When war overtook Europe from 1939 to 1945, terror gripped the entire world. In the winter of 1942, London grew accustomed to night-time blackout conditions in an effort to deter German aircrafts from bombing the nation. While some took shelter, others took advantage of the conditions.
Petty and violent crime rose significantly during these blackouts, creating an over-wrought, over-worked, and already-understaffed police force to spread itself even thinner than before. It wasn’t until a series of murders gripped their attention that they realized two things: One, these murders were connected; and, two, they had a serial killer in their midst.
In February of 1942, the police were on the hunt for The Blackout Killer, a cruel and ruthless man who took advantage of the world’s instability to cater to his own horrific appetites.
On February 18th, 1914, Gordon Frederick Cummins was born in New Earswick, North Yorkshire. He was the oldest of four children, and though his parents had high expectations of him, he was an unremarkable child, with an unremarkable childhood. He was beyond average, but of course, this would not be good enough for him.
An average student, who cared far more for socializing than he did for his studies, Cummins wasn’t about to let his awkwardness, or his averageness, stand in his way. He likened himself often to nobility, and put on airs for others. It was a pattern of behaviour that started in his youth, and followed him through to his adulthood.
By the age of sixteen, Cummins earned a diploma in chemistry, and proceeded to attend the Northampton College of Technology in 1930. Two years later, in November of 1932, Cummins gave up on his educational endeavours.
Shortly thereafter, he moved to Newcastle, where he worked for a short period of time as an industrial chemist. Five months later, he was dismissed from this position.
In August of 1933, Cummins took a job as a tanner in Northampton. Just over a year later, in September of 1934, he was dismissed for the reason of poor timekeeping. A month later, he moved to London where he gained employment as a leather dresser. There, he trained in order to become a foreman for the firm.
While in London, Cummins’ hoity toity attitude really took over. He had a reputation to build. As such, he would frequent hotels and clubs in the West End, and tell stories of his aristocratic background. In order to afford the lifestyle of the Honourable Gordon Cummins, as he insisted on being called, he committed acts of theft and embezzlement.
On February 8th, 1935, Cummins was let go from his leather dressing firm, as his ‘aristocratic exploits’ that he loved to brag about so much had begun to impact his work performance. None too fussed about it, Cummins moved in with his brother in Queens Mews, Bayswater, and considered where his future would take him next.
That next move seemed to take Cummins to the Royal Air Force, where he was trained as a rigger. His superiors found him to be ambitious, while he grated on the nerves of his fellow servicemen. As he still wished to be considered a nobleman, Cummins boasted of his background, earning him the mocking nickname “The Duke”.
On December 28th, 1936, Cummins married his sweetheart, Marjorie Stevens. The two had met seven months prior, and began a courtship. Marjorie was the administrative assistant for a West End theatre producer, which delighted Cummins greatly due to his love theatricality, and the potential connections she could introduce him to.
Shortly after being married, Cummins was relocated from Suffolk to Scotland with the Marine and Armament Experimental Establishment. In 1939, shortly after the beginning to World War II, Cummins was transferred to Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire, where he stayed until April of 1941, when he was transferred to Colerne, Wiltshire. During his Wiltshire post, Cummins was ranked as a leading aircraftman, with aspirations to become a spitfire pilot.
In November of 1941, Cummins was transferred to Cornwall, where he earned the nickname “The Count”. Similar to that of a previous post, Cummins’ colleagues found his boasting and bragging outlandish and ridiculous. Though Cummins preened at the nickname, it’s unclear if he ever knew it was used in a mocking tone.
In Cornwall, Cummins joined a Falmouth social club, named The Blue Peter Club. On busy nights, he would occasionally help the proprietress and assist in tending bar.
His stint bartending didn’t last long, and he was relieved of his duties when it was discovered that he was serving fellow RAF personnel free drinks. Following that, the proprietress also discovered that roughly £35 was missing in jewelry from her apartment. No evidence was found to prove his guilt, but local police and the proprietress highly suspected that Cummins was the culprit.
In January of 1942, Cummins appeared before the Royal Air Force selection board to take an aviation exam, having completed over 1,000 hours of flight experience. Cummins showed exemplary skills and performance, and was transferred to the Air Crew Receiving Centre in Regent’s Park. He was ordered to report for during on the morning of February 2nd, 1942, at 10:00 AM.
On Sunday, February 8th, 1942, Cummins left his RAF establishment to visit his wife. As they ate, he asked his wife for some money to head “out on the town”. She gave him a pound note, and he left the flat shortly after 6:30 PM.
At this time, due to active threat of aerial bombardment, London had enforced strict blackout conditions. Cummins took full advantage of these conditions to prowl, search, and prey on his victims.
On Monday, February 9th, 1942, the body of 41-year-old pharmacist Evelyn Margaret Hamilton was discovered by an electrician in a street-level air raid shelter. Her clothes were in disarray, and her scarf was wound around her head.
There were scuff marks found on her shoes, and pieces of a broken mortar scattered near her body. This indicated to police that she had put up a massive struggle.
When she was found, she appeared to have been posed for shock value – her left breast was exposed, and her skirt was pushed up above her hips, with her underwear pulled down below her knees. Her handbag had been stolen, and was later found, empty, by another police officer.
On February 8th, Evelyn had told a Mrs. Maud Yoxall that she had plans to leave London for Lincolnshire the following day. Though she had been managing a Hornchurch chemists, she’d been offered the position of manageress at a pharmacy in Grimsby, which would offer her more financial stability. She was looking forward to the change, and was excited to start this new chapter of her life.
She had last been seen alive by a waitress at the Maison Lyons Corner House before midnight, drinking a glass of white wine in celebration.
Investigators believed that she had been attacked upon leaving the tea house, while walking back towards her boarding house. The post-mortem indicated that Evelyn had been manually strangled by an individual who was left-hand dominant.
There was no evidence that she had been sexually assaulted, though she had a few scrapes and cuts to her body, likely inflicted as she was fighting off her killer.
Investigators were perturbed by the horrific, senseless nature of the killing. But they had no idea that this was the start of a gruesome pattern.
Read Part 2 here.
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Sources:
The Tale of the Blackout Ripper – Jacob Wilkins – Medium
Depraved London wartime serial killer who was ‘worse than Jack the Ripper’ – Dan Wiggins – MyLondon
The Blackout Ripper: A serial killer in wartime London – Cime & Investigation
The Dark Histories Podcast – S05Ep05 – Gordon Cummins: The Blackout Ripper
Gordon Cummins Wikipedia page
[…] In February of 1942, police were alerted to the body of Evelyn Margaret Hamilton, a woman who had been murdered during a blitz blackout night. What they didn’t know was that Evelyn’s murder was the beginning of a gruesome pattern of events. You can read more on that in Part 1. […]
[…] can read Part 1 here and Part 2 […]