Eighteen-year-old Louisa Edith Jenny Price was a member of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), a women’s branch of the British Army that played a vital role during the Second World War. She was stationed in Shropshire, contributing to the war effort in a region known for its rolling hills and historical significance. On the evening … More Louisa Price

In April of 1935, a fisherman caught a fourteen-foot tiger shark near Coogee Beach, Sydney, Australia. The shark was brought to the Coogee Aquarium Baths, where it was put on public display. Days later, on April 25th, the shark, still alive but distressed, regurgitated a human arm in front of horrified onlookers. The arm, remarkably … More The Shark Arm Case

Arthur Brennan was born on March 2nd, 1881, in Abbotsford, Victoria, Australia, to William and Mary Brennan. He was one of eleven children, with eight sisters and two brothers, both of whom shared his passion for Australian rules football. Brennan’s football career was notable, if not extensive, in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and Victorian … More Arthur Brennan

On the evening of June 20th, 1931, a chilling and perplexing tragedy unfolded at Blackdown Camp in Camberley, Surrey, England. Lieutenant Hubert George “Hugh” Chevis, a twenty-eight-year-old officer in the Royal Artillery of the British Army, sat down to dinner with his wife, Frances, in their bungalow. The meal, featuring Manchurian partridge—a dish Hubert favored—would … More Hubert Chevis

Thirty-seven-year-old Ernest Melville was a familiar figure in the North Hill area of Swansea, Wales, living with his parents at 11 Watkin Street, just a short walk from where his life would end. Described as a slight man, standing at about five feet five inches tall, Ernest was the youngest of six children. He suffered … More Ernest Melville

Fifty-one-year-old Mary Speir Gunn was born in Stevenston, North Ayrshire, Scotland, to Jane Speir and Gilbert Gunn, a well-known railway contractor, and lived a varied life. Known as the “Beauty of Beith” in her youth, she worked as one of Scotland’s first telephone operators in Ardrossan and briefly lived in Canada with her sister before … More Mary Speir Gunn

Sixty-nine-year-old Jean Milne was born in Dundee, Scotland and lived a life of considerable wealth, inherited from her brother, James Milne, a tobacco manufacturer who purchased a twenty-three room mansion called Elmgrove in 1895. After his death in 1903, Jean inherited an annual income equivalent to over £100,000 in today’s money, allowing her to maintain … More Jean Milne

Seventy-five-year-old Alexander Norval was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and trained as a currier in Edinburgh, where he met his wife, Alison, from East Lothian. The couple had eight children, with their first two born in Edinburgh, one in Ireland, and the remaining five in Carlisle, Cumbria, northern England, where Norval had established a successful business … More Alexander Norval

Ten-year-old Amy Margaret Reeves lived with her family at Kitsmead Cottage, a modest home near Chertsey Common in the village of Longcross, Surrey, England, where her father worked as a gardener. Longcross, a little over twenty-one miles west of central London, was a small, hilly village with no central pub or green, known for its … More Amy Reeves

Seventy-one-year-old Evan David Harris lived a modest and reserved life at 21 Lon Draenen in Tycoch, Swansea, Wales with his elder daughter, whose husband had been called up for military service. A widower and retired chemist, Harris had spent nearly two decades working at the English Crown Spelter Works, followed by stints at Pritchard’s Oxalic … More Evan Harris