Draft dodgers targeted in dance hall raid

Two people arrested during a raid on a Stirling dance hall appeared before the city’s sheriff court.

Soldiers from Stirling Castle assisted by burgh police swooped on the Palace Tearoom, Castle Wynd on March 10, 1917, to check whether men there were avoiding call-up.

It was part of a concerted effort across the council to fill the gaps in the frontline brought about by the war’s mounting casualty toll.

Facing the court after the tearoom raid were Thomas Morrison, described as a miner’s drawer, Bank Street, and Jeanie Ferguson, postwoman, of Baker Street, both Stirling, who were charged under the Defence of the Realm Act.

Morrison was accused of handing to Ferguson his certificate of exemption from military service, while Ferguson was alleged to have erased Morrison’s name from the certificate and substituted that of a ‘J Milligan’. Both pleaded guilty and said they had no explanation.

The court was told that Morrison had with him a certificate of exemption from service but Milligan, Ferguson’s ‘sweetheart,’ did not have his with him

When the police and soldiers descended on the hall, blocking the exits, Morrison handed his certificate to Ferguson who removed his name and substituted that of Milligan.

However, as Ferguson was passing Morrison’s certificate to Milligan, they were caught in the act. Milligan was taken to the police station to find out whether he was liable for call-up.

Morrison and Ferguson were each fined £3.

And also on the homefront, an indication of the drop in the number of soldiers billeted in Stirling came from a unusual source. The Observer reported that admissions to the plunge pool in Broad Street during January 1917, were 53 residents, 396 soldiers and 99 boys, and takings were £3 and 11 pence. Twelve months earlier, 25 residents, 686 soldiers and 36 boys had used the pool, paying a total of £4 and fifteen pence.