Francis East

Francis East was found with head and face injuries in the main road at Castle Hill just before midnight on Wednesday 4 October 1944.

Francis East was a police inspector.

His hat was found 300 yards from where his body was found, and his notebook was found to be missing.

The police took possession of an Army vehicle found near Oxford and interviewed two American soldiers during their investigation. The police said that the soldiers had told them that they had been involved in a dispute with some civilians in the main street at Maidenhead and that Francis East had arrived on the scene and broken up the trouble. They said that he spoke to them and that they then drove on but that Francis East got on the running board and in the struggle that followed he fell into the road and they drove on. They said that they found his hat in their car and then threw it away.

The police said that they were looking to interview the driver of a saloon motorcar that had driven through the main street at Maidenhead at about 11.25pm that night. The car was seen to be driving towards London and to have swerved at the bottom of Castle Hill. The police said that the driver might be able to assist them in their inquiries as they said that at that time Francis East's body was in the roadway.

The inquest into his death was opened on Friday 6 October 1944 and adjourned, but nothing more is known about it.