Fish fall and rat trek
My father Alfred Emile Maloret (born on Jersey in 1900) told me that, around 1910, he witnessed the aftermath of a fish fall in St Helier, when the streets were littered with small, herring-like fish.
Some years later, while walking down a country lane, he became aware of a distant murmuring sound that rapidly increased in intensity. Instinctively, he climbed the bank of the lane as hundreds of migrating rats filled every inch of the lane – heading for, he knew not where! He said it took a good few minutes for the rodents to pass before he could continue his walk.
Dad joined the Navy at 16 and served in both World Wars. He witnessed the 1917 Russian Revolution as part of a ship’s crew, observing the fighting from offshore. They had to make a strategic retreat when one of the accompanying ships had its tunnel punctured by stray Bolshevik ballistics. In WWII he was on the Atlantic convoys, where he was commended for bravery.
Nick MaloretMilton, Hampshire
Guided to Grainger
As an Adelaidian and archæologist who has undertaken research in Adelaide’s West Terrace cemetery, I was intrigued by Barry Humphries’s late-night search for Percy Grainger’s grave [. Barry won’t need his spirit guide on future visits guide includes Grainger’s grave and those of a more fortean bent can take the tour that includes the now not-so-unknown Somerton man [, and promises the surprising and strange. Other walks include and A paid night-time tour, , is also available. Interestingly, whilst some of those buried there are said to haunt places elsewhere in the city, I’m not aware of ghost stories pertaining to the cemetery itself.
