The other Philby: The far right sympathies of St. John Philby

While there has been tremendous interest in the life and traitorous activities of the notorious spy Kim Philby, not many people are aware that he had a highly controversial father, St. John Philby, whose sympathies lay not with Communism but with extreme nationalism and fascism.

In fact, Harry St. John Bridger Philby (1885-1960), more commonly known as Jack Philby, had an equally colourful career: educated at Westminster and then at Trinity College, Cambridge, he was an explorer, writer and dedicated British Arabist. He also spent some time as a colonial intelligence officer. In the First World War, he had worked for the British administrative authorities in Baghdad. Much of this background context can be read about in his autobiography, Arabian Days, published in London in 1948.

A notably complex figure, St. John Philby (see photo) apparently had a fearsome temper and could be quite volatile, with a reputation for contrariness and a love-hate attitude to women. But he was a good talker and could make a persuasive case in political negotiations and diplomatic scenarios. In so far as there have been biographical studies of St. John Philby, these have tended to concentrate on his prodigious career as a writer, mapmaker and expert on all things Arabic, together with his long friendship with King Ibn Saud. Indeed, such was his love of Arab culture, and his extensive work as an adviser to Kings and Princes in the Middle East, he became known in some quarters as ‘Philby of Arabia’, and was clearly quite proud of having worked with the famous T.E. Lawrence (‘Lawrence of Arabia’) on Middle Eastern affairs as part of the Colonial Office in the early 1920s.

This was largely at the behest of Winston Churchill, who was keen to sort out the mess the British had left in the area after conflicting promises had been made to both Arabs and Jews during the Great War, and much time was invested in trying to stabilizse the UK’s Palestine Mandate. However, becoming disillusioned with the work, St. John Philby had resigned in 1924, and took on a major role as an adviser to Ibn Saud.

St. John Philby spoke several languages fluently, took a deep interest in the archaeology and history of the desert Kingdoms, and converted to the Muslim faith in 1930, although some of his friends doubted the sincerity of this conversion. During the 1930s he was increasingly enthusiastic again about finding some sort of ‘settlement’ in the Middle East as a way of bringing about peace and reducing tensions, and by the late 1930s had persuaded himself that the British government’s policy of ‘partition’ between Arabs and Jews was probably the best solution, although some of his friends were quite surprised he had adopted this stance.

British People’s Party

But what is less well-known and researched into by scholars is St. John Philby’s growing sympathy for fascism and the extreme right during the late 1930s. Only a small number of historians, such Richard Thurlow and Richard Griffiths, have explored St. John Philby’s proto-fascism. More needs to be said.

Again, like his personality, the process of St. John Philby’s conversion to fascism was complex. It was partly shaped by his pacifism, his dislike of war and his enthusiasm for the British government’s policy of appeasement. Politically, he actually saw himself as a Socialist and had pro-Labour sentiments, and even wanted to stand as a Labour Party candidate some day. Yet he felt that it was imperative for Britain and Germany to come to an agreement of some kind and thus avoid the ‘spilling of human blood’ in another European war. Things came to a head in the spring of 1939. St. John Philby penned a long letter to the Manchester Guardian, which was published on April 25th, in which he advocated the removal of ‘the grievances that make for war’, especially those of Germany, Italy and Japan.

One result of this letter was that he made contact with Lord Tavistock, who had founded the rightwing ‘British People’s Party’ in the same month, was a strong advocate of Social Credit economic theories, and was highly critical of ‘war and usury’. Tavistock emphasised that the BPP were not pacifists but were ‘averse to being dragged into war’. It was a message that clearly appealed to St. John Philby.

By May, 1939, St. John Philby had joined the BPP, and – as a ‘big catch’ for the party – was quickly serving on its executive council. He seems to have taken on board all the BPP’s main policy positions, although quite how he felt about some of the clearly anti-Semitic and conspiratorial ideas of Tavistock and other leading BPP activists is difficult to discern. Tavistock and his lieutenants were highly critical of, and quite obsessed with, the role of ‘Money Power’ (code for Jews) in politics, and evidently admired Adolf Hitler for his willingness to ‘challenge’ the machinations of ‘International Finance’.

However, by mid-June, St. John Philby had agreed to stand as a potential BPP parliamentary candidate and, sure enough, in July, 1939, this wish came true – possibly sooner than he had expected. He thus stood for the BPP in a bye-election at Hythe, a normally safe Conservative seat.

Jack St. John Philby threw himself into the campaign with much vigour and energy. He spoke three times a night at public meetings, and found his rightwing anti-war message was drawing support from a diverse collection of sympathisers, ranging from direct supporters of Sir Oswald Mosley’s ‘British Union of Fascists’ (known by then as ‘British Union’) and other rightwing extremists, through to activists with the Peace Pledge Union (PPU). Those who spoke in support of St. John Philby at his meetings included not just Lord Tavistock but also highly controversial and outspoken pro-Nazis such as Admiral Sir Barry Domvile, General J.F.C. Fuller, John Beckett, Captain Vincent Collier, and Dr. Meyrick Booth.

During the course of the bye-election campaign the BPP also produced a nakedly anti-Semitic pamphlet, Alien Money Power in Great Britain. This criticised the Conservative candidate by suggesting that the City of London firm that he worked for was run by Jews. The bye-election result was, however, humiliating for St. John Philby. Out of a vote of 22,169, he gained just 576 votes and lost his deposit in the process.

Significantly, in the run-up to the War, the British government had picked up various rumours that St. John Philby had been involved in secret negotiations with representatives of Nazi Germany and Franco’s Spain on behalf of Saudi Arabia, whereby, if war broke out, Saudi Arabia would continue to sell oil to Spain, which would then supply it to Germany. Naturally, this had set alarm bells ringing in Whitehall, and St. John Philby became a person of great interest and suspicion to MI5, the domestic Security Service (and probably to MI6, too). When he had become involved with the BPP, this had evidently reinforced MI5’s concerns and suspicions about St. John Philby’s activities and sympathies.

Fascist themes

Indeed, one can see why MI5 were worried about St. John Philby and the circles he was now involved with. A quick perusal of key BPP publications can show how strongly it’s anti-war message was deeply bound up with anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi sentiments. Nn the very first issue of the BPP’s newspaper, The People’s Post, for example, for July, 1939, the front-page headline was ‘Who Wants War’, and it was claimed that ‘mass destruction’ was wanted by ‘International Finance’ solely to boost profits for the ‘Money Power’. The same issue also contained an article by St. John Philby himself, who presented the Hythe bye-election as a choice between ‘peace and war’, and said that people needed to ‘face the fact that Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini have restored their countries to the front rank’. He proclaimed: ‘We stand uncompromisingly for negotiations with Germany, Italy and Japan…’. If Britain went to war, he wrote, it’s Empire was ‘doomed’.

Even after the outbreak of war, rather than close itself down, the BPP continued its activities, and also set up an off-shoot called the ‘British Council for a Christian Settlement in Europe’ (BCCSE). In October, 1939, the BCCSE issued A Statement on the European Situation, and the signatories on the leaflet included St. John Philby. Lord Tavistock was particularly keen to obtain what he regarded as an ‘understanding’ between Britain and Germany i.e. some kind of negotiated truce. As with the other leading lights in the BPP and BCCSE, St John Philby’s support for the extreme right had become an even more acute cause for concern within MI5 and in the Home Office, especially as fears grew of possible German invasion of the British Isles and who might be tempted to collaborate. In August, 1940, while travelling from Saudi Arabia to India, St. John Philby was arrested and detained under Defence Regulation 18B, which was being used to round up and intern many leading fascists and pro-Nazis.

Ironically, as well as MI5’s fears about St. John Philby and what he might possibly do in the event of German invasion, the British authorities had been tipped off about his trip to India by none other than his former employers and close friend Ibn Saud, who had claimed that St. John Philby had become ‘mentally deranged’ and was planning to engage in ‘anti-British propaganda’ in India and the USA.

St. John Philby was not held in detention that long. In 1941, partly as a result of various letters written in his support by both friends and former colleagues at the Foreign Office, who claimed that he was simply incapable of being ‘disloyal’, he was called before an 18b Advisory Committee board. The three members of this board concluded that he was a harmless fanatic rather than a potential traitor, and recommended his release.

Yet, even out of prison, it seems the lure of politics was still difficult to resist for St. John Philby in wartime Britain. In 1942, Sir Richard Acland set up a new party named ‘Commonwealth’. Although critics quickly saw this new party as quasi-fascist, St. John Philby joined up and soon became treasuer of its Westminster branch. He was soon being attacked by opponents, especially the Communist Party of Great Britain, who dug up and publicised his previous BPP activities. Disillusioned by Acland’s seeming reluctance to fully defend him, St. John Philby left the Commonwealth party and eventually turned back to immersing himself in Arabism and his love of everything Arab.

He did not live to see his son, Kim, defect to the USSR in 1963. It would have been truly fascinating to have seen his reaction had he lived.

Dr. Steven Woodbridge is a Lecturer in History and Politics

(Images: Wikimedia Commons)