Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2015 20:43:18 GMT
I recently purchased a first edition of CB Fry's 1939 autobiography Life Worth Living (an absolute bargain at £10 plus p&p).
It's a hugely entertaining read, and Fry's stories about Grace , Ranji, McLaren and Trumper are wonderful.
Then we come to Chapter XVIII, titled 'Adolf Hitler', in which he gushes with unbridled enthusiasm about the Fuehrer and Fascism.
When he meets Hitler, he proudly boasts that he returned the N a z i salute and praises him as "a Unitarian prophet of German resurgence with the drive and fire of Mahomet", lauds his "innate dignity" and describes the most monstrous mass murderer of the 20th century as "this great man".
They met in 1934, but even when Fry the Fascist wrote the book in 1939 on the eve of war, he was still insisting that he had "no reason to withdraw" his words of praise. He even called for Britain to establish a movement for young people linked to the Hitler Youth, an admirable organisation which , he wrote, had "a distinct point of superiority" over Britain's Boy Scouts.
What was it about Sussex CCC in those days that made it such a haven for these evil, obnoxious fascists? Until 2010 we had a stand at the county ground named after one of the vermin, Arthur Gilligan, who once wrote an article entitled The Spirit of Fascism and Cricket Tours, and was considered such a fanatical extremist that the Australian secret service felt the need to spy on him.
In the interest of historical accuracy perhaps the Hove cricket museum should have a new exhibit, titled 'Sussex Cricket's ugly fascination with N a z i s m and anti-semitism' ?
It's a hugely entertaining read, and Fry's stories about Grace , Ranji, McLaren and Trumper are wonderful.
Then we come to Chapter XVIII, titled 'Adolf Hitler', in which he gushes with unbridled enthusiasm about the Fuehrer and Fascism.
When he meets Hitler, he proudly boasts that he returned the N a z i salute and praises him as "a Unitarian prophet of German resurgence with the drive and fire of Mahomet", lauds his "innate dignity" and describes the most monstrous mass murderer of the 20th century as "this great man".
They met in 1934, but even when Fry the Fascist wrote the book in 1939 on the eve of war, he was still insisting that he had "no reason to withdraw" his words of praise. He even called for Britain to establish a movement for young people linked to the Hitler Youth, an admirable organisation which , he wrote, had "a distinct point of superiority" over Britain's Boy Scouts.
What was it about Sussex CCC in those days that made it such a haven for these evil, obnoxious fascists? Until 2010 we had a stand at the county ground named after one of the vermin, Arthur Gilligan, who once wrote an article entitled The Spirit of Fascism and Cricket Tours, and was considered such a fanatical extremist that the Australian secret service felt the need to spy on him.
In the interest of historical accuracy perhaps the Hove cricket museum should have a new exhibit, titled 'Sussex Cricket's ugly fascination with N a z i s m and anti-semitism' ?
