During this period Torquay also encountered political developments. In 1926, the former Liberal MP for Chertsey Francis John Marnham served a one-year term as Mayor of Torquay; it was one of the rare occasions when the Town Council selected a chief magistrate from outside its own members. A few years later, Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists attempted to move into the region following great success in the city of Plymouth where the Union had upwards of 1,500 members in 1933, and Mosley spoke to packed meetings in Plymouth's Guildhall and the Drill Hall in Millbay to great acclaim. However, the Torquay branch of the Fascists never took off to the same extent and at its peak in 1933 only had 34 members. By 1935 it had been absorbed back into the Plymouth branch. An odd coincidence with the growth of the fascist party in Torquay, was the presence of A.K. Chesterton as editor of the Torquay Times. Chesterton played a prominent role in far right-wing British politics over the next three decades, founding the League of Empire Loyalists and co-founding the National Front which is still active in modern times and he was a prominent figure in the Fascist Union before a schism with Mosley and his departure in 1938. However, during the period of Fascist activity in the resort Chesterton had already departed for London and appears to have played little part in the fascist attempt to cultivate support in the town. World War II 1939 Although training in 'air-raid precautions' started as early as 1935, recruiting only began in earnest in January 1939. Wardens were recruited and every house in the town was visited, with between 20,000 and 30,000 civilian gas respirators fitted. In March the Torbay ARP Committee purchased Upton Primary School as headquarters for the Torbay Area at a cost of £3,350. Trained volunteers totalled 2,033 and there were then on order 2,200 sandbags, 200 suits of clothing, 69,000 respirators and 140 steel helmets with 'the Home Office waiting for an address to send them to'. On 1 September, two days before war was declared, permanent 'Wardens' Posts' were established and sand-bagged throughout the town; eight days later the first air-raid exercise took place, simulating a German attack in which a mustard gas bomb was dropped in St. Marks Road. Within days of the declaration of war, plans were announced for rationing meat and petrol