“TOMMY” SAVES THE KING

Greymouth Evening Star, 26 July 1930, Page 9

“TOMMY” SAVES THE KING

ASSASSINATION PLOT FOILED.

E. T. Woodhall, late Scotland Yard detective, who guarded the King during his visits to the Front, reveals (in the “Sunday Chronicle’’) for the first time that His Majesty’s life was twice saved by the action of a private soldier. Once an assassination plot was frustrated in the nick of time; on another occasion a Tommy pulled the King from under the hoofs of a charger which fell on liim during a review.

When, during the war, the King went to France, to visit headquarters, hospitals, and battlefields these journeys were a source of great responsibility to the General Staff and all concerned ■with his safety. A selected detective, generally from the ranks of the Intelligence- Police, was always attached to his person, because Belgium and the North of Franco simply swarmed with enemy spies, some of whom were so fanatical that they would have gladly risked their lives if they could have given the Central Powers the tremendous moral advantage that tho assasination of the King would have meant. ' I was always glad when these journeys of the King were over, for they were sources of endless worry. As bad luck would have it, there were nearly always some unpleasant accidents to mar Ais Majesty’s visit, and there was at least one occasion when a plot to assassinate him was defeated in the nick of. time. On that occasion the King was staying at a chateau which was used sometimes as a temporary headquarters of Earl (then Sir Douglas) Haig. At, the time of the King’s visit the British Commander-in-Chief was established on his famous train in a siding only a short distance from the chateau, and on that train the ' King dined and lunched more than once. The programme was mapped out for the King to visit certain hospitals and to review certain divisions of troops newly arrived in Francd. Word came to the Inter-Allied Secret Service that, owing to a leakage of information the enemy were getting accurate information as to tho movements of troops in the vicinity of the place where the King intended to.hold his review the following. day.

Special efforts were made to trace the leakage, and at the request of my Chief of Intelligence, I went down to the suspected district and made a few independent inquiries. As this story has never before been related, I intend to reveal that it was a private soldier who frustrated an attempt upon the life of King George in France.

The “Tommy” in question had been doing a bit of “contra-espionage” work, helping me, as work had been very heavy. When I went down to meet him at a certain spot near the line to inquire into the suspected movements of certain carrier pigeons, he astonished me by’casiially relating the following facts. .' f

TRYING A BLUFF. *■ z “My suspicions were aroused by an old French woman who seemed to meto be living more comfortably than the hard circumstances in the battle area would permit,” he said. “I tried a bluff. I happened to be in possession of. three signs used ’by the German Secret Service, and 1 gave them all' to her. She appeared not to understand any of - them. But the most striking thing about it was that she made no move to express great, indignation, and to expose me—which, had’she been as simple as she seemed, she obviously, would have done. Instead of that she remained suspicious, distrustful.

“I told her the plans were being changed and repeated my message. She shook her head stupidly, though she looked at me sharply, and after several fruitless efforts to get her to acknowledge the code I had used I begged her to give me a ’French soldier’s uniform.

“She protested that she had none. With -a threat to report her to ‘No. B’—the known designation of the German Secret ! Service controller in the area—l left' her. But I hid myself near her cottage and waited. “After nightfall 1 saw her leave- the cottage and make her way along a shell-torn path to a ruined church. She entered, and I followed. I had two assistants at hand, and as soon as the woman came out of the church again I had her arrested and leftjier with one man while I, accompanied by two military policemen, made nry way up tiie steps leading to the belltower.

“The tower was partly, demolished, and the steps were unsafe, so great care hud to be exercised. 1 neared the top. Twice 1 heard the hoot of an owl, but I paid no attention to that, thinking it was merely some night bird calling from its abode in the tower. I could see the stars above me.

“I was perhaps 7ft from the top when there was a deafening explosion and a flash right at my side. I felt the hot breath of flame from a pistol discharged 6in. away from my face? I ducked instinctively and grappled someone’s legs. “There was another shot, followed by a groan, and the sound of someone falling. 1 gave a tug, and the man, whoever ho was, came down on the stairs beside me. As he fell he must have caught'his head on the stone staiys, for he lay still a second and then began to move. 1 took the precaution of giving his head another bump and then struck a match. “1 had no electric torch, though my friend had. 1 saw lying under me aii elderly grey-headed man, who was bleeding freely from a wound on the side of the head. He was unconscious.

"J called to my colleague: ‘Fred, Fred!’ but there was no reply. I saw that my captive was safe for the time being, and turned to examine my colleague. Ho was dead —shot clean through tho temple at a range of a ’few inches! “J gave the pre-arranged signals on my whistle and soon there were a dozen soldiers with mo who joined me in a search of the tower. We. found a signalling apparatus, and in the crypt of the church a telephone, which we afterwards discovered was connected to tiie ruins of a mill two miles away.”

On hearing this 1 immediately sped oil on my motor cycle to headquarters, Private X. had not been exaggerating. He had got his man!

KING’S TOUR WAS CHANGED. Next to the capture of Folodofc Debacker, caught in the act of cutting our wires, by an intelligence

officer named Lieutenant King, it remains, in my opinion, as one of the

smartest spy arrests on active service. On the person of the captured man was found details of the King’s movements for the next three days. The spy was shot, following court-martial. That is the inner history of why the King's tour was suddenly changed.

Perhaps the greatest thrill L . ever got, and certainly the most unpleasant, was when His Majesty had his accident in France. 1 was deputed to attend him at an inspection of troops near headquarters. Lunch was arranged that day for 12 o’clock on the train, and as it happened 1 was looking forward eagerly to the meal. 1 had had orders the day before to accompany the Prince of Wales, and had arranged for a motor cycle to ride after his car. At the last minute I was instructed to attach myself to His Majesty, and had to change and secure a charger. In the hurry I had no opportunity to snatch a bite of breakfast.

The charger which had been prepared for the* King was a very mettlesome blood mare, a great favourite of Sir Douglas Haig’s. 1 am told that she was a perfectly well-trained animal, but particularly attached to Haig and his right-hand man for strangers she would be somewhat awkward to handle. She certainly required manipulation. The King mounted and beyond a little mettlesome curvetting, she behaved herself quite well until the King rode on to the parade ground where the divisions were lined up for inspection.

As tho party appeared the “Present Arms.” order was given, and the drums rolled in for the “Royal Salute.”

At that moment the mare started to perform. She reared up on her hind feet, and pawed the air. His Majesty is a good horseman, and alone and in ordinary circumstances he would immediately have stopped the mare’s antics by taking his crop and administering a sharp tap between theears, which would have sent her down mighty quick. But as it’was the King was preoccupied; he had a division of troops before him and he had brought his right hand to tho “salute”; so, naturally enough, taken off guard, he pulled the reins with his left hand. The ground was slippery, and tho sudden, pull just overbalanced the mare, so that she came over backwards. I shall never forget that moment. A gasp of horror ascended from all over the place. It was a terrible tableau. The steady ranks of troops presenting arms to their King, the drums rolling and the bands playing the Royal Salute—and His Majesty prone on the mud, with the kicking horse lying on top of him 1 Instantly there was a rush from every direction. The horse was pulled aside, and willing hands sought to extricate His Majesty’s person from the perilous position. But the man who had the honour of lifting the King was an ordinary soldier: I can now record, for the first time, that the soldier who lifted up the King and carried him in his arms to a waiting ambulance was Policeconstable King, of the A Division, Metropolitan Police. I think We all breathed a prayer of thankfulness that the flying hoofs had not struck the King as he lay helpless.

He was very badly bruised and shaken. Immediately he was removed to hospital and the field X-ray was brought ipto operation to discover if ho had sustained any serious internal injury.

The King was taken down to tho coast on the ordinary hospital, train surrounded by his wounded Tommies. Painful as were his own injuries, his first thought was for others. Lying opposite to him was a poor fellow very badly wounded, to whom the King spoke-words of cheer and comfort. He called' his aide-de-camp and ordered him to hand him a Military Medal. The aide-de-camp did so, and the King decorated the Tommy with the . Military Medal as the train .rolled along to ‘the coast. Of course, except for preventing the machinations of enemy spies the job of guarding the King in France was really a routine matter. Ono was always worried because the responsibility was so great, but the King never moved without great' preparations. He was always surounded by thousands of loyal Tommies and by a large entourage, so that there- was not much fear of anything untoward happening.