Event SW15: The West Sussex Fascists

What did World War One veteran and county councillor, Charles Bentinck Budd; Angmering farmer, Jorian Jenks; and Rustington vicar, Rev. James Croslasnd all have in common? They were all leading figures in Sir Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists in the 1930s. This illustrated talk tells their story.

When the Churchill government introduced internment without trail in May 1940 of supposed ‘fifth columnists’, more people were arrested in West Sussex than any other English county. Who were these West Sussex Fascists and how influential were they? Oswald Mosley’s spokesman on agriculture was a farmer in Angmering, another local leader was both a borough and county councillor, even one of the county’s vicars was a fascist. Yet these men were not always what we might expect, with views on the environment and popular music that could seem more progressive than reactionary.

Tickets are £8.50, available online. Early bird £7.50.