Handsome Brute: The True Story of a Ladykiller (57 page)

10
.
Sunday Pictorial
, 5 October 1946.

11
. The relationship is also confirmed in a letter on 19 April 1945 from Mr Williams’ solicitors in Nottingham, Browne, Jacobson & Hallam, to Captain Steele, the administration officer at South Africa House in Trafalgar Square, DSCO 5955.

12
. Zita Williams, 6 July 1946, TNA MEPO 3/2728.

13
. Letter from Browne, Jacobson & Hallam to Hayman, Godfrey & Sanderson, solicitors, 30 August 1945, Johannesburg, DSCO 6015.

14
. ‘Owing to the circumstances in which our client is placed, it is imperative that she should know the full position . . .’ DSCO 5955.

15
. In a letter from E. V. H Mickdal to the South African Commissioner of Police, Witwatersrand Division, it was claimed that ‘Armstrong was engaged or was about to become engaged to a young lady in Durban, but on her hearing that he was a married man the engagement fell through. It is believed that the young lady concerned is a daughter of one of the Natal sugar magnates.’ 27 July 1944 in TNA MEPO 3/2728.

16
. Sir Edward Cecil George Cadogan (1880–1962) had been knighted in 1939 and had served in the RAF in the war.

17
. Zita Williams, 6 July 1946, TNA MEPO 3/2728.

18
. Mr Scott’s report, quoting his own entry into the Borstal Association Official Record on 20 August 1945, p. 4. He ends: ‘I can only suggest that there may be reasons for investigating the possibility of Heath being a schizophrenic type.’ 23 August 1946, P COM 9/700.

19
. Letter from Heath to Elizabeth Armstrong, 27 July 1945, National Archives Repository, Pretoria, 8029.

20
. 31 July 1945, DSCO 5962/3.

21
. Letter from L. Botha, director of the Queen’s Hotel to Neville Heath, 11 August 1945, DSCO 5967.

22
. Letter from Heath at the SAAF base in Roberts Heights, Pretoria, to Messrs Hayman, Godfrey & Sanderson in Johannesburg, 9 August 1945, National Archives Repository (NAR), Pretoria, 8035.

23
. Letter from Heath to Messrs Hayman, Godfrey & Sanderson, 1 September 1945: ‘Dear Sir, I am advising you that I have forwarded, signed, to Mrs Rivers, the document which hitherto I have declined to sign. This should enable my wife to obtain what she wants without difficulty . . . Could you obtain consent from Mrs Rivers to renew the bail should the case be remanded for a further period . . .’ NAR, 8038.

24
. On 30 August 1945 in the Supreme Court, Heath officially gave up his rights to his son: ‘I furthermore declare that I consent to and have no objection to and Order being made by the above named Honourable Court depriving me of all such rights of guardianship in respect of such minor child, and granting such rights to my wife . . .’ NAR 8041.

25
. Flight Lt. Chapman, DSCO 6005-6.

26
. Major Donnelly, DSCO 6003-4.

27
. Neville Heath, DSCO 5972.

28
. Telex to intercept Heath’s letters, 31 August 1945, DSCO 5974.

29
. Heath’s defence quoted in Chaplin’s statement, DSCO 5976.

30
. Flying Officer James Bainbridge Chaplin RAF, 7 September 1945, DSCO 5975.

31
. In his letter of 15 November 1945 to the adjutant general, H. B. Wakefield, the Rivers’ family solicitor Mr Friedman had also looked over the recent charges against Heath and concluded that ‘quite frankly, he was extremely fortunate not to be found guilty, and it seems that he was given the benefit of the doubt in this case’, DSCO 6012.

32
. Charles Friedman, 27 July 1946, TNA MEPO 3/2728.

33
. The court martial took place on 4 December, DSCO 6023.

34
. Document issuing court martial, 13 December 1945, DSCO 6020.

35
. See letter from E. E. Crowe at the Office of the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom, Cape Town, 16 February 1946, TNA MEPO 3/2728.

36
.
New Statesman and Nation
, 27 October 1945, pp. 277–8.

Chapter 11

1
. Kent (ed.),
An Encyclopaedia of London
, p. 42.

2
. For a detailed inventory of the damaged buildings of London, see Kent, op. cit.

3
. Beaton and Pope-Hennessy,
History Under Fire
, p. 45.

4
. See Kent,
The Lost Treasures of London
, and Richards,
The Bombed Buildings of Britain.

5
. Chapman,
Madame Tussaud’s Chamber of Horrors
, p. 215.

6
.
The Times
, quoted in Kent,
The Lost Treasures of London
, p. 33.

7
. See
The London County Council Bomb Damage Maps 1939– 1945
edited by Ann Saunders with an introduction by Robin Woolven, London Topographical Society and London Metropolitan Archives, 2005.

8
. R. S. R. Fitter,
London’s Natural History
(1945), quoted in Inwood,
A History of London
, p. 810.

9
. Kent,
The Lost Treasures of London
, p. 120.

10
. See Prologue, p. 1–7.

11
. Letter from South African Commission for the United Kingdom to Inspector Riggs, Wimbledon CID, 27 February 1946, MEPO 3/2728.

12
. Metropolitan Police Enquiry Officers’ Records, Royal Air Force, Bush House, Kingsway, 25 March 1946, TNA MEPO 3/2728.

13
. After his arrest, Spooner had Heath’s two log books examined under an ultraviolet lamp at Scotland Yard. This revealed numerous alterations in the records, claiming many more missions than Heath had, in fact, accomplished. These alterations had been done extremely skilfully, but the fingerprint bureau photographed the alteration on the first page of one of the log books, and this clearly showed the name J. R. C. Armstrong beneath that of N. G. C. Heath. These changes had all been effected by the use of chemicals. The most plausible explanation for the alteration of the log books is that during April and May, he was negotiating with various air-transport firms for employment as a pilot. Clearly his references would need to be in his own name if he was to avoid any enquiry into his SAAF connections, which had resulted in his being deported. See ‘Antecedent History’ compiled by Spooner, MEPO 3/2728. Photocopies of doctored log book entries are in TNA HO 144/22871.

14
. Ralph Fisher, 26 June 1946, TNA MEPO 3/2728.

15
. Muriel Frances Silvester, 5 August 1946, TNA MEPO 3/2728.

16
. Jill Rosemary Harris, 23 June 1946, TNA MEPO 3/2728.

17
. DS Cains’ interview with the manageress of the Red Lion Hotel and various individuals at the Luton Flying Club, Luton Borough Police, 23 June 1946, TNA MEPO 3/2728.

18
. Until 2028.

19
. See ‘Antecedents of Neville George Clevely Heath alias James Robert Cadogan Armstrong’, compiled by Spooner, TNA MEPO 3/2728.

20
. Lister,
The Very Merry Moira
, pp. 82–3. Lister claimed to have dated Heath between the murders of Margery Gardner and Doreen Marshall: ‘The only thing that may have saved me is that I am blonde and both girls were brunettes.’ This was repeated in many of Lister’s obituaries when she died in 2007. Though she may well have dated him, it cannot have occurred as she suggests (i.e. in the days between the two murders), as Heath was on the run along the south coast after the murder of Margery Gardner.

21
. Ibid.

22
. Quoted in Byrne,
Borstal Boy
, p. 48.

23
. Harry Ashbrook, 23 June 1946, TNA DPP 2/1522.

24
. Heath had actually been discussing the purchase of some planes with an Arthur Coombes from Reading. Coombes had been convicted of nine air-traffic offences as well as charges for false pretences in 1939. He and Heath had discussed buying planes that cost between £695 and £5,500, even the cheapest of which was well beyond Heath’s means, TNA MEPO 3/2728.

25
. Reginald Spooner, 22 June 1946, TNA DPP 2/1522.

26
.
People
, 29 October 1946.

27
.
Sunday Pictorial
, 29 September 1946.

28
. This was later quashed on appeal.

29
. Leslie Terry, 25 June 1946, TNA DPP 2/1522.

30
. ‘Character of Witnesses’, TNA MEPO 3/2728. Terry was known to be identical with Leslie Turkington, CRO No. 4888/25.

31
. ‘I Found Blood on My Hands’,
Sunday Pictorial
, 13 October 1946.

32
. Ibid.

33
.
Sunday Pictorial
, 23 October 1946.

Chapter 12

1
. Letter to R. Morgan at the Home Office requesting to intercept the post, 3 July 1946, TNA MEPO 3/2728.

2
. Chief Inspector G. Carmill, 24 June 1946, TNA MEPO 3/2728.

3
. Mr Macro Wilson also identified Margery from the contact sheet of photos that had appeared in the
Daily Express
on 24 June 1946, TNA MEPO 3/2728 60B.

4
. Peter Alan Gardner, 22 June 1946, TNA DPP 2/1522.

5
. ‘Character of Witnesses’, 24 July 1946, TNA MEPO 3/2728.

6
. See e.g. Ronald Anthony Birch, 22 June 1946, TNA DPP 2/1522: ‘I regarded her as a particularly quiet girl and have never seen her the worse for drink.’

7
. Ralph Macro Wilson, 26 June 1946, TNA MEPO 3/2728.

8
. Percy Alexander Eagle, 1 July 1946, TNA MEPO 3/2728.

9
. Reginald Spooner, 25 June 1946, TNA MEPO 3/2728.

10
. Lawrence Kelly, 15 July 1946, TNA DPP 2/1522.

11
. Statement of DI Percy Alexander Eagle, items recovered from the Ocean Hotel Annex: ‘3 nails found under the sheet on the right hand side of the bed. 1 bed sheet covering the mattress on the bed, the sheet bearing marks of excrement on the right hand side and what appeared to be bloodstains on the left hand side’ (DPP 2/1522). On 4 July, perhaps due to the evidence of blood and the presence of the nails, Spooner noted that ‘although up to now [Miss Symonds] has not admitted that any incident took place, I feel certain that it did’ (MEPO 3/2728).

12
. List of property taken by Detective Inspector Eagle from the Ocean Hotel Annex, Worthing, and Miss Yvonne Symonds, on Monday 26 June 1946, and handed to Sergeant Kelly, Notting Hill Police Station, the same day, TNA MEPO 3/2728.

13
.
Daily Mirror
, 29 June 1946.

14
. The letter was posted on 22 June 1946 and received at Scotland Yard on 24 June 1946, TNA DPP 2/1522.

15
.
Evening News
, 3 July 1946.

16
.
News Chronicle
, 26 June 1946.

17
. Anonymous typed letter to the superintendent, Criminal Investigation Department, New Scotland Yard, 1 July 1946. The letter began: ‘Why does not Scotland Yard publish a good photograph of the man (“Lt-Col”) HEATH in the daily newspapers? If the public knew what he looked like it might save you chasing up false clues. On the other hand it might help to trace him’ (TNA MEPO 3/2728).

18
. Percy Alexander Eagle, 1 July 1946, TNA MEPO 3/2728.

19
.
Daily Mirror
, 27 June 1946.

20
. Trevethan Frampton, 22 June 1946, TNA DPP 2/1522.

21
. Reginald Spooner’s report, 19 July 1946 TNA HO 144 22872.