Leo Amery
Toronto Daily Star, August 19 1929
Here's a photo of a man who was about to attempt to climb a mountain that was named after him:
Leo Amery (1873-1955), also known as L. S. Amery, was a Conservative politician best known for being opposed to Neville Chamberlain's policy of appeasement of Nazi Germany. After a number of early setbacks at the start of the war, Amery called for Chamberlain's ouster, quoting Oliver Cromwell: "You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!"
Before the war, Amery was First Lord of the Admiralty from 1922 to 1924 and was Colonial Secretary from 1924 to 1929. I saw nothing that indicated that he was ever a colonel; I assume that the Daily Star confused "colonel" with "colonial".
Amery's first-born son, John Amery, was a Nazi sympathizer who was hanged for treason at the end of the Second World War. As a result, his father amended his entry in Who's Who to indicate that he had only one son, not two, and wrote this epitaph for him:
At end of wayward days he found a cause –
'Twas not his Country's – Only time can tell
If that defiance of our ancient laws
Was treason or foreknowledge. He sleeps well.
Mount Amery is a 3,329 metre peak located in the Canadian Rockies. Leo Amery, who was an enthusiastic climber, was part of a party of three who, indeed, became the first to climb it.
Created September 25, 2025.