Harold Sherwood Spencer

Harold Sherwood Spencer (April 12, 1890 – August 26, 1957), also known as Howland Spencer, was an American writer and anti-homosexuality and antisemitic activist during and after World War I. He was closely associated with Noel Pemberton Billing and Lord Alfred Douglas. Early life Harold Spencer was born in Wisconsin in 1890, the son of Helene Sherwood and attorney Albert Manford Spencer. He studied at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, where he was known for his active cultural interests. He resigned from the Naval Academy in December 1910 to take a position with the British consular service. Shortly after leaving he married a countess who was nearly twice his age, earning him the press nickname "boy bridegroom". The relationship was short lived: after a "stormy encounter in a New York hotel", the couple separated. He subsequently travelled widely with the rank of midshipman, and worked occasionally as a war correspondent. He volunteered to serve in the British Army during World War I. On 18 September 1915, he was commissioned into the Royal Irish Fusiliers as a second lieutenant (on probation). He rose to the rank of captain, and was awarded the Order of the White Eagle (5th class) by the King of Serbia. He served on three fronts and became involved with the British Secret Service. However, his increasing obsession with the idea that the Germans were conspiring to sexually corrupt British civilians led to his being invalided out of the army on grounds of mental instability, diagnosed with "paranoid delusional insanity". He relinquished his commission on the grounds of ill health on 16 October 1917, and was granted the honorary rank of captain. Writings