A residential camp for British Army veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder is also a major organising centre of the far-right attended by former soldiers who have shared antisemitic propaganda and threatened armed violence, the JC can reveal.
PTSD Camp Bath presents itself to the public as a haven offering “respite for our veterans” that includes woodland skills training, horse therapy and annual Remembrance Day commemorations.
Behind the scenes, however, the site has also hosted antisemitic conspiracy theorists, “pro-white” campaigners and the leader of a party that aims to end all immigration to Britain.
The rehab centre is run by married couple Dion and Jo Drayson. He has shared claims that Jews harvest the organs of Syrian refugees and appeared on podcasts alongside members of Patriotic Alternative, Britain’s largest far-right group.
The JC’s revelations prompted a senior MP to call on the Home Office to pay close attention to the camp.
Simon Fell, who sits on the home affairs select committee, said: “Given the links to Patriotic Alternative, this is deeply concerning. The police and the Home Office must scrutinise this camp very carefully to ensure it is not a front for more insidious activity.”
The PTSD centre — located in a picturesque rural village — is now attempting to gain mainstream legitimacy by raising money for Alfred Guenigault, a 98-year-old Second World War veteran forced to move out of his home after his landlord served him with a no-fault eviction. There is no suggestion that Guenigault is a far- right sympathiser.
PTSD Camp Paul Reynolds
Paul Reynolds - seen here in a photo that was not taken at the camp - has implied that he would use violence against the government (Photo: Facebook)
One paper, The Pembrokeshire Herald, has backed the campaign and called on its readers to “come together” and support “one of our nation’s heroes”.
It is not known whether the paper, which has been contacted for comment, knew that the campaign was being organised by members of the far-right.
The fundraiser is organised by Darren Edmundson, an anti-immigration activist who styles himself “Pembrokeshire Patriot”, and Patriotic Alternative, whose logo appears alongside PTSD Camp Bath on fundraising banners.
Earlier this year, Patriotic Alternative sparked calls to “burn down” and “drive out” the Board of Deputies after its President, Marie van der Zyl, visited a migrant camp in France.
A spokesperson for the Community Security Trust said the group’s incendiary social media post could trigger attacks on Jews.
Patriotic Alternative leader Mark Collett has previously stated his admiration for Hitler and written that he would have been “proud” to have taken part in the Nazi party’s Nuremberg rallies.
Patriotic Alternative conferences have featured Michèle Renouf, a leading Holocaust denier, and Andreas Johansson of the neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement.
Dion Drayson
Former paratrooper Dion Drayson shared claims that Jews harvest the organs of Syrian refugees (Credit: Facebook)
Over the past few years PTSD Camp Bath has also played host to a string of leading far-right figures. Last month, former Britain First activist John Lawrence broadcast a livestream in which he solicited donations for Guenigault.
“I’ve met many veterans alongside Dion [Drayson] at the camp,” he claimed.
Lawrence is the founder and leader of the National Housing Party, a far-right splinter group that campaigns to end all immigration to Britain.
On encrypted messaging app Telegram, the National Housing Party wrote earlier this year: “Every major contributor to the dogma of Cultural Marxism was Jewish.
The Frankfurt School from where it originated was a nest of Jews. Its goal was simple Destroy White Christian civilisation & replace it with a Multicultural madhouse under Jewish hegemony [sic].”
They have also claimed “there is not an anti-Jewish agenda… there is a vicious anti-white agenda” and said the “mainly Jewish” Soviet leadership intentionally starved Christian Ukrainians to death.
Paul Reynolds, who runs bushcraft training weekends for veterans with PTSD at the camp, has posted photos of himself training with firearms and implied that he would use violence against the government. There is no suggestion that those photos were taken at Camp Bath.
Responding to news that a British soldier had been found guilty of manslaughter for killing a Catholic man in Northern Ireland, he wrote in PTSD Camp Bath’s Facebook group last year: “So what are people gonna do about it? I had enough of organised rallies/ marches and bumping gums.
“Been trying to talk to people about organising tactically for nigh on five years now.”
PTSD Camp
Far right hub: a man poses with a gun (Credit: Facebook)
Another member responded: “i been seriously been thinking of plan recently as things in this country are getting worse and worse and this goverment have shown they dont give 2 fkcs [sic].”
A recent video shared by Reynolds online shows a priest railing against the Frankfurt School of philosophers. Photos of its members appear labelled with Stars of Davids alongside text reading: “All Jews!”
Another attendee at the PTSD camp is Nigel Marcham, who styles himself “Little Veteran”, and Alan Leggett, who goes by “Active Patriot”.
The pair were previously banned from setting foot on docks at Dover by a judge following accusations that they had “abused” migrants.
In 2020, Marcham led a Channel boat crossing protest attended by white nationalists that shut down the port.
Last year, Leggett broadcast a live video from Bath PTSD Camp of Remembrance Day commemorations.
Dion Drayson served as a paratrooper in the British Army for two decades before working as a bodyguard in Iraq for American clients, his wife, Jo, has said.
In 2017, he shared material from a neo-Nazi website that claimed to expose a “Jewish organ-trafficking center” at which kidnapped Syrians were killed and dissected.
“What a horrific read,” Drayson added.
Jo Drayson has appeared on a podcast alongside Chris Mitchell who, according to The Times, is the former east of England regional organiser for Patriotic Alternative.
The Draysons fund the PTSD Camp, which does not charge attendees, by providing for holidaymakers on the same site.
A CST spokesman said: “The British far-right is awash with anti-Jewish hatred and violent rhetoric towards Jews and other minorities, while the number of cases of extreme right-wing terrorism has risen alarmingly in recent years.
"This is not a coincidence and the evidence of extremists with access to weapons spreading anti-Jewish propaganda of this nature confirms the growing threat that we know exists towards our community.”
A government spokesperson said: “There is no place in our country for antisemitism in any form - it is abhorrent and will not be tolerated.
“The UK has some of the strongest legislation in the world, but we recognise there is more work to be done and will continue to push for prosecution where religious or racially motivated criminal activity occurs.
"We also continue to work closely with Jewish communities and the police to tackle hate crime."
The Draysons, The Pembrokeshire Herald, Edmundson, Lawrence, Patriotic Alternative, INN and Reynolds were contacted for comment.
