Dead Man's Lane (Wesley Peterson)

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As can be seen from the map in Figure 6 above, Plot 212 is what we now call St Agnes Field and Plot 196 is what we call Baptist Field. Joan Aiken was a much loved English writer who received the MBE for services to Children's Literature. She was known as a writer of wild fantasy, Gothic novels and short stories. Does this analysis mean that the unfortunate commander left sitting in the turret for several days was Sergeant Tomasheski? No, not necessarily. The evidence this ever happened is quite weak. It does not match the story in the combat interviews nor the evidence presented in Rendezvous with Destiny. In the end, it hinges on Don Burgett’s story and the earlier book of S.L.A. Marshall. Burgett was, however, very clear that he indeed saw the body of a tank commander. But which tank was it?

I thoroughly enjoyed Dead Man’s Lane which is a good mixture of police procedural and historical investigation. It has taken me long enough but this is the first Wesley Peterson novel I have read, brought to it by the very good Albert Lincoln series. This is not as dense as those novels although equally absorbing and has a lighter tone. I like the idea of two separate investigations, one very much in the present and the other dating to the seventeenth century. The historical investigation mixes diary entries from the time to tell the tale and is interspersed with Wesley’s friend Neil’s excavation. As Neil has the diaries it’s more a case of describing the excavation. I found this mix fascinating and very readable. The modern day murder plot is also absorbing. It is wide ranging and with no immediate suspects or motive Wesley grabs any loose thread until a more coherent picture starts to emerge. I really like this gradual funnelling of information to reach a conclusion. I also like the realistic way that other crimes and secrets get discovered and solved in the course of the investigation. In the 1970’s the Horfield Prison authorities tried to obtain land on St. Agnes Field near the prison for car parking facilities. This request was repelled and the land kept for allotment use. As they were fighting, the sounds of battle to their rear grew stronger, until the noise of an approaching tank became unmistakable. It turned out to be an American M5A1 Stuart, which joined their battle. When it had exhausted its ammunition, it moved out to get more.

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The combat interviews also make mention of “a dead man inside it.” The evidence clearly points to the driver of Tank 12 being killed inside the tank. Research from author Mark Bando also supports this scenario. According to Private Emmert O. Parmley (F/502nd PIR), the driver was still in the tank when he examined it. The body could not be seen unless someone looked through an open hatch at an angle. The M5A1 Stuart light tank lost at Dead Man’s Corner belonged to the 70th Tank Battalion, an experienced formation that had already seen action in North Africa and Sicily. The battalion arrived in England in late November 1943 and was destined to take part in Operation Overlord in support of the landings at Utah Beach. Company A, B, and C, with their M4 Sherman tanks, would be part of the first waves. Two companies with DD (duplex-drive, or amphibious) tanks would land in the first wave at H-Hour to support the 4th Infantry Division. Company A would support 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, on Tare Green Beach, while Company B would support 2nd Battalion of the same regiment on Uncle Red. The name “Dead Man’s Corner” is old. It was already mentioned in the combat interviews of S.L.A. Marshall, conducted in the summer of 1944. The general public likely first learned the name through one or two books: either S.L.A. Marshall’s own Night Drop (1962) or the highly acclaimed account of A/506th PIR trooper Donald R. Burgett’s Currahee, A Screaming Eagle in Normandy (1967). Golden Hill is one of the highest points within the Bristol City environs and is located across the Horfield, Bishopston and Henleaze districts. It is said that the name Golden Hill derives from the fact that it was a pre-Christian beacon hill. It has also been suggested it has an ancient pagan origin and the remains of a tumulus nearby could well support this theory. Dead Man's Lane is yet another deeply satisfying mystery from the talented Kate Ellis. Her Wesley Peterson police procedural series always features dual timelines: one in the present and one in the past, both of which involve the same location. I always learn something new when I read a book in this series. This time as the sinister past of Strangefields Farm was revealed, I learned about deviant burials.

Today Deadman's Hole Lane is an industrial cul-de-sac in Templeborough, on the edge of Rotherham. There are no visible clues as to how this short, unremarkable lane came by its macabre name.The 1894-1903 OS Map 2nd Edition (Figure 6) shows a large L-shaped piece of land, labelled as “Allotment Gardens”, which comprises the current Davies Field and half of the Bishop Road School Field. No other land in the nearby district is labelled as being allotments. It is not known what form these allotments took and who managed them. These landings would be followed by the deep-wading tanks of Company C in the third wave (H+15), which would land on both beaches. Eight tanks outfitted with bulldozer blades landed in this wave, as well.