John Macnamara
Encyclopedia
Colonel John Robert Jermain Macnamara (11 October 1905 – 22 December 1944) was a British Conservative Party
politician and British Army
officer who was killed in Italy during the Second World War.
Nacnamara was educated at Haileybury
where he was a member of the Officer Training Corps.
He was the unsuccessful Conservative candidate at the May 1934 by-election in the Upton constituency
in West Ham
, and at the 1935 general election
Macnamara was elected as Member of Parliament
(MP) for Chelmsford
. He was also joint secretary, with the Liberal MP Wilfrid Roberts
, of the Basque Children's Committee.
On 11 January 1924 he joined the Territorial Army as a second lieutenant
in the 3/London Regiment
. He later commanded 1st London Irish Rifles, a Territorial Army battalion of The Royal Ulster Rifles and was subsequently promoted to the rank of Colonel. In December 1944 Macnamara was visiting Italy and was with 1st London Irish who were moving into the Senio Line to relieve a Gurkha battalion. Colonel Macnamara was watching men of the Battalion move up to the line in company with Major M. V. S. Boswell when a sudden German mortar bombardment fell on the area. Macnamara and Lieutenant J. Prosser MC were killed and Major Boswell was wounded. Jack Macnamara was laid to rest in Forli War Cemetery
Guy Burgess was one of his close collaborators : Burgess "In 1935, became the parliamentary assistant of a homosexual young deputy of the far Right, Jack Macnamara, a member of the Anglo-German Fellowship, an association for Nazi sympathizers. Burgess gained the confidence of MacNamara and they organized a series of sex tourist trips abroad, especially to Germany where Macnamara had ties within the Hitler Youth. Burgess managed to be in touch with a number of highly placed homosexuals, like Edouard Pfeiffer, the chief private secretary of Edouard Daladier, War Minister, an agent of the 2nd Office and of MI6. Macnamara and Burgess were invited on several occasions to pleasure parties at Pfeiffer's or to Parisian nightclubs."
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician and British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officer who was killed in Italy during the Second World War.
Nacnamara was educated at Haileybury
Haileybury and Imperial Service College
Haileybury and Imperial Service College, , is a prestigious British independent school founded in 1862. The school is located at Hertford Heath, near Hertford, from central London, on of parkland occupied until 1858 by the East India College...
where he was a member of the Officer Training Corps.
He was the unsuccessful Conservative candidate at the May 1934 by-election in the Upton constituency
Upton (UK Parliament constituency)
Upton was a parliamentary constituency in the Borough of West Ham in the South-West of Essex , which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.The constituency was created for the 1918...
in West Ham
West Ham
West Ham is in the London Borough of Newham in London, England. In the west it is a post-industrial neighbourhood abutting the site of the London Olympic Park and in the east it is mostly residential, consisting of Victorian terraced housing interspersed with higher density post-War social housing...
, and at the 1935 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1935
The United Kingdom general election held on 14 November 1935 resulted in a large, though reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Conservative Stanley Baldwin. The greatest number of MPs, as before, were Conservative, while the National Liberal vote held steady...
Macnamara was elected as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Chelmsford
Chelmsford (UK Parliament constituency)
Chelmsford is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From the 2010 general election it has elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
. He was also joint secretary, with the Liberal MP Wilfrid Roberts
Wilfrid Roberts
Wilfrid Hubert Wace Roberts was a British Liberal Party politician who later joined the Labour Party.-Early life:...
, of the Basque Children's Committee.
On 11 January 1924 he joined the Territorial Army as a second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
in the 3/London Regiment
London Regiment
The London Regiment is a Territorial Army regiment in the British Army. It was first formed in 1908 in order to regiment the various Volunteer Force battalions in the newly formed County of London, each battalion having a distinctive uniform. The Volunteer Force was merged with the Yeomanry in 1908...
. He later commanded 1st London Irish Rifles, a Territorial Army battalion of The Royal Ulster Rifles and was subsequently promoted to the rank of Colonel. In December 1944 Macnamara was visiting Italy and was with 1st London Irish who were moving into the Senio Line to relieve a Gurkha battalion. Colonel Macnamara was watching men of the Battalion move up to the line in company with Major M. V. S. Boswell when a sudden German mortar bombardment fell on the area. Macnamara and Lieutenant J. Prosser MC were killed and Major Boswell was wounded. Jack Macnamara was laid to rest in Forli War Cemetery
Guy Burgess was one of his close collaborators : Burgess "In 1935, became the parliamentary assistant of a homosexual young deputy of the far Right, Jack Macnamara, a member of the Anglo-German Fellowship, an association for Nazi sympathizers. Burgess gained the confidence of MacNamara and they organized a series of sex tourist trips abroad, especially to Germany where Macnamara had ties within the Hitler Youth. Burgess managed to be in touch with a number of highly placed homosexuals, like Edouard Pfeiffer, the chief private secretary of Edouard Daladier, War Minister, an agent of the 2nd Office and of MI6. Macnamara and Burgess were invited on several occasions to pleasure parties at Pfeiffer's or to Parisian nightclubs."