Christophe Vuillaumes efterslægt - Christensen, Erichsen ...

Within ten minutes Robert Grieve had made his way up from Stewart Street to the
Railway Station. He immediately asked to see the stranger's identity cards and
noticed that although both claimed to be refugees, neither had an immigration
stamp on their cards and indeed the style of writing on both was decidedly
Continental.
His suspicions confirmed Constable Grieve (on the left in the picture, taken in the
1970s) asked both of them to accompany him to the Police Station in Stewart
Street. Once there Bob Grieve telephoned Inspector John Simpson in Buckie (on
the right in the picture). They were not put in the cells. Indeed, Mrs Grieve made
Vera a cup of tea that she drank while seated in the sitting room. Shortly,
afterwards Inspector Simpson arrived on the scene. He asked the man who he
was, but before he could reply Vera Erikson said, "He cannot speak English".
Inspector Simpson then carried out a search of them discovering a box containing
nineteen rounds of revolver ammunition. The Inspector checked their identity
cards and observed that the numbers were written in the European style. Vera told
the inspector that she was twenty-seven years old, a widow and a Danish subject,
adding that they had spent the night in a hotel in Banff and taken a taxi to within a
mile of Port Gordon before walking to the station. With their credibility
disappearing with every utterance they were formally arrested and charged.
Inspector Simpson then had them taken to the more secure facilities at Buckie
Police Station.
In Buckie, Inspector Simpson carried out a more thorough search discovering the
luggage to contain a Mauser pistol and flick-knife (pictured right), wireless
equipment, a list of RAF bases, batteries and a torch clearly marked 'Made in
Bohemia'. In addition Vera's purse contained £72 in Bank of England notes and
Drucke's wallet contained £327 also in Bank of England notes. However, some
say that it was the discovery of a half-eaten German sausage - a delicacy unheard
of in wartime Britain - that sealed their fate. At 11.45am the Buckie coastguard
spotted an object floating in the sea about a quarter of a mile out. Coastguard
Addison and the harbourmaster went out and recovered the object, a pair of
bellows and, slightly further away, a rolled-up rubber dinghy.
The third agent, Werner Walti, alias Petter had been more successful and had
managed to get onto the train from Buckie to Aberdeen. The Aberdeen police
were alerted and they confirmed that a man matching Walti's description had
boarded the 1.00pm train to Edinburgh Waverley. Having reached Edinburgh,
Walti deposited a suitcase, containing a wireless set (pictured below), in left
luggage.
He was overcome by police as he went for a revolver when, returning for his case,
he was confronted. The man who arrested Walti was Willie Merrilees, head of the
special branch in Scotland, who had disguised himself as a railway porter.
Merrilees later became the chief constable of Edinburgh and Peebles
constabulary. The agents were interrogated by Lieutenant-Colonel
Hinchley-Cooke at Scotland Yard and eventually signed statements in March
1941. On June 12th-13th 1941, Drucke and Walti came up for trial at the Old
Bailey. Mr Justice Asquith presided, while the Solicitor General, Sir William
Jowitt KC, led the prosecution. The various officers from Scotland were called to
give evidence with Bob Grieve the first witness. Amazingly, however, the court
was simply told that Vera Erikson would not be present in court. The jury retired
for only a few minutes before returning a verdict of guilty. The Court of Criminal
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