Monica Weller - Injured Parties: Solving the Murder of Dr Helen Davidson

First and foremost I wish to thank Maria Marston for being so trusting when she directed me to the story about Dr Helen Davidsons unsolved murder. Injured Parties owes much to Maria and to her parents, Bob and Fennis Marston.

I am indebted to many people in and around the Buckinghamshire town of Amersham, who have tirelessly encouraged me to complete this book. To Barbara Webber, an Amersham lady, who ended her career as head of Physiotherapy at the Royal Brompton Hospital and, in retirement, is heavily involved with Amersham Museum where she has had many roles ranging from secretary, cataloguer of photographs, guided walks organiser, to general factotum. Thank you, Barbara for your generosity of time, thoughtfulness, support and for your introductions to many local people who were able to help me. Thanks to Barbaras friend Natalie Ross, another Amersham lady whose family were patients of Dr Helen Davidson, who has always wanted closure on the matter of Dr Davidsons tragic death, and whose information about people and places in the town regularly filled my email inbox during the course of my research.

I would like to give a special thank you to medical journalist Tim Albert. From the start of my research he pointed me in the direction of the British Medical Association and the British Medical Journal and I never looked back. More generally, I am grateful to archivists and librarians at The Royal College of Anaesthetists, The Royal Society of Medicine, The Royal College of General Practitioners and St John Ambulance .

In the early stages of my research I visited Professor David Bowen, the forensic pathologist who carried out the post-mortem on the body of Dr Helen Davidson in 1966. I am very grateful for the time he took to share his knowledge and material with me, and for introducing me to the world of the forensic pathologist. For help on specific medical queries my thanks go to Dr Margaret Chilton, Dr Rhona Maclean, Professor Neil McIntyre, Dr Wendy Kelsey and Dr Brenda Sanderson. A huge thanks also to the following: Dr David Howell, Mrs Rosemary Howell, Dr Bryn Neal, Dr Keith Heywood, Mrs Barbara Ogden and Mrs Pauline Argles. And a special thank you to Wright Funeral Directors, for filling in vital details about procedures on 10 November 1966.

I am indebted to Mrs Janice Still, a retired chartered Biomedical scientist, fellow of the Institute for Biomedical Science, a magistrate on the High Wycombe bench, and a former chairman of the Friends of Hodgemoor Wood, for her in-depth knowledge of the wood.

Thank you to the following people for their intimate knowledge about people and places in Amersham, its villages close by and Hodgemoor Wood; I know there are many who have waited patiently as I attempted to uncover the facts. To Pam Appleby MBE, a former chairman of Amersham District Council, who also served as a magistrate on the Amersham Bench, and was a patient of Dr Davidson for over twenty years. Dennis Silcocks who is the former headmaster of Hyde Heath Infant School, Janet Bangay, Ann Honour, Irma Dolphin, David Oxley, Ruth Groves, Derek Swains, Mary Grove, Joyce and Hilary King, Wendy Stevens, Rob and Suzette Stevens, Pat Drew, Michael Baughan, Vera Herriott, Mary Knight, David Mulkern, Pauline Willes, Carol Bain, Barbara Cox, Rosie Woodfall, Elizabeth Sainsbury, Catherine Morton, Trevor Richardson, Rosalind Pearce, Betty Waters, Daphne Lytton, Edward Hance, Mike Brookes, Michael Larcombe, Elizabeth Small, Vaughan Ward, Stephanie Lee, Pat Smith and Pam Joiner.

For help on police matters, thank you to the following: New Scotland Yard, Thames Valley Police, Ms Sara Thornton QPM the Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police, Susan Farmer in the Homicide and Serious Crime Command of the Metropolitan Police, Peter Beirne of the Major Crime Investigations Review Team at Thames Valley Police, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), National Association of Retired Police Officers (NARPO), Tony Dale, Brian Shirley, Charles Farquhar, former police photographer John Bailey, Jo Millington BSc of Manlove Forensics Ltd, John Young, Daphne Browne, Janet Greenland and Roger Reynolds.

Thank you to archivists and librarians at the following organisations and associations: the Royal Free Hospital Archives whose collection was largely transferred to the City of London, London Metropolitan Archives in 2014. Putney High School, Sherborne Old Girls, Surrey History Centre, Amersham Museum, Chiltern Medical Society, Friends of Hodgemoor Wood, Buckinghamshire County Council, Sherborne Local Studies, Cornish Records Office, Cornish Studies Library, Croydon Library, Bristol Reference Library, Chesham Library, Amersham Library, Janice Talmer, Nick Hide of the Clan Davidson Association, Hanslope History Society, Wimbledon Museum, London Transport Museum, The Amersham Society, Charterhouse School, National Museums of Liverpool, Lee Manor Society and David Plumer, HM Courts and Tribunal Service, Forensic Science Society, the Army School of Education and the Forestry Commission. To Judy Cardnell at Colfes School, Adam Green, assistant archivist at Trinity College Library, Cambridge, the Centre for Kentish Studies, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Archives, The National Archives, Chilterns Forest Office, Reading Borough Libraries, Imperial War Museum, British Library, City of Westminster Archives Centre, Dorset History Centre, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Wandsworth Heritage Service, BT Group Archives, Oxford County Council, Wimbledon Museum of Local History, Merton Historical Society, Croydon Local Studies Library, Friends of East Peckham School. And to Rob Hume and Tim Webb of the RSPB who were able to add to my knowledge of birdwatching in Hodgemoor Wood.

Thank you to Ordnance Survey, G.I. Barnett and Son Ltd, and to Theo De Bray and John Moxon for their expert knowledge about maps. Thank you to the newspapers, editors of publications, online forums, reporters and press photographers that have helped me in many ways: The Cornishman , Cornish Guardian, West Briton , Rebecca Leon of Bois Own community newsletter for Chesham Bois, Oxford Mail , Buckinghamshire Advertiser , Buckinghamshire Examiner , The Bucks Herald , Bucks Free Press , Wiltshire Times , The Times Digital Archive, Newsquest Oxfordshire, NARPO News and Sword Magazine . Special thanks to Mike Dewey for delving into the archives at the Bucks Free Press , also to Malcolm Wade, and to Ron Haddock. The following online resource websites provided me with valuable leads: Amersham News , Views and Information , the Hyde Heath website and RootsChat .

I must also thank the following: Martin Rolf, Reggie Revel, Peter Cook, Richard Anderton, Rena Hume, George Wright, Father Denis Lloyd, John Fox, David and Margaret Larcombe, Felicity and Sophie Garrett, Jocelyn Osborne, Stephen Pratt of B&M Motors in Amersham, Jeremy Preston, Lindy Fleetwood, Michael McDonnell, Tonbridge Parish church, Pat Mortlock, the superintendent of Chiltern Crematorium, Bucks Fire and Rescue Service, Peter Worlidge, Brian Duffey, Vince Latter, Peter Dodgson, Sheila Broomfield, Rosemary Tandy, Enid Hounsell, Ken Rogers, Jennifer Statham, Christine Askew, Maureen Giles, Sherrill Robertson Bland and Maurice Blisson.

To the London Transport enthusiasts who have helped me with their knowledge of buses, bus garages and in particular the London Transport Country Bus network, a huge thank you. Especially Richard Proctor, who has had an interest in Amershams buses since childhood, and Jonathan Wilkins, who is not alone in his memories of the London Transport bus that had served the capital and its surrounding countryside for a generation. To Bill Harvey MBE, Audrey Gossedge, Uxbridge Bus Garage, Mary Adlington, Mike Beamish, Robin Reynolds and Sydney Adams.