William Joyce on:  
[Wikipedia]  
[Google]  
[Amazon]
William Brooke Joyce (24 April 1906 – 3 January 1946), nicknamed
Lord Haw-Haw
Lord Haw-Haw was a nickname applied to William Joyce, who broadcast Nazi propaganda to the UK from Germany during the Second World War. The broadcasts opened with "Germany calling, Germany calling", spoken in an affected upper-class English acc ...
, was an American-born
fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
and
Nazi propaganda
The propaganda used by the German Nazi Party in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's dictatorship of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 to 1945 was a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation o ...
broadcaster 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 ...
. After moving from New York to Ireland and subsequently to England, Joyce became a member of Oswald Mosley's
British Union of Fascists (BUF) from 1932, before finally moving to Germany shortly before the war where he took
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
citizenship in 1940.
After being captured following the end of the war in Europe, Joyce was convicted in the United Kingdom of
high treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
in 1945 and
sentenced to death
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
, with the
Court of Appeal and the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
both upholding his conviction. He was hanged in Wandsworth Prison by
Albert Pierrepoint
Albert Pierrepoint (; 30 March 1905 – 10 July 1992) was an English hangman who executed between 435 and 600 people in a 25-year career that ended in 1956. His father Henry and uncle Thomas were official hangmen before him.
Pierrepoint ...
on 3 January 1946, making him the last person to be executed for treason in the United Kingdom.
Early life
William Brooke Joyce was born on Herkimer Street in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
New York, United States. His father was Michael Francis Joyce, an
Irish Catholic
Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the British ...
from a family of tenant farmers in
Ballinrobe
Ballinrobe () is a town in County Mayo in Ireland. It is located on the River Robe, which empties into Lough Mask two kilometres to the west. As of the 2016 census, the population was 2,786.
History Foundation and development
Ballinrobe is c ...
,
County Mayo
County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...
, who had acquired
U.S. citizenship
Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...
in 1894. His mother was Gertrude Emily Brooke, who although born in
Shaw and Crompton
Shaw and Crompton is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which contains the town of Shaw and lies on the River Beal at the foothills of the South Pennines. It is located north of Oldham, south ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, was from a well-off
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
Anglo-Irish family of
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
s associated with
County Roscommon
"Steadfast Irish heart"
, image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Ireland
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 = Connacht
, subdi ...
.
A few years after William's birth, the family returned to
Salthill
Salthill () is a seaside area in the City of Galway in the west of Ireland. Lying within the townland of Lenaboy (''an Léana Buí''), it attracts many tourists all year round. There is a 2 km long promenade, locally known as ''the Pro ...
,
Galway
Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...
. Joyce attended
Coláiste Iognáid
Coláiste Iognáid SJ ( en, link=yes, Ignatius College), a bilingual secondary school, is located on Sea Road in Galway, Ireland. It was founded in 1645 and has had numerous locations over the years before its current home. The college is a co- ...
, a
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
school in Galway, from 1915 to 1921. His parents were
unionist and hostile to
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of c ...
, and his mother was a devout
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
. There were tensions between her and her family because she married a Catholic. Joyce's father purchased several houses, and rented some to members of the
Royal Irish Constabulary
The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...
(RIC).
Although Joyce was still only in his mid-teens, he was recruited by the British Army during the
Irish War for Independence by
Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Patrick William Keating as a
courier
A courier is a person or organisation that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...
for
Intelligence Corps personnel stationed in Galway. Joyce was also known to associate with
Black and Tans
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...
(reserve RIC constables) stationed at
Lenaboy Castle, and was accused of being an informer and linked to the 1920 murder of Catholic priest and known
Irish republican
Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate.
The develop ...
sympathizer
Michael Griffin by the
Auxiliary Division. Keating arranged for Joyce to be
mustered into the
Worcestershire Regiment
The Worcestershire Regiment was a line infantry regiment in the British Army, formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot and the 36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot. The regiment f ...
, taking him out of the dangerous situation in Ireland to
Norton Barracks
Norton Barracks is a military installation in Norton, Worcestershire. The keep is a Grade II listed building.
History
The barracks were built in the Fortress Gothic Revival Style between 1874 and 1877. Their creation took place as part of the C ...
in England. He was discharged a few months later, when it was discovered that he was
underage
In law, a minor is someone under a certain age, usually the age of majority, which demarcates an underage individual from legal adulthood. The age of majority depends upon jurisdiction and application, but it is commonly 18. ''Minor'' may also ...
.
Joyce remained in England and briefly attended
King's College School
King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a public school in Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The school was founded in 1829 by King George IV, as the junior department of King's College London an ...
,
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
. His family followed him to England two years later. Joyce had relatives in
Birkenhead
Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...
,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
, whom he visited on a few occasions. He then applied to
Birkbeck College,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, where he entered the
Officer Training Corps
The Officers' Training Corps (OTC), more fully called the University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), are military leadership training units operated by the British Army. Their focus is to develop the leadership abilities of their members whilst ...
. At Birkbeck, he obtained a
first-class honours
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...
degree in English. After graduating he applied for a job in 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 ...
, but was rejected and took a job as a teacher. Joyce developed an interest in
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
and worked with, but never joined, the
British Fascists
The British Fascists was the first political organisation in the United Kingdom to claim the label of fascist, although the group had little ideological unity apart from anti-socialism for much of its existence, and was strongly associated with c ...
of
Rotha Lintorn-Orman
Rotha Beryl Lintorn Lintorn-Orman (7 February 1895 – 10 March 1935) was the founder of the British Fascisti, the first avowedly fascist movement to appear in British politics.
Early life
Born as Rotha Beryl Lintorn Orman in Kensington, Lon ...
.
On 22 October 1924, while stewarding a meeting in support of
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
candidate Jack Lazarus ahead of the
1924 general election, Joyce was attacked by
communists
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
and received a deep razor slash across his right cheek. It left a
permanent scar which ran from the earlobe to the corner of the mouth. While Joyce often said that his attackers were
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, historian
Colin Holmes claims that Joyce's first wife told him in 1992 that "it wasn't a Jewish Communist who disfigured him .... He was knifed by an Irish woman".
British Union of Fascists
![Flag of the British Union of Fascists](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Flag_of_the_British_Union_of_Fascists.svg)
In 1932 Joyce joined the
British Union of Fascists (BUF) under Sir
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 ...
and swiftly became a leading speaker, praised for the power of his
oratory. The journalist and novelist
Cecil Roberts
Edric Cecil Mornington Roberts (18 May 1892 – 20 December 1976) was an English journalist, poet, dramatist and novelist. He was born and grew up in Nottingham.
Working career
Roberts published his first volume of poems, with a preface by Joh ...
described a speech given by Joyce:
In 1934 Joyce was promoted to be the BUF's Director of Propaganda, replacing
Wilfred Risdon
Wilfred Risdon (28 January 1896 – 11 March 1967) was a British trade union organizer, a founder member of the British Union of Fascists and an antivivisection campaigner. His life and career encompassed coal mining, trade union work, First W ...
, and later appointed deputy leader. As well as being a gifted speaker, Joyce gained the reputation of a savage brawler. His violent
rhetoric
Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...
and willingness to physically confront
anti-fascist elements head-on played no small part in further politically marginalising the BUF. After a bloody incident at a BUF rally in
Olympia in 1934, Joyce spearheaded the group's policy shift from campaigning for economic revival through
corporatism
Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...
to a focus on
antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
. He was instrumental in changing the name of the BUF to "British Union of Fascists and
National Socialists
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
" in 1936 and stood as a party candidate in the 1937 elections to the
London County Council
London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...
. In 1936, Joyce lived for a year in
Whitstable
Whitstable () is a town on the north coast of Kent adjoining the convergence of the Swale Estuary and the Greater Thames Estuary in southeastern England, north of Canterbury and west of Herne Bay. The 2011 Census reported a population of ...
, where he owned a radio and electrical shop.
Between April 1934 and 1937, when Mosley sacked him, Joyce served as Area Administrative Officer for the BUF West Sussex division. He was supported in the role by
Norah Elam
Norah Elam, also known as Norah Dacre Fox (née Norah Doherty, 1878–1961), was a militant suffragette, anti-vivisectionist, feminist and fascist in the United Kingdom. Born at 13 Waltham Terrace in Dublin to John Doherty, a partner in a pape ...
as Sussex Women's Organiser, with her partner Dudley Elam, the son of an Irish nationalist, taking on the role of Sub-Branch Officer for
Worthing
Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Ho ...
. Under this regime,
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...
became a hub of fascist activity, ranging from hosting BUF summer camps to organising meetings and rallies, lunches, etc. Elam shared many speaking platforms with Joyce and worked on propaganda speeches for him. One particular sore point for Joyce was the
Government of India Bill, passed in 1935, designed to give a measure of autonomy to
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, allowing freedom and the development of limited self-government. Joyce harboured a desire to become
Viceroy of India
The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...
should Mosley ever head a BUF government, and is recorded as describing the backers of the bill as "feeble" and "one loathsome, foetid, purulent, tumid mass of hypocrisy, hiding behind Jewish Dictators".
Joyce was sacked from his paid position when Mosley drastically reduced the BUF staff shortly after the 1937 elections, after which Joyce promptly formed a breakaway organisation, the
National Socialist League
The National Socialist League (NSL) was a short-lived Nazi political movement in the United Kingdom immediately prior to the Second World War.
Formation
The NSL was formed in 1937 by William Joyce, John Beckett (politician), John Beckett and ...
. After Joyce's departure, the BUF turned its focus from antisemitism to activism, opposing a war with
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. Although Joyce had been deputy leader of the party from 1933 and an effective fighter and orator, Mosley snubbed him in his autobiography and later denounced him as a traitor because of his wartime activities. Unlike Joyce, the Elams did not escape detention 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) Regula ...
; both were arrested on the same day as Mosley in May 1940. In later life, Elam reported that, although she disliked Joyce, she believed that his execution by the British in 1946 was wrong, stating that he should not have been regarded as a traitor to England because he was not English, but Irish.
In Germany
![William Joyce - Dämmerung - Mutter Erde fec](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/William_Joyce_-_D%C3%A4mmerung_-_Mutter_Erde_fec.jpg)
In late August 1939, shortly before 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 ...
broke out, Joyce and his wife Margaret fled to Germany. Joyce had been tipped off that the British authorities intended to detain him under Defence Regulation 18B. He became a
naturalised
Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...
German citizen in 1940.
In
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, Joyce could not find employment until a chance meeting with fellow Mosleyite
Dorothy Eckersley got him an audition at the
Rundfunkhaus ("''broadcasting house''").
[45/25728/244. CAB 98/18. Simpson 135-6. Thurlow, the 'Mosley Papers' and the Secret History of British Fascism 1939–1940](_blank)
K/L, 175. Reporting statement from the Mail on 14.3.40. Eckersley was the former wife or second wife
of the Chief Engineer of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
,
Peter Eckersley. Despite having a heavy cold and having almost lost his voice, Joyce was recruited immediately for radio announcements and scriptwriting at German radio's English service. His first broadcast was reading the news in English on 6 September 1939, just three days after the declaration of war between Britain and Germany. On 18 September he received a contract as a newsreader. After the dismissal of
Norman Baillie-Stewart
Norman Baillie-Stewart (15 January 1909 – 7 June 1966) was a British army officer known as The Officer in the Tower when he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. An active sympathiser of Nazi Germany, he took part in German-produced propagan ...
in December, Joyce became the principal reader of news and the writer of six talks a week, thus becoming the station's best-known propaganda broadcaster.
[Statement of Eduard Roderick Anton Dietze at Esterwegen, 29 May 1945, The (UK]
National Archives KV 2/428
In a newspaper article of 14 September 1939, the radio critic
Jonah Barrington of the ''
Daily Express'' wrote of hearing a gent "moaning periodically from
Zeesen" who "speaks English of the haw-haw, damit-get-out-of-my-way variety". Four days later he gave him the nickname '
Lord Haw-Haw
Lord Haw-Haw was a nickname applied to William Joyce, who broadcast Nazi propaganda to the UK from Germany during the Second World War. The broadcasts opened with "Germany calling, Germany calling", spoken in an affected upper-class English acc ...
'. The voice Barrington heard is widely believed to be that of
Wolf Mittler
Wolf Mittler (1 January 1918 – 11 November 2002) was a German radio host and journalist who was known as one of the persons associated with the nickname Lord Haw-Haw. He has been described by one author as "a blond Polish-German Anglophile playb ...
, a German journalist whose near-flawless English sounded like a caricature of an upper-crust Englishman. However, Mittler only made five or six broadcasts and was quickly replaced by other broadcasters, leading to uncertainty over whom Barrington had been referring to. When Joyce became the most prominent broadcaster of Nazi propaganda by the end of 1939, the name stuck to him. Joyce himself began to trade on the notoriety of the nickname more than a year later, on 3 April 1941, when he announced himself as "William Joyce, otherwise known as Lord Haw-Haw".
Joyce's broadcasts initially came from studios in Berlin, later being transferred (because of heavy
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
bombing) to
Luxembourg City
Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Lu ...
and finally to
Apen
Apen (Low German: ''Aap'') is a municipality in the district of Ammerland, in Lower Saxony, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europ ...
near
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, and were relayed over a network of German-controlled radio stations in Zeesen, Hamburg,
Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
,
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
,
Hilversum
Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...
,
Calais
Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
, and
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
.
Joyce also broadcast on and wrote scripts for the German Büro Concordia organisation, which ran several
black propaganda
Black propaganda is a form of propaganda intended to create the impression that it was created by those it is supposed to discredit. Black propaganda contrasts with gray propaganda, which does not identify its source, as well as white propagan ...
stations, many of which pretended to broadcast illegally from within Britain. His role in writing the scripts increased over time, and German radio capitalized on his public
persona
A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally ref ...
. Initially an anonymous broadcaster, Joyce eventually revealed his real name to his listeners and he would occasionally be announced as, "William Joyce, otherwise known as Lord Haw-Haw".
Urban legend
An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...
s soon circulated about Lord Haw-Haw, alleging that the broadcaster was well-informed about political and military events to the point of near-
omniscience
Omniscience () is the capacity to know everything. In Hinduism, Sikhism and the Abrahamic religions, this is an attribute of God. In Jainism, omniscience is an attribute that any individual can eventually attain. In Buddhism, there are diffe ...
. In the summer of 1942 it was decided that he should no longer read the news and, from then on, he read only his own talks in ''Views on the News''.
Listening to Joyce's broadcasts was officially discouraged but was not illegal, and many Britons listened. There was a desire by civilian listeners to hear what the other side was saying, as information during wartime was strictly
censored
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
. At the height of his influence, in 1940, Joyce had an estimated six million regular and 18 million occasional listeners in the UK. The broadcasts always began with the announcer's words, "
Germany calling, Germany calling, Germany calling". These broadcasts urged the British people to surrender and were well known for their jeering, sarcastic and menacing tone.
The
Reich Security Main Office commissioned Joyce to give lectures at the
University of Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
for
SS members in the winter of 1941–42 on the topic of "
British fascism and acute questions concerning the
British world empire".
Joyce recorded his final broadcast on 30 April 1945, during the
Battle of Berlin. Rambling and audibly drunk, he chided the UK for pursuing the war beyond mere containment of Germany and repeatedly warned of the "menace" of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. He signed off with a final defiant, "
Heil Hitler
The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler salute (german: link=no, Hitlergruß, , Hitler greeting, ; also called by the Nazi Party , 'German greeting', ), or the ''Sieg Heil'' salute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. T ...
and farewell". There are conflicting accounts as to whether this last programme was actually transmitted, although a recording was found in the Apen studios. The next day, Radio Hamburg was seized by British forces, and on 4 May
Wynford Vaughan-Thomas
Lewis John Wynford Vaughan-Thomas (né Thomas) (15 August 1908 – 4 February 1987) was a Welsh newspaper journalist and radio and television broadcaster. In later life he took the name Vaughan-Thomas after his father.
Early life and educat ...
used it to make a mock "Germany Calling" broadcast denouncing Joyce.
Besides broadcasting, Joyce's duties included writing propaganda for distribution among British
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold priso ...
, whom he tried to recruit into the
British Free Corps
The British Free Corps (german: Britisches Freikorps; BFC) was a unit of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, made up of British and Dominion prisoners of war who had been recruited by Germany. The unit was originally known as the ...
of the
Waffen-SS
The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...
. He wrote a book ''Twilight Over England'' promoted by the
German Ministry of Propaganda, which unfavourably compared the evils of allegedly Jewish-dominated capitalist Britain with the alleged wonders of Nazi Germany.
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
awarded Joyce the
War Merit Cross
The War Merit Cross (german: Kriegsverdienstkreuz) was a state decoration of Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the conflict it was issued in four degrees and had an equivalent civil award. A " de-Nazified" version of the War Meri ...
(First and Second Class) for his broadcasts, although he never met Joyce.
Capture and trial
On 28 May 1945, Joyce was captured by British forces at
Flensburg, near the German border with Denmark, which was the last capital of the Third Reich. Spotting a disheveled figure while they were resting from gathering firewood, intelligence soldiers – including a Jewish German, Geoffrey Perry (born Horst Pinschewer), who had left Germany before the war – engaged him in conversation in French and English, eventually recognizing his voice. After they asked whether he was Joyce, he reached into his pocket (actually reaching for a false
passport
A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...
); believing he was armed, Geoffrey Perry shot him through the
buttocks
The buttocks (singular: buttock) are two rounded portions of the exterior anatomy of most mammals, located on the posterior of the pelvic region. In humans, the buttocks are located between the lower back and the perineum. They are composed ...
, resulting in four wounds.
Two intelligence officers then drove Joyce to a border post and handed him over to British
military police
Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear rec ...
. He was then taken to London and tried at the
Old Bailey on three counts of
high treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
:
"Not guilty" were the first words from Joyce's mouth in his trial, as noted by
Rebecca West
Dame Cicily Isabel Fairfield (21 December 1892 – 15 March 1983), known as Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, was a British author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer. An author who wrote in many genres, West reviewed books ...
in her book ''The Meaning of Treason''. The only evidence offered that he had begun broadcasting from Germany while his British passport was valid was the testimony of a London police inspector who had questioned him before the war while he was an active member of the British Union of Fascists and claimed to have recognised his voice on a propaganda broadcast in the early weeks of the war – Joyce had previous convictions for
assault and
riotous assembly
''Riotous Assembly'' is the debut novel of British comic writer Tom Sharpe, written and originally published in 1971. Set in the fictitious South African town of Piemburg, ''Riotous Assembly'' lampoons South African apartheid, and the police who ...
in the 1930s.
Inquiries in the US, adduced in evidence at his trial, found that Joyce had never been a British subject, and it seemed that he would have to be
acquitted
In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...
based upon a lack of jurisdiction; he could not be convicted of betraying a country that was not his own. The trial judge,
Mr. Justice Tucker, directed the jury to acquit Joyce of the first and second charges. However, the
Attorney General,
Sir Hartley Shawcross, successfully argued that Joyce's possession of a British passport, even though he had misstated his nationality to get it, entitled him until it expired to British
diplomatic protection
In international law, diplomatic protection (or diplomatic espousal) is a means for a state to take diplomatic and other action against another state on behalf of its national whose rights and interests have been injured by that state. Diplomatic ...
in Germany and therefore he owed
allegiance
An allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed, or freely committed, by the people, subjects or citizens to their state or sovereign.
Etymology
From Middle English ''ligeaunce'' (see medieval Latin ''ligeantia'', "a liegance"). The ''al ...
to the King at the time he began working for the Germans.
The historian
A. J. P. Taylor
Alan John Percivale Taylor (25 March 1906 – 7 September 1990) was a British historian who specialised in 19th- and 20th-century European diplomacy. Both a journalist and a broadcaster, he became well known to millions through his televis ...
remarked in his book ''English History 1914–1945'' that "Technically, Joyce was
hanged
Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...
for making a false statement when applying for a passport, the usual penalty for which is a small fine."
Appeal
Joyce's conviction was upheld by the
Court of Appeal on 1 November 1945, and by Lords
Jowitt L.C.,
Macmillan,
Wright
Wright is an occupational surname originating in England. The term 'Wright' comes from the circa 700 AD Old English word 'wryhta' or 'wyrhta', meaning worker or shaper of wood. Later it became any occupational worker (for example, a shipwright i ...
,
Simonds Simonds may refer to:
People
*D'Marcus Simonds (born 1997), American basketball player
*Gavin Simonds, 1st Viscount Simonds (1881–1971), British judge
*George Blackall Simonds (1843–1929), English sculptor
*Major General George S. Simonds (1874 ...
, and
Porter
Porter may refer to:
Companies
* Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto
* Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets
* Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer
* H.K. Porter, Inc., ...
– although Porter dissented – of the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
on 13 December 1945.
In the appeal, Joyce argued that possession of a passport did not entitle him to the protection of the Crown, and therefore did not perpetuate his duty of allegiance once he left the country, but the House of Lords rejected this argument. Lord Porter's dissenting opinion assumed that the question as to whether Joyce's duty of allegiance had terminated was a question of fact for the jury to decide, rather than a purely legal question for the judge. Joyce also argued that jurisdiction had been wrongly assumed by the court in electing to try an alien for offences committed in a foreign country. This argument was also rejected, on the basis that a state may exercise such jurisdiction in the interests of its own security.
Joyce's biographer,
Nigel Farndale
Nigel Farndale (born 1964) is a British author and journalist, known for his broadsheet interviews and his bestselling novel ''The Blasphemer''.
He has written seven books: four novels, two biographies and a collection of interviews. His latest ...
, suggests on the basis of documents made public for the first time between 2000 and 2005 that Joyce made a deal with his prosecutors not to reveal links he had had to
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), G ...
. In return, his wife Margaret, known to radio listeners as "Lady Haw-Haw", was spared prosecution for high treason.
Of the 32 British renegades and broadcasters caught in Germany at the end of the war, only Margaret Joyce, who died in London in 1972, was not charged with treason.
Execution
Joyce went to his death unrepentant. He allegedly said:
"You have conquered nevertheless" was presumably a reference to ", a phrase inscribed on the reverse side of the
Blood Order
The Blood Order (german: Blutorden), officially known as the "Decoration in Memory (of the Munich putsch) of 9 November 1923" (), was one of the most prestigious decorations in the Nazi Party (NSDAP). During March 1934, Hitler authorized the Bl ...
medal. Other sources refer to his having said, "May the
swastika
The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...
be raised from the dust".
Joyce was executed on 3 January 1946 at
Wandsworth Prison
HM Prison Wandsworth is a Prison security categories in the United Kingdom, Category B men's prison at Wandsworth in the London Borough of Wandsworth, South West (London sub region), South West London, England. It is operated by His Majesty's Pri ...
, aged 39. He was the penultimate person hanged for a crime other than murder in the UK. The last was
Theodore Schurch
Theodore William John Schurch (5 May 1918 – 4 January 1946) was a British soldier who was executed under the Treachery Act 1940 after the end of the Second World War. He was the last person to be executed in Britain for an offence other than m ...
, executed for
treachery
Treachery is the betrayal or violation of trust.
Treachery may also refer to:
*Treachery (law), an offence in several countries, related to treason
* Treachery (''Revenge''), the eighth episode of the American television series ''Revenge''
* ''Tr ...
the following day at
Pentonville Prison
HM Prison Pentonville (informally "The Ville") is an English Category B men's prison, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Pentonville Prison is not in Pentonville, but is located further north, on the Caledonian Road in the Barnsbury ar ...
. In both cases, the
hangman was
Albert Pierrepoint
Albert Pierrepoint (; 30 March 1905 – 10 July 1992) was an English hangman who executed between 435 and 600 people in a 25-year career that ended in 1956. His father Henry and uncle Thomas were official hangmen before him.
Pierrepoint ...
. Joyce died "an Anglican, like his mother, despite a long and friendly correspondence with a Roman Catholic priest who fought hard for William's soul".
The scar on Joyce's face split wide open because of the pressure applied to his head upon his drop from the
gallows
A gallows (or scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended (i.e., hung) or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sacks ...
.
As was customary for executed criminals, Joyce's remains were buried in an
unmarked grave
An unmarked grave is one that lacks a marker, headstone, or nameplate indicating that a body is buried there. However, in cultures that mark burial sites, the phrase unmarked grave has taken on a metaphorical meaning.
Metaphorical meaning
As a ...
within the walls of Wandsworth Prison. In 1976, following a campaign by his daughter, Heather Iandolo, his body was reinterred in Galway, where he had lived with his family from 1909 until 1922. Despite the ambiguity of his religious allegiances, he was given a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
Tridentine Mass
The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass or Traditional Rite, is the liturgy of Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church that appears in typical editions of the Roman Missal published from 1570 to 1962. Celebrated almo ...
.
Family
Joyce had two daughters with his first wife, Hazel, who later married
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 bodyguard, Eric Piercey. One daughter, Heather Iandolo (formerly Piercey), spoke publicly of her father. She died in 2022.
''Heather Iandolo obituary''
in ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' on 7 September 2022
See also
Footnotes
References
Bibliography
*
Further reading
*''The Trial of William Joyce'' ed. by C.E. Bechhofer Roberts Old Bailey Trials series">/nowiki>Old Bailey Trials series/nowiki> (Jarrolds, London, 1946)
*''The Trial of William Joyce'' ed. by J.W. Hall Notable British Trials series">/nowiki>Notable British Trials series/nowiki> (William Hodge and Company, London, 1946)
*''The Meaning of Treason'' by Dame Rebecca West
Dame Cicily Isabel Fairfield (21 December 1892 – 15 March 1983), known as Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, was a British author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer. An author who wrote in many genres, West reviewed books ...
(Macmillan, London, 1949)
*''Lord Haw-Haw and William Joyce'' by William Cole (Faber and Faber, London, 1964)
*''Hitler's Englishman'' by Francis Selwyn (Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd, London, 1987)
*''Renegades: Hitler's Englishmen'' by Adrian Weale
Adrian Weale (born 9 February 1964) is a British writer, journalist, illustrator and photographer of Welsh origin. He was educated at Latymer Upper School, University of York, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and the Joint Services Command and ...
(Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1994)
*''Germany Calling: A Personal Biography of William Joyce, Lord Haw-Haw'' by Mary Kenny
Mary Kenny (born 4 April 1944) is an Irish journalist, broadcaster and playwright. A founding member of the Irish Women's Liberation Movement, she was one of the country's first and foremost feminists, often contributes columns to the ''Irish In ...
(New Island Books, Dublin, 2003)
*''Haw-Haw: The Tragedy of William and Margaret Joyce'' by Nigel Farndale
Nigel Farndale (born 1964) is a British author and journalist, known for his broadsheet interviews and his bestselling novel ''The Blasphemer''.
He has written seven books: four novels, two biographies and a collection of interviews. His latest ...
(Macmillan, London, 2005)
*''Searching for Lord Haw-Haw: The Political Lives of William Joyce'' by Colin Holmes (Routledge, Abingdon, 2016)
* Security Service files on him are held by the National Archives under reference
KV 2/245
t
KV 2/250
External links
reproduction of a pamphlet by William Joyce for the BUF.
''Twilight Over England''
by William Joyce. A summation of his worldview (Internet Archive).
"Twilight over England"
2008 reprint by AAARGH.
''The final broadcast of William Joyce''
during the Battle of Berlin 1945. Possibly due to effects of alcohol, Joyce's speech is quite slurred.
at Earthstation One—includes audio clips
by Alex Softly.
*Transcript of th
''House of Lords decision in the Appeal of William Joyce''
published four weeks after his execution.
(transcript of judgement) (HTML)
''Germany Calling! Germany Calling! The Influence of Lord Haw-Haw (William Joyce) in Britain, 1939–1941''
A thesis, in downloadable form, by Monash University student Helen Newman.
the voice of treason
Internet Archive collection of "Germany Calling" broadcasts
BBC Archive – Lord Haw-Haw
Final "Germany Calling" broadcast by the BBC after the station was taken over by the British
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joyce, William
1906 births
1946 deaths
Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London
Anti-Masonry
Antisemitism in the United Kingdom
Executed American collaborators with Nazi Germany
American expatriates in Germany
American expatriates in the United Kingdom
American anti-communists
American fascists
American people convicted of assault
American people executed abroad
American people of Irish descent
People executed for treason against the United Kingdom
Executed German people
Executed people from New York (state)
British far-right politicians
British anti-communists
British fascists
Child soldiers
German anti-communists
German people of World War II
Naturalized citizens of Germany
Nazi propagandists
People from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
People executed by the United Kingdom by hanging
20th-century executions by England and Wales
20th-century executions for treason
20th-century executions of American people
Worcestershire Regiment soldiers
British propagandists
Executed British collaborators with Nazi Germany
British military personnel of the Irish War of Independence
Officers' Training Corps officers