Monday 8 June 2026

South Lawn Hotel, Lymington Road, Milford-on-Sea, SO41 0RF

Monthly Meeting

Paul Stickler - The Porthole Murder

Former policeman Paul Stickler is an expert in murder investigation.  Now retired, he investigates historical murders and has published books ranging from the killing of a Hitchin shopkeeper and her dog in 1919 to the A6 Murders in 1961 remembered by most of us.   Paul is a member of  the Crime Writers’ Association and is a popular club and cruise ship speaker on historical murders. 

Synopsis

In October 1947, 21-year-old Gay Gibson disappeared from the Durban Castle during the ship’s passage from Cape Town to Southampton.  When the police boarded the vessel on its arrival in Southampton, they started an investigation. Slowly, a picture emerged that a first-class deck steward, James Camb, had been seen inside her cabin immediately before she went missing. For the week that Gibson had been on board, Camb claimed that he had become friendly with the missing woman and had served her with drinks on a number of occasions. When asked by the Captain whether he had any knowledge of Gibson’s disappearance he said he had not. He had injuries to his body for which he gave an innocent explanation but maintained that he was unable to assist with any helpful information. When later asked by the police, and confronted with the information that he had been seen inside the missing woman’s cabin, he told a completely different story!