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Lingering ghosts of a little-known wartime shooting attack haunt the village of Kingsclere, near Basingstoke, writes JOHN S TANTALON
On a crisp winter morning I found myself back in the sunny surroundings of Basingstoke. The town of Hampshire features in my latest book, The Haunted Realms of Surrey and Hampshire, and contains many valuable spooky stories. My job that day was to head out with Basingstoke, deep into the Hampshire countryside. I would visit a village with an exceptionally dark past.
A short and pleasant bus journey would follow. My destination that morning is ten miles west of Basingstoke. The beautiful views of the surrounding landscape made for an enjoyable journey, and soon it was time to leave. The bus stopped on the side of the road and I was met with a charming face. I had arrived in the village of Kingsclere.
Like many other sleepy villages in Hampshire, Kingsclere exudes a peaceful and pleasant atmosphere. However, this has only been the case occasionally. On a cold, moonlit night on October 5, 1944, Kingsclere would reach unprecedented levels of violence.
These were the last days of the Second World War. The area played a substantial military presence. Many American GIs remained stationed in nearby Sydmonton, housing Sydmonton Court as a makeshift barracks.
Ten troops from the 3247 Quartermaster Service Company drank into the local Crown Inn. What happened within the confines of the pub is not entirely known, but one event caused the colored group of soldiers to leave angrily. An MP named Private Anderson, who was also drinking in the Crown, ordered the men to return to base and change into military uniforms. Whether an altercation over racism took place that evening is unknown, but there have been previous racist confrontations with locals.
The men, outraged by their treatment, returned to Sydmonton Court as ordered, but did not follow the MP’s orders. Taking control of powerful weapons and an abundance of ammunition, the men walked along the dark country paths towards the village.
The Kingsclere Massacre
The soldiers took up position in a cemetery directly opposite the Crown Inn. They waited until 9:30 PM and listened to the landlord’s shouts of “Last Orders.” They knew that the targets of their devious plan would soon leave the pub.
When the first attendees left the Crown, all hell broke loose. The troops opened fire in a brutal barrage of bloody revenge. The first of the victims was the MP, who had ordered them to return to base. The man suffered several gunshot wounds, but managed to drag his bloodied body to a nearby garden, where he died.
The second victim was a soldier named Private Coates, who was sitting in the pub with his back to the window. The bullet that killed him passed straight through his head, leaving his corpse in a heap on the ground. The landlord’s wife, Anne Napper, also died in the hail of gunfire. A stray bullet went through her cheek and into her neck. She would die in hospital the next day.
Kingsclere would count his dead as the chaos of the attack would subside, and the sound of gunfire would fade from the chill of the terrible October night. When the sun rose over the village and the police began their investigation, three lay dead. What could have been many more was probably due to the time of night and the lack of revelers in the pub.
Authorities pursued the attackers and all ten soldiers were arrested the following week. Police from Basingstoke and London would take charge of the investigation and the trial would take place in early November. It would take the court no less than thirty minutes to find the ten men guilty of murder. Nine were imprisoned for the remainder of their natural lives, and a tenth was sentenced to ten years’ hard labor.
During my research for my book I visited several locations with a similar background to Kingsclere. Alton, with the tragic story of Dear Fanny Adams. The Hampshire village of Fordingbridge, believed to be the site of the horrific Burgate House massacre in 1987. They all have suitably macabre echoes of the past, but none are as surprisingly vivid as Kingsclere.
Is there a supernatural connection to the story?
I spoke to three different people during my visit to Kingsclere. The tragic story is now just a distant memory. Although aware of the events, The Crown staff are rarely asked about them; there is an account from many years ago.
Stories persist of ghostly gunfire and ghost sightings in the immediate area in subsequent years. The man I spoke to recalls a story about a ghostly apparition being sighted in the cemetery directly across from the Crown. It is unknown who or what it may be and whether the ghost is connected to the tragic events of October 5, 1944. What has become known as The Kingsclere Massacre?
The Haunted Realms of Surrey and Hampshire is available from Amazon.
