The Fernhurst Society
Tales from the Archives - 54
Alien Suspect Apprehended In Fernhurst
Another anecdote from Fernhurst Home Guard:
I'm not sure what we were supposed to be guarding, but I do know that we were armed with loaded rifles and were expected to stop and identify anyone passing through the village between 10pm and 6am. The only people we ever saw were village people, some of them creeping back home to their own homes hoping that their progress from one home to another would not be noticed. It always was!
One night one of the pickets challenged a pedestrian to 'Halt!' then 'Advance and be recognised!'. The man stayed where he was. The two pickets grasped their rifles and advanced on him close enough to converse, but discovered that he was not speaking English but in a guttural language that sounded like German. They marched him into the guard room for further questioning by the sergeant. After much trouble and arm-waving it was established that he was a Polish soldier walking back to his base.
Following phone calls to confirm his story he was sent on his way, but not before being fortified with a good strong cup of tea.
If you would like to know more about this story, or research other local topics, the Archive is open on Tuesdays, 2.30-5pm in the Village Hall. Other times by arrangement.
Christine Maynard
Fernhurst ArchiveOne of a series of short articles bringing you some of the incidents from our rich village history. Collated by Christine Maynard, based on documents preserved at the Fernhurst Archives, these originally were published in the monthly Fernhurst News.
The Fernhurst Archives
Fernhurst History
