The post you are reporting:
Here is an amusing story:
We have been asked by Ruth Nicol, archivist of St Margaret's at Cliffe if we know or can find out anything about a penguin appearing on St Margaret's beach in 1940.
Here is a copy of the enquirer's e-mail she received via the Pines Museum:
"I work for a magazine called Best of British, and we feature a number of readers' memories of Britain each month. I have a rather strange question, and was wondering if you would be able to help. We have received a letter from one of our readers, who discovered a penguin on the beach at St Margaret's Bay Dover, in 1940. He has spoken to London Zoo, who have no record of the event - do you have any record of it in your archives? It would be wonderful to be able to provide him with more information, and would make a nice addition to the story in the magazine. Jo Glanville, Editorial Assistant, Best of British."
The letter the reader sent to the magazine, is:
'As I lived not far from St Margaret's Bay in Dover, as a child in 1940 I used to visit the bay with my school pals to watch the soldiers erecting the fortifications. They lived in huts near the bay and my mother used to wash their shirts and do any needlework job s. She often gave them soup to heat up, and sometimes I was go-between, fetching and carrying the items.
One day, arriving at the bay, the tide was out and all the soldiers were looking down the beach. To my surprise there was a tall penguin coming up he beach. He did not seem afraid of the soldiers.
One of the soldiers said as a joke: I bet it's a German soldier dressed as a penguin! There was laughter all around.
But where had this penguin come from? Had he been a pet on a merchant ship that had been sunk?
The soldiers caught the penguin in a net and put the penguin into one of the sheds. They gave him fresh water and some fish. As it was my tea time, I went home.
The next morning, my mother came with me to see if what I had said was true. But the penguin was gone. A soldier said that a gentleman collected him in a van and cages and took him to London Zoo.
This has been a mystery to me all these years. I recently wrote to London Zoo and had a very nice letter from the archivist, Michael Palmer. He was so interested in my story, but looking at his records, the only penguins at the zoo in August 1940 were six penguins from Brighton Aquarium and two from Leatherhead. None had come from St Margaret's Bay. It is possible that my penguin went to Whipsnade Zoo, as many were transferred there due to the air raids on London.'
Short of searching the Dover Expresses for 1940 (summertime?) we don't have any information. Has anyone heard of this story? The Pines Museum has no info, and there is no mention of hist penguin in the ARP logs for St Mgts
Kath H.