Archibald Maule Ramsay - Outbreak of War

Outbreak of War

On the second day of World War II (4 September 1939), Ramsay sat in the Library of the House of Commons writing a poem, a paraphrase of "Land of Hope and Glory", which was later to be printed and distributed by the Right Club. It ran:

Land of dope and Jewry

Land that once was free

All the Jew boys praise thee

Whilst they plunder thee

Poorer still and poorer

Grow thy true-born sons

Faster still and faster

They're sent to feed the guns.

Land of Jewish finance

Fooled by Jewish lies

In press and books and movies

While our birthright dies

Longer still and longer

Is the rope they get

But—by the God of battles

'Twill serve to hang them yet.

When the Secretary of State for War Leslie Hore-Belisha (a frequent target of antisemitism) was forced out of office, Ramsay distributed in the House of Commons many copies of Truth (a magazine closely connected to Neville Chamberlain) which argued that Hore-Belisha was no loss to the government. He also put down a motion which cited the regretful reactions of many newspapers to Hore-Belisha's sacking as evidence of Jewish control of the press.

Privately, Ramsay had been invited to some of the "Secret Meetings" at which right-wing opponents of the war discussed tactics. However, after they grew to be dominated by Oswald Mosley and his supporters, Ramsay withdrew. The Right Club spent the Phoney War period distributing propaganda in the form of leaflets and "sticky-backs" (adhesive labels containing slogans), with Ramsay later explaining that he wanted "to maintain the atmosphere in which the 'phoney war', as it was called, might be converted into an honourable negotiated peace." In addition to Ramsay's "Land of dope and Jewry" rhyme, the slogans included "War destroys workers" and "This is a Jews' War"; some of the leaflets asserted "the stark truth is that this war was plotted and engineered by the Jews for world-power and vengeance".