THE tale of a woman who returned to Warrington after being captured in Germany was the talk of the town in 1914.

Detainee Miss Evelyn May Clarke gratefully returned home to Stockton Heath with an emergency passport after being captured by officials while travelling in Germany during mobilization.

After her whereabouts were declared unknown, anxiety was rife throughout her family and friends as well as across the town.

However in an article from the time it said: “Her safe return came as a great relief to her relatives and friends.”

Her time in Germany proved to better than many other faced during the First World War.

The article added: “Miss Clarke has received nothing but the most courteous and considerate treatment at the hands of the German people.”

Miss Clarke found herself spending time on the German-Dutch frontier.

Being interviewed by a reporter, she gave an interesting account of her adventures and relayed how the people she was with in the country did not know just what exactly was happening on their own doorstep.

She said: “They were quite unaware that a state of war existed between Great Britain and Germany.”

And while men were manning the front lines the Warrington Guardian also looked at the effort by those who were still in the borough helping out families here.

On August 22 figurehead Lady Greenall praised honourable secretary Mr M Venables for his dedication in providing: “The greatest possible care to see that the wives and children are well looked after during the continuance of the war.”