R. B. D. Blakeney

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R.B.D. Blakeney, 1924

Robert Byron Drury Blakeney, generally known as R. B. D. Blakeney (18 April 1872 – 13 February 1952[citation needed]), was a British Army officer and fascist politician. After a career with the Royal Engineers, Blakeney went on to serve as President of the British Fascists.

Military and empire service

Blakeney was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 24 July 1891, and promoted to a lieutenant on 24 July 1894.[1]

Although he was to obtain the rank of Brigadier-General[

captain on 1 July 1902, after the war had ended.[6]

Following his service with the Royal Engineers, Blakeney followed a career in

Egyptian State Railways, and in 1906 he was appointed deputy general manager of the company, and was promoted to full manager in 1919, a role he held until 1923.[7]

British Fascists

An early member of the

right-wing pressure groups such as the Anti-Socialist Union.[9]

Despite his role as president, Blakeney's knowledge of fascism as an

Scout movement, arguing that they shared such values as fraternity, duty and service.[11] He felt that the main enemy of the BF was communism.[12] Indeed, Blakeney believed that one of the main duties of the BF was to be prepared to defend established society in the event that "the swarms from the slums" came out in revolution.[4] He also argued that the "Italian methods pure and simple" could not be applied to Britain in the same manner as in Italy as he felt the British were less prone to communism and more prone to apathy when compared to the Italians.[13]

Along with his close ally Rear Admiral A. E. Armstrong, Blakeney supported BF involvement with the Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies and accepted government terms that the movement should, at least temporarily, abandon references to fascism in order to participate in the government-backed group. He was opposed in this by BF founder Rotha Lintorn-Orman and the BF Grand Council opposed Blakeney's position, voting 40–32. Unperturbed, Blakeney and his supporters split from the BF to form a group called the Loyalists; this group was absorbed by the OMS immediately following the outbreak of the 1926 General Strike.[14] The Earl of Glasgow and Lord Ernest Hamilton—like Armstrong, two influential BF members—also endorsed Blakeney's approach and followed him into the Loyalists.[15]

Later activities

Following Blakeney's involvement in the OMS, he became associated with the

far right.[17] According to Nicholas Mosley, Blakeney left the encounter with a black eye and Oswald Mosley would subsequently concede that his stewards had got out in control with the violence they meted out to the IFL that day.[18] Despite this, Blakeney would later take a minor role in the BUF and contributed a number of articles to their Action and Blackshirt journals.[19]

As well as political parties, Blakeney was involved in the semi-clandestine far-right elite societies active in interbellum Britain. During the 1920s, he became a member of

Second World War but rather served with the Home Guard.[22]

Religious beliefs

Blakeney was a strong believer in

Theosophy, Blakeney was a member of the Liberal Catholic Church and close friend of Edith Starr Miller.[22]

References

  1. ^ Hart´s Army list, 1903
  2. ^ Sudan Despatches
  3. A.H.M. Kirk-Greene, "Canada in Africa: Sir Percy Girouard, Neglected Colonial Governor"[dead link
    ]    , p. 215
  4. ^ a b Anne Perkins, A Very British Strike: 3 – 12 May 1926, Macmillan, 2006, p. 30
  5. ^ "No. 27171". The London Gazette. 6 March 1900. p. 1526.
  6. ^ "No. 27460". The London Gazette. 1 August 1902. p. 4965.
  7. ^ a b Robert Benewick, Political Violence and Public Order, Allan Lane, 1969, p. 32
  8. ^ Richard Thurlow, Fascism in Britain: A History, 1918-1985, Basil Blackwell, 1987, p. 53
  9. ^ Stephen Dorril, Blackshirt: Sir Oswald Mosley & British Fascism, Penguin Books, 2007, p. 196
  10. ^ Thomas P. Linehan, British Fascism, 1918-39: Parties, Ideology and Culture, Manchester University Press, 2000, p. 63
  11. ^ Benewick, Political Violence and Public Order, p. 29
  12. ^ Benewick, Political Violence and Public Order, pp. 29-30
  13. Martin Pugh
    , Hurrah for the Blackshirts: Fascists and Fascism in Britain Between the Wars, Pimlico, 2006, p. 55
  14. ^ Benewick, Political Violence and Public Order, p. 35
  15. ^ Martin Pugh, "Hurrah for the Blackshirts!" - Fascists and Fascism in Britain Between the Wars, Pimlico, 2006, p. 66
  16. ^ Benewick, Political Violence and Public Order, p. 45
  17. ^ Thurlow, Fascism in Britain, p. 97
  18. ISBN 0006366449
    , p. 229
  19. ^ Benewick, Political Violence and Public Order, p. 123
  20. ^ Thurlow, Fascism in Britain, p. 69
  21. ^ Benewick, Political Violence and Public Order, p. 289
  22. ^ a b Edith Starr Miller
  23. ^ Linehan, British Fascism, 1918-39, pp. 234-235

External links

Media related to R.B.D. Blakeney at Wikimedia Commons

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