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Jan 2025
44m 48s

Episode 635: Gordon Cummins: The Blackou...

Morbid Network | Wondery
About this episode

In response to the onset of German bombing raids during World War II, many of England’s most vulnerable citizens evacuated or were temporarily evacuated out of urban areas to safer, more rural parts of the country. Those who remained in the cities would ultimately spend years enduring wartime blackouts, periods where the city was plunged into complete darkness in order to prevent German bombers from easily identifying their targets. The blackouts were a significant inconvenience and safety risk for everyone, but for at least one Londoner, they offered a perfect opportunity to enact his darkest fantasies.

Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!

References

Bolton News. 1942. "Is 'killer' at large?" Bolton News, February 14: 1.

Campbell, Duncan. 2010. "London in the blitz: how crime flourished under cover of the blackout." The Guardian, August 28.

Driscoll, Margarette. 2022. "Ranmpage of the Blackout Ripper." Daily Mail, November 24.

Evening Standard. 1942. "Accused of murder of 4 women." Evening Standard (London, England), March 26: 8.

Evening Telegraph. 1942. "'Killer' theory in wave of London murders." Evening Telegraph (Derby, England), February 14: 8.

Herald Express. 1942. "Cadet's defense in murder trial." Herald Express (Devon, England), April 28: 1.

Hull Daily Mail. 1942. "London murders." Hull Daily Mail, February 11: 1.

Imperial War Museum. n.d. Imperial War Museum. https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-nation-at-a-standstill-shutdown-in-the-second-world-war.

Liverpool Daily Post. 1942. "Another London murder." Liverpool Daily Post, February 14: 1.

Storey, Neil. 2023. The Blackout Murders: Homicide in WW2. South Yorkshire, England: Pen and Sword.

The Citizen. 1942. "Cadet sent for trial." The Citizen (Gloucester, England), March 27: 1.

—. 1942. "'Evidence was overwhelming'." The Citizen (Gloucester, England), June 9: 8.

—. 1942. "Fresh Jury to be sworn in." The Citizen (Gloucester, England), April 24: 1.

The Times. 1942. "Airman charged with three murders." The Times (London, England), March 13: 2.

Venning, Annabel. 2017. "The Blackout Ripper; under cover of the Blitz." Mail on Sunday, January 29.

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