Charles Frederick Watts (17 January 1903 – 1971) was a member of the

British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, fo ...

who was interned during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In his early life, Watts served as an

aircraftsman Aircraftman (AC) or aircraftwoman (ACW) is the lowest rank in the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and the air forces of several other Commonwealth countries. In RAF slang, aircraftmen are sometimes called "erks". Aircraftman ranks below leading ...

in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. 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 HM Prison Brixton is a local men's prison, located in Brixton area of the London Borough of Lambeth, in inner-South London. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. History The prison was originally built in 1820 and opened a ...

, and afterwards at

Camp 020 Camp 020 at Latchmere House in southwest London was a British interrogation centre for captured German agents during the Second World War. It was run by Lieutenant Colonel Robin "Tin Eye" Stephens. Although other wartime interrogation centres we ...

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 Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...

'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.

Early life

Charlie Watts was born in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, Surrey, on 17 January 1903Charles Frederick Watts England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837–2007.
Family Search. Retrieved 3 March 2020. to Alfred Ernest Watts, a chartered accountant, and his wife Lilian. He was christened at St Peter's Church, Croydon, on 29 March 1903. His brother was the master mariner and

ship chandler A ship chandler is a retail dealer who specializes in providing supplies or equipment for ships. Synopsis For traditional sailing ships, items that could be found in a chandlery include sail-cloth, rosin, turpentine, tar, pitch, linseed oil, ...

Oswald Watts. He served as an

in the Royal Air Force and was in the reserves until 1936.Bellamy, Richard Reynell. (2019) ''We Marched with Mosley: The Authorised History of the British Union of Fascists''. London: Sanctuary Press. pp. 235–237.

Fascism

Watts was a member of the British Union of Fascists (BUF) in the 1930s and rose to be district leader for the Westminster, St George's branch. He was an active recruiter, even converting communists with whom he had recently exchanged blows, such as Arthur Beaven in 1933. He was also the organiser of the BUF cab drivers group which was claimed to have 1,000 members. Thurlow, Richard. (1987) ''Fascism in Britain: A History, 1918-85''. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 225. It was Watts who suggested to his fellow Westminster member Susan Sweney that she become the editor of the fascist newspaper ''Voice of the People'' in early 1940. Watts worked for his brother Oswald, at his premises in London's

Albemarle Street Albemarle Street is a street in Mayfair in central London, off Piccadilly. It has historic associations with Lord Byron, whose publisher John Murray was based here, and Oscar Wilde, a member of the Albemarle Club, where an insult he received ...

, and it was there that he was arrested by the British police

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

under

Defence Regulation 18B Defence Regulation 18B, often referred to as simply 18B, was one of the Defence Regulations used by the British Government during and before the Second World War. The complete name for the rule was Regulation 18B of the Defence (General) Regulati ...

(1A) on 23 May 1940 during a round-up of British fascists following the outbreak of the Second World War. He was held first at

before being transferred to

at Latchmere House, near Ham Common in Richmond, for interrogation. He was subsequently moved with other BUF members to Ascot internment campWarburton, John and Jeffrey Wallder. (2008
''The Defence Regulation 18B British Union Detainees List''
Revised edition. London: Friends of Oswald Mosley. pp. 17 & 45. in Berkshire, a hastily arranged facility that BUF members called "Ascot Concentration Camp"."It has happened here" by Charlie Watts, ''Comrade'', June/July 1990, pp. 4–5. There he became the unofficial camp leader, producing a newspaper titled ''The Flame'' and negotiating with the camp authorities on behalf of the inmates. Renton, Dave. (1998
''The Attempted Revival Of British Fascism: Fascism And Anti-Fascism 1945–51''.
PhD thesis. University of Sheffield. pp. 39 & 171. He also became close friends with

James Larratt Battersby James Larratt Battersby (5 February 1907 – 14–29 September 1955) was a British fascist and pacifist, and a member of the Battersby family of hatmakers of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. He was forced to retire from the family firm du ...

. Their internment fostered a sense of grievance among the BUF members that continued long after the war and, in the case of Watts, has been described by

Dave Renton David Renton (born 1972) is a British barrister, and has represented clients in a number of high-profile cases, especially concerning trade union rights and the protection of free speech. He was for many years a member of the Socialist Workers ...

as the defining moment in his life. Many interned fascists were quickly released by the British government as posing no threat and despite the BUF having been

proscribed Proscription ( la, proscriptio) is, in current usage, a 'decree of condemnation to death or banishment' (''Oxford English Dictionary'') and can be used in a political context to refer to state-approved murder or banishment. The term originated ...

in 1940, much fascist political structure remained in place, leading to the establishment of many small splinter fascist groups in Britain. Watts was released in 1941 with restrictions on his movements and in November 1942 he was one of those who organised a party to mark Oswald Mosley's birthday (Mosley was interned until September 1943) at which he gave a speech while wearing the by then illegal BUF uniform. He stressed that the British fascist movement should stay united and not splinter into competing groups, and that it was a British organisation and any pro-German members deserved to be interned under regulation 18b. Special Branch filed a report on his speech. After the war, Watts remained involved with British fascism but admitted that the movement was blocked from reconstituting because of its association in the public mind with the Nazis from whom most of the former BUF members disassociated themselves. He wrote in ''"It Has Happened Here"'':

We were now being held responsible for and answerable for all the vile Nazi atrocities ... I gradually but surely came to the conclusion that I was not wasting my life on people who were not worth the effort ... I was no longer going to knock my head against a brick wall.

Death and legacy

Watts died in Penzance, Cornwall, in 1971. His memoir of his wartime detention, ''"It Has Happened Here". The Experiences of a Political Prisoner in British Prisons and Concentration Camps during the Fifth Column panic of 1940/1'' (1948) was posthumously serialised in ''

Comrade The term ''comrade'' (russian: товарищ, tovarisch) generally means 'mate', 'colleague', or 'ally', and derives from the Spanish and Portuguese, term , literally meaning 'chamber mate', from Latin , meaning 'chamber' or 'room'. It may also ...

'', the journal of the

Friends of Oswald Mosley The Friends of Oswald Mosley (FOM) is the last vestige of Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF) and its successors, the Union Movement and the Action Party. History The Friends of Oswald Mosley was formed in 1982. It represents the las ...

, from 1986. The copy of the original manuscript is held in the British Union Collection at the University of Sheffield library along with a 1966 update titled "Last Chapter".University of Sheffield. (2019
''British Union Collection''.
Sheffield: University of Sheffield Library Special Collections and Archives. p. 33. Official papers relating to his detention are held by the British National Archives.WATTS, Charles Frederick, member of the British Union of Fascists.
HO 283/74, The National Archives. Retrieved 2 March 2020.

Selected publications

* ''"It Has Happened Here". The Experiences of a Political Prisoner in British Prisons and Concentration Camps during the Fifth Column panic of 1940/1''. Serialised in ''Comrade'' from June 1986. * ''The Hell of Ham Common: The secrets of Britain's war-time torture camps''. European Action, n.d. (With John Warburton)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Charlie 1903 births 1971 deaths 20th-century English memoirists 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel English members of the British Union of Fascists People detained under Defence Regulation 18B Royal Air Force airmen People from Croydon Writers from Surrey Military personnel from Surrey English prisoners and detainees