On this day: Lord Haw-Haw sentenced to death

William Joyce, known by the moniker Lord Haw-Haw, grew to notoriety for his virulently antisemitic radio broadcasts during the Holocaust.

Having fled Britain in 1939 in order to avoid imprisonment for his links with Oswald Mosley’s fascists, he became the Nazi radio broadcaster, transmitting messages urging for Britain to surrender and blaming the war on the Jews.

The name “Haw-Haw” was coined by a Daily Express journalist. In April 1945 he made his final broadcast, and was captured at the end of the war in Europe.

During a three-day trial at the Old Bailey he was found guilty of high treason on the legal technicality of having fraudulently obtained a British passport by claiming to be an Irish, rather than American, citizen.