''Collar the Lot! How Britain Interned & Expelled its Wartime Refugees'' is a book by

Peter Gillman Peter Gillman (born 1942) is a British writer and journalist specializing (but not exclusively) in mountaineering topics. His book, ''Direttissima; the Eiger Assault'' (1967), also published under the title ''Direttissima'', co-authored with Douga ...

and Leni Gillman. It is a detailed account of British

internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

policy during the Second World War. At first, the British government took a relaxed attitude to the tens of thousands of "enemy aliens", most of them refugees who had found sanctuary in Britain from the Nazis. But a panic following the

fall of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...

and the invasion scare in May/June 1940 led to a mass round-up of most Germans in Britain, regardless of their political allegiances. When Italy joined the war thousands of Italians were rounded up too, also irrespective of their political allegiances or how long they had lived in Britain. It was at this time that

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

, so the cabinet minutes record, issued the order: "Collar the Lot!"

MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Go ...

was supposed to be making sensible assessments but in fact contributed to the panic and misjudgment. The authors show that both the Home Office and the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

took a more liberal line, and would have preferred to allow most of the refugees to remain free. The book also records the incident of the ''

Arandora Star SS ''Arandora Star'', originally SS ''Arandora'', was a British passenger ship of the Blue Star Line. She was built in 1927 as an ocean liner and refrigerated cargo ship, converted in 1929 into a cruise ship and requisitioned as a troopship in t ...

'', in which 1,500 internees were being transported to Canada. It was sunk by a

German U-boat U-boats were Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the World War I, First and Second World War, Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were ...

and two-thirds of those on board were drowned. The authors interviewed survivors in Britain, the US, and Australia. Many of them were deported again on a second liner, the ''

Dunera HMT (Hired Military Transport) ''Dunera'' was a British passenger ship which, in 1940, became involved in a controversial transportation of thousands of "enemy aliens" to Australia. The British India Steam Navigation Company had operated a prev ...

''; this time heading for Australia. During the voyage the ''Dunera'' narrowly survived another U-boat attack. There were two more deportation voyages to Canada before the outcry in Britain over the ''Arandora Star'' led the British government to revise its policy. From that point on, the internees were gradually released from their holding camps in Britain, leaving only a handful of confirmed Nazis and Fascists. The book won very favourable reviews when it was published, and became the standard reference source on that topic, until the issue was reopened twenty years later.

References

1980 non-fiction books History books about World War II Books about refugees World War II internment camps {{UK-hist-book-stub

Further reading

See also

References