Sowerbutt's New Year's Eve

"New Year's Eve 1947 was one to remember, Jimmy always said. He and his lot made a fortune," the retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said. "London, at least, was starting to recover from the war and the society set were determined to celebrate in style. Four thousand of them packed into the Chelsea Arts Ball at the Royal Albert Hall, all in fancy dress. They'd made these huge floats for the witching hour, must have cost a fortune.
"Dipper Mark II and his boys and girls were there, a few outside and one or two inside in the cloakrooms and helping at the bars. They were careful, like. Money, compromising letters, packets of white powder - stuff that wouldn't reach the stoppers' ears. Over the next few weeks, society guys and girls were paying big money to get offending items back.
"From somewhere, Jimmy got a list of who was attending the Ball. Read like a Who's Who, he said. He and the lads borrowed a lorry and went visiting. Filled it up by the end of the night - paintings, furs, jewellery, small artworks, the odd antique, even a couple of gold ingots.
"Two things tickled Jimmy and the lads. The lack of security in the posh houses and the high and mighty were happy to buy their neighbours' and friends' stuff at knockdown prices. Redistribution of wealth, he called it."
 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Business 3

Sowerbutt had chosen a table near a side wall in the Cafe de Paris to relax for an hour or so before the journey home. He had no wish to encourage small talk with any of the pampered party set and he was always happier with a wall behind him. Waving away the house champagne which he suspected was cheap Spanish white blown with gas, he sipped a pricey glass of Old Bushmills. He was pleased with the deal he had just reached with Martin Poulson, the maitre d’, swapping two cases of 1924 Chateau Latour for a large handful of notes. He smiled at the thought of their previous owner, a notorious socialite, paying an extortionate price at the club when he visited for a glass or three of his own wine. The silly bastard should have burglar-proofed his townhouse in Grosvenor Square long ago. The often-empty residence was asking to be knocked off. During his nocturnal visit, Sowerbutt had taken some notes of the wine cellar in case of further orders from his well-heeled clients.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Police

"Not many people know that Jimmy set up his own police force," the retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said. "Not with uniforms or sergeants or anything. During the Blitz, he set up a security squad, headed by one of his young blokes, Missionary, to take care of any bombed out houses and keep an eye on strangers. Most of the stoppers had been called up, those remaining were the old blokes or reservists who didn't do much.
"He kept it going during the war with so many foreigners in the Smoke and then the Americans arrived.
"After the war, they started recruiting stoppers again. But they reckoned there were 20,000 deserters - or at least blokes who had left early - on the streets as well as all the young delinquents, kids without fathers.
"Stupid break-ins as well as assaults on women were the real problems and Jimmy wouldn't have his people touched.
"One gang tried it on in Jimmy's patch in '46. He had to put a couple of them in The River before they learnt their lesson and disappeared."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Bargain

"Jimmy never took things too seriously. He always moved on if something went wrong," the retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said. "Like the time in January 1947 when he took a hundredweight of whalemeat for £80. Everything was short in that bitter winter, including meat. Thick snow everywhere and temperatures fell to minus 20 in Essex. The whalemeat was selling for 1/10 a pound so Jimmy thought he could double his money.
"A consignment had been landed at Tyneside and Jimmy had his hundredweight brought down to the Smoke by train - a few were still running. The government was worried about people starving in the big freeze and was pushing the whalemeat. Full of goodness and tasty, they said.
"Not what the housewives thought. Some tried it but only once. Too gamey, they said, the kids wouldn't touch it. I had a plateful at the time and it didn't feel right when you were eating it.
"Jimmy tried everything - two pounds for 2/6; tried calling it venison. He managed to sell a few pounds to some posh restaurant in the West End - God knows what they did with it.
"In the end, he gave most of it away to hospitals, old people's homes and some of the free kitchens that the churches were running."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Scrapes

"Jimmy said he was always getting into scrapes doing odd jobs for the government," the retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said. "He said it was funny an East End lad helping out the toffs. It quietened down after the war with Mr Churchill and his mate, Mr Bracken, going into what they called Opposition. But Jimmy was called back to the colours towards the end of 1947.
"He didn't say much about it but an Eyetie high-up, Count Sforza, was visiting the Smoke to see the government blokes. Some place called Trieste was often in the newspapers. The blokes there wanted to go their own way or they didn't; always that sort of business after the war. The upshot was a group of these Trieste people were in the Smoke and were planning to shoot the Count. A merry old chase for Jimmy and the lads. A sniper in the building opposite his hotel, poisoned food and a bomb planted where the Count and the government people were having talks. He even met up with a lady they had worked with during the war. Funny name, Rosetta. Jimmy said you could write a book about it. But he never did, he was never strong with a pen and paper."
.http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Protection 2

"Jimmy and the lads were busy over the Bank Holiday in 1947," the retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said. "Instead of sunning themselves down at Clacton as they had planned, they were patrolling the streets, trying to dampen down any trouble.
"There were riots against the Jews that weekend across the country, some really nasty. A couple of army sergeants had been hanged in Palestine by the Jewish extremists and that did not sit well with a lot of people. Jimmy and some of the lads went over to Whitechapel and guarded Jack Shakes' tailor's shop. Jimmy wouldn't have his friends touched. He'd guarded the shop during the Battle of Cable Street, 11 years earlier. A couple of gangs who were daubing paint everywhere gave Jimmy some lip and got a good thrashing for their pains. Nobody tried it on after that.
"Spaghetti and a couple of lads went to Grosvenor Square where Jack's cousin's girl was running a posh millinery shop, selling Polly's hats. Nobody turned up there.
"One thing Jimmy was serious about - nobody touches his Family. That was the law of the streets in the East End in those days."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Visit

"A visit he and the lads made to the Soviet Embassy school in Hampstead in '46 or '47 was a real caper, Sowerbutt told me," the retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said. "He'd had a few run-ins with the Reds during the war, so I think he enjoyed the job.
"The school was for the kids of the Embassy staff and all the Russki businessmen who flooded over after the war. He took a peterman with him, Captain Morgan, as they'd asked him to check a big safe there. Jimmy and Captain Morgan managed to open the safe without blowing it and they took all the papers. The lads searched the building and found an Aladdin's Cave behind the classrooms at the back. Black market stuff, ready to be shipped home. Spirits, cigarettes, tinned stuff - you name it. Tipper legged it to a nearby builder's yard and brought back a lorry. They loaded up and had disappeared by dawn.
"Jimmy got paid handsomely for the papers, the lorry-load was worth a fortune and the Russkis couldn't report the theft to the stoppers, could they? They all had alibis anyway and Tipper took the lorry back to the builder and squared him. A good bit of business and a punch on the nose for his old enemies."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Plan

Sowerbutt fingered the clasp-knife in his pocket. “It may be dangerous, but that’s our business. We can do it, Spaghetti, sounds a good number. And you boys can take care of the two Spanish if they get funny. We’ll eliminate the risks if need be.

“We want the cash in our hands a couple of days early, so we can get it checked out with the Scribe over in Peckham. He’ll know whether it’s play money or not, all seems too good to be true. We’ll go for the US greenbacks as they are offering, better for some of our sailor friends. Genuine ones are hard to get hold of these days.
“And we’ll put in a couple of shadows to watch your backs. Keep that to ourselves, but we must always look after our Family and look after each other. We’ll manage here for a couple of days - skeleton staff at the brothel and call in some outside lads to make up the numbers if necessary. I’ve been thinking of recruiting some more hands anyway, the way business is picking up."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Bottles

"Sowerbutt always laughed about the bottle scam after the war," the retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said. "One of his lads, Tipper, had been bottling spirits in a house in Poplar all the way through the war. Churchill's Rum was one of his brands, people did not mind about what stuff was called as long as they could get hold of it. But after the war, it was different; they wanted their old familiar lines back.
"They hit on the idea of getting the empties from the pubs and clubs, complete with a Johnnie Walker or Haig label, refilling and re-corking them. Started off alright with Sowerbutt paying the street boys a few coppers for a bottle, but it developed into a real business. The landlords sold the bottles to the boys who put on their mark-up before they reached Sowerbutt. The prices went up and up with all the shortages in 1946 and 1947 -worse than the war years. Those with cash - the West End toffs and the black marketeers - didn't care but Sowerbutt drew the line when the price of bottles with a label reached 5/- each.
"He decided to prick the bubble, teaming up with a couple of small printers in Canning Town. With the help of a talented commercial artist who was paid well for his trouble, they designed copies of the well-known labels and printed their own.
"Sowerbutt still had to pay a couple of bob for spirit bottles but they were as scarce as hen's teeth anyway. Everything was scarce.
"Distilling spirits and bottling with the brand labels was a good business, lasted until well into the fifties. Tipper ran the business after Sowerbutt disappeared."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Fun

"Sowerbutt did a lot of business during that terrible winter of 1947," the retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said. "He said it was hard work traipsing over to the West End on foot through the snow. No trolleys, buses, tubes or trains. The good thing was no stoppers either; they were holed up in the police stations trying to keep warm.
"Quite a few of the la-di-das had spent Christmas in warmer climes where there was plenty to eat and drink - Bahamas, south of France, Corfu. With the forecasts of terrible weather, they stayed on. Many did not get back until Easter.
"Sowerbutt and the lads helped out with storage, like. Very few of the posh houses had proper security, so Sowerbutt stored their valuable somewhere safe for them.
"He had a lot of fun when the better weather came. Some of the paintings and jewellery were returned to their owners for a fee; some were shipped to the States helping our export drive and some were sold on the open market.  You'd be surprised how many of the well-heeled would snap up a bargain, no questions asked.
"Redistribution of wealth, Sowerbutt called it."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Boys

The retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said: "Once the weather turned towards the end of January 1947, Jimmy organised his lads to round up all the street boys. The boys had lost their families during the war or their single mums had disappeared. They had taken to the streets rather than going into care or being farmed out as orphans.
"As Jimmy said, he knew where they were hiding having been a street boy himself. He never knew his father and his mother, only a girl, had run off with a boyfriend. He put some of the boys in the Tabby to help out with the soup kitchen and run messages. Others he put in a bombed-out house that was still standing near his brothel. Windows were boarded up, roof was covered and he put some sticks of furniture in. There were about 20 or so street boys in Poplar.
"To keep them out of mischief, he started classes for them, getting various people to help them with reading and writing. He had always been very grateful to the wife of a fence he'd worked for teaching him to read and write.
"When the thaw came in March, he boarded them out with good people and put them in school. The street boys respected Jimmy. He always stood in their corner, but they knew he would wallop them if they stepped too far out of line."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Guilt

The retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said: "The politicians and the papers talked about the Dunkirk spirit during those terrible winter months of 1947. Load of tosh. We just did what we could to survive. The Tabby ran a soup kitchen and some of the old people slept there for warmth.
"As Jimmy Sowerbutt said, distributing food and coal was the problem. He had food in his larders and managed to get coal dumps organised in the bomb sites. But getting the stuff to families was hard.
"Most of the factories had closed, the trolleys had stopped, schools had shut with the electricity cut off. So he got the men and young lads digging their way through the snow drifts, taking bags of food and barrows of coal to people. He managed to get a load of blankets from somewhere.
"The Tabby drew up a list of old people and they were helped out. Jimmy was very upset by the death of one of the old dears who looked after a couple of his houses. Blamed himself."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Food

The retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his interview in the early 1960s with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said: "The thick snow everywhere in that terrible winter of 1947 meant that all the early veg were frozen in the ground. What with that and supplies being disrupted, food was scarce. Remember, too, the Docks were still getting back on their feet and imports were right down with the sterling crisis. People were hungry and as usual the toffs up the West End got more than their fair share.
"Jimmy had worked with the porters at Covent Garden and Smithfield for years and he organised swopping coal for food. Worked well, we did alright.
"The porters tipped Jimmy off about deliveries and there were a few lorry hijacks as they call it these days. Jimmy looked after the drivers, tying them up and gagging them so it appeared they weren't involved. He always saw them right after the hue and cry died down."
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Winter

The retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his interview in the early 1960s with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said: "January and February 1947 was the worst weather any of us had experienced. Freezing cold, thick snow, electricity off for most of the day, little coal and food shortages. What a palaver.
"Old people and kiddies too were dying. I saw Jimmy up at the Mile End Cemetery, he'd buried one of the old dears who looked after a couple of his houses. He was angry, real angry.
"First thing he did, I heard, was visit some West End houses that night. They all had electric fires, none had trickled through to us. Next morning there was a free distribution across the manor.
"That day, he took the lads for a day out in Kent, place near Deal called Betteshanger.
"The coal lads were having a laugh, off 'sick' half the time, playing cards down the mines. They had just been nationalised and the unions were in clover.
"Big fight broke out in the social club and the 'sick' blokes went back to work. I heard Jimmy and One-Line went for a walk in the snow with some of the union top nobs. Coal deliveries improved out of sight with lorry-loads turning up in Poplar. Jimmy stored it on the bomb sites and we all had blazing fires for the rest of that winter."
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Choice

“Bad news first. Here are the disadvantages for you. Army call-up papers presently marked security risk can be validated with immediate effect. Valuable contacts in our Metropolitan police can be transferred at the drop of a hat. Former Blackshirts can be escorted onto the next train to the Isle of Man, Liverpool or taken to Brixton Prison, wherever their preference may be. We try to be accommodating,” he smiled.

 “Crackdowns - OK with our reservists, not real police - against black market activities and prostitution can start at nominated premises across Poplar and surrounds within the next couple of hours. Larders, as I believe the black market warehouses are called, can be seized at the same time - at the point of a gun if necessary. I would be more than happy to arrange for some of our fine soldiers from London District to help out if I have to.”

Puffing his cigar, Brendan Bracken swept his fingers through his thick mat of red hair and then swallowed some Old Bushmills.

 “Here is the good news, the advantages if you will, Sowerbutt. All of the above was never mentioned and five thousand pounds paid to you in non-sequential small notes. Do you need some time to think over my offer? You can reach me here at the Café de Paris for the next few hours, a couple of pretty fillies in prospect, don’t you know.” http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Warning

“Now Shiny’s dead, stretched out like a side of meat from Smithfield, and we’re up to our necks in the proverbial. Beefy stoppers will be trampling everywhere in their size 10 hobnails and making a right mess of our patch. How can we run our business properly with the stoppers poking their long noses in everywhere? You are an arse.”

The thin red line drawn with surgical precision across Nero’s throat smarted but little more. But the small-time thief, scared out of his wits of what might still be coming, suddenly collapsed as a dead weight in Sowerbutt’s arms. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Task

Without saying a word, the tall, athletic-looking carrot-top in a well-cut dinner suit had flopped onto the uncomfortable chair opposite Sowerbutt, whose black leather jacket looked out of place with the party set’s smart fashions. Carrot-top was armed with a half-jack of Old Bushmills and a glass. “Ice,” he shouted at a passing waiter. “And quickly, man.”

Peering at Sowerbutt through his round metal-rim glasses, he announced: “I don’t suppose for a minute you know who I am, Mr Sorbay. Brendan Bracken and I’m with His Majesty’s Government.

“Here’s the deal. I want you to steal some documents, very important documents for me. You’ll be told details of where and when soon. The theft must not be traced back to me under any circumstances and preferably not  to you. Our hard-working boys in blue will not get involved in any way, but the people carrying the documents have some unpleasant friends who will not hesitate to deal ruthlessly with any problems. But, overall, a risk that you and your experienced associates can handle or so I’m led to believe.”

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Challenge

Polly had had enough. “It’s always about your stupid Family, isn’t it,” she exploded. “What about us, James? You and me? No, it’s always the Family with you. Fine, go and find your murderers, why don’t you? Beat them, cut their silly balls off, kill them, you violent bastard. I really don’t care. But don’t expect me to be waiting around for you when you come back with more blood on your hands. I’m sick of all the violence.

“Look at what you did to poor Nero. He is terrified of you, you know, he was still shaking when I saw him up at the stalls in Chrisp Street. He showed me the mark you made on his neck, you could have killed him. You sadistic bully?

“He made a bad mistake, but he might have got a knife in his ribs too if he had been there. Did you think about that? You are hardly high on the Mr Clever list, are you James?”

Sowerbutt looked blankly at his lady with whom he was enjoying a quiet evening. What was upsetting his red-haired beauty all of a sudden? He could spot danger at a hundred yards and had an unerring nose for any mischief being staged on the East End’s back streets, but he could never be sure of his lady’s moods.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Persuasion

The retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his interview in the early 1960s with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said: "As I mentioned before, lots of problems in the building game after the war; so much construction going on. Black market in everything. Often you had to spread hard-earned around to get your bricks. Then you would wait five or six months for delivery. Unless you had your own transport and who had or the coupons.
"Apart from the unions, there were the tradesman rackets. You would have to put something under the counter to get a carpentry firm on the site.
"Sowerbutt was a whirlwind. After sorting out the unions, he got his bricks okay from the London Brick Company up in Bedfordshire where he had some mates. For transport, he used his mates in the army - a lot of lads still in in '46 and '47.
"The tradesmen were funny. Sorbay and his boys would pop round to the carpentry firm. 'Get stuck in or I will get stuck in', he'd say, and slam his cosh on the counter. Nine times out of ten, they'd be round the site in minutes. Occasionally someone got clever and ended up in hospital.
"The Poplar families got housed quick smart. Houses and flats up like clockwork and roads repaired. Well ahead of some of the other places."
 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Tales

The retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his interview in the early 1960s with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said: "Rationing continued for years after the war, even bread went on the ration card. Jimmy told me dozens of stories about the Black Market. Not that he was ever involved, he always had an alibi, he said.
"Poultry was a good trade, selling birds to the fancy West End restaurants. He told me before Christmas 1946, lorry-loads of chickens and turkeys were bought off unregistered farmers and sold in London at 50% mark-ups.   Thousands of pounds were made.
"Spirits were another big trade. Dozens of places in the West End where you could buy whisky or gin for say three or four pounds, a huge mark-up.
"You name it, you could get it for a price if you knew where to go - cigarettes, tyres, car parts, paint, timber, machine parts, the list was endless."
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Bonus

The retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his interview in the early 1960s with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said: "I've mentioned Dipper Mark II before. Sowerbutt and the young lad had a memorable day on June 8, 1946, the Victory Celebrations. First came the mechanised column and then the march past. Went on for ages.
"Thousands flocked to the Smoke to see it and, as you can imagine, the young lad's team lifted dozens and dozens of wallets, purses, jewellery, you name it. They always  stuck to the better off, didn't bother with ordinary folk.
"Sowerbutt brought his girls in for the evening. Lots of parties in the parks and people sleeping there overnight.  He mentioned he had 50 girls working that night. Big takings.
"Upstairs in Spaghetti's restaurant was like Aladdin's Cave for the next few days as everything was sorted out. He mentioned a few naughty letters they found that the owners paid handsomely to get back. The jewellery was bagged up and taken off to the cutter that Jimmy had hidden away somewhere."
 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Machines

The retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his interview in the early 1960s with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said: "Times were hard after the war with little money around. Britain only survived with American aid. But where there's a will, there's a way.
"Jimmy mentioned a fruit machine, one-armed bandit racket. They were popular, but scarce. Very few imports in those days, especially from the US. One of his contacts was Sidney Stanley, a Stoke Newington lad who had done well in the rackets and had a big luxury apartment in Park Lane. The Family had a few contracts with Stanley, you can imagine the sort of work. Anyway, Stanley was able to get his hands on import licences, knew a few blokes in the Government, he said, and he sold some to Jimmy. You could name your price for the fruit machines and Jimmy did.
"Stanley got into some hot water and fled the country in '49, but Jimmy kept getting hold of the import licences somehow."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Mate

One-Line had stood a good head above most of his infantry company in the British Expeditionary Force which was why, his mates claimed, the short company sergeant-major always picked on him. With the two men engaging in a final and fatal argument during the chaotic retreat to Dunkirk, One-Line decided to join the growing band of army deserters after landing at Ramsgate from a luxury motor yacht which had rescued 10 exhausted soldiers from the French beaches. No-one had witnessed the shooting, but as One-Line told Sowerbutt: “The bastard Red Caps would rather hang ours than kill theirs.” To cover his tracks, Sowerbutt had organised a fresh identity for his friend, complete with a medical exemption,  helped by the talented but expensive Scribe in Peckham.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Despair

Sowerbutt pushed open the door of the shabby rented room in the large Georgian house not far off East India Dock Road in Poplar. Shiny, the veteran of countless rowdy Blackshirt meetings during the 1930s, lay sprawled on his back across the cheap patterned carpet, the congealing red stripes across his once white shirt were clear evidence of a savage knife attack. Sowerbutt did not claim to be any sort of super sleuth, but even the local stoppers would quickly work out that Shiny had opened the door of his small bed-sit and then suddenly and brutally paid the fatal price. The loyal member of the Family, who had always had a good word for everybody he met, had not been given a chance. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Jewels

The long-retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his interview in the early 1960s with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said: "There was a rash of raids on jewellery shops in London after the war. Few had any sensible security until after the event. They were mostly very clinical - the staff were not harmed and specific items were taken. At the same time, a lot of jewellery could be bought at a reasonable price on the black market. You would deduce the insurance companies coughed up after the raids and the shops bought their jewellery back recut and reset.
"I heard a whisper once that Jimmy had one of the best cutters stashed away somewhere, outside the Smoke. He never said a word about any involvement in the jewellery trade."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Alliance

The long-retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his interview in the early 1960s with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said: "Dipper was a well-known pickpocket and fence who had always kept his nose clean. In recent years anyway, I don't know about when he was a young man.
"He and his missus retired just after the war. Sold their house in Stoke Newington and went to live in Spain. Young bloke took over the organisation, talented lad, Dipper used to say.
"From what I heard on the grapevine and one or two clues from Jimmy, he and the young lad paired up. The young lad organised the pickpockets around the West End, the City, train stations and so on. Jimmy would fence any items of value. He was particularly interested in jewellery. Must have had some cutter stashed away somewhere. Recut precious stones are easy to move around and fetched a good price after the war."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Gold

The long-retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his interview in the early 1960s with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said: "He said that the post-war years were tough. The GIs and their supplies had gone but the stoppers, as he called the police, were back on the streets.
"The Flying Squad was leading the crackdown and in those days it was difficult to make friends, he said. They ambushed the gang who tried to get their hands on £250,000 of gold bullion at Heathrow in 1948. A narrow escape, he called it, the lads the police caught went down.
"He said a raid on a bullion dealer at Clerkenwell a couple of months earlier had got the Flying Squad hopping mad. Five bars of gold, a load of gold wire and other bits and pieces were lifted.
"Of course, Jimmy denied any involvement in the raids and he said he had rock-solid alibis anyway." http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA

Sowerbutt's Record

In less than 30 seconds, Sowerbutt had grabbed the tubby foreman in a vice-like grip, dragged him backwards down the stairs and pushed him out through the front door and down the steps onto East India Dock Road. His record was 20 seconds when he king-hit a drunken sailor who sailed through air from the first floor and landed at the bottom of the stairs on an easy chair. Sowerbutt leapt after him and threw him through the front door.

After that demonstration, Polly had snapped: “You enjoy it, don’t you? You’re not just running a business, you love the violence. You’re a dangerous man, James Sorbay, that’s what you are.” amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA