Mrs Ferguson's Teaset!!!
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Mrs Ferguson's Teaset one November 2023
Mrs Ferguson's Teaset with Malcolm Smith
Malcolm was our guest the other Tuesday night and enthralled us all with a tale that was true, but soooo unlikely!! – ‘Mrs Ferguson’s Tea Set’.
Mrs Ferguson fled France in 1940 during the German invasion and managed to catch the last ferry out of Bordeaux, much we presume, to her relief.
However, her story and the infamous ‘Tea Set’ had only just began.
Sailing through the Indian Ocean in late 1940, which was not thought to be in a theatre of war, so, technically safe?
However, travelling with her husband on the ship the SS Automedon it was confronted by the German cruiser Atlantis, which after some misunderstood communications, the German ship, Atlantis fired a warning shot.
This escalated and the two ships opened fire on each other. The Automedon was hopelessly out gunned and began to sink. The Germans quickly boarded and removed anything they found of value, taking the passengers and crew prisoners, including Mr and Mrs Ferguson.
Mrs Ferguson, in a state of hysteria begs the German Captain to rescue all her worldly belongings including the ‘Tea Set’.
Unknown to her it was stored with the mail bags and some highly classified top secret documents which the Germans gleefully rescued, taking them, the prisoners, and ‘Tea Set’ et al to the German Embassy in Tokyo.
This highly classified material gave details of troop, civilians and war readiness etc in the Pacific. After being sanctioned by Hitler himself, this information was passed on to the Japanese authorities, who it is now assumed, used this information to contribute to Japan’s decision to declare war on the West’s overseas empires and likely the attack on Pear Harbour!!!
Malcolm told us we would never know…….is it likely the Germans would have found these documents if it was not for the Tea Set?......we will never know?
And the Ferguson’s, they were retained for the duration of the war as prisoners, and the infamous ‘Tea Set’, well that turned up too at the end of the war!!.......and the blunder of the secret contents of the mail bags was hidden away for many, many years thereafter.
A fascinating story told in exciting detail by Malcolm with a vote of thanks given by Roger.
Malcolm was our guest the other Tuesday night and enthralled us all with a tale that was true, but soooo unlikely!! – ‘Mrs Ferguson’s Tea Set’.
Mrs Ferguson fled France in 1940 during the German invasion and managed to catch the last ferry out of Bordeaux, much we presume, to her relief.
However, her story and the infamous ‘Tea Set’ had only just began.
Sailing through the Indian Ocean in late 1940, which was not thought to be in a theatre of war, so, technically safe?
However, travelling with her husband on the ship the SS Automedon it was confronted by the German cruiser Atlantis, which after some misunderstood communications, the German ship, Atlantis fired a warning shot.
This escalated and the two ships opened fire on each other. The Automedon was hopelessly out gunned and began to sink. The Germans quickly boarded and removed anything they found of value, taking the passengers and crew prisoners, including Mr and Mrs Ferguson.
Mrs Ferguson, in a state of hysteria begs the German Captain to rescue all her worldly belongings including the ‘Tea Set’.
Unknown to her it was stored with the mail bags and some highly classified top secret documents which the Germans gleefully rescued, taking them, the prisoners, and ‘Tea Set’ et al to the German Embassy in Tokyo.
This highly classified material gave details of troop, civilians and war readiness etc in the Pacific. After being sanctioned by Hitler himself, this information was passed on to the Japanese authorities, who it is now assumed, used this information to contribute to Japan’s decision to declare war on the West’s overseas empires and likely the attack on Pear Harbour!!!
Malcolm told us we would never know…….is it likely the Germans would have found these documents if it was not for the Tea Set?......we will never know?
And the Ferguson’s, they were retained for the duration of the war as prisoners, and the infamous ‘Tea Set’, well that turned up too at the end of the war!!.......and the blunder of the secret contents of the mail bags was hidden away for many, many years thereafter.
A fascinating story told in exciting detail by Malcolm with a vote of thanks given by Roger.
If you are interested in finding out more about Whitley Bay Rotary Club, please contact us either through Facebook, on enquiries@whitleybayrotaryclub.co.uk or by telephoning 07419 736989.
