Forty Elephants

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The Forty Elephants , also known as Forty Thieves (German: 40 elephants or 40 thieves), were an exclusively female gang that was active in London from the 1870s to the mid-20th century . She mainly committed break-ins , robberies and theft . She was notorious for her coordinated, large-scale shoplifting and her ability to evade the police and justice.

history

The foundation

Shield of the Elephant and Castle Tavern (2008)

The Forty Elephants were first mentioned in a newspaper report in 1873. The criminal organization was founded as a counterpart to the Elephant and Castle Gang , a gang of thieves that operated in south London. It was after the Elephant and Castle Tavern in the London borough of Elephant and Castle named in which the members met. The gang employed a group of women who lived near the meeting point and did unskilled labor. Some were family members, wives, or friends of the members of the Elephant and Castle Gang and were encouraged by the men to raise money in the same way they did. From this an independent gang developed. The poor living conditions in this part of London favored the decision of the members to join a gang of thieves, as it was not possible for many of the low wages, which brought them regular work, to pay the high rents.

The Elephant and Castle Gang and the Forty Elephants stayed in close contact and supported each other.

Methods and self-image

The Forty Elephants performed in a coordinated manner and often committed multiple crimes at the same time in different locations to draw the attention of the police. They wore custom-made dresses with large inside pockets that left plenty of room to hide stolen goods. In doing so, they benefited from the strict customs of the Victorian era , which did not allow police officers to search women thoroughly. The Forty Elephants kept their special clothing in the 20th century. From the gang member Ada Johnston the testimony is passed down that the bags served a double purpose, since they were also well suited to carry stones for the more militant protests of the suffragette movement. Several members of the Forty Elephants actively supported the suffragette movement in the early 20th century; others used the turmoil caused by suffragette protests to rob nearby shops.

As the gang became more and more popular in London and shopkeepers were increasingly on their guard, the Forty Elephants also drove into the London area to rob shops and warehouses there. At first they traveled by train, but as the car became more widespread, they also used chauffeured limousines both in London and in the surrounding area. They maintained a wide network of dealers and pawnbrokers to sell the stolen goods. Members of the Forty Elephants also took jobs as domestic help to gain access to affluent households. Some members deliberately started affairs with men and then blackmailed them.

The thefts enabled the members of the Forty Elephants, who came from simple backgrounds, to lead an upscale lifestyle. In the mid-1920s, Scotland Yard estimated the gang's income at several hundred pounds a day. The gang members spent a significant portion of the money directly on clothing and recreational activities, but kept a portion in a joint fund to pay fines and bail if gang members were caught. The danger of being arrested did not deter them: Many gang members spent long periods of time in prison, but then immediately rejoined the gang. Most of the members came from families with a criminal background and had learned to steal as children. Their gang's activities were, according to them, a job. In both private documents and police interrogations, the women repeatedly expressed their pride in their skills and showed no remorse. This self-image was expressed by gang member Alice Hughes, who was charged with theft and testified in court:

“When I have need of something, I am a lot like other people; I take it. When I have need of nothing, I do not take it. "

“When I need something, I am very like other people; I'll take it If I don't need anything, I won't take it. "

- Alice Hughes, 1914

Structure of the gang

The Forty Elephants appointed a leader to be their "Queen" who had complete decision-making power. The gang was organized strictly hierarchically and divided into several specialized units. They divided the city of London into districts, which spied on the individual "cells" of the gang in a rotation process. A 1925 newspaper article reported that most of the gang members were strikingly tall women, while a group of smaller women acted as scouts.

Many of the gang members were related to each other. If members dropped out, withdrew or went to jail, younger family members who had been trained in the methods of the gang as young girls often moved in. Family ties were also popular in the gang because they reduced the risk of being betrayed by other gang members if they were relatives.

Some men served the group as drivers and transported the stolen goods or drove escape vehicles.

The "Queens"

The first known "Queen" of the gang was the artist model Mary Carr (1862-1924), who became known under the name Queen Thief . The most famous member of the Forty Elephants was Alice Diamond (1896–1952), also known as the Diamond Queen . She was only 18 years old when a 1915 police report named her “the queen of the Forty Thieves”. She was not officially elected leader, but - despite her young age - gradually took over the leadership role. Alice Diamond specialized in stealing jewelry and expensive clothing. Newspaper reports highlighted their attractiveness and fashionable clothes, as well as their skills in hand-to-hand combat. Under her leadership, the gang became more violent and peaked in success and notoriety. Due to her high profile and her advancing age, Alice Diamond withdrew from the leadership of the gang after the Second World War , but continued to participate in their actions and made new members. The then 13-year-old Shirley Pitts (1934-1992) had also been introduced to the methods of the gang by Alice Diamond. From the 1960s, Pitts was recognized as the "Queen" of the Forty Elephants and was nicknamed the Queen of Shoplifters . Her memoir, entitled Gone Shopping , is an illuminating source of information about the late Forty Elephants era. When Pitts died in 1992, gang members had her buried in a £ 5,000 gown she stole from Harrods department store .

The end of the Forty Elephants

The Forty Elephants remained active through both world wars. In the 1960s they still committed numerous thefts. Due to the improvements in security technology, above all the spread of cameras and electronic surveillance, the usual methods of the Forty Elephants worked less and less, and the gang gradually ceased their activities. With the death of the last leader Shirley Pitts in 1992, the Forty Elephants disbanded for good.

literature

  • Brian McDonald: Alice Diamond and the Forty Elephants. The Female Gang That Terrorized London . Milo Books 2015, ISBN 978-1-9084-7984-6 .
  • Lorraine Gamman: Gone Shopping. The Story of Shirley Pitts - Queen of Thieves . Bloomsbury Academic, London 2013, ISBN 978-1-4482-1353-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b McDonald 2015, pp. 40–60.
  2. ↑ McDonald 2015, pp. 89-92.
  3. ↑ a b c d Amelia Hill: Girl gang's grip on London underworld revealed. In: The Guardian . April 27, 2010, accessed March 24, 2018 .
  4. ↑ McDonald 2015, p. 186.
  5. ↑ a b c McDonald 2015, p. 118.
  6. ↑ a b 40 Large Women in Strange Gang Terrorize London. In: The News. October 5, 1925, accessed March 24, 2018 .
  7. ↑ McDonald 2015, p. 43.
  8. ↑ McDonald 2015, pp. 61-73.
  9. ↑ McDonald 2015, pp. 114–117.
  10. ↑ McDonald 2015, p. 128.
  11. ↑ McDonald 2015, pp. 229-240.
  12. ↑ McDonald 2015, p. 240.