Henry Lawrence Bernstein. Australia's own home grown "Jekyll and Hyde" or its "Walter Mitty" Part II 1926-1943

Journal article

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In Journal Issue

Australian Jewish Historical Society Journal, 24, 4 (2020)

Author(s) Russell Stern AbstractHenry Lawrence Bernstein was born in Melbourne in 1872. After his father died in 1884, Henry left home, and went to sea. In 1891 he was a member of the Cape Colony Convict Guard which oversaw the government-supplied mine labourers who were mostly natives. In 1893 he fought alongside Commandant Raaff in Matabeleland to overcome 'King' Lobengula. By 1895 he was a Jameson Raider. An expert in Maxim Machine Guns, he was sent to assist on the Niger River. Then he went to Brazil in 1900 and later to Bolivia to utilise his knowledge of machine guns. He claimed he was an emissary for Bolivia to gain Japanese migrants. Back in South America, he was in Chile during the Valparaiso earthquake of 1906. By 1910 he was a theatrical illusionist in Britain. He became associated with Britain's Foreign Intelligence Network but was arrested in 1914 for suspected anti-British activity. Released, he was taken into Britain's Security Service. He became a rogue in the view of Scotland Yard. This section examines his activity after 1926 and his trips to Bolivia. It then looks at his actions in the 1930s leading to his notoriety and then denouncement by Anthony Eden in a speech
Year2020
Pages661-698
Keyword(s)Biography; Military History; Comintern; Dum-Dum Bullets; Abyssinia; Illusionist