Why the son of a Churchill cabinet minister became a mouthpiece for Hitler - by Ronald Hardwood
Amery left his wife in London and travelled to Spain, where he fought for the fascists in the Spanish Civil War, gun-running for Franco and in active combat. He told his father that he had seen Communist torture chambers in Barcelona which fuelled his increasing hatred of them. At some point around this time, John - who was by this time dealing in the black market across Europe - came under the spell of French fascist Jacques Doriot and his newly-formed Parti Populaire Francais.
When war was declared, John was in Spain. He returned to Paris where he had a new prostitute girlfriend, Jeanine Barde, and announced his support for the German invasion of Russia on the basis that Europe was under threat from Communism and Judaism.But after writing a letter critical of early British bombing raids to a French newspaper, Amery came to the attention of the German High Command. Fatefully, he was invited to Germany by Hitler. Travelling with his girlfriend, under the names Mr and Mrs Brown, Amery was greeted in Berlin as "a guest of the Reich". As the son of a serving British Cabinet minister, he was feted as the Fuhrer's glittering prize, and arrangements were put in place for him to broadcast to Britain. He was installed in a hotel in some splendour, alongside his pet dog, Sammy.
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