During the Second World War, the British Government introduced Regulation 18B which suspended the right of Habeas Corpus. This new Regulation allowed British citizens to be imprisoned without charge, trial or judicial review if the Home Secretary considered that their continued liberty was not in the national interest during time of war. The main detentions occurred in two phases, September 1939 and May and June 1940. A large number of the 18B orders were directed against members of the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists. It appears that the Home Office did not maintain a complete list of detained citizens.
The creation of the British Union Regulation 18B Detainees List originated in the work of Professor Bryan Simpson who published a study of Regulation 18B in 1992 entitled 'In the Highest Degree Odious'. After publication, he passed over his working list of names to John Warburton and Jeffrey Walder, both of whom had assisted Professor Simpson with his research. Warburton had begun compiling names of former British Union detainees since the early 1980s, based on the testament of survivors and other document. Warburton and Wallder decided to produce their own list of names of those British citizens who were detained under the regulation and who were, or had been, members of the British Union of Fascists, resulting in the original issue of the Regulation 18B British Union Detainees List. This was produced in May 1997 from many sources and it contained the names of about 750 individuals. This list was replaced in May 2001 by a second issue which included the names of newly discovered British Union detainees. As a result of Freedom of Information legislation which became effective in January 2005, a large number of further detainees have been discovered from newly released Home Office, MI5 and other files. This resulted in a supplementary list of new names as an 'Addition to the Second Issue' in 2005 and then a 'Second Addition to the Second Issue' following the release of further MI5 files.
John Warburton (1919-2004) was an Assistant District Leader of the British Union but was never detained. By 1940 he was serving in the Royal Surrey Regiment and after discharge from the Army on medical grounds, he began a career as a wartime press photographer.
Source: Information contained in the introductions to the lists and additional information provided by the author
