History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

In 1935 Scotland Yard was warned by the German police that forged English £5 notes were being sold there at half their face value. Detective Inspector George Hatherill, who spoke several languages, was sent to Berlin to track down the source of the notes. He found they were a very high-quality forgery of a new and unknown type.  To trap the gang, Hatherill posed as an English buyer based in Antwerp, engaged in smuggling and gun running. In his autobiography he says he was comfortable playing this role because he had previously worked in Antwerp as the liaison officer between Scotland Yard and the Belgium police. His contact introduced Hatherill to the gang and he had several meetings in East Berlin cafes. He paid for all the drinks and flashed a roll of bank notes, to convince them he really meant business. Finally, it was agreed that 1,000 Bank of England £5 notes would be ready in a week. At this point the German police raided the homes of the gang members and arrested them all, ...

On 21 January 1908, a messenger arrived at Cox and Co. the army bank at 16 Charing Cross. He presented a typewritten bill of exchange for £300 from the account of Captain EH Brassey of The Lifeguards, payable to Mr AF Cox. The money was put in an envelope addressed to AF Cox at 87 Shaftesbury Avenue and the messenger boy delivered it to that address.  Cox an Co, army bank Charing Cross, c1918 On 27 January this happened again. But the sum at the top of the bill was for £700 while the body of the bill said £300. In accordance with custom, the bank paid the lower amount and wrote to Captain Brassey about the discrepancy. He was away on leave and did not receive the letter until a few days later. On 1 February, a messenger again came to the bank, this time with a bill for £1,000. Knowing the Captain was away, the bank did not pay. The following day Brassey returned and told the bank the bills were forgeries. The police were informed, and Detective Inspector Benjamin A...