MITFORDS (PART SIX) - DIANA & UNITY AT NUREMBERG 1933

A year after the foundation of the British Union of Fascists, Oswald Mosley sent a BUF delegation to the 1933 Nuremberg Rally. Here they are with their hosts:

Members of the BUF Delegation at the 1933 Nuremberg Rally.
Diana Mitford recognisable in white. Note young BUF member on left,
and be-medalled veteran in Scottish cap second from right, front row.
The remainder are presumably German NSDAP members (one on right with Iron Cross).

All change - young and veteran sitting together. Note Union Jack armbands. 

Unity Mitford, just turned 19, is visible in the rear row, several

seats apart from her older sister, Diana. She has yet to acquire her

old sister's "glamour" look.

     

Heil ! Although the photograph is cut off, it is fairly obvious that
Unity has her right arm raised in salute.

Aha ! The reason the Mitford sisters are sitting apart -
Diana is sitting with (i.e. seeking to influence) Putzi Hanfstaengl.
See his WIKI here.

Cropped shot. At this point, who could guess that it
would be Unity who would have greatest access
to the Fuhrer in the years to come ?

A 1930s travel poster for Nuremberg, proudly proclaiming
itself as "The City of the Party Rally"

Another travel poster. 
Brownshirts on the march
through Nuremberg.

A poster for the 1933 Nazi Party Rally at Nuremberg,
as attended by Diana and Unity.

MITFORDS (PART FIVE) - UNITY, DIANA & THE "OSTERIA BAVARIA"

 Unity Mitford first met her idol, Adolf Hitler, at his favourite Munich restaurant, the "Osteria Bavaria":

Adolf in monologue and a rapt Unity

Dining companions at Adolf's favourite table at the "Osteria Bavaria".

Unity and Diana outside the "Osteria Bavaria" with a member of staff.

Practically the same spot - Unity outside the Osteria Bavaria,
this time with "Farve" and "Muv"

A slightly later shot - perhaps 1940 ? -  a well dined Adolf departing
the "Osteria Bavaria", surrounded by an adoring civilian crowd.

The "Osteria Bavaria" is still in business in Munich today, but now renamed the "Osteria Italiana". This clever photomontage merges a contemporary photograph of the renamed restaurant with the historic photograph above:

and it's still possible to dine at "Hitler's favourite table" - although not recommended to ask the staff about it:

A modern photograph of the "Osteria Italiana" dining area favoured by Hitler -
compare the first two photographs of Adolf and Unity above.

MITFORDS (PART FOUR) - DIANA and UNITY

Third and fourth daughters of Lord and Lady Redesdale, Diana and Unity are clearly identified with the BUF cause during the VBCW, and spend much of their time together:

Off duty socialites - Diana and Unity attend a movie premiere, 1935.
Diana is 25 and Unity just 21.

Notoriety - "Truth" magazine's profile of the two Fascist sisters.

How it all began - Diana and Unity, 1934.
Unity wears an improvised BUF uniform.
Diana is the mistress of BUF Leader, Oswald Mosley.

Apogee, Nuremberg 1937 - Diana, Unity and assorted SS stormtroopers.

Nuremberg 1937 - Diana, Unity and SA stormtroopers marching past.

At home and ideologically ready for VBCW action - Diana and Unity practice salutes.

AUTUMN BIG GAME 2022 - ASSAULT ON LLAREGGUB

The Autumn Big Game 2022 took place far away from Herefordshire, in the sleepy West Wales village of LLareggub - a collection of shops and houses so little known that it could even be fictional. This Big Game did not engage the Anglicans, and it can therefore be safely assumed that, as per the Spring Big Game 2022, the good Bishop of Ludlow is still engaged in the North of the Ecclesiarchy (towards Evesham). For all the details, in eight gloriously illustrated parts, start HERE.

MITFORDS (PART THREE) - DIANA

The very beautiful and very married Diana Mitford (b. 1910) began a passionate affair with Oswald Mosley, a notorious seducer of beautiful women, in 1932. The affair led to her divorce and to their own eventual marriage in Berlin, in 1936, at the home of Joseph and Magda Goebbels. Hitler attended as a witness and guest of honour. As the adoring wife of "the Leader", there can be no doubt of Diana's support for the BUF in the VBCW....

Diana in 1932, aged 22. It was in this year that Oswald Mosley dissolved the "New Party"
- which had been destroyed by the results of the 1931 General Election in any event -
and founded the BUF. It was also in this year that Diana began her illicit relationship
with 'the Leader'.

Society lady, early 1930s

Fascist Supporter. Nuremberg Rally 1936

"The Tatler" (Dec 14, 1938) acknowledges Diana's marriage, which had been kept

secret by Mosley for a period and for political reasons.

Notes:

[1]. Diana interviewed by Mavis Nicholson HERE. Her guest appearance on Desert Island Discs, interviewed by Sue Lawley, is HERE. Both are well worth a listen.

MITFORDS (PART TWO) - UNITY

Notorious "English friend" of Adolf Hitler and sister-in-law to Sir Oswald Mosley, there is absolutely no doubt which side Unity Valkyrie Mitford would have chosen in the Very British Civil War - Fascism and the BUF!

Unity Valkyrie Mitford

Unity was born on 8th August 1914, just four days after the outbreak of World War One. By 1935, she was in Munich (purportedly to improve her German) and had succeeded in engineering a meeting with Adolf Hitler at the Osteria Bavaria, the Fuhrer's favourite Munich restaurant. Over the next few years, allegedly whilst working for an Anglo-German rapprochement, she consolidated her famous friendship - and reputation as a Fascist fanatic and virulent anti-Semite.

 

The English lady, before Hitler - 18-year-old Unity, February 1932 (Bassano)

Five years later, fully fledged Fascist, 1937.
Unity in conversation with SS Untersturmfuhrer (eg. 2nd Lt.)
Fritz Stadelmann, one of Hitler's Munich adjutants.

The conversation continues - this wider shot confirms that it took place
on the front steps of the famous Munich "Brown House"

Add Edit - a full length image:

VBCW RADICAL HERO (1) - MICHAEL FOOT

To those (of a certain age) living in the alternative timeline (of reality), Michael Foot might be familiar as 'that old bloke in the donkey jacket' who led the Labour Party to a catastrophic defeat at the 1983 General Election. Ah yes, those in the know will say, but at the 1935 General Election.....

Michael Foot, aged 22, 1935

At the General Election of 1935, Michael Foot fought his first Parliamentary seat in the constituency of Monmouth, just on the borders of Herefordshire and (traditionally) safely Conservative. Although Foot obtained a creditable swing (of some 7.5%) in favour of the Labour Party, the result was:

John Herbert (Conservative) 23,262

Michael Foot (Labour) 13,454

Foot had been President of the Oxford Union in the Michaelmas Term 1933, and then graduated (with a second in PPE) from Oxford in the summer of 1934. On any basis, he was therefore extremely young for his first attempt to get into Parliament at the November 1935 General Election.

What would the young Michael Foot have done in 1938, during the Very British Civil War? There is no doubt that he would have been a hero of the Socialist faction, scribbling away as a journalist in Fleet Street, or possibly touring the country preaching for a "Popular Front" of the fragmented left. Although Foot would undoubtedly have rejected "the appalling excesses" of the notorious Comrade Colonel Professor Winters and his Herefordshire Communists, given Foot's previous knowledge of Monmouthshire, it is very possible that his speaking campaigns would have extended into Herefordshire itself...

On the stump - Foot in Herefordshire, 1938.
Or possibly in Plymouth, 1945.

Foot's loudspeaker equipped "Propaganda Van" would have faced stiff
competition in Herefordshire - see HERE for the BUF opposition,
and HERE for a Herefordshire Communist example.

Michael Foot - VBCW "Radical Hero"

Add Edit: Kenneth O. Morgan's eponymous biography notes of Monmouth in 1935; "...It was marked by the remaining influences of great houses - Lord Tredegar or the Dukes of Beaufort. It was strong hunting country, and the Beaufort Hunt was an ancient local institution: here was a pastime that Foot particularly disliked, for social as much as for humane reasons.....the fledgling Labour candidate fought a spirited, even sparkling, campaign. Foot's (election) address and speeches focussed on the twin themes of peace and poverty. "The armaments race must be stopped now," and the League of Nations supported, including in the current crisis caused by the Italian invasion of Abyssinia. At home, there should be public ownership of all major industries and banks ('exchange' had been added to 'production' and 'distribution' in Clause 4 of the Labour Party's constitution at the 1934 party conference), together with social reforms...including a minimum wage and the abolition of tied cottages..."

QUEEN ELIZABETH II VISITS HEREFORD (1957)

A wonderful (if silent) film of Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Hereford in 1957, compiled by the Hereford Cine Society and well worth looking at - HERE. Especially poignant in present circumstances.

In memoriam Queen Elizabeth II

MITFORDS (PART ONE) - WHAT WOULD THEY HAVE DONE ?

It is difficult to delve too deeply into the history of 1930s Britain, whether real or alternative, without encountering one or more of the (mostly impossible, but by contemporaneous acclaim, very beautiful) Mitford sisters:

Just one of the latest books devoted to the lives of the Mitford sisters -
who seem to have spawned (whether individually or collectively) their own 
posthumous publishing industry.

The interesting question, as yet unconsidered by any of the tomes devoted to the Mitford sisters, is what each of them would have done upon the outbreak of the Very British Civil War in 1936/1937, when Edward VIII resolved to marry Wallis Simpson and make her Queen of England, leading both to the resignation of Baldwin as Prime Minister and the then Leader of the Opposition, Clement Attlee's famous "refusal to serve" his King as constitutional successor [1]:  

A composite of the Mitford sisters in the 1930s.
What would they have done on the outbreak of the VBCW ?

It is an important convention of the VBCW - for the avoidance of unhappiness and controversy, and with limited exceptions - that real people should not be "written in" to our alternative history. Exceptions are mostly made for those very much 'in the public eye' , and whose political position at the time was clear, or at least capable of being extrapolated without the dreaded controversy.

The six - drawn by William Acton, 1938
From top left - Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica, Deborah.
Subsequently caricatured by Times journalist Ben McIntyre as
"Diana the Fascist, Jessica the Communist, Unity the Hitler-lover; Nancy the Novelist;
 Deborah the Duchess and Pamela the unobtrusive poultry connoisseur".

Thankfully, however, at least half of the Mitford sisters were very much 'in the public eye' during the 1930s, and at least half (the same half) then had very clearly defined (and extreme) public political positions - Diana and Unity were declared Fascists, while Jessica was an undoubted Communist. There can therefore be little objection to at least these three having a "28mm equivalent" and taking an appropriate side in the Hereford VBCW....

Notes

[1].  The question - "What would they have done?" in the event of the outbreak of a Very British Civil War - has previously been asked of Hereford's principal pre war aviator - Randolph Trafford - and of the contemporaneous Hereford City Council - with only tentative results. Bearing in mind the VBCW convention above, it is easier to be clear about certain individuals - Neville Chamberlain, for example, serves as "a Peace Envoy" in the Hereford VBCW, although in other VBCW timelines, he may be heavily engaged in the Civil War in Birmingham.

[2]. An interesting essay "The Pursuit of Love - Why are we still so obsessed with the Mitford Sisters ?" can be found HERE. "How to tell if you are a Mitford Sister" is HERE

[3]. A valuable "Timeline" documentary on the Mitfords, concentrating on the political extremes, is HERE

SPRING BIG GAME 2022 ("LAST TRAIN FROM LEOMINSTER ?")

Another Big Game from the Hereford1938 Group, this time a follow up to the Autumn Big Game 2021. Unfortunately for the Anglican cause, particularly given the "smashing victory" of the Bishop of Lichfield at the Autumn Big Game 2021 ("Advance to Leominster"), the forces of both the Bishop of Ludlow and the Bishop of Lichfield were "drawn off" towards Evesham, in defence of Anglican territory to the North, with only "light screening forces" left around Leominster. Still, at least Comrade Colonel Professor Winter's Communist faction failed to take Leominster (even though they captured a couple of senior Government commanders). For all the details, in a six part fully illustrated supplement, see HERE

AUTUMN BIG GAME 2021 ("ADVANCE TO LEOMINSTER")

After changes to the Government's Covid regulations and the release of lockdown restrictions, the Hereford1938 Group were finally able to have another "VBCW Big Game" at the Burley Gate Village Hall on Saturday, 30th October 2021. The Bishop of Ludlow sat this one out, being engaged at the time in good and charitable works within the "South Shropshire Ecclesiarchy", but in his absence (or possibly because of it) his fellow Bishop, of Lichfield, duly scored "a smashing victory". See all the details, spread over three large wargame tables, HERE

THE OLD HOUSE HEREFORD - THROUGH TIME

The Old House is, perhaps, Hereford's most significant landmark. Built in 1621 - and therefore easily 150 years older than the United States of America - it has watched over all the comings and goings in Hereford's High Town these last four hundred years:

The first (known) photograph of the Old House in 1873 - when Ulysses S. Grant was President of the USA - and the Old House contained an ironmongers and potteryware business, run by Mr and Mrs Oatfield, happily co-existing with Fletcher's fishmongers. Note Maddox's Furniture Showrooms in the background:

This looks as if it was taken about the same time (possibly the same day) but from a slightly different angle. A better view of the Victorian advertising hoarding that then covered one side of the building (including an advert for the "Midland Railway"):

Two later Victorian views (one coloured, both undated) put the Old House in context. To the left, at the top of Commercial Street, is the Capital & County Dining and Refreshment Rooms. To the right, in St. Peter's Street, Maddox's Furniture Showrooms continues to trade. Mr and Mrs Oatfield and Fletcher's Fishmongers have gone from the Old House, so these photos must post-date 1882, when the building was taken over by the Worcester City & County Banking Company (subsequently taken over by Lloyds Bank): 

Another Victorian view, but time has moved on. Maddox's Furniture Showrooms in St. Peters Street has become a hairdressers, the appropriately named W.H.Dyer. The Imperial Cafe in St. Peters Street (obscured by the Old House) seems to believe in very prominent advertising, no doubt to compete with the City & County Dining and Refreshment Rooms:

Two further shots, both undated but one coloured,  probably taken around the turn of the century or very early Edwardian times. Theodore Roosevelt is, or is about to become, President of the United States:

Now for some 'reverse views' of the Old House, with the camera situated in St. Peters Street, facing the gable end of the Old House that had housed Fletcher's Fishmongers, and High Town in the background:

High Edwardiana, probably just pre WW1. The first appearance of cars. The Imperial Cafe on the right.

The same view, but a little closer up. The early 1930s.
Background High Town is practically unchanged apart from the
new Lloyds Bank building to the left of the Buttermarket Clock.
Lloyds moved out of the Old House and presented it to the
City Corporation in 1928.

The early to mid 2010s. Cars have gone once again, High Town having been "pedestrianised".
Otherwise little has changed architecturally in nearly 100 years. The shops have moved on,
 though - the Imperial Cafe is no more, W.H.Dyer is forgotten, and the Capital & Counties
 Dining & Refreshment Rooms, to the right of the Old House, has become "Starbucks".
Barack Obama is President of the USA.

And a last look at the Old House in the context of Hereford, a view from 1815 (President of the USA - James Madison) and a triptych view of the City from 150 years later, the late 1960s (President of the USA - Lyndon Baines Johnson):

A watercolour of "Butcher's Row" from 1815. The three gabled building in
the centre is the present Old House, showing how buildings have been
demolished around it over time.

Clockwise from right top - the new road bridge (built in 1966), the glamorous modernity
of the newly pedestrianised "Eign Gate Shopping Precinct" and the Old House.
Quite what the Victorian Mrs Oatfield would have made of the orange mini-skirted
 Herefordette is anyone's guess....