297:. Scotland Yard found that he was no secret service man at all but merely an adventurer with a glib tongue and quick and fertile imagination. He had, in fact, served several terms of imprisonment for fraud, and on this latest series of tours had impressed with lively stories of his work as a member of a Government security department. To those who knew anything of the work of British Intelligence these stories were sheer fantastic inventions. Every one of them, however, had to be investigated down to the last detail. And though, as it proved, the investigation was nothing but a waste of time, it was necessary for it to be done before the man could be written off as nothing but a trickster having not even the smallest connection with espionage work.
229:, near Shrewsbury, Cain shot himself in the head in front of two police detectives who were coming to investigate why he had told the woman (but not the wife he had in 1937) he was going to shoot her, put her body in the car, and set fire to it. After Cain's public suicide it was reported, "Cain, who was a lance-corporal in a London regiment, had been absent from his unit for some time.
145: (equivalent to about £3,667,720 in 2023), but their plane supposedly crashed during a test so the plan was never carried out. Drecquer, of whom little other record can be found, was described as an American financier or "company promoter." According to Cain, Drecquer committed suicide sometime between 1937 and 1938.
269:, Australia, wrote: "Fair-haired and slightly built, Cain always gave the impression of becoming one of the leading air aces, but his ventures came to naught. He was a mystery, even to his closest friends, most of whom had lost touch with him in recent years. Some were astonished to learn he had joined the Army."
249:
that had already been sent to
Germany, and that he would be flying to Germany soon in a plane hidden in a field or that he needed to go to "an open field in a certain area" where a German plane would pick him up. The inquest into his death was adjourned and held on 9 September 1940 to allow time for
197:
and another company to a businessman but then disappearing without providing the stock certificates. He was sentenced to serve three months in prison per charge, to be served consecutively. Detective-Sergeant Broom told the bankruptcy court in April 1938 that Cain was "so full of deceit he almost
288:
agent. Two officers were accordingly put on his tail and he was kept under the closest observation. It was noted that he seemed to be possessed of ample funds, stayed at good hotels with his companion and was fond of making long journeys by road, the motive of which was not very clear...The view
62:
Newman), Cain's schooling in childhood was disturbed by ill-health, he attended a preparatory school from where, aged 12, he was expelled after a sexual incident with a school's master. He was found another school where at 16 he was reportedly involved in "another unfortunate incident". Cain was
74:
On return to
England, his brother Harold Newman Cain employed him within his business as a travelling salesman and enjoyed some success until he left it in 1936 after losing the confidence of customers through lying and dishonesty. Cain then began a career flying planes from
217:
On 2 August 1940, Cain fled his home at 48 Upper
Berkeley Street in west London in a car in company with a woman friend, Edith Leslie Knight, trailed by the police. He drove west into Wales than back into England where they stayed overnight in a hotel at
130:, Rome, to Spain, where they were sold to the Spanish government and Gen. Franco. He flew other planes from France, but none from England. He was paid by Mr. Drecquer. Cain added that he also took armaments to Spain in a ship chartered by Drecquer at
245:, two of his friends who were said to have committed suicide were actually killed by German agents, England was presently being invaded on three fronts, he was a German, he had held important machinery (or a set of stolen plans) from
904:
193:
Cain "was known to many leading fliers as a lavish entertainer." In March 1938 he pleaded guilty in West London Police Court to obtaining almost £300 under "false pretences" by offering shares in
237:
officers visited the neighbourhood, but it is officially denied that Cain was engaged in espionage." He had told the woman he threatened to kill that, variously, he had an important job with the
884:
198:
deceives himself" and that "this man is extremely fond of luxury and seems unable to adjust his mode of living to his circumstances." In May 1938 he had unpayable debts amounting to
289:
taken by
Scotland Yard was that in view of the information Cain must have gathered during his trips about the countryside it was imperative that the inquest on him be held
349:
152:
airliner from which Max Wenner fell on 4 January 1937 was provided to a New
Zealand newspaper in March 1937 by "Mrs. J. V. Cain, formerly Miss Tinka Jackson, of
225:
On 7 August 1940 he left the hotel and drove the car out of town before forcing Knight to leave the car with him. In the grounds of
Ranslett House, a farm at
167:
In April 1937, Cain ("an
Australian") and a British airman named Ken Waller made the newspaper because they used a speedboat to follow the French ocean liner
35:
253:
Cain is buried in the
Shrewsbury General Cemetery, in extension Plot 10. His grave is among those which bear a CWGC military headstone that are in a
899:
111:
115:
135:
284:
Information reached the
Special Branch that a man giving the name John Vincent Cain was traveling the country with a woman and posing as a
510:"Terror Tour With Mad Soldier, Woman's Amazing Story, Told Her He Was A German, Cornered by Police, Shot Himself at Shropshire Farm".
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106:. Between January and April 1937, Cain was, according to himself, involved in providing weapons and planes to
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312:
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153:
680:"3,000 Feet Through Clouds, Death Leap from Air Liner, Broken-Hearted Squire, Auckland Girl a Witness"
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mentions Cain as an example of "the sort of thing
Intelligence officers in Britain had to deal with."
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38:. He may (or may not) have been involved in delivering planes and weapons to both sides of the
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fell to his death in 1937. He himself committed suicide when about to be arrested in 1940.
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847:. Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. p. 5 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
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reportedly convicted on "false pretences" charges in 1927 at which time he moved to
476:
337:
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530:. London, England. 18 March 1938. p. 2 – via British Newspaper Archive.
763:. Durham, England. 25 May 1938. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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bankruptcy court in 1938 that "he and another pilot flew American planes from
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164:, Surrey, their daughter and nanny were all traveling together that day.
748:. London. 16 March 1938. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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733:. London. 4 March 1938. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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816:. Almeley, Herefordshire: Logaston Press. pp. 115–116, 123–124.
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a week. He later joined the British army, ending up reportedly as a
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182:. They were earlier barred from boarding the ship because "their
790:
134:." Cain and Drecquer also allegedly planned to fly films of the
612:"Mystery Man: Shot Ended Amazing Life as Detectives Approached"
814:
A Matter of Life and Death, The Secrets of Shrewsbury Cemetery
620:. Vol. LXXVII, no. 23797. 26 October 1940. p. 2
42:. He was also apparently a passenger on the plane from which
58:, Essex, son of Ernest Harry Cain and his wife Ada Eleanor (
190:
for the United States, where they had urgent business."
840:"Ex Flying Ace's Life Was Almost as Mysterious as Life"
812:
Francis, Peter (2006). "Chapter 12, 'Lest We Forget'".
647:"£4,000 for Flying Planes to Spain, Airman's Statement"
22:(1907 – 7 August 1940) was a British civilian aviator,
905:
Military personnel from the London Borough of Havering
526:"PRISON FOR AIRMAN Intelligence Applied to Crime".
838:
705:
555:. Glasgow, Scotland. 10 September 1940. p. 12
463:...so full of deceit he almost deceived himself...
441:
885:British military personnel killed in World War II
138:to the United States, with a hoped-for profit of
350:International response to the Spanish Civil War
282:
250:Special Branch investigations to be completed.
548:"Amazing Revolver Drama, Soldier Posed as Spy"
379:Commonwealth War Graves Commission (cwgc.org)
233:was interested in his recent activities, and
8:
729:"Charges Against Airman: False Pretences".
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241:, he had a dangerous job and thus needed a
761:Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette
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422:...possibly a not too reliable witness...
375:"Private John Cain (Service No. 2885332)"
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160:." Mr. and Mrs. Cain, who then lived at
714:. 17 April 1937. p. 8 – via
694:, New Zealand. 4 March 1937. p. 2.
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26:soldier, convicted petty criminal, and
785:. London: Hutchinson. pp. 42–43.
481:Wonersh One-Place Study; 14,571 people
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36:1930s European international relations
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477:"John Vincent Cain, b. 1907, d. 1940"
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148:A detailed account from within the
16:Minor British fraudster (1907–1940)
631:(National Library of New Zealand).
265:After his death, one newspaper in
100:Commonwealth War Graves Commission
14:
475:Cooper, Jan (19 February 2018).
514:. 13 September 1940. p. 6.
900:Suicides by firearm in England
528:Westminster & Pimlico News
1:
579:"Max Wenner Mystery part two"
577:Eyles, Chris (12 July 2019).
222:, Shropshire, on 6-7 August.
837:Air Mail (18 January 1941).
921:
759:"Flying Planes to Spain".
483:. Wonersh, Surrey, England
450:. 20 April 1938. p. 6
267:Newcastle, New South Wales
34:in newspaper coverage of
781:Firmin, Stanley (1946).
712:Ipswich Queensland Times
654:. 25 May 1938. p. 9
398:Wenner, Michael (1993).
178:and boarded her off the
102:(CWGC) records him as a
96:London Scottish Regiment
443:"Believed His Own Lies"
402:. Edinburgh: Pentland.
136:coronation of George VI
313:Fritz Joubert Duquesne
299:
291:
286:British Secret Service
744:"Prison for Airman".
707:"Dash to Board Liner"
553:Daily Record and Mail
716:NewspaperArchive.com
512:Shrewsbury Chronicle
459:NewspaperArchive.com
895:People from Romford
652:The Daily Telegraph
272:A 1946 book called
32:unreliable narrator
30:who appeared as an
890:Burials in England
880:British fraudsters
686:. No. 22588.
617:New Zealand Herald
128:Littoria Aerodrome
323:Battle of Britain
257:war graves plot.
227:Eaton Constantine
176:Southampton Water
120:Spanish Civil War
114:and the opposing
71:for seven years.
54:Born in 1907, at
40:Spanish Civil War
20:John Vincent Cain
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661:– via
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308:Harold Cole
116:Republicans
69:New Zealand
859:Categories
658:2022-12-30
624:2022-12-30
588:2022-12-26
583:Rare Earth
559:2022-12-28
487:2022-12-28
454:2022-12-31
384:2023-10-11
356:References
343:Hull Blitz
261:Reputation
247:Birmingham
220:Shrewsbury
77:Brooklands
44:Max Wenner
400:So it was
293:in camera
186:were not
184:passports
154:Devonport
65:Australia
50:Biography
791:47005004
418:29844406
302:See also
243:revolver
169:SS
158:Auckland
124:Kingston
799:3292255
688:Dunedin
202:9,130 9
104:private
94:in the
56:Romford
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188:visaed
150:Sabena
143:45,000
692:Otago
213:Death
174:down
132:Havre
818:ISBN
795:OCLC
787:LCCN
414:OCLC
404:ISBN
83:for
67:and
24:AWOL
276:by
110:'s
79:to
60:née
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208:d.
206:11
204:s.
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200:£
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86:£
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