Book Review – The Hagley Wood Murder – M.J. Trow – 2023

I am always interested in books about Bella in the Wych Elm and when I received an email from fellow author David Tremain about M.J. Trow’s book, I ordered a copy. I read it several months ago and have been trying to calm down since then. Suffice to say, it was not the most enjoyable read.

The Story

I don’t think I need to expand on the story of Bella in the Wych Elm very much. Regular readers of this blog will know that I have been researching her story for several years, ever since journalist Alison Vale dragged Clara Bauerle (German cabaret singer and mistress of Josef Jakobs) into Hagley Wood.

In April 1943, four boys searching for bird nests found a skull in a hollow wych elm. The authorities were called and discovered the entire skeleton of a woman in the tree. Their inquiries yielded nothing. No clue to her identity. Over the years. thanks to chalk scrawlings in the area, the skeleton came to be called “Bella”. Many individuals have tried to discover the truth of the story. Who was Bella? What happened to her? The release of the archival police documents into the investigation created a spurt of interest a few yeas back. Many of the stories have blended fact with fiction, fantasy and fancy. Of all the books published, I find that Alex and Pete Merrill’s books keep to the fact line the best.

The Book

The Hagley Wood Murder was published in 2023 by Pen & Sword Books. I had never heard of the author before. This is a bit surprising as I’ve made contact with a number of Bella aficionados and researchers through this blog. Meirion James Trow is a Welsh crime fiction writer with over 50 fiction books to his name. He has also written several non-fiction books in the true crime genre. I’m always a bit concerned when a fiction writer makes the leap to non-fiction but… I was willing to give the author some leeway as he studied history at Kings College London and taught history for many years.

Engaging First Few Chapters Lacking Footnotes

The book itself starts off relatively well. The Introduction and first few chapters (Ch. 1 and 2) give an overview of the story and set the cultural and societal milieu in which the mystery played out.

One of the first things I noticed, however, was that the author did not use many footnotes, endnotes or citations. I questioned the veracity of several statements but… without any citation… the reader is left to take such statements at face value, being unable to check the original source. If any book is to be of value to researchers, citing primary sources is key. This omission in Trow’s book is annoyingly frustrating and already put me in a grim mood as I moved on to the rest of the book.

Thin Research on the Thin Blue Line

Trow spends a long chapter (Ch. 3) outlining the state of the police at the time. He brings Sergeant Charles Henry Lambourn and Sergeant Richard Skerratt to the fore, both involved in the initial Bella investigation. At one point, the author notes that “Lambourn was probably Willetts’ age, 47…” and joined the police in 1919. There is no background information on Sergeant Skerratt. A quick dip into the National Registration (1939) records yielded info on both men and it is unfortunate that Trow didn’t spend a bit of time fleshing out the information on these two. He does however, spend a fair bit of time giving the history of various London detectives, unrelated to the story, which left me bored. I’d have been more interested in some background info on the local detectives involved in the Bella case – Sidney William Inight and Thomas Nock Williams.

Credit for the Facial Reconstruction of Bella

We then get into Webster’s report on the skeletal remains of Bella (Ch. 4). Webster was the pathologist involved in the case and the author spends a fair bit of time pointing out the mistake that Webster made in his initial description of the victim’s dental structure. Trow notes that in 2017, the photos of the skull were submitted to Professor Caroline Wilkinson for a facial reconstruction. All good except… it was Pete and Alex Merrill who initiated the facial reconstruction project and there is absolutely no mention of them in this entire book (except one footnote and a reference in the bibliography). None of us build our own castles as non-fiction researchers, we are all building on the hard work of others. To deny such consummate researchers as the Merrill’s their due recognition is not good form.

Wandering through Theories

The author then spends several chapters reviewing such clues as the chalk writings, the potentially missing “Bella” women, Private Heywood’s story, etc. (Ch. 5-7). Trow is quite harsh with the police investigators, claiming that the “police wasted effort” and “wasted hundreds of hours” in their endeavours to chase various clues. That seems a bit harsh given that the police had no idea if these clues were legit or not. We have the gift of hindsight, they did not.

We then wander through several true crime murders related to American GIs (Ch. 8) and the possibility that a foreigner killed Bella, given the number of strangers billeted in the area.

The chapter (Ch. 9) on the Romany (aka Gypsies/Gipsies) was interesting and pertinent as Trow’s ultimate theory is that Bella was a Romany.

The Van Raalte Theory

We can’t escape this book without a chapter (Ch. 10) on Wilford Byford-Jones and Anna from Claverley (aka Una Mossop/Hainsworth). While we do get a few footnotes in this chapter, the citations simply read “Worcester Archives”, which is extremely unhelpful, akin to saying “haystack” for those tracing the needle.

The author spends a fair bit of time with Laura Van Raalte but simply reiterates the information in the police files, all of which is inaccurate. I wrote a comprehensive blog on the Van Raalte family in 2019 and it is unfortunate that the author failed to consider this information while researching his book.

He also reiterates the story that Quaestor (Wilford Byford-Jones) had offered a £100 reward for information around the Bella case, but the Merrill’s thoroughly researched the newspaper archives and were unable to confirm that the reward originated with Quaestor. Again, no mention of the Merrill’s and their hard work.

Espionage Errors

The chapter on the spies (Ch. 11) is rife with errors. The entire chapter has a single footnote, from Jan Willem van den Braak’s book on Engelbertus Fukken. The author presents information on Dorothy O’Grady, but no mention of Adrian Searle’s excellent volume about Dorothy (The Spy by the Sea – 2012). Trow mentions the “Secret Service Departments” of MI5 and MI6 but makes no distinction between them, failing to recognize that the Secret Service (or Secret Intelligence Service) was MI6 and the Security Service was MI5. The author makes liberal reference to John Masterman and his book (The Double-Cross System), but this book was published in 1972 and is severely out of date. Trow references “John Masterman’s Camp XX” which shows an appalling lack of knowledge of several different aspects of wartime espionage investigation. The Double Cross System (aka the XX System – two X’s being two crosses) was in no way identical with MI5s secret wartime interrogation centre, Camp 020.

Trow spends some time going over the stories of the first spies sent to England in the fall and winter of 1940/41. There are too many errors to list and although it isn’t clear where he gets his information, based on his bibliography, Trow is likely relying on Masterman (Double-Cross System – 1972), Fleming (Invasion 1940 – 1957) and Brown (Bodyguard of Lies – 1977) all of which are sadly out of date, long eclipsed by works that have accessed the actual MI5 files declassified in the early 2000s.

In regards to Vera, the author muddles Camp 020 again – “She told her story to MI5’s Interrogation centre, Camp XX (which came to be known, for obvious reasons, as the Double Cross Committee) which specialized in turning agents.” No mention of David Tremain’s excellent volume on Vera (The Beautiful Spy – 2019).

As for Josef Jakobs, according to Trow, Josef landed, “buried his helmet and flying suit and set off in search of somewhere”. Readers of this blog will know that Josef Jakobs lay in agony for 12 hours with a broken ankle and did not move more than a few feet from his landing spot. He was still wearing the flying suit and the helmet lay next to him. The only thing he tried to bury was the transmitter case. Trow also relies on inaccurate information in claiming that Josef was shot on 14 August 1941. It was actually 15 August 1941.

The author then touches on several of the other spies getting their names wrong (e.g. “Alphonse Tinnermann” – should be Timmerman). There is no scant mention of Johannes Marinus Dronkers, who, given McCormick’s theories about Bella being Clara Dronkers, the wife of Johannes, would be seem to be a huge omission. The author also fails to mention, obviously, of Tremain’s excellent and thorough volume on Dronkers (Rough Justice – 2017).

The book contains some photo plates and one of them is the postcard photo of Clara Bauerle from Josef’s MI5 files (although Trow has no photo credit). The caption accompanying this plate is:

No one could trace the origin of Bella’s shoes or the dental work she had had done. Was that because she was a spy, parachuted in to the Midlands in 1941? To some, this is Bella. Her actual name is Klara Dronkers who was a foot taller than Bella with perfect teeth!

The postcard image is most assuredly NOT of Klara Dronkers, but of Clara Bauerle. A sad mistake that will no doubt muddy the waters even further.

Rudolf Hess and Bella

The author manages to drag Rudolf Hess and Aktion Hess into the Bella mystery (Ch. 12), which is impressive but pointless. At one point, he mentions an author named “Simon Hayward” which, given the book attributed to him, should be James Hayward. Trow touches on the story of Karl Dickenhoff/Hans Caesar, but bungles the story, sadly. I covered the Hans Caesar story in a 2019 blog but it would appear Trow has not consulted much beyond Donald McCormick’s volume.

Clara Bauerle

As for the person who dragged German cabaret singer Clara Bauerle into the Bella maelstrom, Trow lays the laurels at the feet of Andrew Sparke and mentions his book from 2014 (updated edition published 2016). In actual fact, the dubious credit should go to Alison Vale, a non-fiction author who dropped this bombshell in a 2013 article in The Independent. I spent much of 2014 dissecting and dismembering Vale’s theory and Sparke simply reiterated much of my research (another author who makes limited use of citations).

More Theories & Witchcraft

We then pass through Joyce Coley’s book and her theories (Ch. 13), learning along the way that Josef Jakobs was interrogated by MI6 (wrong… it was MI5). As an aside, Trow almost makes it sound like Coley mentioned Josef Jakobs in her volume, but she did not. We also dabble in Margaret Murray and the witchcraft theories (Ch. 14) before visiting Charles Walton and his murder (Ch. 15).

Along the way, Trow begins to complain about the lack of sources and citations in some of the resources that he consults. He laments that “Sparke’s sources are not quoted”. He complains that author Paul Newman uses an uncredited photograph. Interestingly, Trow’s own photographs have no credits.

Gutting Donald McCormick

Trow does a masterful job of gutting Donald McCormick’s book on the Bella/Charles Walton murders (Ch. 16) and yet he lambasts McCormick for not giving sources. While Trow admits that sources were not as commonly used at the time of McCormick’s book… that doesn’t explain why Trow is so loath to use them himself. As an example, Trow notes that all of the quotes in Chapter 16 are from McCormick and yet gives no page numbers for any of them.

Trow makes a interesting statement in Ch. 17 – “We all see ourselves as armchair detectives and some of us are not very good at it.” Very true.

The Perhaps Theory

Finally, in Chapters 18 and 19 we get to the heart of Trow’s theory. That Bella was perhaps a Romany, perhaps a prostitute who perhaps ended up in London and perhaps decided to escape the sex trade and perhaps return to her tribe and perhaps was identical with Lavinia F. Stratford (or Lavonia) (born 17 Oct 1914). According to Trow, it is possible that perhaps Lavinia was murdered by her pimp who was perhaps jealous and who perhaps followed her back to Worcestershire, after she perhaps tried to escape the sex trade, and you perhaps killed her there.

Perhaps?

Trow uses a lot of “may have” and “might have” qualifiers in these last two chapters. Which is appropriate since he goes out on a very thin branch with absolutely no concrete evidence. All of it is speculation. Trow himself admits that “I cannot prove it, not any of it”. Introducing such an unsubstantiated theory into what I took to be a non-fiction book reminds me of Trow’s title for his chapter on Donald McCormick (Ch. 16), “The Fantasy Historian”.

While Trow did find Lavinia F. Stratford in the 1939 National Registration, he doesn’t appear to have done any further genealogical research. He did not discover that she was born in Scotland. He did not discover that her parents and brother lived in Birmingham in 1939. He did not discover that she lived in France in 1940 and traveled to the United States that same year. But more on that in my follow-up blog which debunks the Lavinia F. Stratford theory.

As a final note, Trow identified several errors in Paul Newman’s book on the Charles Walton murder and notes that these are “minor points, perhaps, but important when it comes to research into murder”. I heartily agree with him here.

Review

I was sorely disappointed in this book. There are a grand total of 41 footnotes in the entire book. The lack of citations directing interested readers and researchers to primary sources is lamentable and perplexing, for an author with a history degree. It is also clear that the author relies on information from his other books (e.g. wartime murders, Rudolf Hess, police during wartime). This is fine, but given the errors noted above, one wonders how much of the material is actually accurate. These are not minor points and obviously important when it comes to research into murder… or espionage.

Trow complains at several points that various authors (a) lack citations for the photographs they use and (b) lack source citations. This is a perplexing observation given Trow’s own lack of citations for photographs and dearth of source citations.

Enough said. This volume adds nothing new to the research into the Bella story. In fact, it adds a volume of misinformation and inaccuracies which is unfortunate as it simply muddies the waters. As for his theory about Lavinia Stratford… I will expand on what information I have uncovered in a future blog.

Review Score

2 out 5 – give this book a pass, unless you enjoy “Spot the Error”

Postscript

As an aside, Trow’s book was reviewed by the Bromsgrove Standard on 20 March 2023. One of the first line states “The Hagley Wood Murder by MJ Trow is the first book to go through the case.” This is dismayingly untrue and seems to be based on the book’s page on the Pen & Sword site. There, it notes that “Astonishingly, The Hagley Wood Murder is the first book solely on the subject (other than a selection of privately printed/self published offerings) ever written on this murder, which took place eighty years ago.” While the Merrill’s books were published via a niche publisher, they should not be dismissed as “self-published”.

Post Postscript

I also saw that Trow is publishing a book on the Charles Walton murder in August 2023. I think I will save my money for a different book.