mcderms Posted 12 August , 2004 Share Posted 12 August , 2004 He was also being sought in connection with the shooting of a scottish game keeper. The man found him living in a hunting lodge and using the furniture for fuel. The interesting thing about Toplis, irrespective of his alleged crimes, is why did the Secret Service chase him for years? He was in and out of the services, using them as a way to hide (familiar environment) and deserting again when the authorities caught up with him. This is where the cabbie shooting comes in - Percy was hot-footing it from a camp on Salisbury Plain at the time. Unfortunately, Toplis is another, if more convenient member of the burnt records club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmtruby Posted 17 August , 2004 Share Posted 17 August , 2004 Does anyone know whether the 'Monocled Mutineer' is available on DVD? Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harribobs Posted 17 August , 2004 Share Posted 17 August , 2004 Ray try a search on amazon here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muerrisch Posted 17 August , 2004 Share Posted 17 August , 2004 Apart from the acting, it is hogwash. Almost every time I watch it, I vow not to do so again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Furnell Posted 17 August , 2004 Share Posted 17 August , 2004 What an amazing thread,and one that have only ever heard of vaguely. I have never seen the Percy Toplis story,and have always have thought that no-mans land,was not the best place to hide,as a Deserter. What with the shells,gas,Snipers,and the odd attack that would happen,i am sure there would be better places to hide. After all,they wanted to get away from the chance of getting KIA,not end up in a worse situation. In the turmoil of the war,bands of like minded people would survive as best as they could,as we know,and this may have been the same for gangs of Deserters,though they aren't going to shout about it,for obvious reasons. Surely,after the war,they would not have stayed around to be caught and maybe shot,but would have blended in some where? Don't think they would have been holding up Battlefield Tourists,somehow. Great thread,and look forward to more info. All the best. Simon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcderms Posted 17 August , 2004 Share Posted 17 August , 2004 You can get the monocled mutineer on VHS hereBeeb Shop Enjoy it for what it is - entertainment as per 'All The Kings Men - and read the book of the same title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatterySergeantMajor Posted 26 November , 2004 Share Posted 26 November , 2004 I think I read something about an execution of an Australian soldier in the diaries of a local priest - Achiel Van Walleghem. It is a while ago and I do not have the book myself, so can not give much details. This would have happened in the Reningelst- Dickebusch area. I mentioned this once to an Australian officer-historian and he didn't seem to be too happy with this rumour. I had the impression it did not fit in the we-didn't-do-this story. He surely was not interested in researching the story. Erwin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 26 November , 2004 Share Posted 26 November , 2004 The rumour that the Australians did shoot some of their own men 'unofficially' has surfaced on the forum before, but no-one seems to have incontrovertible proof. The priest's diary seems to be the nearest thing to it, but of course he may have made a mistake with the nationality involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ste Posted 27 November , 2004 Share Posted 27 November , 2004 It is only a legend, according to Fussell, I think it is. He is mentioning this legend together with other as for example the The German Corpse-Rendering Works and the Angel of Mons etc. If I recall correctly, Fussell deals with this subject at some length in The Great War and Modern Memory. He thinks it a legend, given currency by a handful of isolated incidents for which there is little evidence. Cheers, Ste Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff. Hobson Posted 27 November , 2004 Share Posted 27 November , 2004 Extract from a Magazine part 32 called " I was There" edited by Sir John Hammerton published 1938. by E.T. Woodall " In 1917 I was transferred from the Intelligence Police to the Military Police at Etaples to assist in the rounding up of deserters.....( The Mutiny) It would appear that a quarrel took place one night between a Tommy and a Lance Corporal of the |Military Police. The subject was one of the W,A.A,Cs ... and terminated fatally the Tommy being shot. Immediately the news flew around the huge camp and the troops rose en masse, " The Military Police , The Red Caps' down with 'em!.. For days the trouble seethed but in the end it simmered down to normal. I do not wish to say that there were a great number of absentees and deserters from our ranks but at that time many udesirable and men with bad characters .. by virtue of the Military Service Act were drawn into the Forces.... Not only did these men rob civilians but mixing with the huge general mass of troops would take the opportunity of running Crown And Anchor boards, shooting dice, three card tricks etc.,, My sojourn at Etaples was destined to bring me in touch with a military deserter of singularly ferocious character. His name was PERCY TOPLISS and by a stroke of fate this desperate yuong thief and murderer slipped through my fingers. After an exhaustive hunt for days I ran him to earth at a little Village named Rang-de-Fleur and with the local R. P.s went to a Cafe to arrest him. As I stepped into the Estaminet coming in from the sunshine into the comparitive gloom before I could realise it the man I was after stepped from behind a curtain and covered me with a colt army revolver. I heard this remark Got You and the hammer of his revolver clicked. It did not go off. He was brought back to the prison compound for inquiry and identification . Unfortunately he with another notorious character who had the death sentence against him tunnelled down under the sand and escaped swam a river and made good their escape into the wood round Le Tuoquet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted 29 November , 2004 Share Posted 29 November , 2004 Here's a link to the previous discussion in January 2003 about the Australian who could have been shot. http://www.1914-1918.org/forum/index.php?s...853&hl=executed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike10764 Posted 29 November , 2004 Share Posted 29 November , 2004 The place Toplis was killed is a small village(well hamlet really) on the Carlisle to Penrith Road called Plumpton. It was a bit of a turkey shoot really with a posse of policemen and local bigwigs ambushing him along the road. All a bit wild west, complete with the obligatory pictures with the body. I think it is accepted now that he was nowhere near Etaples at the mutiny, despite what the tv drama said. Should never have come with in a mile of hunt-happy Cumbria, where men are men and furry animals are history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEW Posted 27 September , 2021 Share Posted 27 September , 2021 On 06/08/2004 at 22:48, RichardH said: Just about to post a similar topic until I did a search as I've just read Dr Dunns awesome The War The Infantry Knew again- not cover to cover I must admit- but relevent to my current fascination with 1918....- anyways- theres an interesting entry for January 9th 1919, states 'At 3 in the morning we were ordered to send at once two companies armed with Lewis guns to Sailly Laurett. A nest of Australian deserters, who had been terrorizing and living in the neighbourhood was reported to have been located on an island in the Somme west of that place. A and B companies sprang a surprise on the picnickers, two in number, who were found in snug dug-outs sleeping in pyjamas of striking pattern. They were led back to camp and handed over to Australian authorities.' So I guess 'banditry' was a reality? Realise it's an old post but have just found diary entries regarding this incident. V Corps. WO95/752/2 115 Infantry Brigade. WO95/2560/5 2nd Royal Welsh Fusiliers. WO95/2561/1. 115 IB refers to them as suspected outlaws. TEW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Filsell Posted 28 September , 2021 Share Posted 28 September , 2021 I recall that on its first showing the Monacled Mutineer was widely judged by military historians as riddled with errors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEW Posted 28 September , 2021 Share Posted 28 September , 2021 I checked some older posts on the subject of Australian deserters living in the wild. I had to Google what a furby is. Seems to be more information around that confirms many of the stories. TEW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteStarLine Posted 28 September , 2021 Share Posted 28 September , 2021 TEW, surely a furphy. We still use that term widely today! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEW Posted 29 September , 2021 Share Posted 29 September , 2021 Ahh, yes Furphy not Furby! Thought at first your photo was of a muck spreader which led me to thinking it was the etymological origin 🤭. Can't say I've previously heard of Furphy in that context. Another school day! TEW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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