The raids climaxed on a property in Heathlands Road, Chilworth, Southampton, where they snatched valuable candlesticks and dishes. The heartbroken householder discovered the burglary when she returned home a few days before Christmas after spending the night away.
The intruders knew exactly what they were looking for, taking what they knew to be valuable and disposable which they carried off in two stolen suitcases, one red leather and the other crocodile patterned leather, leaving other items to one side.
They had earlier targeted a house on the fringe of Lymington. Much of which was taken was 19th century silverware – cutlery, tableware and medals. The owner provided police with inscriptions, dates and photographs in the hope they might be recovered.
One was a filigree brooch, about four inches in diameter and bore the engravings of various figures and objects which included a lyre, a trident, a man’s head and a sailing boat. The insignia consisted of a cross and star of the Order of Knight of the Bath, a miniature bronze star of three Order of the Blue Nile and three Victorian medals from the Crimea and Egypt 1882.
Days later, they plundered the home of a retired naval commander in Bishops Waltham, securing entry through an insecure rear window while renovations were being carried out. It was one of three houses they ransacked in consecutive days in Wickham where they fled with a lifetime collection of antique silver from one country house and several similar items from another.
But the gang were foiled by a golden retriever when they tried breaking into a house in The Square, Droxford. 12-year-old Timmy pricked up his ears and barked out a warning as they crept their way through ground floor rooms after taking a chain from an outhouse.
The owner, a former master at Eton, was away but the raiders were unaware his housekeeper Margaret Briggs and her husband were sleeping upstairs at the house where the eminent writer Izaac Walton, best known for the Compleat Angler, once lived.
Ironically, they never knew his faithful dog had alerted them of trespassers. She told the Echo: “We heard Timmy but didn’t get up because it was the noise of the storm which made him bark.”
It was not until early the following morning she realised what had happened when she saw a smashed kitchen window.
The hunt for the gang was led by Insp. Reg Tappin, head of Fareham police. Issuing a warning about the gang’s activities, he implored occupiers of isolated houses to be more safety conscious.
“Property owners should take care to lock all outer and inner doors and windows. If they have any valuable items in their houses, they should either be removed or put in in a secure place. If they are going away, they should notify the police. Suspicious callers or persons lurking in the area should be reported.”