The French Attack on Wiltshire

Security in the Motorhome II

Martin Wiltshire

December 2008

See also Martin's previous article in this website, also published by the MMM, in which he describes 10 lessons learned and actions taken after a previous attempted robbery:

Security in the Motorhome I.

We have known Martin and Clare Wiltshire for many years, since well before they started motorhoming in their 'Bus', a 21 ft American Amazon on a Ford E350 chassis. At the end of January 2008, Martin wrote to us from Esculca in Portugal as follows:

The journey here was somewhat overshadowed by our encounter, on our first night away from Aups (in Provence, south of the Verdon Gorge), with three balaclava-ed thugs, with a handgun, who burst into the Bus at about six in the evening while we were parked on a riverside Aire in Comps, Gard (20 km north-east of Nimes). I'm sure their intention was menace rather than theft. They certainly achieved that but also nicked our mobile phone - I think primarily so that we couldn't use it. I got a few bruises and scrapes, and tried to give a few as well, but fortunately neither of us was badly hurt before they suddenly got the wind up and left as quickly as they had arrived. Needless to say we moved on but it was an unsettling experience which frightened us off Aires and onto campsites for a few nights. The always well-populated Aire at Capbreton finally enabled us to get back into the proverbial saddle.

We wrote back to Martin with a few questions and here are his candid and illuminating answers:

Were you alone on the Aire?

We were the only motorhome (although there had been a French-registered one parked nearby until half an hour beforehand) but we were not alone. The riverside Aire at Comps is very popular with local people exercising dogs, walking, jogging, sitting, talking, fishing, canoeing, and so on. On a Sunday afternoon, even in January, it was busy with individuals and groups engaging in all of the above. By the time we were attacked (around 6.00 pm) many of them had gone but there was still at least one courting couple in a parked car and a pair of fishermen getting their boat out of the river.

Was it still daylight?

No, but it had only just become dark. Being mid-January dusk was at about 5.30.

Had you been there long?

Yes, we'd been there for two or three hours. With everybody else, we'd walked up and down the river for a while and then wandered into the village to post a letter. We made and drank a cup of tea as we sat and watched the world pass  -  by foot, by bike, by car and by boat.

Did they follow you in?

We assume they had seen us parked there at some point during the afternoon and then came back after dark. As far as we know they arrived and left on foot and so presumably were from the village.

Did they enter through the side door or the cab?

The side door.

Was it open or unlocked?

Yes, it was open and unlocked but only because I had just unlocked and opened it! I did so in response to a knock at the door and a call of “police”  -  an obvious ploy on their part and an obvious mistake on mine. Having said that, it's a mistake I might make again. When I have seen posts on forums advising motorhomers to “never open the door to anyone” I have often thought it a sad reflection of the advisors' view of life  -  seeing a knock on the door as first and foremost a threat. Do they respond in the same way when the doorbell of their house rings? I shall hope to be more cautious in the future but, despite our experience, I am not prepared to start imagining the world beyond the caravan door as hostile and frightening.

Was your response a pure reaction, or was that the sort of response you thought you should make?

A pure reaction I think. I still don't have an idea of what response I should have made or what would be appropriate.

Interestingly, the Bus's Strikeback alarm system has a 'panic' facility, designed for just such an occasion, but which, in our panic, we didn't think to use! As soon as we had thought of it, however, (after the event) we realised how inappropriate and over-complicated the triggering process is, requiring two buttons on the remote key fob to be pressed, and held, simultaneously. I have just fitted an alarm system into our new camper myself and we now have a fixed panic button, discreetly mounted but large enough to be found easily and requiring a simple and single thump to trigger the siren.

Did you have any 'weapons' to hand?

We had a significant chunk of wood by the door which we'd always imagined would (somehow) be used at times like this  -  something about the size and shape of a baseball bat but found on a Greek beach. In practice though it was in the wrong place (I was pushed back into the Bus and away from the door as soon as it opened) and I don't know whether it would have been any use anyway. A weapon is only useful if you get hold of it, keep hold of it and use it. If you don't it just provides something else for your attackers to hit, stab, shoot or spray you with. If we do deliberately keep some kind/s of weapon available in the future I shall think very, very carefully about what it is and where it is. Apart from anything else, you can't swing a baseball bat in the confined space of a motorhome!

Do you think they might have used the gun or was it for extra intimidation?

It was certainly intended to intimidate and because it's impossible to answer the other part of your question (i.e. might they have used it) it was inevitably successful. When somebody is pointing a gun at you (which is not normal behaviour!) there is no way to anticipate what they might do next.

Did they have an obvious nationality or ethnic origin?

Their balaclavas obviously obscured all but their eyes but they were certainly Caucasian. We believe they were French and probably local.

Were they in a car; did you get a number?

Not as far as we know. We didn't see or hear their car so, if they were in one, they parked some way away from us.

Did you report it to the police - and if so how did the police react?

No. In retrospect we think we should have done so but, in that our attackers had taken our phone, we had no way of easily contacting them and our first priority was, and still would be, to leave and get somewhere safe which is what we did.

What extra precautions could we all be taking?

None, I think, in that this kind of behaviour is not predictable, nor particularly purposeful (we still have no idea what they hoped to achieve, other than menace) and it's not possible to protect against it. It is essentially mindless (an overused word perhaps but in this case accurate) and irrational and so, by definition, it is not possible to imagine the expected outcome and therefore to foil or disrupt it. Having said that, we have changed our behaviour and would not now stay on any unlit Aire and would probably be nervous of staying on one that is isolated from the host community. But that makes no rational sense. Comps felt perfectly hospitable and safe. We think it was just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A question you didn't ask:

Would it have happened had we been French or even in a French-registered van?

We think probably not.