Now! Then! Amidst rumours of German parachutists, Evelyn Cardwell of Aldborough disarms and arrests an enemy airman

8 July 1940: Amidst rumours of German parachutists, Evelyn Cardwell of Aldborough disarms and arrests an enemy airman

Times. 1940/07/09. Air Battles over Coast. London. Get it:

Excerpt

Mrs Nora Cardwell, wife of an officer serving in the local defence volunteers, arrested one of the German airmen when their machine was brought down by Spitfires. “One of the men landed in a field in front of my house,” she said. “I rushed upstairs and looked through field-glasses to see if the parachutist had any arms. I could not see any, so I went up to him and said, ‘Put up your hands,’ and he put them up. He was 6 ft. in height and about 25 years of age. I said to him, ‘I want that,’ pointing to his revolver, and he unbuckled the revolver and handed it to me. I marched him through the backyard, and then some motorcyclists came up and took charge of him.”

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Abbreviations

Comment

Neil Storey has more in the Mail. “Nora” was Evelyn, but her husband was called Norman, and the report the following day of the award of an OBE describes her, in line with contemporary practice, as Mrs. Norman Cardwell (Times 1940/07/10).

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Original

Mrs. Nora Cardwell, wife of an officer serving in the Local Defence Volunteers, arrested one of the German airmen when their machine was brought down by Spitfires in the North-East of England. “One of the men landed in a field in front of my house,” she said. “I rushed upstairs and looked through field-glasses to see if the parachutist had any arms. I could not see any, so I went up to him and said, ‘Put up your hands,’ and he put them up. He was 6ft. in height and about 25 years of age. I said to him, ‘I want that,’ pointing to his revolver, and he unbuckled the revolver and handed it to me. I marched him through the backyard and then some motor-cyclists came up and took charge of him.”

134 words.