14 year old plotted to kill Hitler ?

To be the devil’s advocate is it likely that a prominant member of the British House of Lords would have lent his name to this if it was purely a fairytale?

Hmmmm …….. members of the House of Lords have over many centuries lent their names to some very eccentric enterprises :dev2:

I stand corrected. But I’d love to know ‘the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth’. I suppose if you’ve been arrested for stealing and then crashing a valuable military aircraft in wartime the ‘attempting to kill Hitler defence’ is a good as any in court!

I agree with Moggie that the account has been embroidered over the years but the Cub story is basically true. What he doesn’t mention is that he had already had some unofficial basic flying instruction from one of the American pilots. Brief details of the court appearance after the incident appeared in contemporary newspapers.

What’s ‘Underworld at War’?

I’ve just read the BBC Peoples War account and it sounds made-up to me; of course I’ve no way of knowing, but what was there to stop people ‘contributing’ anything (true or not) to that BBC project (when it was running)?

Details of the programme here;

http://uk-tv-guide.com/programme-details/Military+History/24+April+2010/22%3A00/Underworld+at+War/Documentary/

and apparently a book here;

http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewwork.asp?id=2718

To be the devil’s advocate is it likely that a prominant member of the British House of Lords would have lent his name to this if it was purely a fairytale?

Bring back the birch ASAP
Can you imagine the howls of pain

from the useless do-gooders

I’m still aghast at the idea of riding on the train without a ticket 😀

I suggest the account has been somewhat embroidered over the years

Moggy

FIRST YORKSHIREMAN:
And you try and tell the young people of today that ….. they won’t believe you.

What’s ‘Underworld at War’?

I’ve just read the BBC Peoples War account and it sounds made-up to me; of course I’ve no way of knowing, but what was there to stop people ‘contributing’ anything (true or not) to that BBC project (when it was running)?

Sounds like he was let off very lightly. I’ve been reading some archived stories from a local newspaper for the same period, and it has several references to kids being given the birch for much less serious offences!
Here’s one from July 24th 1941…
‘Buckpool boys get 6 strokes of the birch rod – Two boys of 10 and 11 went aboard a drifter in Cluny Harbour where they made a mess of the bedding , broke up pieces of bread and stuffed the crumbs into the barrel of the gun before making off with a large amount of cigarettes. They then went aboard a train for Elgin without paying for a ticket. At Elgin they hid in the toilets from the police before escaping and then being caught when they gave wrong names and addresses.
The sheriff, at Banff, warned both boys that they would be put in prison if they returned in front of him again.’
August 21st 1941
‘Birch rod punishment for Buckie boys – At Banff Sheriff Court two Buckie boys were
sentenced to receive 4 strokes of the birch rod each for pilfering produce from the garden of a policeman and in addition doing damage to vegetables growing within .
A third boy was sentenced to 8 stokes of the birch rod. He, in addition to pilfering from
gardens, was also found guilty of stealing from a house, which he had entered illegally.’