Oliver Locker-Lampson

• 1. A Race Through London

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  On a London street in 1911, Oliver Locker-Lampson ran as fast as he could. He believed he was winning a footrace against an old school friend named Horace de Vere Cole. The crowd cheered for the young aristocrat sprinting toward victory. Then Cole shouted Stop thief! He has got my watch! A gold timepiece sat heavy in Locker-Lampson's pocket. It had been slipped there moments before by his prankster friend. This practical joke defined a man who often found himself running faster than reality allowed. His life would be filled with similar chases and sudden stops.

• 2. The Armoured Car Expedition

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  In December 1914, Lieutenant Commander Oliver Locker-Lampson received a commission in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve. Winston Churchill understood that Locker-Lampson would personally fund an armoured car squadron for the Royal Naval Air Service. Training took place at Whale Island in Hampshire and near Newhaven Court in Cromer. By mid-1915, No. 15 Squadron operated unoccupied portions of Belgium alongside the Belgian Army. Sea ice blocked their path to Archangel later that year. Men and vehicles landed instead at Alexandrovsk, a small northern Russian town. The unit became known as the Russian Armoured Car Division or ACEF. They fought across Galicia, Romania, and the Caucasus region during the Great War.

• 3. Secrets In St Petersburg

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  Locker-Lampson claimed he was asked to participate in the assassination of Grigori Rasputin in 1916. He also described a secret plan to extract Tsar Nicholas II from Russia after his abdication in March 1917. Allegations suggest he helped Kornilov's attempted coup against Kerensky's provisional government in September 1917. These events left him deeply suspicious of Bolshevik influence within Britain itself. His experiences shaped a fierce anti-Communist stance that would dominate his political career. He organized mass rallies under the banner Rout the Reds throughout the 1920s. Members of Rotha Lintorn-Orman's British Fascisti often stewarded these gatherings.

• 4. The Blue Shirts And The Savoy

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  In 1931, Locker-Lampson founded the Sentinels of Empire, commonly called the Blue Shirts. Their motto read Fear God! Fear Naught! Their anthem March On used music originally from the film High Treason. A phonograph record of this song went to Benito Mussolini along with silver and blue-enamelled cufflinks. Alfred Rosenberg, a Nazi philosopher, met Locker-Lampson for lunch at the Savoy Hotel in London during 1931. MI6 spy F. W. Winterbotham arranged the meeting while posing as an admirer. Rosenberg sent Locker-Lampson a gold cigarette case as a token of esteem. The politician returned the gift with some embarrassment after realizing its implications.

• 5. Sheltering Einstein In Norfolk

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  Albert Einstein received death threats while living in Belgium before finding refuge on Roughton Heath near Cromer. This camp sat close to Locker-Lampson's family home in north Norfolk. The physicist stayed there after receiving warnings about his safety abroad. Locker-Lampson also helped Haile Selassie and Sigmund Freud escape persecution. He personally sponsored numerous ordinary Jewish people fleeing Nazi Germany and Austria. His efforts earned him recognition as a saviour of Jews from Germany. A TV drama-documentary released by Netflix on the 17th of February 2024 recreated scenes at the Roughton Camp. Actor Andrew Havill portrayed Locker-Lampson in those reconstructed moments.

• 6. The Final Years And Legacy

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  Oliver Locker-Lampson retired from politics following the 1945 General Election when he was de-selected by his constituency party. Age and ill-health limited his active role during the Second World War despite joining the Home Guard. He continued supporting Winston Churchill vociferously from the backbenches throughout the conflict years. His principal home remained Rowfant in West Sussex until his mother died in 1915. Oliver inherited Newhaven Court in Cromer instead. He is buried in Worth churchyard near Crawley, Sussex. Posthumous recognition has honored his work saving Jews from Nazi persecution. Some sources describe his actions as exceptional compared to other rescuers of that era.