Greater Britain Movement - Development

Development

The GBM did not contest any elections and rather became known for publicity stunts and criminal acts. An example of the sort of action they were fond of was provided soon after the group was formed when Tyndall's deputy Martin Webster attempted to assault President of Kenya Jomo Kenyatta, a headline-grabbing stunt that also saw Webster serve a short spell in prison. Tyndall had also been present at the incident, which took place as Kenyatta exited a hotel in London at which he was staying, and Tyndall was given a £25 fine for the abuse he shouted into a megaphone during the attack.

The GBM's policy of provocative street activity meant that it faced frequent opposition. A meeting in the East End of London on 4 October 1964 was attacked by opponents, as was another in Dalston the following October whilst earlier, in August 1965, Tyndall had been shot at five times whilst in the group's headquarters in Norwood. The group's main benefactor was an antiques dealer named Gordon Brown and in late 1966 he gave Tyndall the funds to purchase a small shop in Tulse Hill which Tyndall converted into the Nationalist Centre. The centre welcomed regular visitors from the BNP and League of Empire Loyalists although, according to the BNP's Rodney Legg, some of the older LEL members were appaled by the Nazi ephemera and loaded guns on display.

In January 1965, Tyndall had attempted to make the GBM the leading lights in the World Union of National Socialists but after getting in touch with the American Nazi leader George Lincoln Rockwell Tyndall was dismayed to find that Jordan was still recognised as leader of the body and that the NSM was still the British chapter. The incident helped to push the GBM further away from the neo-Nazi fringe and towards the other groups on the far-right. Removed from the Nazi option and with the GBM individually failing to make much headway or attract much support, Tyndall authorised GBM members to support the campaigns of both the BNP and the LEL as well as the Patriotic Party in March 1965. According to John Bean Tyndall wrote personally to Oswald Mosley, A.K. Chesterton and Bean around the same time suggesting that as their four movements had been co-operating unofficially on activities in support of Rhodesia a more formal alliance between the GBM, Union Movement, LEL and BNP should be agreed upon. Nothing came of these overtures however. Meanwhile, Tyndall had not abandoned his attempts to build links internationally and instead forged an alliance between the GBM and the National States Rights Party, a far-right group in the United States that had grown critical of Rockwell and the American Nazi Party.

The GBM, however, remained one of the more extreme groups on the far right as was evidenced in 1966 when a number of members were imprisoned for an arson attack on a synagogue, with Tyndall later also jailed for possession of a firearm. The incidents derailed the GBM's drive for unity somewhat as LEL leader A.K. Chesterton was averse to such actions, preferring to maintain a legalist approach. As a result, the GBM undertook negotiations with the BNP and the Racial Preservation Society in early 1966 aimed at effecting a closer union but these came to nothing, with the RPS in particular turning the request down flat.