THE story of a nurse in Pembrokeshire who may have been a Nazi spy has been told in a new journal.

Christine Davies has written the story of the life and death of Elsie May Kearns in the 2023 Journal of the Pembrokeshire History Society.

Elsie May Kearns as she was known, was a district nurse in Narberth. In July 1938, she was on a week’s sick leave but failed to return and within a couple of weeks, nursing colleagues received telegrams to say that she had died, and she was never seen in Narberth again.

However, Elsie Kearns actually died five years later in 1943 as her body was found in a field near Wantage. Over the years she had changed her name and address several times since leaving Narberth.

The people in Narberth were reminded of Elsie a few years later when an article appeared in a national newspaper where she was portrayed as a wartime spy who passed information about military sites around Britain to the Nazis.

After the article appeared, there was speculation that she had used a wireless transmitter hidden in Blackaldern Woods to send nightly reports to Germany about pre-war Pembrokeshire military bases like Trecwn and RAF Pembroke Dock.

The story is just one of those in this year’s 128-page journal which is the first in the long-running series to be put together by new editor Keith Johnson.

There are contributions from Dr Mark Merrony, a fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. He has assembled an impressive amount of archaeological and historical evidence to back up his hypothesis that an ancient route north of the Preselis connected to St Davids with Carmarthen. It is believed the route – which can be traced as a sunken lane or track – has a prehistoric origin.

There is also a feature on the construction and early history of Hobbs’ Point pier in Pembroke Dock and the history of Tin Tabernacle in Pembroke by Linda Ashman. Mary Houseman writes about the lives of working women in the Narberth area during Victorian times, whilst Penally-born Mormon missionary Daniel Williams’ life is told by Swansea’ Jill Morgan.

There are also articles about shipwrecks, a forgotten Pembroke mayor and the Elizabethan links between Pembrokeshire and Ireland.

Anyone who would like a copy of the journal can contact David Norris ay Bryn Farm, Glandwr, Whitland, SA34 0UE or by emailing brynfarm@btinternet.com. The book costs £12 which includes postage.