WEBVTT - Pew Pew 0:00:04.080 --> 0:00:07.440 Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 0:00:07.480 --> 0:00:14.440 iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:18.400 the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:22.119 of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:28.840 waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:38.520 It's a word that many of us have probably heard, 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:42.120 but often don't know the meaning of Syncope is the 0:00:42.159 --> 0:00:45.680 medical term for the temporary loss of consciousness that comes 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:48.360 from a sudden drop in blood flow to the brain. 0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:51.880 So for layman, it's fainting, and most of the time 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:55.760 it's easily explainable and no cause for concern. Low blood 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:59.960 sugar or dehydration can often cause it. There are, of course, 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:03.400 times to worry. For instance, regular fainting spells could be 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:05.959 caused by heart troubles that need to be addressed by 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:08.280 a doctor. But what would be the best course of 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:12.400 action if hundreds of people experience syncope all at once. 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:16.360 It was a sunny morning in Nottinghamshire, England, in the 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:19.559 hearts of robin Hood Country. It wasn't just any day, though, 0:01:19.720 --> 0:01:22.160 Children from all over the area were headed to the 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:25.800 fairgrounds for the Hollinwall Show. This show was a gathering 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:29.160 of children's marching bands, and it was taken very seriously 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:32.679 by competitors. Attendants would be judged on their performance in 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:34.640 a street parade, and then they would move to the 0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:37.119 field where they'd be judged on their playing as well 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:40.520 as their marching formations. And the events started at nine 0:01:40.520 --> 0:01:44.000 a m. And hundreds of children in their crisp uniforms 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:47.480 and polished buttons awaited the chance to wild the judges, 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:51.520 hoping to take home medals and bragging rights. But before 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:55.200 the competition could get underway, something strange began to occur. 0:01:55.800 --> 0:01:59.760 Participants all over the fairgrounds began to experience a cavalcade 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:04.560 of troubling symptoms. There were reports of sore throats, dizziness, nausea, 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:09.000 and burning eyes, with some others experiencing chest pains and 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:12.200 weakness in the limbs. But the most troubling symptom, and 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:15.360 the one that caused panic in attendees and organizers, was 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:19.600 the sudden onset of a mass fainting spell. Children began 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:22.640 to collapse left and right. Those who could leave on 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:25.920 foot did so, but many left in ambulances which arrived 0:02:25.960 --> 0:02:29.360 in droves. Meanwhile, organizers themselves were in a state of 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:34.400 utter confusion, making conflicting announcements about the possible causes. Was 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:37.480 it the food, something in the water, Maybe it was 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:41.280 the pesticide sprayed on nearby fields. Participants were told to 0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:44.200 stop eating the ice cream as many of the fainting 0:02:44.280 --> 0:02:48.480 children had partaken. Local hospitals were overrun by the victims 0:02:48.520 --> 0:02:51.040 of the incident, with a sudden rush of nearly three 0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:53.720 hundred out of the five hundred present at the event 0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:57.120 needing to be admitted for their symptoms. The Hollandwell Show 0:02:57.160 --> 0:03:01.200 was a massive, traumatizing bust that followed. There was a 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:04.680 joint inquiry into the cause by the Ashfield District Council 0:03:04.800 --> 0:03:08.640 and the Knots Police, which strangely ruled out environmental causes 0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:12.600 or food poisoning, concluding that it was simply mass hysteria, or, 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:17.040 as the report officially called it, a mass psychogenic illness, 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:20.720 and that, so far as the authorities were concerned, was that. 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:24.799 But as you'd imagine, the families weren't so convinced, as 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:27.280 many of the children who fell ill did so hours 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:30.400 after leaving the fairgrounds, and believed that the Council's investigation 0:03:30.600 --> 0:03:32.600 was not nearly as thorough as it could have been 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:36.800 before making their conclusions. Although other investigations of the incident 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:40.160 were made in subsequent years, many contradict each other and 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:43.800 those that came before them. The University of Nottingham's School 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:48.520 of Biomedical Sciences seconded the original report, declaring its mass 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:52.560 hysteria possibly triggered by the smell of apesticide used in 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:55.720 surrounding fields, which could have been kicked back up into 0:03:55.720 --> 0:04:00.400 the air by the marching bands. Scientists at Nottingham Trent University, however, 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:03.480 believe that other chemicals may have been the culprits. According 0:04:03.480 --> 0:04:06.720 to John Wright, of the university's forensic Science department, it 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:09.720 may have been a noxious combination of chemicals used to 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:12.760 clean the toilets. It turns out many of the people 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:16.320 affected by the event reported strong smells of both bleach 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:19.760 and ammonia coming from the portable toilets a mere twenty 0:04:19.880 --> 0:04:22.800 yards from where the band members were standing. And for 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:25.240 those who don't know, those are two chemicals that probably 0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:28.400 shouldn't be mixed together because when you do, ammonia and 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:32.719 bleach form chlorine gas, a dangerous chemical agent that in 0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:37.320 small doses causes irritation of the eyes, nose, throats, and lungs, 0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:41.520 and in higher doses causes death by exphyxiation. In fact, 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:43.640 the gas is so noxious that it was banned in 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:47.039 nineteen twenty five by Geneva Protocol after its use in 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:49.960 the First World War in the year sense, the case 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:52.520 has come to be known as the Hollinwell incidents, or 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:56.920 more ominously, all fall Down. Nearly forty years later, it's 0:04:56.920 --> 0:05:00.400 still a matter of heated debate. Numerous causes are pushed 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:03.400 by Internet sleuths to this day, which include both the 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:07.480 official lines and more creative theories ranging from radio waves 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:12.400 from nearby transmitters to alien activity. But as public officials 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:15.239 consider the case closed, we may never know the true 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:18.039 cause of the chaos that rocked that music event on 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:34.800 that bright July morning, and that well, I think that's curious. 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:40.120 Kenneth Moore hurtled through the skies over Nazi occupied France. 0:05:40.360 --> 0:05:43.120 It was the morning of June sixth, nineteen forty four, 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:46.520 just before dawn. He was a combat medic, one of 0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:48.919 the first of many American troops that would soon be 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:52.440 invading the country. As the air whipped past his face, 0:05:52.480 --> 0:05:55.279 and the ground rose up to meet him. Kenneth pulled 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:58.239 the cord for his parachute, gliding quickly to the ground. 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:02.080 He landed with the in a grassy field outside a 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:05.799 nearby village. He looked around, anxious to spot to enemy troops. 0:06:06.120 --> 0:06:08.200 He didn't see any Nazis, and he had a red 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:10.799 cross armband that was supposed to keep them from shooting 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:14.000 at him if any did show up. You see, Kenneth's 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:16.800 job was to find a nearby building to use as 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:19.920 a field hospital and then start treating the wounded once 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:23.080 the fighting started. Then he dug around in his pack 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:25.719 until he found a round, bumpy grenade that one of 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:28.600 his fellow soldiers had given him. He wasn't supposed to 0:06:28.680 --> 0:06:31.520 carry any weapons as a medic, but he wasn't taking 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:35.000 any chances. There was a sudden rustling in the bushes 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:38.039 next to him. He jumped immediately, pulling the pin on 0:06:38.120 --> 0:06:40.920 the grenade and getting ready to throw it. But then 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:44.040 he heard a growl and saw a bear emerge from 0:06:44.080 --> 0:06:46.440 the forest, and then it turned right back the way 0:06:46.440 --> 0:06:49.800 it came. His service was already off to a rough start. 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:52.040 He now had a live grenade in his hand. And 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:54.359 nothing to throw it at, and he didn't want to 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:57.599 just toss it and run the sound might attract the enemy. 0:06:58.320 --> 0:07:00.720 Kenneth made his way toward the village, where he soon 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:04.480 spotted a stone well leading deep underground. It was as 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:06.719 good a place as any for the grenade, so he 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:09.679 dropped it in and ran away, hoping the villagers didn't 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:12.320 notice the muffled boom from the ground shaking a few 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:16.040 seconds later. Soon enough, he came across a small, ancient 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:19.200 church with a short steeple and stained glass windows. To 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:21.520 his surprise, there was already a banner with a red 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:25.240 cross draped over the entrance. His fellow medic had arrived 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:28.720 ahead of him. Inside, Kenneth found his friend, Robert Wright, 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:32.800 already busy rearranging the pews and laying out supplies. They 0:07:32.800 --> 0:07:35.040 didn't have much, just what they brought with them in 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:37.920 their packs. Their job was to make the most of it, 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:41.200 and soon enough troops were swarming the countryside, and there 0:07:41.240 --> 0:07:44.560 was the constant sound of bombs and gunfire. The doors 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:47.679 of the church flew open and wounded soldier after soldier 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:51.520 began limping in. They treated those they could with bandages, stitches, 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:54.480 or splints, those they couldn't, They set a prayer for 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:58.760 and moved on. They treated Americans and Germans alike. Whoever 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:01.360 came to their door was allowed to enter. Their only 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:04.320 rule was that no one could bring a weapon inside 0:08:04.400 --> 0:08:08.200 the church. Outside. The fighting reached a fever pitch. The 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:10.840 bombs and bullets were flying over the top of the church, 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:14.080 and then suddenly the wooden beams overhead split open and 0:08:14.160 --> 0:08:17.760 a large shell crashed into the stone floor between the patients. 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:21.280 Some of the splintered wood fell on Kenneth and left 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:23.840 him with a cut on his scalp. He was stunned, 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:26.480 and then he saw Robert look from him to the shell. 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:30.240 Before he could react, Robert ran toward the shell, picking 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:32.800 it up and flinging it out of the church. It 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:36.840 never detonated, though it was inert. They had been lucky. 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:40.880 As the fighting continued, control of the town changed from 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:44.360 the Allies to the Nazis. The fleeing Allies suggested that 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:47.800 Kenneth and Robert evacuate with them, but they refused. At 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:51.160 this point, they were treating dozens of American and German soldiers. 0:08:51.440 --> 0:08:54.600 They just couldn't leave them. They continued their work until 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:57.839 the Nazis rolled into the small village. Suddenly, the doors 0:08:57.880 --> 0:09:01.280 were thrown open and an intimidating Zazi commander walked in 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:04.480 his eyes, darting between the two medics and their patients. 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:07.880 Kenneth watched him stroll down the aisle between the pews, 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:11.480 surveying each patient without a word. Then his gaze fell 0:09:11.480 --> 0:09:14.200 on some of the German soldiers they were treating. He 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:16.800 nodded to them with approval. It was the only sign 0:09:16.880 --> 0:09:19.480 they would get that they could continue to do their work. 0:09:20.120 --> 0:09:23.280 Kenneth and Robert continued to treat patients for three whole 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:27.440 days without sleep. The church floor became absolutely soaked with blood, 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:30.480 but the Allies won the battle and soon pressed further 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:34.560 into France. Kenneth and Robert were assigned to new battlefields, 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:38.400 but this one would always remember them today. If a 0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:42.280 curious tourist makes their way to Angoville o'plhan in Normandy, 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:45.440 they will find a small medieval church. But the stained 0:09:45.440 --> 0:09:49.560 glass windows don't feature Christian iconography. No, they show a 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:53.120 paratrooper and an eagle, and the names Kenneth Moore and 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:57.920 Robert Wright. Appropriately, these two men were awarded silver stars 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:02.160 and purple hearts but curiously, without ever firing or receiving 0:10:02.240 --> 0:10:06.480 a shot. But if anything, that made them even greater heroes. 0:10:09.840 --> 0:10:12.560 I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:16.440 of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:21.000 more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 0:10:21.080 --> 0:10:24.679 The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership 0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:28.000 with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:32.160 called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:34.280 and you can learn all about it over at the 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:41.000 Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.