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Interlude

Letter from Captain Charles Blenkinsopp to his brother, serving in India.


Liverpool 1911
…

The last few days in Liverpool have been pretty bloody, but an incident last evening provided a little in the way of light relief. Some of the men on patrol near the docks, close to where HMS Antrim is moored brought to me a character they suspected of being a spy. He had been seen by an infantry patrol earlier in the day, apparently sketching the dockside facilities but had eluded capture. Later he was seen again by my men who this time made sure of his capture and brought him to me.

He was a weaselly little figure, pale, with dark hair swept to one side and a shrivelled excuse for a moustache under his nose. You will know how Hussars are inordinately proud of their long moustachios so this toothbrush of his was the subject of much ribaldry on their part. He spoke no English, or at least would not admit to it. I ascertained, using my limited German, that he was an Austrian. I looked at his drawings and they were pathetic daubs, certainly not the drawings of a spy.

Without any other information, I could not hold him, so I told the men to set him loose. To be on the safe side we destroyed his drawings, although I kept one of the better ones as a souvenir of my time here, and sent him on his way under instructions to stay away from the docks in future. They took him away with much twirling of moustaches and loud laughter. I don't suppose we will ever hear from him again.