William Joyce

William Joyce Historical Figure Nationality: United States; Germany (from 1940) (Long-time resident of the United Kingdom, but never had British nationality) Year of Birth: 1906 Year of Death: 1946 Cause of Death: Execution by hanging Religion: Catholicism Occupation: Soldier, Politician, Broadcaster Parents: Michael Joyce; Gertrude Brooke Spouse: Hazel Barr (divorced 1937); Margaret Cairns White Children: Two Military Branch: British Army (Irish War of Independence) Political Party: British Union of Fascists Fictional Appearances: "The Last Article" POD: c. 1940 Type of Appearance: Direct (via radio) The War That Came Early POD: July 20, 1936; Relevant POD: September 29, 1938 Appearance(s): The Big Switch; Last Orders Type of Appearance: Contemporary references

William Brooke Joyce (24 April 1906 - 3 January 1946) was an American-born member of the British Union of Fascists, who broadcast Nazi propaganda on the radio to the United Kingdom during World War II. He was executed for treason after the war by the British government. Technically, this charge was false, as he was never a British national, although he used a forged British passport at times.

Joyce and a few similar broadcasters were known collectively as Lord Haw-Haw. Joyce is the person most closely associated with the name.

William Joyce in "The Last Article"

William Joyce became a news broadcaster for Germany after Britain fell in 1941. In 1947, he read a statement from Reichminister Reinhard Heydrich praising Walther Model for his handling of Indian dissidents. Mohandas Gandhi had assumed, incorrectly, that Model would be censured for ordering the Qutb Road Massacre.

As Jawaharlal Nehru reminded Gandhi, the British had referred to him as Lord Haw-Haw prior to their defeat at the hands of the Nazis.

William Joyce in The War That Came Early

During the first phase of the Second World War, William Joyce settled in Nazi Germany and began broadcasting English language propaganda to Britain under the guise of Lord Haw-Haw. After the "big switch" of 1940, Joyce began broadcasting variations on the theme of I told you so.

In 1943, with Britain and France opposing Germany once more, a series of anti-Nazi uprisings arose within Germany. Lord Haw-Haw downplayed this inconvenient fact, stating that the German people remained united behind Adolf Hitler.

See also

• Tokyo Rose, an informal group name for similar broadcasters in Japanese employ.