Unusual SWB Recipient~Who Avoided The Hangman

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

Below is the Photo of a Former Sergeant in the Rifle Brigade.S1831,Samuel James Furnace,wearing his SWB,A Builder From Camden;He was in 1933 Responsible for the Murder of a Rent Collector,Named:Spatchett, & stealing the £40 He had on him,Furnace disposed of his Body by setting afire his Shed~cum~Office,& allowed the Authorities to Assume it was He who had perished in the Blaze;fortunately a keen ~eyed Pathologist noticed that the Corpse had suffered a GSW to the back of the Head & was not Furnace,A Nationwide Police Hunt Followed,which was ended when Furnace contacted his Brother in Law,seeking a Meeting @ Southend On Sea,but his Brother in Law informed the Police & Furnace was arrested,He "Cheated" the Hangman by drinking a Bottle of Hydrochloric Acid,he had sewn into his Coat Lining.

Samuel Furnace Had been badly wounded in the Great War his Police Description gives him as having GSW Left Leg & Both Arms & a 13 Stitch Scar on the Right Bicep

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[HarryBettsMCDCM]

And a Copy of his Police Description

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[Guest Ian Bowbrick]

I think I'd rather face the drop than drink HCl -

[Killratio]

A man from where I was born hid bottles of beer in his shed to avoid his wife's ire. One night after a particularly heavy session, he picked the wrong bottle.

It took two hours to kill him and they say you could hear his screams from the hospital, all over the small town.

Darryl

[Jonathan Saunders]

Without knowing anything of this case what i find a very sad reflection is that Furnace was probably impoverished due at least in part to his war wounds, with no or little war pension.

Supposition I know, but I cant help but think his demise was due in some way that he was another broken soldier let down by the country he had suffered personal injury in fighting for.

[Guest Pete Wood]

Supposition I know, but I cant help but think his demise was due in some way that he was another broken soldier let down by the country he had suffered personal injury in fighting for.

Nothing has changed, even today:

According to Shelter and the Government’s Social Exclusion Unit one in four homeless people are former members of the armed services. Thousands live rough or in sheltered accommodation. Many abuse drugs and alcohol. Returning armed services personnel often end up on the streets or with severe mental health problems.

In a survey by the homeless charity Crisis of ex-service people staying in hostels and attending day centres in Central London, some 41 per cent were found to have spent time in prison.

The South Atlantic Medal Association states that more ex-service personnel who served in the Falkland’s War have committed suicide than were killed in the waritself, with 329 cases of suicide confirmed. The MoDs own figures show that more [1st] Gulf war troops committed suicide than were actually killed during conflict with 107 post war suicides compared to 24 combat-related deaths.

See http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/html/content/updatev04i19.pdf for more

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

Without knowing anything of this case what i find a very sad reflection is that Furnace was probably impoverished due at least in part to his war wounds, with no or little war pension.

Sadly I think Furnace was not of that category,albiet a wounded veteran,he was a competent builder & his debts were of the sum of £90.00 @ the time{quite a sum by todays standards} ,so he apparently had no prior trouble obtaining credit for his business,The photo appears to be from a Passport so presumably he did a spot of "Foreign Travel" as well,Although admittedly many disabled Veterans were let down by the Country that spawned them,Furnace was a Career Rogue & Vicious Criminal,with scant regard for the law or public safety;It would be interesting to continue the Research & see if his Papers survived & if indeed he was entitled to the War Badge

[P.B.]

Fascinating story....I've seen this photo of Furnace a few times and never noticed the SWB before.

This could be a topic in itself....Howard Williamson in Volume I of his "Collector's and Researcher's Guide to the Great War" mentions a fellow medal collector who specialised in "medals awarded to men who were later convicted of murder"!

Some examples I can think of:

John Christie, multiple murderer of 10 Rillington Place served in the Great War, gaining the 1914/15 Star trio with the Notts and Derbys Regt. In WWII he served as a Special Constable, using this job as a means to meet women who were later taken back to his flat and killed. When he gave evidence at the trial of his lodger, Timothy Evans (at this time Christie's activities were unknown, and Evans was tried and convicted for the murder of his own wife and child -crimes many believe Christie committed) much was made of his Great War record, including the fact that he had been gassed and -so he claimed- lost his voice for months on end.

A.A. Rouse, who comitted a similar crime to Furnace in that he faked his own death by murdering a vagrant and disfiguring the victim in a burning car, served in WWI and suffered a severe head wound.

Ronald True, a schizophrenic murderer, served briefly in the RFC, but was invalided out after a serious crash.

Herbert Armstrong, the wife poisoner always made a point of using his military rank of Major. I think there is already a thread on this forum somewhere about his medal entitlement.

John Robinson, who murdered a prostitute, dismembered her then left the body in a trunk at Charing Cross, served on the Western Front and in Ireland -some sources state with the Black and Tans.

More recently, Harry Roberts, involved in the shooting of three policemen in 1966, developed a fascination with firearms (and a taste for killing) serving as a National Serviceman in the Royal Greenjackets in Malaya. Dennis Nillson, who murdered at least 15 young men in the 1970s and 80s was a regular soldier with the ACC...it's recorded that in a moment of extreme poverty he sold his GSM for £10, which makes you wonder who has it now...!

To be clear, though, in my opinion there is a world of difference between the men listed above -many of whom comitted sexually motivated offences, or because of greed- and some individuals who's criminality has genuinely arisen out of there military service. Many murderers in the 1920s and 30s were ex-soldiers, simply because the vast majority of the male population of a certain age were. Most of the men listed above would probably have done what the did anyway.

The saddest cases are the ones similar to those mentioned by Ian, vets who have been either let down, unsupported or unable to cope and who have harmed themselves or others. More Vietnam veterens have died violently or by suicide since the war than the 58,000 combat losses, and Falklands veteran Hugh MacManners' "The Scars of War" gives sobering information about the plight of some British veterans of recent conflicts. Several ex-members of the SAS have come to public notice for either psychological problems since leaving the regiment, or for comitting crimes.

Ian's post hits the nail on the head ....in the National Army Museum there is a depiction of one of Wellington's veterans begging for food, wearing his tattered red tunic and Waterloo medal, a few years ago I used to regularly pass a homeless guy with a Para Regt capbadge pinned to his coat on my way to work. Nothing changes....

Thanks for the interesting topic, sorry to leave it on such a depressing note.

All the best

Paul.