Wicked Witch
HAVE YOU EVER REVEALED A SECRET BY MISTAKE? MOST OF US PROBABLY HAVE. BUT IMAGINE BEING PUT IN JAIL BECAUSE OF IT. THIS HAPPENED TO HELEN DUNCAN IN 1941.
Helen Duncan was a medium – someone who communicates with the spirit world. One day during a séance, she spoke with the spirit of a dead sailor. He told Helen that his ship, HMS Barham*, had sunk. She then passed the message on to his family, thinking that she was doing the right thing.
The family then contacted the Admiralty to verify the news. In turn, the Admiralty demanded to know how the family knew about the ship as it was a secret. It was 1941, at one of the worst moments of the Second World War. Britain was just recovering from the Blitz*, and there was still the danger of an invasion (although by this time the Germans had started their invasion of the Soviet Union). The British government were paranoid about the country’s security. They wanted to keep information about the Barham a secret in order to maintain troop morale. So, they decided to arrest Duncan.