AN ACQUITTAL - AND AN APOLOGY

Long term followers of this Hereford1938 AVBCW Blog (who, it is speculated, can comfortably be accommodated in the back of armoured truck) may recall not only the travails of Sir Gilbert Hill after the Battle of Winforton Pontoons, but also the earlier Government sponsored arrest of Councillor Walter Cracknutt, Commander of the Wormelow Tump LDV, upon charges of "treating with the enemy"[note1].

Cracknutt, who had steadfastly maintained his innocence throughout Lord de Braose's proceedings against him, today declared himself "complete vindicated" upon learning that all charges had finally been discontinued. His contemporaneous dispatches proved, according to the Councillor's friends and colleagues, that his 'battlefield co-operation' with "Cousin Verity" of the Verity LDV was born of necessity only, and had the added virtue of anti-Communism. While those less charitably disposed towards Cracknutt whisper that the charges could no longer be maintained by reason of an unfortunate lack of witness evidence [note2], Councillor Cracknutt has now "returned in triumph to the Tump" and - without a stain on his reputation - resumed command of the Local Defence Volunteers.

The case of Sir Gilbert Hill proved more problematic. His own acquittal has taken place not before the bar of Lord de Braose's military tribunal, but "in the court of public opinion" within the County. Accused of 'over-celebrating" his victory at the Battle of Winforton Pontoons (or perhaps falling victim to his own 'ju-ju", or simply "going absolutely, completely nautical"), Sir Gilbert's anonymous accusers appeared to have solid photographic evidence:  

The photographic evidence against Sir Gilbert Hill.

Such was the outrage in the County that Sir Gilbert had to "confine himself to quarters" in Kentridge Court. But photographs circulated later began to sow doubt in the minds of Herefordians:

A later photograph as circulated - alleged to show Sir Gilbert conspiring with
Royalist and BUF officers.

It did not need Ludlow's famed Ecclesiastical Intelligence Service to pronounce the photographic evidence against Sir Gilbert as "obviously doctored" and "crude photo-manipulations", for the people of Hereford had already reached the same conclusions. But who could be responsible for such a dastardly smear on "the good Sir Gilbert"? Which faction had both the resources and the motivation? Step forward Comrade Colonel Professor Winter's own (Soviet trained) "Bureau Desinformatsiya": 

Beware the Soviet photograph manipulators! Comrade Nicolai Yezhov, Head of the NKVD, proudly accompanies Comrade Stalin (left), only to be subsequently "airbrushed out of history" (right).
 More on Yezhov can be found HERE.
More on Comrade Colonel Professor Winters in future blogposts....

Notes:

(1). after the Autumn 2017 Big Game, "The Last of the Summer Wye".

(2). the only possible witnesses in Councillor Cracknutt's case were the Anglican with whom the infamous "battlefield truce" was concluded, Cousin Verity, and the Councillor's immediate superior on the battlefield, Group Leader Giles of the BUF. Problems with providing Verity with a "pass of safe conduct" into Government lines were rendered academic upon his being 'terminally exploded' on the battlefield itself., leaving behind "only a pair of smoking suede loafers". Plans for the intended appearance of Group Leader Giles before the military tribunal were abandoned upon his being stood up against a wall and shot by a firing party organised by Captain Queeg, commander of HMG's notorious "WYRD Force". The "timely convenience" of Giles' death has provoked "dark mutterings" as to the possibility of conspiracy between Queeg and Councillor Cracknutt...