New Guard

The New Guard was a paramilitary organisation that existed in Australia in the 1930s[1]. Though it had some members from other parts of Australia, its membership and support base was predominantly confined to the State of New South Wales and its capital city, Sydney.

They are often described as a fascist organisation by critics, particularly on the Australian left.[2], [3].

The New Guard was founded in Sydney in February, 1931 by a group of concerned citizens one of whom was Col. Eric Campbell, a First World War veteran who was asked to act as leader. Membership application forms set out the principles that the New Guard adhered to[4]:

• Loyalty to the British Throne and support for the British Empire
• Sane and honourable government in Australia
• Suppression of disloyal/immoral elements in government, industry and society
• Abolition of machine politics
• Maintaining individual liberty

Historical context

The stated ideology of the New Guard can be seen as a response to a perceived communist threat, given that one of the criticisms that was made of communism was that it took away individual freedom and was therefore antithetical to democracy. In the international context of the 1920s and 1930s, Stalin's rise to power in Russia was seen by critics of communism as further evidence of its dangers.

In addition, many First World War veterans had viewed the Russian Bolshevik armistice and treaty with Germany as a betrayal. It broke the 4 September 1914 agreement between the Entente powers not to conclude a separate peace with Germany or Austria-Hungary. Such revolution also went against the notion that subjects should remain loyal to their rulers. In any case, the agreement took Russia out of the war and allowed Germany to reallocate troops from the eastern front to the western front, making life more difficult for Australian troops. Anger over Russia's withdrawal led the other Entente members to carry out a small invasion of Russia in support of the Tsarists.

The 1930s was also the decade of the Great Depression. This caused extreme hardship around the world. Financial hardship in Australia meant that the possibility of popular uprisings did not seem so distant and remote. The name New Guard then, suggests not only the idea of guarding a set of values, but also physically guarding the community, if necessary, against revolution. There is certainly some irony in this, given that the organisation went on to plot the forcible removal of Premier Jack Lang from office.

New Guard and Jack Lang

International communism may have been seen by the New Guard as a potential threat. However, in New South Wales, Jack Lang's Labor government, which was elected in October, 1930, posed a more immediate problem. Many of the reform policies that Lang introduced during his term were not welcomed by the New Guard. In particular, his administration sought to default on foreign debt repayments at the height of the Great Depression. Much of the debt was owed to financial institutions in England. This step was therefore regarded as treasonous and disloyal to Britain.

The New Guard also sought to oppose the doctrines and activities of Communists in Australia. However, once Lang and the Labor Party were defeated in the elections of 11 June 1932, the New Guard lost its momentum.

Membership and activities

While the New Guard began as a relatively peaceful outfit that used lawful means to advance its objectives, its platform was immediately popular with many First World War officers and veterans, and others with traditionalist beliefs and attitudes. The organisation's activities quickly descended into thuggery and street violence in a reaction to the Australian Labor Party and the Communist Party of Australia.

The New Guard was reputed to have over 50,000 members within Sydney alone (which had a population of 1.2 million at the time), and its membership was organised along strict military lines with ranks, divisions, drill parades and a large private arsenal. It achieved its greatest fame when a member, Captain Francis de Groot, an Irish-born veteran of the First World War and furniture maker, snuck into the official ceremonial parade on horseback at the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in his old 15th Hussars uniform and slashed the opening ribbon with a cavalry sword before Premier Jack Lang had the chance. De Groot declared the bridge open "in the name of the loyal and decent people of New South Wales", and was promptly arrested by a NSW State Police officer and taken to a mental asylum for examination. The ribbon was hastily re-tied and duly cut by Jack Lang.

Attempted kidnapping and civil unrest

Less well known than De Groot's exploits on the Harbour Bridge are the attempts to kidnap Jack Lang while he was being chauffeured home along the Parramatta Road from his Parliament House office at night. This attempt was foiled because Lang had switched to a cheaper, older car and driven himself home. The plan had been to detain Lang in an unused gaol at Berrima, a village approximately 100km south-west of Sydney, stage a coup d'état and place NSW under martial law.

On the evening of the dismissal of Jack Lang by Governor Sir Philip Game on 13 May 1932, a brigade of several hundred men of the New Guard were stationed in the basement of a department store building several hundred metres from Parliament House. They had threatened to march upon Parliament House and stage another coup attempt if he did not resign before seven o'clock. Lang was sacked at six o'clock. A civil war may well have ensued had they attempted the coup, as important government buildings throughout the city of Sydney were being guarded by members of the Australian Labor Army and the New South Wales Police (legally responsible to the Crown through Governor Game, but allegedly loyal to Lang's ministers). Certain Army officers, loyal to the Federal Government, were also members of the New Guard and might have been expected to bring out their troops in support of a coup.

Decline

After Lang's dismissal and subsequent electoral defeats, the New Guard waned in popularity, though they remained active right up until the start of the Second World War. Many of its members went on to help found the Australian League of Rights after WWII, which retains a small membership to this day.

Further reading

• The Secret Army And The Premier (ISBN 0-86840-283-4). This book describes in detail the attempted coup on the night that John Lang was relieved of his commission of Premier of New South Wales