{{Short description|English thief during the 1930s (1888–1942)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019}} {{Infobox person | image = File:HarryVickers.jpg | image_size = | alt = 9th Battalion, Rifle Brigade | caption = 9th Battalion, Rifle Brigade | name = Harry Edward Vickers (Flannelfoot) | honorific_suffix = | birth_name = Harry Edward Vickers | other_names = Henry Williams, Flannelfoot | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1888|9|3}} | birth_place = Reading, Berkshire, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1942|12|9|1888|9|29}} | parents = | children = | occupation = Butcher, rifleman and burglar }}
'''Harry Edward Vickers''' (3 September 1888 – 9 December 1942) was a cat-burglar who was active in the 1920s and 1930s. He wore flannel over his shoes to muffle his footsteps, which earned him the nickname '''Flannelfoot'''.
His ability to avoid detection and capture by the Metropolitan Police was the subject of media sensation. Whilst the police knew his identity, they lacked evidence to arrest him. He was sentenced in December 1937 to five years penal servitude for housebreaking.
Vickers used rags or cloth taken from the houses he burgled to muffle his footsteps. He stole and discarded a bicycle as part of his getaway. Upon finding these items, police were able to attribute the crime to Vickers with confidence. Vickers also opened windows by drilling a single hole close to the latch.<ref>https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19380105&id=cbFQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BiIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5803%2C1056613 {{dead link|date=November 2020}}</ref>
==Military service== Vickers served as a rifleman in the Rifle Brigade from July 1916 to July 1918 on active service in France and Flanders. That service was ended by a serious leg injury and was awarded the Silver War Badge, Victory Medal and British War Medal.<ref>UK, WW1 Service Medal Award Rolls 1914–1920</ref><ref>British Army WW1 Medal Roll Index Cards 1914–1920</ref>
==Criminal history==
=== Early crimes ===
* September 1921: Vickers broke into the house of a prominent local singer at Hounslow.<ref>''Sunday Post'' 4 September 1921 p2</ref><ref>''Nottingham Journal'' 5 September 1921 p2</ref> * March 1922: Vickers raided houses in Aylett Road, Isleworth. He took money from gas meters and a handbag, but left a child's money box unopened despite moving it.<ref>''Birmingham Gazette'' 2 March 1922 p5</ref><ref>''Nottingham Journal'' 2 March 1922 p7</ref><ref>''Nottingham Evening Post'' 2 March 1922 p1</ref><ref>''Sheffield Daily Independent'' 2 March 1922 p5</ref><ref>''Dundee Evening Telegraph'' 2 March 1922 p5</ref><ref>''Market Harborough Advertiser'' 7 March 1922 p7</ref> * November 1922: Break-ins at Isleworth in South-Western Terrace were reported, where gas meters were robbed, and attributed to Vickers.<ref>''Birmingham Gazette'' 22 November 1922 p5</ref> * October 1923: Vickers was attributed to several burglaries in the Harrow district. Entry was gained in most cases by drilling a hole in a scullery or kitchen window frame to insert a wire and lift the latch.<ref>''Uxbridge and West Drayton Gazette'' 5 October 1923 p3</ref> * November 1923: Burglaries on one night in Carlton Avenue, Kenton, were attributed to Vickers. Small articles and loose money were taken and a hearty meal made in one of the houses.<ref>''Uxbridge and West Drayton Gazette'' 9 November 1923 p3</ref> * May 1927: Eight burglaries at Kenton Park Crescent were believed to be committed by Vickers.<ref>''Uxbridge and West Drayton Gazette 20 May 1927''</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2021}}
=== Identification by Scotland Yard === In May 1934, Scotland Yard had circulated a girl's picture in the hunt for Flannelfoot. She was the 13-year-old daughter of a Reading butcher named Henry Williams, also known as Harry Edward Vickers.<ref>''Daily Herald'' 25 May 1934</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2021}}
==Capture and sentencing== In December 1937, Vickers was arrested and tried at the Middlesex Sessions.<ref>''Northern Daily Mail'' 2 December 1937 ''The Midland Daily Telegraph'' 2 December 1937 (front page)</ref><ref>''Daily Herald''. 3 December 1937 (front page)</ref><ref name=IPN-9-12-1937>''The Illustrated Police News'' 9 December 1937 p8</ref>
==Flannel Foot film==
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * ''Great Cases of Scotland Yard''<ref>''Great Cases of Scotland Yard'' Volume One by Eric (introduction); Elizabeth Jenkins; Michael Innes; Andrew Garve; Ludovic Kennedy; Clive Egleton Ambler</ref> * ''Horwell of the Yard''<ref>''Horwell of the Yard''. Author: John E Horwell, Publisher: Andrew Melrose 1947</ref> * ''Britain's Most Prolific Burglar: Flannelfoot & the Scotland Yard Men Who Hunted Him'' by Martyn Beardsley
== References ==
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vickers, Harry}} Category:1888 births Category:1942 deaths Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:British burglars Category:London crime history Category:Rifle Brigade soldiers Category:Military personnel from Reading, Berkshire