Death of a Prisoner of War

1808: When a number of French Napoleonic prisoners of war were scheduled to be taken under armed guard from the town to the Norman Cross prisoner of war camp, thing didn't quite go to plan. Due to the lateness of the hour, the British soldiers of the 77th Regiment guarding them decided not to expose themselves to the risk of the prisoners escaping into the night and instead placed them in the backyard of the Angel Inn in Narrow Bridge Street. Guards were in place and all settled down for a quiet night.  However, one of the prisoners decided to make a break for it and began to climb over the wall. He declined to stop when told - perhaps he spoke no English - and was shot as he climbed the wall. Dr T.J. Walker records him as 'dying in twenty minutes'. Some say that his dead body was left half over the wall as a deterrent to others. Certainly, no one else tried a similar escape that night - or during the march to Norman Cross in the morning. The subsequent inquest brought in a verdict of 'justifiable homicide'. In another incident, a prisoner jumped from Nene Bridge and was shot as he surfaced. ( Walker, T.J., The Depot for Prisoners of War at Norman Cross, Huntingdonshire 1796 to 1816, Constable & Co, 1913; Lloyd, Clive L., A History of Napoleonic & American Prisoners of War 1756-1816, Antique Collectors' Club, 2007)

Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.