Onion Johnnies were once a familiar sight along the highways and byways of Dorset. They were French farm labourers and farmers who travelled on bicycles selling the distinctive pink and flavoursome Breton onion. These were sold door to door. The history of the Onion Johnny dates back to 1828. Breton farmer Henri Ollivier, put off by the prospect of a long road journey to Paris, decided to make the much quicker journey across the English Channel to Plymouth to sell his onions. Word spread of his success and others followed. Every July, farm labourers and farmers took their pink onions and sailed to England. For several generations, the county of Dorset experienced a mini invasion of French men usually wearing berets and Breton pullovers riding bikes laden with onions. This became the stereotypical image of a Frenchman in England. Tragedy struck in 1905 when 70 Onion Johnnies were drowned when the London & South Western Railway’s steamer SS Hilda sank off the French coast. A centu
During the early hours of Sunday 16 February 1958, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) raided Blandford Camp. Brandishing revolvers, masked raiders shot a soldier and overpowered seven others. During the attack, the men were heard to shout, ‘this is with the compliments of the IRA.’ Despite this, the raiders appeared concerned about the young soldier shot in the stomach. They intended to raid the armoury for arms but were unsuccessful. The IRA assault on Blandford Camp was probably an inside job. Frank Skuse was a young Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers (REME) corporal. His home was in County Cork. A man answering Skuse’s description had hired accommodation in a country house at Charlton Marshall. When the police forced entry they found ammunition, weapons and three suits of battledress with REME shoulder flashes. Two weeks after the attack, a tommy-gun, small arms and ammunition were discovered in a converted bus parked in a Bournemouth caravan park. Frank Skuse had hired the bu