Eric Campbell, (11 April 1893 – 2 September 1970) was an Australian army officer and later a solicitor who was the leader of the far-right organisation, the New Guard in New South Wales.
Campbell had a distinguished career during World War I, serving as a major in artillery batteries on the Western Front. In Sydney in 1919 Campbell was admitted as a solicitor. He remained attached to the militia for about six years after returning from the war. In 1925 Campbell and another ex-A.I.F. officer organised a group of about five hundred men to provide extra-official support to the federal government to control anticipated unionist protests, in support of the government's efforts to deport two union leaders.
Campbell established a successful practice as a solicitor in Sydney. After the onset of the Great Depression and the election of the Labor government of Jack Lang in New South Wales he became involved with a clandestine ultra-conservative movement (later known as the Old Guard). In February 1931 Campbell formed a militant breakaway organisation called the New Guard, which actively opposed the Lang government, the Communist party and left-wing unions. The New Guard reached a peak membership of about sixty thousand by 1932, assisted by military-style recruiting methods and locally based units and organisers, co-ordinated by a centralised command structure. From January to August 1933 Campbell toured Europe, establishing contacts with British, German and Italian fascist groups. After returning to Australia he introduced fascist salutes and ceremonial trappings to New Guard meetings. These changes and Campbell's public expressions of admiration for Hitler and Mussolini, coincided with a rapid decrease in membership of the New Guard during 1933 (a process that had commenced after Lang's dismissal in May 1932).
As the membership of the New Guard declined, Campbell shifted focus to politics by the end of 1933, forming the Centre Party, a political party with the ambition to destroy the party system. The party failed to make any headway at the 1935 election in New South Wales and afterwards effectively ceased to exist. Campbell began to withdraw from public life and returned to his home town of Young in 1941. In 1945 he unsuccessfully sought selection as the Country Party candidate for the federal electorate of Hume.
Campbell's book The Rallying Point was published in 1965, detailing his version of the establishment of the New Guard. He died in Canberra in 1970.
Biography Early life Eric Campbell was born on 11 April 1893 at Young, in the South Western Slopes region of New South Wales, the youngest child of Allan Campbell and Florence (née Russell).Family records, per Ancestry.com. His father was a local solicitor.Mr. Allan Campbell, Sydney Morning Herald, 20 May 1933, page 17. Eric had three older brothers. He was educated privately after which Campbell worked as an articled law clerk in his father's office.Keith Amos (1979), Eric Campbell (1893–1970), Australian Dictionary of Biography website, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University; accessed 15 October 2023.
Campbell was a sergeant in the New South Wales Senior Cadets. He travelled to England as a member of the New South Wales Coronation Cadet Contingent to march in the coronation parade of George V and his wife Mary in June 1911.New Guard's founder dies, Canberra Times, 4 September 1970, page 10. During their time in England the contingent was inspected by the king. In a letter referring to the inspection, published in Sydney's Evening News, Campbell wrote: "He asked me several questions when inspecting, I being the only cadet he addressed in the contingent".Seeing England: Letter From Coronation Cadet, Evening News (Sydney), 10 August 1911, page 6.
From late in 1913 Campbell served in the volunteer Australian Field Artillery.World War I service record: In January 1914 he was provisionally appointed as a lieutenant in the Field Artillery.Military Forces of the Commonwealth, Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, 7 February 1914 (Issue No. 8), page 191.
War service
Eric Campbell enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F.) at Young on 1 April 1916 and was placed in the 27th Battery of the 7th Field Artillery Brigade. He was immediately promoted to captain in recognition of his service in the volunteer Field Artillery. In May he departed from Sydney aboard the troopship HMAT . On 29 December 1916 Campbell crossed from England to France to join the fighting on the Western Front. In July 1917 he was transferred to the 12th Australian (Army) Field Artillery Brigade; he was promoted to major and placed in charge of the 46th Battery. In November 1917 Campbell suffered from gas poisoning and was transferred to a hospital in London. He was discharged the following January and returned to the front line in February 1918.
In April 1918 Campbell was gassed for the second time at Robecq in northern France, but remained on duty.Personal, Leader (Orange), 29 May 1918, page 4. His battery was involved in fighting at Strazeele during June and the Somme from early August until the cessation of hostilities in November 1918.
Campbell was awarded the Distinguished Service Order on 31 December 1918. In late February 1919 he left England for Australia aboard the S.S. Anchises, arriving in Sydney on 18 April 1919.Returned Soldiers, Sydney Morning Herald, 19 April 1919, page 12. Campbell was discharged from the A.I.F. in June 1919.
Post-war
In Sydney Campbell completed his legal studies and was admitted as a solicitor on 29 August 1919. From 1920 to August 1926 he worked as a solicitor in a partnership with Septimus G. Rowe, with offices in Pitt Street, Sydney.Legal Notices, Sydney Morning Herald, 5 October 1920, page 3. Campbell maintained a connection with the military during this period, as a major in the militia commanding the 9th Field Artillery Brigade at the Holsworthy Base in south-west Sydney.An Explanation and an Apology, Labor Daily (Sydney), 9 October 1924, page 4.
On 27 May 1924 the Labor Daily newspaper published an article about a young man named Harold Wallace who died of pneumonia at Sydney Hospital on 19 May. Nine weeks before his death Wallace had been undergoing military training at Holsworthy camp where he was subjected to a punishment by being forcibly held beneath a cold shower in the middle of the night for thirty-five minutes. The father of the young man was pressing for an inquiry into the incident which, he claimed, contributed to his son's death. The article concluded with the statement: "In this particular case the commanding officers were Major Rickard and Campbell, and there was little doubt that they or the officers beneath them showed criminal neglect of duty".Boy Held Beneath Cold Shower for 35 Minutes, Labor Daily (Sydney), 27 May 1924, page 5. Two days after the article appeared Eric Campbell issued a writ out of the New South Wales Supreme Court for three thousand pounds damages against the newspaper.Major Campbell, D.S.O., The Sun (Sydney), 29 May 1924, page 10. In October 1924 an apology was published in the Labor Daily explaining that Majors Rickard and Campbell were not in camp when "the incident was alleged to have taken place", nor was the trainee in any unit commanded by either of the officers.
On 22 October 1924 Campbell married Nancy Emma Browne at the bride's family home at 'Memagong' station near Young.Weddings, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 November 1924, page 8. The couple lived at 'Boongala', a grand Federation house, located on Ku-ring-gai Avenue in the upper North Shore suburb of Turramurra.Family Notices, Sydney Morning Herald, 22 August 1925, page 14. Eric and Nancy Campbell had five children born between 1925 and 1938 (including twin girls who died at birth in 1934).
By December 1924 Campbell had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the militia.Rifle Shooting, Sydney Morning Herald, 30 December 1924, page 4. In 1924 and 1925 Campbell served as a part-time General Service Officer (GSO) to Major-General Charles ('Digger') Brand, the District Commandant at Victoria Barracks.Eric Campbell (1965), page 101.
Campbell had an active social life and was a member of a number of clubs, including the Imperial Service Club, with a membership of ex-military officers, and the exclusive Union Club.Imperial Service Club, Sydney Morning Herald, 15 February 1923, page 10.One Party, But Good One!: Union Club Day for Ladies, Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 10 October 1929, page 25. He was an avid golfer and was a member of Royal Sydney and Killara golf clubs. Campbell was a Freemason and a member of the Sydney Rotary Club.
X Force During the post-war period the Australian Seamen's Union had developed a reputation for militancy in its efforts to achieve better working conditions. From January 1925 the union was engaged in a dispute with ship-owners over the right to select crews. A series of strikes ensued over the 'job control' issue, with the ship-owners making attempts to have the union deregistered through the Commonwealth Arbitration Court. A general seamen's strike in June and July caused considerable disruption, with many conservative politicians blaming communists and foreign agitators for the disturbances. Attention focussed on Tom Walsh and Jacob Johnson, the president and secretary of the Seamen's Union, both of whom were born overseas.David Carment (1977), 'Sir Littleton Groom and the Deportation Crisis of 1925: A Study of Non-Labor Response to Trade Union Militancy', Labour History, No. 32 (May 1977), page 46.
On 30 May 1925 the Labor Party, led by Jack Lang, gained power in New South Wales after a two-seat victory in the state general election. Lang became premier and treasurer in the new Labor government.Bede Nairn (1983), John Thomas (Jack) Lang (1876–1975), Australian Dictionary of Biography website, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University; accessed 17 October 2023.The Hon. John Thomas Lang (1876–1975), Parliament of New South Wales website; accessed 17 October 2023.