Victor Burgess

Victor Cecil Burgess was a British fascist who was one of the principal figures in the British League of Ex-Servicemen and Women (BLESMAW).

After the outbreak of the Second World War, Burgess was briefly detained by the British government under the newly introduced Defence Regulation 18B.

In 1942, Burgess set up a distribution centre for anti-Semitic literature for the BUF in Edgware, Middlesex. According to Graham Macklin, Burgess was lucky to escape prosecution for seditious libel.

By 1944, Burgess, along with Jeffrey Hamm had taken control of BLESMAW. The organisation had been founded as an alternative to the Royal British Legion in 1937. The League held its first meeting in Hyde Park on 4 November 1944, where it promoted itself as a fascist organisation that endorsed racial purity and "Britain for the British", inspiring a hostile reaction from the crowd. Under Hamm and Burgess the group became active in East London, where it was involved in street violence. Burgess was ousted from the group by 1946, however, as Hamm viewed him as a rival for the leadership. Following this he linked up with Alexander Raven Thomson in his group the Union of British Freemen, a network designed to co-ordinate the activities of several small, regional discussion groups that were sympathetic to Mosley.

Burgess was well regarded by other Mosleyites in the immediate post-war period for his habit of delivering anti-Semitic speeches on Friday nights at Hampstead Heath, despite the fact that many of those in attendance were Jewish. During one such speech was allegedly attacked with a razor by members of the 43 Group. However his olive skin also led to rumours that he was of a Romani descent. Other rumours that his wife Olive had been a communist were true as she had served as a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain's Hendon branch. As a sideline Burgess imported pornographic magazines from the United States, a source of mirth amongst some of his fellow members, although ultimately this was ended when one of his political colleagues reported Burgess to the police for what he considered an immoral practice.

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