Apparently the BBC is still negotiating ‘rights issues’ to be able to repeat the 1986 drama ‘The Monocled Mutineer’ about the 1917 mutiny of British troops in the base camp at Etaples, as part of its 2,500 hours of programming for the World War I anniversary. The series starred ex-Bristol resident Paul McGann, of course, but there is another Bristol connection. The eponymous Percy Toplis was sentenced to six months’ hard labour when he was caught after the mutiny. When he got out of prison he re-enlisted, and after the War was based at Avonmouth, where he ran a profitable racket selling Army petrol on the black market. After being moved to a camp on Salisbury Plain he continued the petrol scheme, but also started selling Army food to local citizens. After stealing an Army car he was arrested – at Temple Meads Railway Station during Christmas 1919 - and taken to a guard room at Shirehampton Remount Depot. While playing cards with his guards he stole a gun, locked them in his cell, and escaped. He enlisted again, this time in the RAF, but was accused of murdering a taxi driver, He went on the run as Britain’s Most Wanted Man and was shot to death in a police ambush near the village of Plumpton in Cumbria. (SW)
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 11:11:16 +0000
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