W. G. Barlow

Lieutenant William Geoffrey Barlow (28 December 1891[1][2] – 19 January 1975) was a Royal Flying Corps pilot during the First World War, a racing driver in the 1920s, and a fascist before and after the Second World War. He was detained by the British government under Defence Regulation 18B during the Second World War.

W. G. Barlow in a Bentley at Brooklands, August 1922.

Family and personal life

Barlow was born at Ashford, Wilmslow, Cheshire,[1] the son of barrister William Wycliffe Barlow and Emily Jardine Barlow.[3][4] The family home was Pitt Manor in Winchester. In 1925, he married Dora Naomi Elizabeth Bayford.[5][6]

He died 19 January 1975 at Bridport, Dorset.[7][8]

First World War

During the First World War, Barlow served as a Second Lieutenant with the 28th London Regiment[9] and as a pilot with the Royal Flying Corps as a Lieutenant.[10]

Motor racing

In the early 1920s, Barlow was a regular competitor at the Brooklands motor racing circuit. In 1920, he drove an ex-Tuck Humber in the August bank holiday event. In August 1922, he was pictured in a Bentley. In 1923, he competed in a Halford Special at least three times. He also raced an Aston Martin.[11]

Fascism

Barlow joined Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF) sometime before the Second World War. During the war, he was one of those detained by the British government under the newly introduced Defence Regulation 18B.[12]

After the end of the war, Barlow was a worshipper and the financial backer of the religious community known as Kingdom House, at River, West Sussex, where they worshiped Adolf Hitler as Christ returned. According to information given to Brian Simpson by Robert Row, the worshipers also included James Larratt Battersby, Captain Thomas Baker MC, and A.J. Schneider.[13]

References
  1. "Births". Manchester Courier. 2 January 1892. p. 16. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  2. Great Britain, Royal Aero Club Aviators' Certificates, 1910–1950
  3. "Barlow, William Wycliffe" . Men-at-the-Bar – via Wikisource.
  4. 1901 England Census
  5. "Pitt Manor (Pittfield)". Hampshire Gardens Trust. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  6. "Burlsedon – Fashionable Wedding". Hampshire Telegraph. 27 February 1925. p. 4. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  7. England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007
  8. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995
  9. UK, British Army World War I Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920
  10. Hamm, Jeffrey (2012). Mosley's Blackshirts: The inside story of the British Union of Fascists 1932-1940. London: Black House Publishing. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-908476-40-1.
  11. Demaus, A.B. (2013). The vintage years of motoring 1920s & 1930s. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-4456-2601-7.
  12. Warburton, John & Jeffrey Wallder. (2008) The Defence Regulation 18B British Union Detainees List. Revised edition. Friends of Oswald Mosley. p. 7.
  13. Simpson, A.W. Brian (1992). In the highest degree odious: Detention without trial in wartime Britain. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 250–251. ISBN 0198257759.

Further reading
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