Lord Haw Haw
The American Traitor
“Germany calling, Germany calling” is the phrase that made William Joyce
AKA Lord Haw Haw legendary…But were they the words of a wartime traitor?
This remarkable 80-minute special re-examines the controversial case of William Joyce…the last person to be tried for High Treason in Britain. Featuring exclusive interviews, unseen archive and dramatic reconstructions the docudrama investigates the life of the man who famously broadcast Nazi propaganda from Berlin daily to the UK. By looking at the facts of the case and new evidence that has come to light we ask whether Joyce should have been hanged for treason against the British King…and whether he was in fact British at all? Lastly the question is asked… what role did the American Government play in the execution of the man who claimed US citizenship until his death?
80 minute docufiction © Carolco Samuel Goldwyn Studios Eagle Lion Films a division of OPC Global News and Media Corporation 2011
In Defence of Lord Haw Haw
Format
The story is told through a series of extraordinary interviews supported by a factual narrator. Archive plays an important part in conveying the story combined with stylishly shot dramatic reconstructions highlighting the key moments of the story.
A New Revelation
For the first time on television, we tell the story of William Joyce from the American perspective. Born in Brooklyn on 24th April 1906 he grew up to be one of the most controversial figures in World War Two. During his trial in 1945 it was argued that Joyce could not have betrayed the British Crown through his Nazi radio broadcasts…because he was not a British citizen. But his pleas of American citizenship went unheard, and he was found guilty because he had lied about his nationality ten years previously to gain a British passport. Now, nearly 70 years later we scrutinise the evidence and ask was this an unjust execution of an American citizen or did he simply get what he deserved?
Exclusive Interviews
Heather Joyce - Daughter
Heather is Joyce’s daughter from his first marriage and speaks exclusively about the life of her father. She talks about whether he was actually a traitor and how she has grown up under the shadow of Lord Haw Haw.
“On the last page of his last letter on the morning he died he made it clear that he was dying for an ideal. Even if Hitler had a mistaken ideal, he admired anyone who was idealistic. But he did admit that Hitler had wanted too much…”
Heather Joyce passed away 8 July 2022 aged 93 may she RIP.
Giovanni Di Stefano – Lawyer & Lord Haw Haw Expert
In the UK Giovanni Di Stefano is leading an appeal against the conviction of William Joyce. He has studied the case in depth and has found evidence not just to prove Joyce’s US citizenship but also potential links with the British Secret Service MI6.
“This case is about betrayal not treason. William Joyce was betrayed by those he worked for and trusted. It is an injustice that cannot be allowed to stand. It is why I have disclosed the true position. Silence was no longer an option.” Other interviewees include historians, World War Two specialists and legal experts. Each gives their own unique perspective on events and together builds a complete picture of the story.
Unseen Archives
In this exclusive docudrama Joyce’s daughter Heather reveals a series of letters he wrote to his second wife as the war came to an end. These give a genuine insight into the man who was known for his sarcastic, jeering, and menacing tone urging the British people to surrender. Alongside this we hear excerpts of the radio broadcasts supported by incredible archive footage of Britain and Germany during World War Two.
The Incredible Story of William Joyce
William was born in Brooklyn, New York to an English Protestant mother and an Irish Catholic father in April 1906. Both were naturalised American citizens. Only a few years later they moved back to Galway in Ireland where Joyce spent his formative years. Although Catholics the Joyce family were staunch unionists and openly supported British rule. Teenage William was vocal and became a target of the IRA surviving an assassination attempt at just sixteen years old.
Soon after he enrolled at Birkbeck College at the University of London where his politics developed, and he found a new interest in fascism. 1n 1924 while stewarding a Conservative Party meeting in Battersea, Joyce was attacked by a gang in an alleyway and received a deep cut from a razor across his right cheek. He spent two weeks in hospital and was convinced that his attackers were Jewish communists. This scarred him for life both physically and mentally.
In 1932 Joyce joined Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists. He soon became Director of Propaganda and then Deputy Leader. Joyce was a rising star of British Fascism and moved the party towards overt anti-Semitism against Mosley’s better judgement. During this time working with the BUF, in 1935, Joyce lied about his nationality to gain a British passport so he could travel abroad with Mosley. This proved a fatal mistake that ten years later he would come to regret…and cost him his life. As Nazism spread across Germany and Hitler’s power was felt across Europe membership numbers of the BUF fell in Britain. This resulted in Joyce being sacked by Mosley in 1937.
In August 1939 shortly before war was declared Joyce was tipped off that he was about to be arrested so fled to Germany with his wife Margaret. At first, he struggled to find employment until he met fellow Mosley supporter Dorothy Eckersley. She recruited him to write and announce radio broadcasts on Germany’s English radio service in Berlin.
In Britain the voice of German propaganda had become known as Lord Haw Haw and Joyce took on this mantle. It is thought that 60% of people in Britain tuned into the Lord Haw Haw broadcasts every night after the BBC finished. Although Joyce appeared to be at the heart of the Nazi establishment questions remain on how close he actually got to Hitler’s inner circle – or whether he even met the man himself.
By 1945 Joyce and his wife had moved to Hamburg. On the day Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide Joyce made his last broadcast… he was drunk, and his slurring voice accentuated his normally hidden Irish accent. Shortly after Joyce was captured by two allied soldiers while trying to flee the country and arrested for being a traitor. They shot him four times in the buttocks.
He was hanged by famous executioner Albert Pierrepoint on 3rd January 1946 and then buried within Wandsworth Prison walls in an unmarked grave.
He was returned to the UK and his trial began in September 1945 and for a short period of time when his American nationality came to light it seemed he might be acquitted. The argument of his defence was – How can anyone be convicted of betraying a country that was not his own? However, the Attorney General argues that Joyce’s possession of a British passport entitled him to diplomatic protection in Germany and therefore he owed allegiance to the King at the time he started working for the Germans. Even though Joyce had lied to gain the British passport back in 1935. It was on this technicality that Joyce was convicted of treason on 19th September 1945. The penalty was death…
Designed and compiled by Caroline A Bayford – email cabopcprojects@gmail.com