SCOTLAND YARD

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20853, 11 July 1939, Page 9

SCOTLAND YARD

DETECTIVES AT WORK WAR-TIME “BRADBURY” FORGERS HOW THEY WERE TRACKED DOWN Three months after the declaration of war England was threatened with a creeping paralysis which, in its possible effect upon morale, was more deadly than the air raids, wrote Sir Basil Thomson, former chief of the C.I.D. at Scotland Yard, who died recently. Every Englishman had been reared upon a gold currency and he was to have gold in his pockets no more. He had accepted the first Treasury note rather unwillingly, ns one of the necessities of war. and was Just becoming accustomed to it when T learned from the Treasury that ils notes were being forged. The Treasury note nf those early days was a plain invitation to the forger. It was printed on paper little better than the best typewriting paper, with the facsimile signature of Sir John Bradbury hence Its early nicknome—“Bradbury” . and there was nothing in the body of the paper to defeat the forger except the watermai k —“ON E PO UND They brought me specimens to see and compare with genuine notes; the differences between them were so slight that most people would have accepted the counterfeit without question. Huge Forgeries “It’s a very serious matter,” said the Treasury official. “The forgeries that have already come In exceed £10.000.” It did not take Scotland Yard long to find out who was issuing the spurious notes. The method was simple enough. At 5 o’clock every Friday a certain ex-convict, who chose to call himself “Elliot," arrived at a rendezvous in Jermyn Street, with bulging pockets. No one knew whence he came, but not a few were ready to deal with him on terms that covered the risk. They bought his pound notes at half their face value; each chose his own street—preferably, a mean street of little shops—and worked it at dusk. He would go in and buy a box of matches or a cake of soap; take his change in silver, till the last note in his bundle was disposed of, and then he would await Elliot’s reappearance on the following Friday. We could have arrested Elliot and the smaller fry at any moment, but our quarry was the skilled printer who could fake a watermark. There was nothing for it but to embark in the trade ourselves, not, of course, by circulating counterfeit notes, but by appearing to do so. One of our men presented himself as a purchaser, and since he was a foreigner Elliot was content to deal with him, taking the precaution to watch his proceedings. That was how the expense came in. Our man had furtively to substitute genuine notes for the counterfeit before he “worked” the street. Costly Manoeuvres Knowing that Elliot was watching Mm. he loaded himself with cakes of cheap soap, and, having accomplished his mission at the expense of the Treasury, he had to adopt Elliot’s own tactics and shake him off before he could come to report progress to his employers. These barren and costly manoeuvres had to be eonducted for weeks until Elliot's confidence had been gained. Meanwhile the forgeries had risen to over £60,000; we had spent £ISOO in good m 'ney, and we seemed no nearer the printer. There came a Friday evening when tbe little upper room in Jermyn Street was crowded with gam'''ers. most of them customers of Elliot, and among them was otir man. who had been far too wary ever to ask Elliot questions His eyes and ears were open, but never his mouth. The roulette board was in full play; men were staking their money in an atmosphere of tobacco smoke thick enough to cut with a knife when a thin-faced young man entered the room, watched the play for a few minutes and staked nineteen shillings and sixpence. My man observed that his fingers were stained with printer’s ink. There was chastened lejoieing at Scotland Yard that nixrht. If we could but find out where Williams, a printer got his livelihood our labours might be crowned. The usual message over the wires went out to every* station in the metropolis, and presently there came a reply from North London that on a wooden stable gate in a quiet back street the half-obliterated words “Williams —Printer” could still be deciphered. The widow who let lodgings opposite that stable door must have been puzzled by the habits of her new lodger—a grey-haired man who received quite a number of male visitors in tho afternoons. who spent their time with their eyes glued to the street through the lace curtains. Watch on Stable Gate ~ On the next Friday afternoon he had more visitors than usual, but they made no noise; they just sat watching the street down which nothing ever seemed to pass. Darkness fell, and things began to happen. First, the footfall of a pedestrian who stopped at the stable gate and kicked it. The gate opened and shut behind him. Immediately the grey-haired man and all his visitors trooped noiselessly into the street and ranged themselves on either side of the stable gate. Suddenly the gate opened and a man came out. There was noise enough then to bring out every householder. In the middle of the roadway the man was fighting with the quiet lodgers, howling like a wild beast and spouting Treasury notes from his pockets till the roadway was carpeted. The expert printer and his father had been making a line art of forger) for years. When I took the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Sir John Bradbury to tiie stable next morning, while Sir John fed in the paper Mr McKenna turned the handle. It was the first instance in histhry. T believe, that the Rritish Chancellor of the Exchequer had forged the currency, but it is fair to add that he was careful to write ‘ Forged” across each of his productions before he put them in hia pocket.