Charlie Watts (fascist)
Member of the British Union of Fascists who was interned during the Second World War / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Charlie Watts (fascist)?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Charles Frederick Watts (17 January 1903 ā 1971) was a member of the British Union of Fascists who was interned during the Second World War.
Charlie Watts | |
---|---|
Born | Charles Frederick Watts 17 January 1903 Croydon, UK |
Died | 1971 (aged 67ā68) |
Nationality | British |
Known for | Activist in the British Union of Fascists, World War II detainee |
In his early life, Watts served as an aircraftsman in the Royal Air Force. He later became a member of the British Union of Fascists in the 1930s and was an active recruiter. With the outbreak of the Second World War, he was arrested and interned under Defence Regulations and held first at Brixton Prison, and afterwards at Camp 020 at Latchmere House. He was moved to Ascot internment camp in Berkshire, where he became the unofficial camp leader, producing a newspaper titled The Flame and negotiating with the camp authorities on behalf of the inmates.
He was released in 1941 and the following year he was one of those who organised a party to mark Oswald Mosley's birthday at which he made a plea for unity and the Britishness of the BUF. He remained involved with British fascism after the war but admitted that the movement was blocked from reconstituting because of its association in the public mind with the Nazis. His memoir of his wartime detention, "It Has Happened Here" (1986) is part of the British Union Collection at the University of Sheffield library.