Myrtle to René, undated, 1932.
Louise Darquier, PAF, 1924.
Jean Lindoerfer, October 2000.
Information about Louis' career in the wheat business comes from: Stadsbibliotheek, Antwerp, Annexe au Moniteur Belge—Recueil spécial des Actes, procès—verbaux et documents relatifs aux sociétés commerciales année 1925. This one is “acte 1488, enregistré à Anvers le 3 février 1925.”
PRO FO 892/163.
All quotes from “Enclosure no. 2 to Despatch no. 1602 of August 10, 1942, from American Consulate General, Algiers, Algeria” in Gun, pp. 263–4.
Louis Darquier to Urbain Gayet, father of Pierre and Jean, 26 January 1926, given to Sylvie Deroche by Jean Gayet.
Les Dernières nouvelles de Strasbourg, 7 April 1937; Journal d'Alsace et de Lorraine, 9 April 1937.
CDJC XXXV-2. See also Joly, Darquier de Pellepoix,p. 54.
Gun, pp. 263–4.
Louis to René, probably June 1927.
28. Ibid.
The brief facts of the Macnaghten/Workman link are: Francis Macnaghten (1763–1843) of Bushmills, Co. Antrim, a judge of the Supreme Court of Madras, assumed the additional surname of Workman by royal licence in 1809 and was created a baronet in 1836. It is suggested that the name Workman came from his cousin Caroline's father Meredyth Workman of Co. Armagh. The children of Francis Macnaghten, a baronet, demonstrate no link to Charles Workman, actor from Bootle. On the female line, Roy's mother Caroline Josephine Bessel Adams (as her birth was registered), or Caroline Josephine Russell Adams (at her marriage), or Totie for the London Savoy Theatre, came from a very humble background. Her father was a baker. Charles Workman, father of C. H. Workman, appears in the 1851 census as an ironworks labourer.
CHAPTER 5
Baby
INTERVIEWS AND CORRESPONDENCE: Paulette Aupoix, Colette Calmon, Jean Gayet, Pierre Gayet, Mrs. Margaret Gilson, Danny Puddefoot, Alistair Rapley, Simone Reste, Tasmania J., Teresa. Sources: Darquier family correspondence; APP GA D9, 25 April 1935; Archives Municipales de Paris, PER 242: Archives Municipales de Paris, file D3M2/3, Conseillers municipaux de Paris. Election leaflet, 5 May 1935; CDJC LXII-II. Publications: Breese, Hutch; Daily Telegraph, 19 April 1928; Combes, Le Conseil municipal; Grove, Laurie Lee; Launceston Examiner, 11 February 1929; Newby, The Last Grain Race; Melbourne Argus, July–December 1928 index; Rees, Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1900; Stevenson and Cook, Britain in the Depression.
Louise Darquier, PAF, 1924.
The Daily Telegraph, 19 April 1928.
Paulette Aupoix, May 2000.
Louise Darquier, PAF.
“Johnny One Note,” from Babes in Arms, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers (see www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/newbonham/6/johnny.htm for full lyrics, all of which are apposite).
A member of the Darquier family.
Jean Gayet, November 1999.
I have sought evidence for this divorce in all Australian states and in Britain. In France, as she was never registered as Darquier's wife on his state documents, there are no official records of Myrtle at all. Finding details of her Australian passport proved impossible, as some records of the time are sketchy.
CDJC LXII-11.
Archives de Paris PER 242: Le Conseil Municipal, nos édiles, Annuaire illustré municipal et administratif de la ville de Paris et du département de la Seine (44ème année)—1935–41.
Rees, p. 77.
Teresa.
Tasmania J. Hazel Jones studied Arts and Education at Melbourne University from 1926 to 1929. She was a resident at Trinity, now called Janet Clarke Hall. Her departure for England was noted in the college magazine, Fleur de Lys (ironically the emblem of Action Française), in 1936. Hazel worked for the British government, for UNRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency), for the Shell Oil Company and the Red Cross, in West India (sic), Morocco, central Africa, China, Singapore and the Lebanon.
In Australia Louis Darquier was a trader, according to his passport, delivered by the French Consulate in Sydney in 1929.
Archives Municipales de Paris, file D3M2/3, Conseillers municipaux de Paris Election leaflet, 5 May 1935. 16.The Argus, Melbourne, July–December, Index 1928.
Harry Jones left assets worth £17,474.8s.6d.—just under 1 million Australian dollars today.
Lady Mountbatten had a jewelled penis sheath made especially for Hutch.
Louis to René, telegram, 15 April 1930.
Louis to René, probably April 1930.
There is no trace of any change of name for Louis Darquier in the London Gazette or Deed Poll records; in any case, between 1916 and 1971 aliens were not allowed to change their names.
Lloyds Bank could find no trace of Mr. Robinson in their records.
Evening Standard, 17 April 1930.£100 would be about £4,800 today. The law they offended reads as follows: “Leave shall not be given to an alien to land in the United Kingdom unless he complies with the following conditions, that is to say: - he is in a position to support himself and his dependants…” Louis could not pay the hotel bill at Brown's.
Treen Cottage no longer exists, but it was near the corner of Straight Road and Church Street in old Windsor.
Laurie Lee on country life in the 1930s, quoted in Grove, p. 14.
Alistair Rapley and Danny Puddefoot, a friend of May Brice, September 1999.
Myrtle to René, undated, 1931.
Eric Newby, The Last Grain Race (Secker & Warburg, 1956).
“At one time I may have caused difficulty to him”—Myrtle to René, September 1931. “I do not want to have grave difficulties before having been able, again to discuss the question with you—without being, like the last time handicapped by a weakness (which you would have found excusable if you had put up with what I put up with for the previous six months)”—Louis to René, 1931. Their joint “difficulty” most probably means alcohol.
Myrtle to René, 11 January 1933.
Myrtle to René, undated, 1931.
Ibid.
Louis to Jean Ostermeyer, undated, July 1931.
Jean Ostermeyer to René, July 1931.
Myrtle to René, undated, probably 1931.
Louis to René, undated, probably 1931.
Myrtle to René, undated, probably 1931.
Louis to Jean Ostermeyer, undated, July 1931.
Myrtle to René, undated, probably 1931.
Ibid., 6 January 1932.
Ibid., undated, probably 1931.
Louis to René, undated 1931.
Myrtle to René, undated, probably 1931.
Louis to René, undated, probably 1931.
CHAPTER 6
Shreds and Patches
INTERVIEWS AND CORRESPONDENCE: Bill Coy, Julia Keal, Danny Puddefoot, Alistair Rapley, Teresa. Sources: Darquier family correspondence; APP GA D9, police report, 25 April 1935.Publications: Crémieux-Brilhac, Les Français de l'an 40; Planté, Un Grand seigneur de la politique; Stevenson and Cook, Britain in the Depression.
Myrtle to René, 29 September 1931.
The trajectory of Louis and Myrtle's darting trips to Paris is hard to ascertain. This account is based on an analysis of their letters, but also some speculation.
Louis to René, undated, probably 1931.
Myrtle to René, 29 September 1931.
Ibid.
I would like to think this “Major Lawrence” was T. E. Lawrence, particularly as a cottage is mentioned, but I have been unable to track down this major.
Myrtle to René, 29 September 1931.
Louis to René, undated, probably 1931.
Ibid.
Ibid., 14 January 1931.
Alistair Rapley, September 1999.
Myrtle to René, 3 April 1933.
Alistair Rapley, September 1999; Julia Keal, May 2000.
Danny Puddefoot, November 1999.
Myrtle to René, undated, probably 1932.
Louis to René, 10 February 1932.
Louis to René, undated, probably 1931.
Myrtle to René, undated, 1931 and 1932.
Ibid., 29 September 1931.
It is impossible to verify who this “Comte de Castellan” was; there appear to have been three Comtes de Castellane around at this time. Marquis Boniface de Castellane, son of Boni de Castellane, a diplomat, was French chargé d'affaires in London in 1940. His famous father was a wealthy supporter of Charles Maurras. However, it could be, and probably was, the Comte de Castellane with whom Louis later served on the Paris city council.
Myrtle to René, undated, probably 1932.
Myrtle spelt Ramy as “Rami”: Ramy is always coupled with de Monzie's name, at his parties, his offices, in their letters, as his housekeeper and the woman he loved. Everyone I met in Cahors mentioned it. De Monzie's sole legatee was his secretary, Madame Debrand, which intimates that Ramy Debrand was the woman with whom he shared his life. She seems, anyway, to have been a different kind of governante from the two housekeepers he had, one in each of his Lotois demesnes. Ramy seems to have been with de Monzie from 1914, when he dedicated his book Les Réformes maritimes to her: “A Notre-Dame de Ramy, protectrice impérieuse…”
All quotes in this paragraph from Myrtle to René, 4 January 1932.
Louis to René, August 1932.
Louis to René, 10 February 1932.
Handwritten letter of debt to René, 29 August 1932: Monsieur René Darquier My dear René
I owe you in all the sum of 126,000 francs (one hundred and twenty six thousand French francs) that I will return in whole or in parts, at your demand as soon as that will be possible for me. This acknowledgement annuls all precedents. (signed) Sandra Darquier, Louis Darquier
Louis to René, August 1932.
Myrtle to René: 9 October 1931; 4 January 1932; 1 January 1933. The horses were across the road on Danny Puddefoot's uncle's farm.
Louis to René, undated, probably 1931; 29 August 1932; undated, probably end 1932.
As a candidate of the Anti-Waste League, Sir James Erskine stood for “the true blue policy of 100% Toryism and no tinkering with Socialism” (The Times, 6 March 1931). Duff Cooper, a pro-Baldwin Conservative, won the seat after a tremendous row with the Westminster Conservative Association. See The Times, February–March 1931, for the turmoil over the St. George's Division election of March 1931. Two nationalist press lords, Beaverbrook and Rothermere, had launched the United Empire Party in 1930 to get rid of the leader of the party—Baldwin at that time—and replace him with one who would do as they instructed. Rothermere was eventually to support Mosley's Blackshirts, Hitler, Munich etc.
Louis to René, undated, probably Decmber 1932.
All this from an exceptionally long letter, Myrtle to René, 11 January 1933.
Myrtle to René, 11 February 1933.
Ibid., 16 February 1933.
Ibid., 23 March 1933.
All quotations from Janot Darquier: her letter to René, 28 March 1933.
Myrtle to René, undated, April 1933.
Ibid., 13 September 1933.
Coy, July 2001.
Myrtle to René, 11 January 1933.
CHAPTER 7
The Street
INTERVIEWS AND CORRESPONDENCE: Paulette Aupoix, Jeanne Degrelle, Pierre Gayet, Audrey Kirby, Yvonne Lacaze, Pierre Orliac, Danny Puddefoot, Pierre Pujo, Teresa. Sources: Darquier family correspondence; AN 3W142; APP: Commission d'Enquête du 6 Février 34, Audition de M. Pierre Gérard; APP GA D9: Dossier Darquier, 25 April 1935; APP GA R4: Rassemblement anti-juif de France, 14 April 1938 and 30 May 1938; Archives Municipales de Paris, D3M2/3, Conseillers Municipaux de Paris: Dossier Darquier, election leaflet, May 1935; CDJC LXII-II; TNA: PRO FO 371/31941–Z3005–3004/81/17.Publications: Agulhon, The French République 1879–1992; Albert, Histoire générale de la presse française; Anderson, Conservative Politics in France; Beloff, The Sixth of February; Billig, Le Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives (1941–1944); Charbonneau, Les Mémoires de Porthos; Coston, Partis, journaux et hommes politiques d'hier et d'aujourd'hui; Le Crapouillot, new series 77, summer 1984; Eatwell, Fascism; Gordon, Historical Dictionary of World War II; Halls, Politics, Society and Christianity in Vichy France; Hamilton, The Appeal of Fascism; Jackson: The Popular Front in France: Defending Democracy 1934–38; Joly, “Darquier de Pellepoix: ‘Champion’ des anti sémites français”; Joly, Darquier de Pellepoix et l'antisémitisme français; Kingston, Anti-Semitism in France During the 1930s; Larkin, France since the Popular Front Government; Launceston Examiner, 4 December 1984; Marrus and Paxton, Vichy France and the Jews; Pélissier, 6 Février 1934; Planté, Un Grand seigneur de la politique; Soucy, French Fascism: The First Wave, 1924–1933; Soucy, French Fascism: The Second Wave, 1933–1939; The Times, 9 December 1942; Weber, Action Française; Werth, France in Ferment; Werth, The Twilight of France; http://members.aol.com/thidal/anthinea.html; www.taittinger.com/ prix/main/maingenese.htm.
Louis to René, dated 1934, probably 20 February.
The decade following the Great War was the heyday of the young men of Action Française—the Camelots du Roi—who prepared for the return of a French king by attacking the Republic with every means to hand. They policed Action Française meetings and disrupted those of almost everyone else, using force to prevent theatre performances or lectures on subjects or with attitudes unacceptable to their faith. Splattering their enemies with coal tar and printers' ink, wrecking offices, orchestrating riots, they added the Bolshevik Menace to their list of targets and attacked Jews, Germans, Republicans, Freemasons, foreigners and communists, accusing those they assaulted of representing all these things.
Jean became Chef de Clinique à la Faculté de Médecine de Paris—head of the neurology clinic at La Salpêtrière; later his stationery from the rue Jouffroy was headed “Former Head of the Faculty.” Another doctor who arranged a similar banquet in Bordeaux was Pierre Mauriac, the brother of François Mauriac.
Pierre Gayet, January 2000 and Yvonne Lacaze, January 1999: “Jean shared the ideas of his brother Louis.”
The Lambert Law of 1927 reduced the period of residence in France necessary for naturalisation from ten to three years. This gave the French state, which was suffering from the losses of the First World War, more men for the armed services. Between 1923 and 1926, 112,337 immigrants became French citizens; 269,872 between 1927 and 1930.
Marrus and Paxton (p. 36) give Jewish refugee intakes as follows: USA 190,000; Palestine 120,000; Great Britain 65,000; France 55,000. Maurras exaggerated this figure by three or four times.
édouard Daladier (1884–1970): Premier of France from 1938 to 1940. During the Occupation, after the fiasco of the trial at Riom, he was handed over to the Germans and was kept prisoner until 1945. He continued as a deputy after the war.
Louis to René, 14 November 1933.
Pierre Pujo, December 2000.
Henri Charbonneau (1913–82): Ebullient member of the Camelots du Roi and Action Française, of the Cagoule and, after the fall of France, of the MSR established by Deloncle in 1940 and funded by Eugène Schueller. In 1944 he married Jeanne Brevet, the niece of Joseph Darnand, and they had four children. At the Liberation, he took refuge in Sigmaringen then in Switzerland, was arrested in 1945 and sentenced to ten years' hard labour. On his release he took up journalism again.
Léon Degrelle (1906–94): Son of a brewer in the Ardennes, a brilliant orator, devout Catholic and founder of the Belgian fascist party, the Rexists, in 1931, originally as a wing of the ruling Catholic Party. Financed by Mussolini. In August 1941 he formed and then commanded the Flemish and Walloon troops which fought for Germany on the Russian front. His Légion Wallonie was transferred to the Waffen SS and Degrelle was decorated by Hitler in February 1944. Sentenced to death at the Liberation, he crash-landed an aeroplane into San Sebastian in 1945, where considerable efforts by Franco's staff protected him from extradition to Belgium, which clamoured for his return. Degrelle was another of those fascists who knew Louis Darquier—on 2 October 1936 he was turned away at the front
ier en route to speak at Louis' National Club—but he avoided him in Spain after the war. Jeanne Brevet Charbonneau Degrelle (dates unknown): In Spain in 1962 Jeanne Charbonneau met Léon Degrelle, whom she married, and with whom she lived until his death in 1994. The researcher and journalist Sylvie Deroche interviewed Jeanne Degrelle in Madrid in 1999. Like Action Française, Mme Degrelle considered Louis Darquier beneath her: she and Degrelle regarded Louis' private life as unacceptable. So did her first husband, Henri Charbonneau, inasmuch as he does not mention Louis Darquier at all in his vivid and unreconstructed autobiography, Les Mémoires de Porthos.
The only exception to AF's anti-parliamentary stance was Léon Daudet's election as a deputy from 1924 to 1929, the first and last AF parliamentarian.
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