It Might Have Happened to You!
It Might Have Happened to You!
In 1943, with finance from the Duke of Bedford, G. A. Aldred, a Glasgow anarchist, published a pamphlet attacking Regulation 18B; it records the experience of detainees, and was mainly compiled by John Wynn, himself detained under 18B (1A) from June 1940 to January 1943. One documentable case illustrates both the fear caused by the initial detentions and the witch-hunting atmosphere of the times. John Ellis was a considerable businessman in Leeds. He had joined the British Union (BU) as a non-active member in 1935 or 1936, and had entertained Sir Oswald Mosley during a speaking tour. Another documentable case involved a medical student, Henry A. Steidelman, detained in late July not so much as a BU supporter but as a pro-Nazi and potential spy. As well as mistakes, some revealed in litigation, there were some quite absurd arrests. Winston Churchill took a lively interest in the great incarceration and received weekly lists of ‘Prominent Persons’ detained until September 14, 1940.
Keywords: G. A. Aldred, Regulation 18B, detainees, detentions, John Wynn, witch-hunting, Winston Churchill, British Union, Oswald Mosley
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