Brocket became known in society as a
Nazi sympathiser. He became a committed member of the
Anglo-German Fellowship, and his homes were used for entertaining supporters of
Germany. Brocket, who considered
Minister for Foreign Affairs Joachim von Ribbentrop a close personal friend, was so enamoured with Nazi Germany, he attended
Hitler's 50th birthday celebration in Berlin in 1939. According to Neville Chamberlain,
Foreign Secretary, the
Earl of Halifax used Brocket as a conduit to convey the views of the British government to the leading German
Nazis. At the outbreak of
World War II in September 1939, Brocket continued to work for an understanding between Britain and Germany. He urged a negotiated peace settlement and tried to arrange talks with Hitler. He had contact with
Hermann Göring through the
Swedish ornithologist Bengt Berg. Brocket also worked closely with the historian
Arthur Bryant, who shared his far right views, to bring the negotiations to the attention of the UK Foreign Office. However, Brocket was informed that the proposal to grant Germany control over Poland and Czechoslovakia was not acceptable to the British government. Brocket was interned at the outbreak of war and his properties sequestrated by the
War Office. ==Landowner==