Blackshirts on Wings and Wheels
Philip M. Coupland
Work in Progress
At Daytona Beach in 1935, Sir Malcolm Campbell carried the insignia of the British Union of Fascists on his car, record-braking car, Bluebird. Danger faced-down, and the pinnacle of power and speed surmounted through grit, courage and high technology makes Campbell an icon for the ideal of the fascist man and of blackshirts’ passion for wings and wheels.
Blackshirt, 26 April 1935, p.1
An enthusiastic embrace of the utility of the internal combustion engine and its associated technologies on land and in the air, the internalisation of its culture and the celebration of its potent iconography was a prominent part of fascist modernism. What became concrete, aluminium and steel in Italy and Germany stayed mainly on paper among British fascists but was no less salient for that. The special significance that modern transport had for blackshirts was reflected in its policies, as laid down in Mosley’s writings and in the 1938 pamphlet by Alexander Raven Thomson, Motorways For Britain, a document without parallel among other parties of the time. However, this modernist love of technology, speed and power was not without tensions, in particular with fascist affinities with the natural and rural. Among the consequences of the mass production and use of the internal-combustion engine in the interwar years was not only to open up the countryside to weekend visitors but for the landscape to be scarred by aerodromes and motor-roads and all their ancillaries.
The writings and life of blackshirt Henry Williamson, on one hand, nature writer and farmer and, on the other, motorist and motor-cyclist encapsulated this tension in a single figure. There were many notable names from the worlds of wings and wheels in fascist ranks. Mosley himself had flown during the Great War, as had Geoffrey Dorman, editor of Action and author of its regular aviation column, ‘Under the Control Tower’. There were many other former RFC men and many younger blackshirts later flew with the RAF, a number of whom died on active service. Although Sir Malcolm Campbell was a sympathiser rather than a BUF member, other motor racing personalities did join, including Fay Taylour, who was widely successful on both two wheels and four.
Policy was also paralleled in fascist practice: cars, vans and ‘planes were all utilised in the BUF’s campaigning. Mosley, when not travelling in his Le Mans replica Bentley, often with motorcycle outriders, on occasion flew to distant speaking engagements. The BUF also had its own fleet of vans used on marches, at open-air meetings and on regional and national propaganda tours, as was its car, ‘the Black Prince’. Alongside the movement’s own vehicles, many used their personal cars and motorcycles for political purposes, and were organised in the London Volunteer Transport Service. An extensive associational culture for those who rode, drove and flew also grew up. A Blackshirt Automobile Club was established, as was a Blackshirt Flying Club. Later, a Cycling Section was set up, as were Motor and Motor Cycle Clubs, all of which combined propaganda activities with runs and rallies.
From Action
This important aspect of British fascist policy, ideology, and practice has often been referred to in passing in the literature but has not been detailed and analysed. This chapter will refer to the BUF press and other contemporary sources to consider the part played by air and road transport in Blackshirt ideology and sub-culture and the political campaigning and other activities of British fascists.
PMC, February 2009.
All comments and suggestions welcome
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