Robert Gordon-Canning

British fascist (1888–1967)

Robert Gordon-Canning

Born| (1888-06-24)24 June 1888

Hartpury, Gloucestershire, England

Died| 4 January 1967(1967-01-04) (aged 78)

Hartpury, Gloucestershire, England

Occupations|

* Soldier
* journalist
* farmer

Political party| British Union of Fascists
Spouse|

Mary Maguire

(m. 1939; div. 1944)​

Military career
Allegiance| United Kingdom
Service / branch| British Army
Years of service| 1906–1925
Rank| Captain
Unit| Royal Gloucestershire Hussars
10th (Prince of Wales's Own Royal) Hussars
Battles / wars| World War I
Awards| Military Cross

Robert Cecil Gordon-Canning MC (24 June 1888 – 4 January 1967)[1] was a notable British fascist, anti-Semite[2][3][4] and supporter of Arab nationalist causes. He was briefly married to Australian actress Mary Maguire.

## Background and military career

[edit]

Gordon-Canning was born in Hartpury, Gloucestershire, the only son of William James Gordon-Canning, and his wife Clara, a daughter of Crawshay Bailey.[5] His father was the fourth son of Captain Patrick Robert Gordon, of the 78th Highlanders, son of William Gordon of Milrig, Ayrshire and descended from a branch of Clan Gordon. In 1848 Captain Gordon married Maria Canning of Hartpury, and added her surname to his own.[6] Gordon-Canning claimed, and it is sometimes stated as fact, that the poet Lord Byron, was his great-grandfather.[7]

He was educated at Eton, was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars on 15 November 1906,[8] and was promoted to lieutenant in the 10th (Prince of Wales's Own Royal) Hussars on 14 March 1912.[9] He was appointed a temporary captain on 18 November 1914,[10] soon after the start of World War I, and this was confirmed on 15 May 1915.[11] In June 1917, Gordon-Canning was awarded the Military Cross, "for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty."[12] He was transferred to the General Reserve of Officers on 29 March 1919,[13] and eventually resigned his commission on 19 August 1925.[14]

## Early political activities

[edit]

After the war, Gordon-Canning became a supporter of Arab nationalist causes. He was involved in advocating for Moroccan independence during the Rif War and visited Morocco at least twice in the mid-1920s, the first time for the Red Cross and later to present independence views to the French government.[15][16] He wrote several books of poetry at this time, including "Flashlights from Afar" (1920), "A Pagan Shrine" (1922) and "The Death of Akbar" (1923).[17] Australian diplomat R. G. Casey reported meeting Gordon-Canning in January 1926. He described him as "having come into the limelight lately owing to his having been the vehicle and mouthpiece for Abd el-Krim's 'peace' terms to the French. He has a shifty eye and is, I think, not altogether a disinterested peacemaker." Casey went on to describe "a very heated exchange of words about Morocco between [Gordon-]Canning and Sir Malcolm Robertson." Casey felt Gordon-Canning's approach combined "journalism with gentlemanly adventure."[18]

In 1929 Gordon-Canning visited Palestine and met with leaders of the Palestinian National Movement. He was a critic of British policy in Palestine.[19] From March to May 1930 the British police kept Margaret Milne Farquharson of the National Political League and Canning under observation to monitor their interactions with a delegation sent to London by the executive committee of the Palestine Arab Congress (ECPAC).[20]

## British Union of Fascists

[edit]

In 1934 Gordon-Canning joined the British Union of Fascists (BUF). In October 1936 he was best man at the wedding of Sir Oswald Mosley and Diana Mitford in Germany,[21] becoming the movement's expert on foreign affairs and given the role of 'Director of Overseas Policy'. He wrote regularly for fascist publications and developed the BUF slogan "Mind Britain's Business", which was also the title of one of his pamphlets. After a personal disagreement with Mosley, he left from the BUF in 1939, joining other fascist groups, including the British People's Party, The Link, and Archibald Ramsay's anti-Semitic group, the Right Club. Historian Brian Simpson notes Gordon-Canning prominent amongst those trying to fuse Britain's far–right groups at the outbreak of war. He hosted the first of a series of meetings of like minded personalities at his London flat on 19 September 1939.[2]

## Marriage and internment

[edit]

Gordon-Canning met Australian-born Hollywood actress Mary Maguire in June 1939.[22] Despite the 30-year age difference, they married in August 1939. Ironically, Gordon-Canning had previously written disparagingly of the influence and tone of Hollywood films.[23] In July 1940, Gordon-Canning was interned under Defence Regulation 18B[24] and was not released until 1943.[25] A child, Michael Gordon-Canning, was born of the union in February 1941, but died in infancy.[26] Gordon-Canning and Maguire were divorced in November 1944,[27] and Maguire remarried, moving back to the US in an effort to restart her acting career.[28]

## Post war

[edit]

At a sale of former German embassy property in 1945, Gordon-Canning attracted significant publicity when he purchased a large marble bust of Hitler for £500 (equivalent to £27,000 today).[29] Apparently by way of justification, he told reporters "Jesus, 2000 years ago was mocked, scorned and crucified. Today, He is a living force in the hearts and minds of millions of people." These comments, associating Hitler with Jesus, suggest he was associated with a small group called the League of Christian Reformers, who deified Hitler.[30][31][32] Journalist John Roy Carlson—a pseudonym of Avedis "Arthur" Boghos Derounian—claims Gordon-Canning told him he purchased the bust "to challenge the Jews. To prevent purchase by them..."[33]

Carlson also exposed Gordon-Canning's ongoing anti-Semitism in his 1951 book on subversive politics, Cairo to Damascus. Living after the war between his apartment in London and his farm in Sandwich, Kent, the book indicates Gordon-Canning was still in touch with other former internees and fascist sympathisers. Posing as an anti-Semite himself, Carlson records Gordon-Canning as saying, "I used to see Hitler in Munich and Berlin, and once had supper with Goebbels. Hitler was a fine man, a charming man. If three Hitlers had been allowed to rule the world – in Germany, Italy and England – we wouldn't be in the fix we are now." Carlson also writes of dining twice at Gordon-Canning's apartment in Cadogan Square in London with Barry Domvile and Archibald Ramsay. He states Gordon-Canning allowed his apartment to be used as a meeting place for Arab nationalists and claimed to be a close friend of Abdul Rahman Hassan Azzam. "I am one of the few Englishmen the Arabs trust completely", he is alleged to have said.[33]

Gordon-Canning remarried in 1952. He died on 4 January 1967.[1]

In November 2002 the Security Service (MI5) files on Gordon-Canning (KV 2/877-878) were released into the public domain.[7]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Prowse, Carl (2012). "Robert Cecil Gordon-Canning". RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
2. ^ a b Simpson, Brian (1992). In The Highest Degree Odious; Detention without trial in Wartime Britain. Oxford University Press. pp. 141–145. ISBN 0-19-825949-2.
3. ^ Macklin, Graham (2011). "A Fascist 'Jihad': Captain Robert Gordon-Canning, British Fascist Anti-Semitism and Islam". In Tilles, Daniel; Garau, Salvatore (eds.). Fascism and the Jews: Italy and Britain. London: Vallentine Mitchell. ISBN 9780853038641.
4. ^ Ungerson, Clare (February 2010). "The Kitchener Camp: The Sandwich response". AJR Journal. Association of Jewish Refugees. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
5. ^ Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1929). Armorial families : a directory of gentlemen of coat-armour (7th ed.). London: Hurst & Blackett. p. 782. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
6. ^ Bulloch, John Malcolm (1906). The Name of Gordon : Patronymics which it has replaced or reinforced. Huntly: Joseph Dunbar. p. 22. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
7. ^ a b "Security Service Records Release 25-26 November 2002" (PDF). The National Archives. 2002. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
8. ^ "No. 27973". The London Gazette. 4 December 1906. p. 8540.
9. ^ "No. 28604". The London Gazette. 3 May 1912. p. 3178.
10. ^ "No. 29152". The London Gazette. 4 May 1915. p. 4267.
11. ^ "No. 29185". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 June 1915. p. 5497.
12. ^ "No. 30135". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 June 1917. p. 5990.
13. ^ "No. 31256". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 March 1919. p. 4107.
14. ^ "No. 33076". The London Gazette. 18 August 1925. p. 5497.
15. ^ Woolman, David S. (1968). Rebels in the Rif: Abd El Krim and the Rif Rebellion. Stanford University Press. p. 126\. ISBN 978-0-8047-0664-3.
16. ^ Symes, Peter (2002). "The Notes of the Rif Revolt". International Bank Note Society Journal. 41 (3). Retrieved 2 February 2015.
17. ^ "Gordon-Canning, Robert Cecil". Echenberg War Poetry Collection. 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
18. ^ Casey, R. G. (7 January 1926). "Confidential Memorandum to the Prime Minister". Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
19. ^ Hassassian, Manuel (April 1990). "The Mu'arada and the Majlesiyoun in the Internal Political Struggle (1929-32)". Palestine-Factionalism In The National Movement (1919–1939) (PDF). Jerusalem: Passia (Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs). pp. 87–88. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
20. ^ Wagner, Steven B. (15 July 2019). Statecraft by Stealth: Secret Intelligence and British Rule in Palestine. Cornell University Press. p. 115\. ISBN 978-1-5017-3648-3.
21. ^ Mosley, Charlotte, ed. (2007). The Mitfords; Letters between six sisters. New York: Harper Collins. p. 77n. ISBN 978-0-06-137364-0. "Intimate friends like Diana Mitford called Gordon-Canning "Bobbie.""
22. ^ "Mary Maguire to marry English Fascist captain". The Australian Women's Weekly. Sydney. 29 July 1939. p. 28. Retrieved 2 February 2015 - via National Library of Australia.
23. ^ Linehan, Thomas (26 August 2011). ""A Dangerous Piece of Celluloid"? British Fascists and the Hollywood Movie" (PDF). Brunel University London. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
24. ^ "Star's Husband Watched". The Argus. Melbourne. 12 July 1940. p. 3. Retrieved 2 February 2015 - via National Library of Australia.
25. ^ "Internee Wrote Book in Prison". The Examiner. Launceston, Tasmania. 9 August 1943. p. 1. Retrieved 2 February 2015 - via National Library of Australia.
26. ^ "Death of Mary Maguire's Baby Son". The Mercury. Hobart, Tasmania. 24 January 1942. p. 5. Retrieved 2 February 2015 - via National Library of Australia.
27. ^ "Divorced". The Newcastle Sun. Newcastle, New South Wales. 22 November 1944. p. 3. Retrieved 2 February 2015 - via National Library of Australia.
28. ^ Jones, Lon (12 March 1946). "More Trouble for "Amber" : Mary Maguire Back". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. p. 11. Retrieved 2 February 2015 - via National Library of Australia.
29. ^ "Hitler Head for £500". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane. 7 December 1945. p. 1. Retrieved 2 February 2015 - via National Library of Australia.
30. ^ A thorough account appears in "Hitler Legion Formed in English Mansion". The Daily Express. 28 November 1945. p. 1.. See also "Hitler Is 'Divine' To Ex-Internees". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane. 29 November 1945. p. 1. Retrieved 6 April 2013 - via National Library of Australia.
31. ^ "Hitler Lovers Form League". The Daily News. Perth. 28 November 1945. p. 1. Retrieved 6 April 2013 - via National Library of Australia.
32. ^ Macklin, Graham (2007). Very Deeply Dyed in Black: Sir Oswald Mosley and the Resurrection of British Fascism. London: I.B. Tauris. pp. 34–35. ISBN 978-1-84511-284-4.
33. ^ a b Carlson, John Roy (1951). Cairo to Damascus (PDF). New York: Alfred Knopf. pp. 27–31.

* v
* t
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Far-right politics in the United Kingdom

Pre-1945 groups|

* British Brothers' League
* British Fascists
* British People's Party
* British Union of Fascists
* The Britons
* Britons Publishing Society
* English Array
* English Mistery
* English National Association
* Imperial Fascist League
* The Link
* Militant Christian Patriots
* National Fascisti
* National Party
* National Socialist League
* Nordic League
* Right Club

Defunct
post-1945 groups|

* British Democratic Party
* British Empire Party
* British Freedom Party
* British People's Party
* British League of Ex-Servicemen and Women
* British League of Rights
* British National Party
* Column 88
* Conservative Democratic Alliance
* Constitutional Movement
* England First Party
* European Liberation Front
* Flag Group
* For Britain
* Football Lads Alliance
* Greater Britain Movement
* International Third Position
* League of Empire Loyalists
* Liberty GB
* National Democratic Party
* National Democrats
* National Fellowship
* National Independence Party
* National Labour Party
* National Party
* National Socialist Action Party
* National Socialist Movement
* National Socialist Movement
* Nationalist Alliance
* New Britain Party
* New Nationalist Party
* Northern League
* Official National Front
* Patriotic Party
* Racial Preservation Society
* Revolutionary Conservative Caucus
* Spearhead
* Union Movement
* United Country Party
* White Defence League
* White Nationalist Party
* Western Goals Institute

Active groups|

* Blood & Honour
* Britain First
* British Democratic Party
* British Movement
* British National Party (BNP Youth)
* Christian Council of Britain
* Combat 18
* English Defence League
* English Democrats (some members)
* Friends of Oswald Mosley
* Homeland Party
* League of Saint George
* London Forum
* National Action
* National Front
* National Liberal Party
* November 9th Society
* Patriotic Alternative
* Protestant Coalition
* Pie and Mash squad
* Order of Nine Angles
* Racial Volunteer Force
* Sonnenkrieg Division
* Stop Islamisation of Europe
* Traditional Britain Group

Pre-1945 people|

* Mary Sophia Allen
* John Amery
* Henry Hamilton Beamish
* John Beckett
* Hastings Russell, 12th Duke of Bedford
* R. B. D. Blakeney
* A. K. Chesterton
* John Henry Clarke
* Thomas Haller Cooper
* Barry Domvile
* Henry Drummond Wolff
* Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll
* William Evans-Gordon
* Robert Forgan
* Rolf Gardiner
* Patrick Boyle, 8th Earl of Glasgow
* Harold Elsdale Goad
* Reginald Goodall
* Robert Gordon-Canning
* Louis Greig
* Neil Francis Hawkins
* J. F. C. Fuller
* William Joyce
* Arnold Leese
* Rotha Lintorn-Orman
* Frank McLardy
* Unity Mitford
* Diana Mosley
* Cynthia Mosley
* Oswald Mosley
* Gerard Wallop, 9th Earl of Portsmouth
* Archibald Maule Ramsay
* David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale
* Alliott Verdon Roe
* Edward Russell, 26th Baron de Clifford
* Alexander Raven Thomson
* Graham Seton Hutchison
* Herbert Vivian
* John Warburton
* Charlie Watts
* Nesta Helen Webster
* Arthur Wellesley, 5th Duke of Wellington
* Henry Williamson
* Ormonde Winter
* Francis Yeats-Brown

Post-1945 people|

* Ian Anderson
* Richard Barnbrook
* A. F. X. Baron
* James Larratt Battersby
* Derek Beackon
* John Bean
* Jane, Lady Birdwood
* Jonathan Bowden
* Andrew Brons
* Kevin Bryan
* Jack Buckby
* Eddy Butler
* A. K. Chesterton
* Mark Collett
* David Copeland
* Mark Cotterill
* Nicky Crane
* Simon Darby
* Sharon Ebanks
* Richard Edmonds
* Jim Dowson
* Andrew Fountaine
* Jayda Fransen
* Paul Golding
* Nick Griffin
* Jeffrey Hamm
* Anthony Hancock
* Patrick Harrington
* Ray Hill
* Derek Holland
* Tom Holmes
* Katie Hopkins
* Peter Huxley-Blythe
* David Irving
* Colin Jordan
* Raheem Kassam
* Arthur Kemp
* Alex Kurtagić
* John Kingsley Read
* Alan Lake
* Richard Lawson
* Tony Lecomber
* Michael McLaughlin
* Eddy Morrison
* John Morse
* David Myatt
* John O'Brien
* Roy Painter
* Neema Parvini
* Roger Pearson
* Denis Pirie
* Kevin Quinn
* Anthony Reed Herbert
* Robert Relf
* Jack Renshaw
* Colin Robertson
* Tommy Robinson
* Robert Row
* Simon Sheppard
* Kenny Smith
* Troy Southgate
* Ian Stuart Donaldson
* Keith Thompson
* John Tyndall
* Richard Verrall
* Adam Walker
* Anne Marie Waters
* Paul Joseph Watson
* Martin Webster
* Robert West
* Paul Weston
* Graham Williamson
* Martin Wingfield
* John Graeme Wood
* Milo Yiannopoulos

Related articles|

* Anglo-German Fellowship
* Battle of Cable Street
* British Fascism
* British National Party election results
* Cliveden set
* Europe a Nation
* List of British fascist parties
* National Front election results
* Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies
* Political Soldier
* Rock Against Communism

Active notable publications|

* Candour
* Redwatch

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