation in Hitler’. He claimed ‘to know Hitler personally’ and if people knew the real situation, ‘they would realise what he [Hitler] had done for Germany’. Domvile would, as we will discover later, always argue that the sole aim of the Link was to encourage friendship with Germany. The question could be asked, that with the AGF already functioning for that purpose, what the need for the Link was. Domvile’s answer was that the AGF was an elitist organisation and he wanted to broaden the goal of German/British friendship to the wider population. However, when we look at the origins of the Link, we find that the trio of Laurie, C.E. Carroll and Domvile brought together three very extreme supporters of Germany/Nazism and anti-Semites who appear to want to control their own agenda. These three were joined by Sir John Brown of the British Legion, Susan Fass of the Anglo German Kameradshaft and Professor Raymond Beazley. Beazley was a well-known pro-German with Nazi sympathies and was a regular contributor to the Anglo-German Review. In fact, all these people had been contributors to the pages of the Review. Lord Redesdale, Sir Albert Lambert Ward MP, Captain Edward Unwin VC, Councillor W J Bassett-Lowke, Lord Sempill, A E R Dyer, Archibald Crawford KC and Hubert Maddocks would join in later. As we have seen, Redesdale was extremely pro-Nazi. Lambert Ward was a conservative MP who worked under Chamberlain, whilst Unwin was a war hero being awarded the Victoria Cross for his extreme heroism during action in the Gallipoli peninsula in the First World War. Bassett-Lowke was a model engineer from Northampton and was an importer and supplier of German-made model railways. Lord Sempill was a Scottish Peer and leaned to the far right and fascism. The release of documents from the National Archives would show he was a spy for Japan and Germany and leaked papers to both countries. He was protected from prosecution at the time for reasons that were never entirely clear. Dyer was a pro-Nazi and member of the January Club. Crawford was actively involved in promoting and sustaining the British Empire. Maddocks was a member of the BUF and was considered by Domvile as ‘one of Mosley’s best men’.
What we learn from this line up is that the Link was keen to present a respectable face but yet have within it a seam of pro-Nazism and Fascism. There was a very loose organisation and its branches began to appear all over the country, including one in Northern Ireland. There is no doubt that in these branches many respectable people were involved. They came from both the Left and Right of politics and included local councillors and civic leaders. There was also a good representation from the various armed services. The activities were almost like any normal civic group with tea-dances, film nights and other social events. However, one thing that differed was in the people who came to speak. Domvile, Carroll and Laurie would be regulars and often Speakers from a German background would take part. Men like Maule Ramsay would appear as would others from a Fascist background. Speakers who were obviously designed to support the Nazi and Fascist agendas included Philip Spranklin, a former BUF member who had joined Goebbels’ Munich Foreign Press Office and General Fuller, a BUF member. An unknown MI5 agent reported a speech in 1939 by Fuller and described it as ‘pure Goebbels propaganda’.
There was a marked difference in the degree that far right and pro-Nazi activity took place between the urban and rural branches. The branches in and around London were more likely to be involved in pro-German and anti-Semitic activity. Along with Beazley’s Birmingham branch there was also the case of Margaret Bothamley who had travelled with Domvile to Germany in 1939. She was an extreme fascist and a member of the International Fascist League as well as the Right Club. She was the Link’s organiser in an inner London branch. Aggressively pro-German and anti-Semitic, she travelled around the Link branches promoting her views. She knew she was under the close scrutiny of the Security Service and fled to Germany to become active in broadcasting German propaganda back to England. Bothamley would eventually be returned to England for trial and was sentenced to a term in prison. Domvile’s diary notes, ‘MB got 12 months – a light sentence I feel’. The 28 March 1946 diary page has a copy of The Times’ report of the sentence glued to it. It is also interesting to note that Domvile is asked by Bothamley’s sister in 1948 to sort and look after her ‘papers’. This all suggests a very close relationship between the two and it was suggested she may indeed have been one of his lovers.
The Acton branch was organised by Eric Whittleton who was an active anti-Semite and who from the mid-’thirties, regularly made statements against Jews and their influence as he saw it. Whittleton was a regular subscriber to the Patriot, where he would argue for a move from democracy to a government that would oppose ‘Organised Jewry’. The distribution of pro-Nazi and anti-Semitic literature would often surface at Link meetings and occasionally similar literature would find its way into mailings from the Link offices.
On 21 December 1937, concerns were raised in parliament about the Link by John Parker Labour MP for Romford:
‘I would like to draw attention also to an organisation called “The Link,”
which nominally exists for the purpose of promoting Anglo-German friendship, but in reality is a camouflaged Fascist Organisation. The found-ers are Admiral Sir Barry Domvile, and Professor A.P. Laurie, who is perhaps the most persistent pro-Fascist letter-writer to the newspapers in this country. I would like to quote some of the remarks of Sir Barry Domvile when inaugurating a branch of “The Link” in Southend: Fascism might not be a system of government which suited this country but it suited Germany very well. We must not be on opposite sides to Germany in any future war. The Link was in touch with all big German organisations. On the question of Colonies he said that the British Government must face up to that issue whatever that might mean. I think that when you have an organisation like “The Link,” with many distinguished people connected with it, carrying on propaganda on behalf of foreign countries here, the matter ought to be investigated by the Government.’
And in a discourse between Sir Geofrey Manders and Samuel Hoare:
‘On 30th March 1939 Geoffrey Manders asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware of the activities of a proNazi organisation in this country known as the Link; whether his attention has been called to certain methods of propaganda adopted; and whether he will take steps to deport the German subjects concerned?
The Secretary of State for the Home Department Sir Samuel Hoare:
‘I understand that the organisers and principal officials of this body are all British subjects. The last part of the question does not, therefore, arise.
‘Mr. Mander
‘Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this organisation does all it can to glorify Hitlerism, and derives support from Nazi sources; and is it not desirable that the British public should realise what its precise but undeclared objects are?
‘Sir S. Hoare
‘I understand that this organisation is mainly for the purposes of proNazi and anti-Semite propaganda. More than that I do not know.’
As we will see later, concerns were also raised that the Link was receiving money from Germany to support its existence.
Through the Link, Laurie and Domvile and those noted above were regularly in contact. Laurie was also connected to the Fascists and Mosley held him in high esteem. In the secret MI5 files, Mosley described him as ‘a great intellectual and a very difficult man to handle’. He also states that Laurie had ‘violent opinions, but a perfectly honest Englishman, I should think myself’. He confirmed that Laurie was ‘pro-German instead of proBritish’. However, Mosley says of Laurie, ‘in private life he is the mildest man alive’.
Cola Ernest Carroll became a journalist and edited the British Legion’s newspaper. The RFC was the forerunner of the
RAF and it was here that Carroll would have had his first contact with Oswald Mosley. In 1936, he founded the Anglo-German Review as a publication to foster links between Britain and Germany. In many ways this was simply a pro-German paper, but in 1939 it took a more concerning turn. Carroll began to move sharply towards anti-Semitism proving himself to be a virulent anti-Semitic, echoing much of what Mosley and Ramsay believed. In April 1937, he was particularly concerned with the main-stream press taking an anti-German tone. He used the Review to attack Jewish criticism of what the Nazis were doing in Germany. He argued they had no right to use the British press for ‘vicious propaganda’ and maintained the Fascist belief that the British press was controlled by Jews. He berated them for ‘stirring up trouble with a friendly neighbour’. The Review continued in this vein and as the readership continued to grow and the letters page showed support, it has to be concluded that the readership was in agreement with the editorial team. He also published excerpts from Hitler’s speeches, especially those calling for a relationship with Britain, along with articles from Goebbels. Domvile also contributed articles. Carroll was a close friend of Walter Hewel, a confidant of Hitler on foreign affairs and he was a strong advocate for the appeasement of Hitler and found a common purpose with Domvile.
In 1946, he joined Laurie and Domvile, to establish the Link. He and Domvile became close friends. In MI5 files, Carroll was seen as a ‘charming’ man, who was a suspected danger to national security at the outbreak of war. Guy Liddell records in his diary that Carroll had handed in a complete list of the Link members to the police but he suspected that he had already got rid of any incriminating evidence. Carroll was sent to Brixton under Defence Regulation 18B.
Robert Gordon-Canning, a product of Eton, was a Great War hero winning the Military Medal. From a military family, he had pretensions to greatness and claimed descent from Lord Byron, the poet, whom he said was his great-grandfather. However, there is no proof of this claim. Following the war, he became a passionate advocate of the Arab cause and anti-Jewish in his views. He strongly disagreed with Government policy on the Middle East and supported Arab claims to territory in Morocco and elsewhere. He was a committed Fascist and joined Mosley in the BUF. He was also Mosley’s best man at the secret wedding in Germany. He boasted of having had meetings and dinners with Hitler and other Nazi leaders. However, in 1939, disagreement with Mosley caused him to leave him and join other Fascist groups. He then became a member of the Right Club and the Link. After the war he would confirm his devotion to Hitler by purchasing a marble bust of him in a sale of artefacts from the German Embassy in London for £500 (£20,000 in 2016) and comparing Hitler to Jesus Christ. He was increasingly dissatisfied with how the government was approaching war with Germany and began to hold meetings at his flat with leading Fascist figures. The Security Service were monitoring his activities and became alarmed at reports that a Fascist plot was being hatched at these meetings. He regularly dined with Domvile and attended secret meetings with him. The Government decided to put him Brixton under Defence Regulation 18B.
The authorities were also concerned that the Admiral was connected to Henry Luttman-Johnson, a Scottish landowner and former cavalry officer in the Indian Army; Domvile’s diaries show Luttman-Johnson would regularly send Scottish salmon to him. He also moved in the higher social order in Britain. He was among the founders of the January Club, which included Mosley, Carroll and Gordon-Canning. The club also had many MP’s, aristocrats and high ranking military among its members. The activities of the club also concerned the Security Service. Along with others he was involved in the Information and Policy Group, a forum that on the surface was a discussion group on farming and agriculture but its real purpose was to discuss how to promote pro-German propaganda. It produced a regular newspaper. Luttman-Johnson was also detained in Brixton under the provisions of Defence Regulation 18B.
The MI5 files reveal a number of other minor characters and organisations connected to Admiral Domvile and who raised concerns. People like Olive Baker a close associate of his, who was given five years penal servitude for spreading pro-German propaganda. Baker worked as a teacher in Germany returning to this country in 1939. Whilst awaiting trial in prison she cut her wrists and used her blood to write Heil Hitler and Heil Mosley on the cell wall. There was Norah Elam, known as Dacre Fox, who was a Fascist activist and pro-German. She stood for parliament as an independent, without success. Guy Liddell noted in his diary that she was under the scrutiny of the Security Service and was suspected of being a link in a money chain from the Nazis to the BUF. Liddell linked her to Peter Whinfield, the son of Colonel H G Whinfield, a BUF candidate in an election. He was arrested in Switzerland as part of this money link. A sum of £10,000 [£390,000 2016] was received by Elam, as a ‘donation’. There was also a ‘special’ account MI5 knew about that was being used to supply funds to specific BUF finance controllers. Whinfield admitted his Gestapo connections and gave names of those in England with whom he was associated. Special Branch raided Elam’s offices and found a power of attorney in certain matters from Oswald Mosley. This turned the focus of MI5 on Elam’s associates including Admiral Domvile. Another association of concern was with the British Council for Christian Settlement in Europe, a front for promoting peace with Germany and the acceptance of the Nazis to remain in power.
It is reasonable to point out that all these characters were from the higher reaches of British society. The British monarchy was descended from German ancestry and there were many links to them from other members of the aristocracy. Therefore, we do find that very important dukes and duchesses such as Lord and Lady Russell of Liverpool and Arthur Charles Wellesley, 5th Duke of Wellington, involved in far right activities. The secret files of MI5 are littered with references to other such figures being connected to Nazism, Mosley and other fascist groupings. There was in Britain a substantial minority of opinion that wanted to avoid any conflict with Germany.
It was against this background that the Government decided to act against the Domviles and their son.
Chapter 6
The Reasons for the Domviles’ Detention
The secret papers released in 2002, show that the Security Service had major concerns about the Domviles. They were not the only ones; the Admiral’s former colleagues were also alarmed at his activities and connections. In a very direct letter, in June 1940, Richard Carter of Naval Intelligence wrote to the Security Service:
‘The Admiralty view is that if there be any British “Quislings”, then there are few more likely candidates for the role than Admiral Domvile and his wife and we should feel distinctly happier if these two were finally out of harm’s way.’
Papers were drawn up which framed the case for detention under Defence Regulation 18B Regulation. These set out in detail the reasons for their detention.
The introduction was couched in the vague terms of the regulations, stating that the detention was that they had been ‘recently concerned in acts prejudicial to public safety and the defence of the realm’. There then followed a list of specifics for Admiral Domvile. He was:
I. Founder and stable of the Link. The charge was that Domvile was the one who was at the centre of the Link and without whom it would never had continued.
II. Was closely associated with prominent Nazi leaders in Germany and in this country
III. Is sympathetic to Germany and the Nazi system of Government
IV. Has been closely associated with Sir Oswald Mosley and other prominent leaders of the BUF
V. Has been active in the furtherance of the objects of the BUF
VI. Has since the outbreak of war discussed with Sir Oswald Mosley and other prominent members of the BUF the coordination of fascist activities and the achievement of fascist revolution in this country
These allegations were expanded in accompanying notes to describe Domvile as pro-German, spreading German propaganda through the Link meetings. He was also noted to have visited Germany and had been ‘entertained by
Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels and a number of prominent Nazis’. The Security Service believed the Admiral was ‘wholeheartedly’ behind the promotion of pro-German views and even had become ‘anti-British’ in his outlook. They also quoted from a letter written by Otto Georg Gustav Karlowa, a Nazi diplomat working in England, to all German’s at the Embassy in London and to the leaders of all German groups throughout Britain:
‘I have promised Admiral Domvile that we will take part and will see that young ladies attend as dancing partners. We wish to take part in this gathering of the Link and I request you to take energetic steps to see that it is done.’
This, it was suggested, showed that the Admiral was involved with Nazis in promoting the Link. He had also published an article in the German newspaper Berliner Tageblatt supporting Germany’s claim to retake the colonies. In his diary on 31 January 1938 Domvile’s comment on the article was, ‘looks fine’.
Furthermore, he wrote an introduction for Laurie’s book The Case for Germany, and thus was seen to support Laurie’s positive views of Hitler and his policies. The book was also being distributed in many pro-German countries to promote a case against Britain and her government. The belief in Whitehall was that Domvile’s name being associated with such a book gave an impression that the British navy itself supported the book’s viewpoint.
His alleged involvement in the Information and Policy Group was also cited and it was claimed that this was the disguised revival of the now defunct Link. The Security Service was convinced that Domvile was ‘a moving spirit’ behind the British Council for Christian Settlement in Europe wanting appeasement with Nazi Germany. The basis for these claims came from various sources including agents that had infiltrated the BUF and the Link.
Hitler's Munich Man Page 6