John Amery
| John Amery | |
|---|---|
Portrait from 1932
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|
| Born |
14 March 1912 Chelsea, London |
| Died | 19 December 1945 (aged 33) Wandsworth Prison, London, England |
| Cause of death | Executed (hanging) |
| Occupation | Activist, member of the British Free Corps |
| Criminal charge | Treason |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Spouse(s) | Una Wing |
| Parent(s) |
|
| Relatives | Julian Amery, brother |
John Amery (14 March 1912 – 19 December 1945) was a British fascist who proposed to the Wehrmacht the formation of a British volunteer force (that subsequently became the British Free Corps) and made recruitment efforts and propaganda broadcasts for Nazi Germany. He was executed for treason after the war.
Born in Chelsea, London, John Amery was one of two children of Leo Amery (1873 – 1955), a half Jewish Member of Parliament and later Conservative government minister. John's younger brother, Julian Amery (1919–1996) also became an MP and served in a Conservative government.
Amery was a who ran through a succession of private tutors. Like his father, he was sent to Harrow, but left after only a year, being described by his housemaster as "without doubt, the most difficult boy I have ever tried to manage". Living in his father's shadow, he strove to make his own way by embarking on a career in film production. Over a period, he set up a number of independent companies, all of which failed; these endeavours rapidly led to bankruptcy.
At the age of 21, Amery married Una Wing, a former prostitute, but was never able to earn enough to keep her for himself. He was constantly appealing to his father for money. A staunch anti-Communist, he came to embrace the fascist National Socialist doctrines of Nazi Germany on the grounds that they were the only alternative to Bolshevism. He left Britain permanently to live in France after being declared bankrupt in 1936. In Paris, he met the French fascist leader Jacques Doriot, with whom he travelled to Austria, Italy, and Germany to witness the effects of fascism in those countries.
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