Francis Hamley

[dunsbyowl1867]

According the the Security Services

Francis Joseph HAMLEY: British. A schoolteacher, Hamley was a member of the British Union in the 1930's. He was very active and held various posts, including Propaganda Organiser for South Yorkshire and District Organiser for Brightside, Sheffield. He was interned from June 1940 to August 1943

Any further information?

[Fiddlestick]

Hi dunsby,

Only just spotted your post on Frank Hamley who was a near neighbour in the 1960's.

Frank helped me with a course I was on, and during my visits I asked him about his political experiences as these were known about in the area, and I was quite amazed at some of the things he told me and I recorded the following in separate notes at the time.

He joined the BUF as he was opposed to what he called " another brothers' war ". Although Frank and many leading BUF members were imprisoned under the 18B regulations, Mosley instructed his rank and file followers to fight for their country which thousands did. They compared this to 'Defending your mother, even when she's wrong.' The first two British casualties of the 2nd. World War were two Mosley Blackshirts in the RAF named Brocking and Day who were shot down in their Wellington bomber in the very first days. Interestingly, Anthony Horowitz has a character refer to this fact in the 'White Feather' episode of his 'Foyle's War' series. Another member known to Frank, Mr.W.Z.Seddon of Bolton, was in the dangerous Arctic convoys supplying the Mosleyite's communist enemies with war material !

I have researched the history through the BUF records kept at Sheffield University. A book written by one of the Mosley men interned under 18B relates his mistreatment, including torture, at the infamous British interrogation centre at Latchmere House, Ham Common. Frank said that 'The Battle of Cable Street' was not a victory for BUF's opponents as popularly thought, for Mosley was obeying police instructions to re-route the march and had difficulty persuading the marchers to do so.

After the war, Frank was prohibited from teaching in Sheffield and, until his retirement, he taught in an outside area, Swallownest I think. He never renounced his beliefs and became a post war organiser for the later, misleadingly named, Union Movement ( which was for the union of Europe, nothing to do with trades unions).

From what I know of Frank, he would certainly not have been in favour of the current version of the EU !