George VI and the Most Noble Order of the Crusaders

One of the little known secret societies which sprung up in the 1920's in England was the Most Noble Order of the Crusaders, which was founded by a Colonel Walter Faber in 1921. Apart from the ruling council, the membership was secret and initates like freemasons identified each other by secret sign and symbols. One of the leading lights of the Crusaders was it's patron the Duke of York who attended the Sacred Ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Westminster Abbey on November 28th  1923.

The group shared the Duke's agenda of Class unity but it also had many fascist overtones and was strongly anti-communist and anti-trade union. Led by the Pro-Grand Master Colonel Faber who also initiated an annual eve of Derby fundraising dinner for the Conservative Party at the same time which was taken up by Maundy Gregory at his death in 1928. The group was designed to unite ex-servicemen on a 10th Crusade against the forces of evil which would be extinguished in a holy fire. The Order held services in Priory Churches in London, Temple, St Bartholomews, Southwark and set up groups across the Empire before affiliating with the Royal Society for St George and disappearing in 1941.  A very strange and odd secret society with a membership which included the Grand Scribe Arthur Paterson - author of  The Strike Weapon,  Grand Master Sir Archibald Boyd-Carpenter (Conservative Minister and MP 1918-37)   Grand Seneschal Major TH Hague, Grand Keeper of the Records General Sir Edward Bethune, Grand Keeper of the Chest  Colonel John Josselyn, Grand Custodian Captain Gee (Conservative Candidate for Newcastle East in 1923), and Grand Abbot Reverend F Murray Tapply of Twickenham.

 Featured in many pathe newsreels of the time and did a lot of charity work amongst other things...
Interestingly in June 1923, Walter Faber started his Annual Eve of Derby Dinners among his first guests to be invited to the Naval and Military Club on June 5th 1923 included: Major Oscar N Solbert (US Military Attache), Duke of Northumberland (founder of the Anti-Semitic Patriot and Owner of the Morning Post), Lord Younger (Tory Treasurer), Sir Reginald "Blinker" Hall, General Sir Edward Bethune (Grand Master of the Crusaders), Geoffrey Dawson (Times Editor and Cliveden Set), Captain Drummond (Presumably George Drummond of Drummonds Bank) Commander Greig (Wing Commander Sir Louis Greig) HA Gwynne (Editor of Observer) General Seeley (later Lord Mottistone)  and Sir Charles Wakefield (later Lord Wakefield - who was a member of the Duke of York's Industrial Welfare Society and had an official  representative of the merged St George/Crusaders at his funeral in 1941.
By the 1927 Faber Derby Dinner - J Maundy Gregory, JCC Davidson, Lord Mount-Temple, General Horwood and others were in attendance.