Impression
sketch of arrest of Captain Murray/ Menzies - by Jamie.
Catching
the train, in order
To
travel from Torquay
To
Paddington London,
A
military train passenger
Was
met 19 August 1915,
By
Detective Sergeant Yandell.
From
F. Division, the Police
Investigator
had acted
On
receiving a telegram,
From
Torquay Police -
About
the Black Watch
Officer with his description.
The Torquay
train pulled in
The
GWR station at 3.10 p.m.
Where
Yandell discovered
The
Officer - accompanied by
A
gentleman and two ladies -
To
address him as Captain Murray.
The
Black Watch Officer's
Reply
was 'no, Menzies.'
Yandell
told how he matched
Captain
Alexander Murray -
Wanted, with a warrant
For
his arrest, in a case of fraud.
A
reply of alleged Menzies
Was
polite - to ask to wait
For
him to gain his suit case;
In his staying at the Great
Western
Hotel - There they
Could
establish his true identity.
Yandell,
the acquaintances
Of
the officer, and Detective
Vowles
of the GWR police,
Followed
him to the said hotel.
Up
to the third floor - there
Detectives
asked for his papers.
Such
documents would surely
Prove
him to be Menzies - but
He claimed
that he was back
From
Dardanelles on sick
Leave
- with his shoulder
Put
out in result of concussion.
A
wound was result of high
Explosive
- then he further
Added,
that his papers had
Travelled
on with baggage
To
Holborn - D. S. Yandell
Remained
decidedly unsatisfied.
Yandell
turned to ask if one
Of
the ladies, that had been
Travelling
with him, for any
Kind
of evidence to qualify
For
this Captain's Identity -
The
woman turned to Captain.
She
said that in confidence,
He
should confess the
Real
reason for his being
In
London, to both these
Gentleman
of the law -
The
Captain alluded to reasons.
By orders
of the War Office,
Menzies
was to see the king
At
Buckingham Palace -
This
was for his being awarded
The
Victoria Cross - again
Any papers
had been lost on train.
With
D. S. Yandell yet to be
Satisfied
of identity, he looked
To his other
companions
As
the captain bolted down
The
stairs - closely pursued,
He
was successfully stopped.
Quick
hall porters had detained
The
running man, who was
Taken
into custody - travelling
By
cab to the station to pause
At
Harrow road, where he
Leapt
out - again to be chased.
Again
stopped and grabbed,
A
struggle ensued between
Police
and their prisoner.
With
officers in assistance,
He
was conveyed to station
Of Paddington
Green Police.
When
appearing in court,
The
man still wore uniform
Of a Captain
of Black Watch,
42nd
Royal Highlanders -
With
ribbons of VC, DSO,
Indian
Frontier and another.
The
prisoner had also been
Possession
of sword case
With
sword along with two
Scabbards - once searched,
A
letter of war office being
Addressed
to Captain Murray.
The correspondence
said
He
was to report 19 August,
At
4.30 - the suitcase which
Was
found in his possession,
Identified
by a prosecutor
With
Barclays bank cheques.
At
Marylebone Police Court,
The
prisoner was remanded -
DS Yandell
stating he had
Committed
various offences;
Letters
depicted him a Sergeant
And a
Lieutenant Rutherford.
This
all linked in with another
Case, in charging of a pattern
Maker
with no fixed abode.
Under
name Sam Rutherford,
Accused
of stealing a case.
As a boader at 24 Devonshire
Terrace,
having made getaway
On 7
July with stolen suitcase -
Containing
chequebook, Post
Office
savings, bank book - all
Property
of Archibold McLeod.
Exactly
how the two linked
Together, lacked clearance
From
account - only to later,
In
the Menzies/Murray case,
Did
the contents, to total five
Pounds,
make a resurface.
by Jamie Mann.
Ann.,1915. Alleged Bogus V.C Hero - 'Captain' and Police. The Daily
Telegraph, [online]
21
August. P.4. Col.3. Available
at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11801552/Daily-Telegraph-August-21-1915.html
[Accessed: 21 August 2015].
Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago -
Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 21 August 2015).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary
#worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1HomeFront
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